Chapter 9: Infringing Upon Destiny (Part 3)

((the away mission))

The S'Talon settled softly into a clearing just barely big enough for the shuttle amongst several acres of densely forested land just about two miles from Khii's capital city. As Falcar cut the shuttle's engines Sub-Commander Zorak dropped the cloak and rose from his console along with Voliskar. Archer stood as well and looked over at Zorak.

"We need to hide this thing if we can, they are likely to have air patrols."

"I doubt they would have them this far away."

"No chances," Archer replied "can we replicate some camouflage netting or something to that effect?"

Zorak nodded "I will work on it."

"Good, we'll need climbing equipment as well."

"For what?" Voliskar asked genuinely confused

"The buildings in the city are all walled. I suspect we will have to scale them to gain access to where the delegates are being held."

The younger Romulan nodded and Zorak went to work at the replicator console near the aft end of the shuttle. As he did so Brian looked over at Cassie who was checking the charge on her disruptor rifle ensuring that it would function when called for, and he did the same.

"So Archer, what exactly is your plan?" Zorak asked as he tapped commands into the replicator.

"We walk from here to the nearest entry point to the city. Given the defenses we saw from the air we will either have to enter covertly or bluff our way through a checkpoint. Once we are inside the city walls we will need to try and locate the delegates. I know from Federation records that there is a Tellarite here as well as a Ferengi. We should easily be able to scan for those life signs. Once located we will assault the building using a combination of stealth and surprise."

"It’s that simple eh human?" Zorak said with amusement

"I never said anything about simple Sub-Commander. If we are not as quick as we are lethal we risk being bogged down with needless firefights and we risk the lives of those we came here to rescue not to mention our own. Ideally this kind of operation would take days to plan, but we don't have that luxury. We have to be quick and dirty. We kill them before they kill us, and then we get the hell out."

Zorak was surprised to hear a human speak as this Archer did. Most humans he'd ever met were soft, fragile, preaching creatures that talked of peace and mutual cooperation. There was something different about this one, something that made Zorak believe that Archer was capable of being as deadly as he claimed they needed to be.

"And another thought," Archer said "We'll need explosives..."

"For what?" Zorak demanded

"You'll know when the time comes."

Nearly an hour later Zorak had succeeded in replicating everything Brian had requested though they'd had to work around the shuttle replicator's security codes to get it to replicate the explosives which were small timed detonators that were the equivalent of plastic explosives that were once used by ancient military units on Earth. As they gathered in front of the shuttle Brian and Zorak covered it with the patterned netting which was supposed to be resistant to sensors and would hide the shuttle from anyone visually looking from above. Each of the four assault team members had climbing gear in small bags worn on their backs and additionally Brian had the explosives in a pouch on his.

"Falcar, will you be alright with the shuttle?" When the helmsman responded with a nod Archer continued "Good, understand if you are discovered you will make for orbit where the Icarus can protect you and we'll have to find another way out. We have about six hours of darkness left, let's move."

Brian led the group through the darkened woods using the lights from the city as a guide along with the map he had memorized on the flight from the Icarus. They had been moving as silently as possible through the dense forest for nearly forty minutes when Brian saw an unnatural light ahead of them and held his arm out bent at a right angle with a closed fist to bring the group to a stop. He then made the universal signal for "gather round" and whispered to them.

"There's something up ahead, something that wasn't on the map."

"How do you know?" Voliskar asked

"Because I memorized the map," Brian hissed in return "I will take Cassie and check it out. You two wait here."

Zorak started to object, but Brian hushed him with a glare and the Romulan knew that this human was as serious as any soldier he'd ever met. Brian and Cassie left their two allies and crept quietly toward the source of the light. Using a tree and some brush for cover they came up on what looked like a temporary structure erected in the woods. It had no windows and might have been compared to a solid tent. It also sported what looked like a subspace array antenna as well as several other antennas on the roof.

"What do you think?" Cassie asked in a hushed voice

"Listening post?" Brian replied

Cassie nodded and Brian motioned for them to move forward. The pair moved deliberately toward the building doing their best not to make a sound. They moved along the side of the structure and as they approached the opening Brian saw it had no door. He peered cautiously around the side and could see in a dim light two Romulans facing the front wall with earpieces on as they tapped notes into consoles. Brian figured they were monitoring communications on either the planet, in orbit, or both. He pulled back and looked at Cassie who only nodded.

The two partners moved as quickly as they did silently and crept up behind the two Romulans. Neither man saw the blows coming as Brian and Cassie brought the stocks of their disruptor rifles crashing down on their foreheads causing the men to slump forward in their chairs. Brian then took a look at the equipment and the notes the men had been taking.

"Definitely a listening post." He said "looks like they were monitoring local communications."

"We better get back to our friends." Cassie replied

Brian nodded and they left the structure and returned finding Zorak and Voliskar where they had left them.

"Well?" Zorak asked

"It was a listening post, two men monitoring local communications." Brian said "It’s been neutralized."

"Why not just go around it?" Voliskar asked

"We don't have that kind of time, and we couldn't risk them detecting us. Now we've wasted fifteen minutes, let's move."

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A soft vibration alerted Sa'arvik to an incoming message to his sub-cutaneous comm unit embedded near his right ear. Pushing on the spot with his index finger, almost like he was scratching an itch, Sa'arvik listened to the report from a lieutenant, down three floors at the planetary surveillance room of the embassy. A listening post near the city had picked up erroneous sub-space fluctuations near them, and their report was suggesting, possibly, the presence of a cloaked ship. But they could not narrow down an exact location closer than twenty square kilometers. With a double tap on his comm piece, Sa'arvik acknowledged the communication then broke contact. Motioning toward the exit, Sa'arvik told his sub-commander to go to the surveillance room and take over there.

"Keep alert! And increase the sensitivity of the embassy detection grids. Get a sweep set up to scan for Human and Klingon life forms. If I know those Klingon idiots in system, they'll storm the city. Or fire on it from orbit, they're that primitive."

Once his functionary had left, Sa'arvik returned his attention to the other occupants of the room while withdrawing from under his tunic a elaborate leather shoulder holster; Which he began to strap on. Once the ambassadors attention was focused on his small task, he quietly withdrew the fist sized pistol from his tunic pocket and, making sure they could see it well, then placed it in the holster under his left arm pit. The look on the Ferengii ambassadors face confirmed Sa'arvik's intention that the people present knew exactly what his weapon was, and what it's implied threat entailed. Even a suicidal psychopath shied away from facing death from a Varon-T disruptor. Taking the Human ambassador's chair, Sa'arvik motioned for the rest to be seated opposite him and, with a small grin posed a quick question.

"Gentlemen, if you could indulge me a moment, I would like to know ... where is the refreshments? We have a bit of a wait upon us, so we may as well be sociable, hey?"

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Less than two kilometers away from the combined five members of the Icarus and the Blackwing, a pack of three predatory Khii smilodons were now carefully tracking and stalking the unsuspecting rescue team through the densely forested wooded area. These large and powerful “saber-tooth” feline-like animals with long swishing tails each had powerful legs, a muscular neck and were robustly built. These particular predators were approximately 700 pounds in weight with two large canine teeth measuring roughly eleven inches long within a body nine feet in length. They were not built for speed, but were certainly feared for their lethalness.

The predators were now utilizing their acute sense of night vision and hearing to hone in on their prey as they maneuvered their way among the trees and shrubbery with silent skill toward the path of their intended victims. They were intelligent hunters and coordinated their attack with precision and relative agility for their massive physiques. Unless detected early enough, most prey couldn’t survive much beyond their initial attack in which each smilodon would swiftly wrestle their prey to the ground whereupon their long canines could deliver a deep stabbing bite to the throat which would generally cut through the jugular vein and/or the trachea and thus kill the prey very quickly. They were now less than 500 meters from the away team and closing in relatively fast.

As the strike team moved through the woods Archer began to get a feeling, a feeling that he'd had before and one that had saved his life on more than one occasion. Then the hair on the back of his neck stood straight up and Brian halted the team again and gave the signal for get down! That is when the first animal chose to strike. The creature snarled and leapt straight at Archer who brought his disruptor rifle up to block just in time and the feline creature knocked him to the ground and made to sink its fangs into Brian's jugular.

Cassie strider started to bring her rifle up to fire and saw the second animal move out of the corner of her eyes. She dove to one side and rolled coming up into a firing position but the animal was too quick and soon she was on her back as well with only her disruptor rifle between her and the snarling predator. The third animal struck and broadsided Voliskar, the younger of the two Romulans sending him tumbling to the ground and his disruptor clattering into the brush.

Zorak was the only member of the team without an animal attacking him and he knew that firing his disruptor could bring more unwanted attention their way. Instead the veteran Romulan soldier drew his kaleh or dagger from its place on his hip. Instinctivly he went to his fellow Romulan first who was attempting to fight off the large animal with his arms legs and was losing. Zorak charged and dove at the feline sinking the the kaleh into the animal's flank. He pushed hard and twisted the partially serrated blade. The animal roared in pain, and thrashed violently, but Zorak held on to the hilt of the blade drew it out and thrust it in again.

As Zorak rescued Voliskar Brian Archer fought for his life. The animal was stronger, but this was not the first time Brian had engaged a stronger opponent. With the animal on top of him and his disruptor rifle the only thing holding back its deadly fangs only Brian's legs and feet could help him. Keeping his mind calm Brian brought his knees up with all the strength he could muster into the soft underbelly of the creature which roared in pain. Brian then pushed hard on the disruptor rifle and the creature tumbled off but was back on its feet quickly and bared its fangs at Archer who was still on the ground. The animal charged again and Brian reached for the disruptor pistol on his hip and as the feline leapt at him again Brian fired point blank into its neck sending it sprawling. Brian didn't know if the animal was dead and he didn't care.

"Archer!" Cassie said trying not to yell.

Cassie was strong, but not as strong as Archer and unable to push the animal attacking her away. It snarled and growled and was pushing down hard on the disruptor rifle with its paws. Cassie knew her arms were giving way and if that happened the creature would kill her. Seeing his friend's predicament Brian ran toward Cassie and kicked the animal hard in its flank and it flew off of Cassie rolled a couple of times and came up on its feet. Then it looked around as if assessing its situation before bounding off into the woods. Brian pulled Cassie to her feet.

"Are you alright?"

"Couple of scratches, you?"

"Okay I think."

"Voliskar is injured," Zorak said coming up to the pair.

Brian looked to where the injured Romulan lay and saw the big cat laying dead next to him.

"How bad?" he asked Zorak

The Romulan didn't respond only quietly shook his head indicating he didn't think the younger Romulan would make it. Brian drew his disruptor pistol and Zorak held up a hand.

"No, I will do it."

Zorak took the pistol from Archer and walked over to where Voliskar lay. He pressed the pistol to the younger man's chest and said several phrases in his native language commending his spirit to Vorta Vor before firing the weapon into the wounded man's chest.

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Sa'arvik continued prodding the four ambassadors with seemingly aimless talk, but his real goal was to establish the identity of the Romulan across the table from him. It bothered him that the man resolutely refused to identify himself, which was particularly rare for a Romulan. The other three of course, seemed to defer to the Romulan and also avoided giving away the Llairhi's name.

Although perplexing, Sa'arvik decided that he would perhaps have to force cooperation along a more not-so-subtle means, and because his mission did not require all the hostages, perhaps a demonstration was in order. Getting up from his chair, and lifting his glass of Romulan ale, he saluted the seated ambassador's and finished the contents in a flourish. Turning the glass upside down, he placed it carefully in front of the Romulan ambassador's untouched drink, looking him directly in the eye.

"Ke'rhin, you leave me with little room to maneuver. Ssaer? What do you gain with anonymity?"

With speed and agility uncommon in most Rihanh, Sa'arvik rapidly drew the Varon-T disruptor and shot the Tellarite Ambassador. The barely formed spread of alarm on the Tellarite's face was swiftly changed into one of excruciating pain and horror as his body was consumed from the chest out. His arms did not even have time to fall away from his torso as they were consumed and the rest of him disintegrated within seconds. A barely audible scream seemed to linger in the air, and Sa'arvik intentionally ignored it, searching the faces of the remaining three for any sign's of weakness or other hint of a change of demeanor indicative of a change of mind toward the Romulan's identity.

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It took several minutes for the assault team to strip Voliskar's body of the equipment he had been carrying and divide it among the three of them and then hide the remains. The now three man team of Archer, Strider, and Zorak closed on the walled capital city of Khii Brian once more brought them to a halt. Ahead of him he could make out the entrance checkpoint and knew that there was likely a patrol somewhere near by as well. Hopefully their struggle with the feline like predators in the woods hadn't drawn any unwanted attention.

"Checkpoint ahead," Brian whispered to Cassie and Zorak who nodded

"There is likely to be a patrol near by. We should attempt to ambush them and gain access to the city using their credentials." he said

"A good idea, but the chances of there being a woman among them are slim," Cassie said softly

"True," Zorak replied, "but perhaps Commander Archer and I could gain control of the checkpoint and then we can access the city that way."

Brian thought for a moment, the walls around the city were nearly fifteen feet high so scaling them, even in a darkened area was probably not going to happen. The way he saw it they had two choices, ambush the local patrol, or try to bluff their way into the city some other way. This was a crucial point in their mission as any firefight here would make getting to the hostages much more difficult.

"Zorak," Brian finally said "Think you can strike fear into common soldiers?"

"I am a common soldier Archer," Zorak replied "What is your plan?"

"I think our best bet is to bluff our way past the guards. You can act as the high ranking leader of an inspection team checking the city's out lying defenses while Lieutenant Strider and I will act as your personal protection. If they don't agree to let us in then you can improvise."

Zorak nodded seeing what Brian was insinuating "Very well, we will try it, but if the guards question us too much we will have to kill them."

"Its not killing them that worries me" Archer replied "it's more who's watching them that would concern me."

Just as they were getting ready to emerge from the woods Brian heard the unmistakable sound of a fighter in the air

"Get down!" he hissed with urgency

All three team members flattened themselves against the ground as a Scorpion fighter screamed overhead.

"Air patrol," Zorak whispered "Whoever is behind this is paranoid."

"Well," Brian replied "Let's give him good reason to be."

Zorak nodded and the trio exited the woods forming a phalanx formation with Zorak in the lead while Brian and Cassie flanked him on either side with their disruptor rifles held at an angle across their chests. They approached the city check point from an angle which made it appear as if they had come from the far side of the city. As they came to the entrance Brian noted that there were two men guarding the checkpoint and that they were not officers which was what he had hoped for. One of them stepped forward and stopped the group as they approached.

"Halt, Identify yourselves."

"I am Commander Zorak, and these are my escorts. I was conducting an official inspection of the city defenses and I am returning to report to my superior."

The guard looked at his companion who shook his head slightly indicating he didn't know what Zorak was talking about.

"We weren't told about any inspection," the guard said "I will have to contact the duty officer."

"What?!!" Zorak roared "You dare question me? I will have you sent to the Reman mines for this!!"

Brian had to try hard not to smile at Zorak's performance, he could see the fear on both guards faces

"I-I-I'm sorry Commander," the guard stammered "You and your party may pass."

Zorak smiled all hint of rage gone from his face "Thank you."

With that he gestured to Brian and Cassie and they walked past the checkpoint and into the massive city. Once they were out of ear shot again Brian stopped them.

"Good work Zorak, though I won't expect your performance to go unnoticed. Still I bet it will be morning before anyone who cares hears about it and hopefully by then we will be on our way back to the Icarus."

"Indeed," Zorak said "that was almost...fun."

Brian smiled again "C'mon we still have to get to the embassy building, then the fun begins."

Glancing around from the inside of Kalabam now, the trio inconspicuously noted with the pale light available during this evening hour, that the layout and construction of this entire city seemed to be a conglomeration of an old military approach; noting its perimeter laboriously surrounded by large, tall walls of thick stone-like masonry, blending old and new barriers like that of a medieval castle guarding an ancient kingdom against a powerful force of physical invasions, while also employing new techniques in terms of offensive and defensive capabilities and technology. With fortified guard towers and artillery platforms spread throughout the region, it would appear that they were prepared to defend themselves against blows of the ram or the slow labor of the pick as well as transporters, phasers, phase cannons and an assortment of other contemporary devices.

Fortunately, the team of Archer, Strider and Zorak were able to readily bypass the initial phase of obstacles using their wit and bravado to gain entrance into the capital city rather than brawn. Yet they were far from accomplishing their overall objective as they headed toward their destination of the guarded captives.

Archer allowed Zorak to lead the team as they kept up the ruse of being a high ranking Romulan officer and his escorts. Being the middle of the night on the planet made things easier on the assault team as the few natives that were out stayed well clear of the group of Romulans and the common Romulan soldiers made no move to question three officers. Cautiously they approached the cluster of buildings near the center of the city that Archer had identified from the air in their brief overflight of the city. They found a darkened alley near what looked like a shop and Archer held a pow-wow.

"I'm going to scout the outskirts of the area, we need to know more about what we're up against."

Zorak nodded "A calculated risk, do not get caught Archer."

"Never happened before," Brian replied "Do you have any scanning gear on you?"

Zorak nodded and produced a device slightly larger than a Starfleet tricorder "It is similar to your tricorder."

"Good, I want you to look for Ferengi, Human, or Tellarite lifesigns. That will allow us to pinpoint where they're being held. Now, stay out of sight and I'll be back."

Brian slipped away into the darkness and quickly approached the walled cluster of buildings. The walls were shorter than the walls of the city, and Brian felt confident that he and his team could scale them with little to no trouble. He inched along the wall until he came to a corner where he could hear voices. He flattened himself against the wall as two Romulan soldiers walked by talking. They had to be a street patrol, and Brian hoped they wouldn't be back his way any time soon. He rounded the corner and darted across the street from the compound.

Using the buildings across the street for cover Brian reconned the area making note of guard positions, patrols, and defenses. He could see turrets around the main entrance and anti-air turrets on the roofs of the buildings in the compound. They would have to do something about those turrets if Falcar was going to be able to pick them up. Knowing that he'd seen all he could see from where he was and discarding the thought of scaling the wall for a quick recon of the courtyard Brian returned to Cassie and Zorak.

"What did you find Archer?" Zorak asked as Brian came up to them

"They're ready for a fight. Plenty of guards, turrets and patrols. Anti-air weapons too. Any luck with the scanner?"

"It has limited range, but I believe I pinpointed Ferengi lifesigns in the center building of the compound. We'll have to get closer if you want something more exact."

"Understood, let's go."

The trio moved in silence along the building fronts of the city until they came to the same wall Brian had encountered earlier. When they did he motioned for Cassie to cover him and he dug two of his five explosive devices out of his pack.

"What are you doing?" Zorak hissed

"Creating a distraction."

Brian primed the two devices and set one in the side of the wall and the other at the corner where he had initially seen the patrol. Then the trio moved quickly across the open street and used the same buildings Brian had used as cover during his reconnoiter. They moved toward the opposite side of the compound and came up to the other wall, and attached their climbing equipment. As they prepared to scale the wall the two explosives detonated blowing gaping holes in the wall of the compound and sending small fireballs into the night sky.

Zorak was the first to hit the ground on the other side of the wall, with Brian close behind and Cassie bringing up the rear. As her feet hit the ground a disruptor bolt flew past where her head had been moments before and impacted the wall behind her.

"Sniper!" Brian exclaimed without attempting to be too loud though with the fires on the other side of the compound it really didn't matter as the attention of most of the guards was over there.

"Keep moving!" he hissed and the team moved along the edge of the wall. They had gone less than fifteen yards and another shot kicked up dirt in front of Brian's boots. This time Brian followed the angle on the shot and let loose three return shots toward the roof of the building where he knew the sniper had taken up residence. He didn't really expect to hit anything, but it would keep the sniper's head down and give the three would-be rescuers time to move out of the man's line of sight. They moved along the wall using the shadows as best the could to hide themselves until they drew alongside the main building. Once they were clear of the sniper they dropped to one knee and Brian looked Zorak.

"Can you scan for those life signs now? We need to know where we're going."

Zorak nodded and pulled out his scanner and looked at it for a few moments.

"Here," he said showing Archer a basic layout of the building "There is a Ferengi life sign in this room on the main floor. There are also several Romulan life signs, it looks like multiple patrols in the corridors. I think we're going to have to shoot our way in Archer."

Brian shook his head "If we do that whoever is in there will kill the hostages, and if that sniper has a comlink they'll be looking for us."

"Well the ruse I used to get us in the city won't work."

"I know that," Brian countered "give me a minute to think."

Brian closed his eyes, he knew they couldn't go in the front door but he also knew there had to be more than one way into the building. Somewhere there had to be a back door, servant's entrance, maintenance hatch or something along those lines. It was most likely to be to the rear of the building or possibly somewhere along one of the sides.

"How detailed are your scans Zorak? Can you give me something beyond the basic layout?"

"Not much Archer, even this close. Much as I hate to admit it our data gathering devices are years behind the Federation's."

"Show me what you can."

Zorak brought up the building layout on his scanner and offered it to Archer who looked at it for a moment.

"overlay the life signs you picked up earlier."

Zorak punched a couple of commands and handed the device back to Archer.

"Here," Brian said pointing to what appeared to be the rear of the building. Most of the guards are focused on the front door, and the room where the hostages are. This are back here is less guarded if we-"

"Stop right there, don't move." interrupted a new voice

Brian looked up from the scanner and saw two guards, a patrol obviously, point disruptors at them. They stepped closer and the guard got a confused look on his face.

"Wait, you are Romulan. Command said to be looking for humans or Klingons."

"Well do I look human or Klingon you fool?" Brian responded growling.

"No, but you do not look like you belong here either. I'm calling this in."

The guard started to pull out a communicator and two shots fired from the weapons of Strider, and Zorak hit both men dropping them where they stood.

"Let's go," Brian said without any expression "each shot we fire narrows our window."

Brian handed one guard's disruptor pistol to Cassie, and the other to Zorak and then he took the first guard's communicator. They might be able to use it to monitor enemy communications. Then with a wave of his hand the team moved off toward the rear of the building.

As they rounded the corner Brian assessed the situation; there were three turrets pointing toward what must be the rear entrance to the compound and spotlights trained on the back gate where Brian could see two guards. Everything in the rear of the building was based on an attack coming from without. No one was worried about someone that was already in the compound. Brian also calculated that this was likely to be their easiest way out though they would have to disable those turrets for Falcar to be able to pick them up. He stopped for a minute and turned to his comrades

"Okay, let's try to look like we belong here. Carry your weapons naturally, not like you're looking for a fight. Zorak, take the lead again until we get inside."

Zorak nodded and they started out again with the only true Romulan of the group leading them. They stayed close to the building and to Brian it seemed they had taken out what must have been the only patrol for this part of the compound. He also realized that could be a problem, and his thoughts were confirmed a moment later when the com-link he had taken came to life.

The person on the other end spoke in Romulan and Archer looked at Zorak.

"I'm a little rusty, what did they say?"

"They are asking for a status report, the patrol is late reporting in."

Archer handed the device to him "Tell them all clear, and make up an excuse why you were late."

Zorak nodded and spoke in Romulan into the com-link. From what Brian could discern Zorak was telling whomever was on the other side that he was distracted by the explosions and had forgotten to make his report. After a second the conversation was ended.

"What did they say?" Archer asked

"They said if I missed another report I'd be executed."

"Sounds like a pleasant group of people," Cassie remarked

"Let's keep moving."

They kept moving until they came to what Archer had anticipated, a secondary entrance to the building. Archer stepped forward and to his surprise the door opened..he suspected that whomever was in charge hadn't had time to set up proper security and coded locks, but simply had just put as many troops on the ground as he could to try and keep out any frontal assault. With a wave of his hand Brian motioned to Cassie and Zorak and they stepped inside with the door closing behind them.

Now that they were inside Brian stopped to think again. They needed another distraction, but explosives were out of the question, at least at this point. He pulled out the com-link they'd taken from the patrol and handed it to Zorak.

"We need another distraction, I want you to call in a request for backup. Tell them you're pinned down by a force of Klingons."

Zorak nodded, activated the com-link and spoke urgently in Romulan, his voice getting more frantic with each word and then he killed the signal. The group listened as an authoritative voice yelled over the channel giving orders. When the voice stopped speaking Archer looked at Zorak inquisitivly

"They are ordering three full squads to the area I gave them."

"Okay, its time to go then."

Brian moved quickly to down the corridor they were in toward the where they knew the main room to be. Zorak stayed close behind him with Cassie keeping an eye on their rear. As they neared the end of the hall Archer stopped and touched the sub-dermal transmitter implanted in his neck.

"Archer to Falcar," he said quietly "Get the shuttled warmed up and be ready to home in on my transmit coordinates."

Brian didn't wait for a reply he rounded the corner and saw Romulan soldiers running toward the front of the building leaving the corridor nearly empty. He started forward again at an easy jog to give the impression he was going the same play they all were. He stopped in front of a door that opened in front of him to an empty room that had a desk and several hastily set up decorations giving it the impression of an improvised office.

"Zorak, your scanner,"

The Romulan nodded and pulled out the device again, looked at it for a minute and then spoke

"They are just ahead of us, three rooms down the hall. Expect guards outside and more within."

Brian nodded and motioned with is hand. They exited the office and nearly collided with a soldier.

"Pay attention to where you are going!" The man growled and continued on clearly more concerned with the alleged threat than with the three would-be rescuers.

Brian led them forward again until they could visibly see the two armed guards outside the door. Brian could also see a three man checkpoint beyond the room near the end of the corridor. Brian's group approached the door and the guards stopped them.

"Stop, no one goes in, Commander's orders."

"I was summoned," Brian said authoritatively

The guard shook his head "If you want to keep your life, keep moving."

Brian acted like he was going to move and then suddenly turned and fired a round house kick at the closest guards jaw. The Blow knocked the man backward into the door and as the other guard started to react Zorak brought the butt of his disruptor rifle up and struck the other guard across the face. Unfortunately the fight had drawn the attention of the guards at the checkpoint who Archer saw were now running in their direction. He brought his disruptor rifle up and fired at the lead guard. There was virtually no cover in the corridor and Archer's shot was precise dropping the Romulan as his comrades stopped running and started firing. Cassie joined firing her rifle at the remaining guards and Brian turned to Zorak.

"Zorak, the door!"

The Romulan nodded and went to work on the door control panel as Cassie continued to fire her rifle Brian took the smallest of his three remaining explosives and primed the charge as Cassie's changed her firing from providing covering fire to now attempting to pick off the two guards who were now using doorways for cover. As one of the two guards dropped two more men came running around the corner.

"More company!" Cassie yelled over the fire

"Zorak?" Archer questioned

"Almost....got it!" he exclaimed and as the door began to open Archer tossed the explosive charge in the direction of the guards.

Then he turned and entered the door with Cassie and Zorak behind him their disruptor rifles up. As Brian entered he caught movement out of the corner of his eye, turned and fired two shots which caught a Romulan guard in the chest and sent him sprawling to the floor. Cassie opened fire next and two more men brought weapons to bare on the trio. Archer heard Zorak begin to fire as he turned his attention to the center of the room and the group of hostages on the floor. Behind a large ornate desk sat a single Romulan who appeared to be somewhat distracted by something on the viewer in front of him. On the desk was a weapon that Archer instantly recognized as a banned Varon-T disruptor and another group of hostages consisting of a Ferengi and an older Romulan sat much nearer to the Romulan by the desk. As Archer's team entered and cleared the interior guards the Romulan behind the desk reached for the disruptor.

"Don't!" Brian yelled leveling his disruptor rifle at the man's head. "Move another inch and I'll vaporize you."

The Romulan smiled at Archer, but it was not an amused smile, it was an evil one. Still he did not continue to reach for the disruptor either.

"So, you are the one causing me all of these problems." he said calmly "and who sent you? That fool Terrah? or perhaps you are Tal Shiar?"

"Guess again," Archer replied

"But wait," the Romulan said "your voice, no you are not Romulan at all are you?"

"Getting warmer," Brian said "Commander Brian Archer, USS Icarus."

The Romulan clapped his hands, "Very well done human. Your genetic modifications even fooled me. I am impressed."

"I'll give your regards to the surgeon," Archer replied with a scowl "Now get up, you're under arrest."

The Romulan laughed and Archer had to fight his better judgement to shoot the bastard where he sat.

"No, I don't think so. My troops will be here any moment, and your little rescue mission will be over. You won't leave this planet alive and your precious peace conference will never see the light of day."

Just then the explosive Brian had tossed toward the firing guards went off, the entire room shook, and now it was Archer's turn to smile.

"No, I don't think your troops will be arriving any time soon. Now identify yourself,"

Even in such a precarious situation the Romulan maintained his sadistic smile "Very well Archer, one good turn deserves another. I am Sa'arvik, and now you know the name of the man who will kill you."

Zorak spoke up, "I know this man Archer, he is a traitor to the Romulan people, and a criminal!"

"Such harsh words," Sa'arvik said

"We should shoot him Archer," Zorak said "he cannot be allowed to leave here alive."

Brian knew that Zorak couldn't read his mind, but he was beginning to think the same thing. Having to drag Sa'arvik's inert form with them would slow them down significantly and Falcar was unlikely to be able to land the shuttle anywhere near the compound without taking a large amount of fire. After struggling internally for a long moment Archer resigned himself to what he knew was right. He dialed back the setting on his disruptor rifle to a heavy stun.

"Against my better judgement, you are coming with us." he said to Sa'arvik

The Romulan said nothing but lunged for the disruptor on his desk, and Archer fired twice with the disruptor rifle with the second shot catching Sa'arvik in the shoulder and throwing him backwards. The assault team moved forward and Sa'arvik landed on the floor behind the desk. Archer came around the desk with his rifle leveled at the man who was trying in vain to reach the desk to pull himself back up. Brian didn't hesitate to fire again and hit the disabled man in the chest putting him out cold.

"Zorak, get the Varon-T. We can't leave it behind." he ordered

Zorak nodded and picked up the weapon tucking it into his belt.

"Thank you Commander Archer." came a voice from behind Brian

He turned to see the older Romulan standing and helping the Ferengi off the floor.

"It's not over yet," Brian said "We still have to get out of here. You are the Romulan ambassador?"

"I am part of the Romulan delegation yes. I am S'Lartus,"

"Admiral S'Lartus?" Zorak said recognizing the name

"I have not been Admiral S'Lartus for some years Sub-Commander."

"I hate to break up the party," Cassie said interjecting "but we need to go. Now."

"Lieutenant Strider is right," Brian said "It's time for us to leave."

"I couldn't agree more," one of the other men, a human, said urgently

Just then the door opened and three soldiers burst in. Brian brought his rifle up quickly and fired before the men could orient themselves. He was joined immediately by Zorak and Strider and the soldiers were down as quickly as they had come in.

"What about him?" Zorak asked pointing at Sa'arvik

"It would have been much easier if he hadn't tried to shoot me," Archer said with a frown "he stays here, we go."

Cassie Strider raised an eyebrow at her old friend "won't he just wake up and call for pickup?"

Brian pulled another explosive out of his backpack "I doubt it." he said grimly

"You can't do that" the human man said "As a Federation Ambassador I order-"

"You order?" Archer said cutting him off "I don't answer to you." Brian said frankly "this is my mission, and I give the orders." Then he looked at Cassie "We do what must be done."

It was the creedo of Section 31, their former employer, and only Cassie understood the significance of the words. She knew that Brian didn't want to leave Sa'arvik behind, he would rather take the Romulan prisoner, but carrying the inert man would only slow them down.

"Let's go," Archer said as he set the timer on the explosive and fixed it to the desk.

Archer raised his disruptor rifle and with Zorak beside him and Cassie behind the hostages the group made their way out into the corridor. Archer swept the hall in front of them and found no targets. He suspected the guard force was in chaos from his earlier antics, but even as he had that thought a squad of soldiers came barreling around the corner that led to the rear entrance the rescue team had used to infiltrate the building. Seeing the rescue party the soldiers immediately raised their weapons and opened fire spraying disruptor bolts toward them. Brian and Zorak returned fire immediately with their first shots going high over the oncoming soldiers. Both men adjusted their aim and their next shots were true taking down two of the men. The three remaining soldiers kept firing, but their shots were wild and uncontrolled. For Brian and the seasoned Romulan next to him that was not the case. They chose their shots carefully, and slowed their breathing to help steady their aim. In a couple minutes they had eliminated the remaining squad members and Brian looked over his party as they pulled themselves off the ground. Seeing they were okay Archer activated his transmitter again.

"Archer to Falcar, we have the hostages and are heading for the rear of diplomatic compound. The shuttle's sensors should be able to trace this transmission back to me. They have anti-air cannons so be careful, Archer out."

"Commander Archer," S'Lartus said "There is another complication."

"We don't have time for complications, what is it?"

"There are two other Romulans, additional delegates that hid themselves when these traitors invaded. We must get them out as well, they are integral to the peace negotiations."

Brian couldn't believe his ears, his mind was already going warp nine trying to figure out how to get everyone out alive, and now they had two additional men to rescue. He didn't like it, but he knew he couldn't leave the other two men behind.

"Where are they?"

"Just ahead of us, the door on the right side of the corridor."

Archer nodded and led the group forward again until they got to the door that S'Lartus had indicated.

"Cassie, Zorak, cover us," Brian ordered "and them." he said indicating the hostages "Ambassador, if you would?"

S'Lartus nodded and stepped up to the door. He entered the appropriate pass keys and the door parted. Brian went in ahead of the Ambassador with his rifle ready. As he entered he saw two men, one younger Romulan and one at least as old as S'Lartus who just happened to be pointing a disruptor pistol at him.

"Drop it or I will send you back to Sela in a box." the older Romulan growled

"Put it down Ruwon" S'Lartus said coming in behind Archer.

"S'Lartus, I believed you were dead."

"And I might have been if it wasn't for Commander Archer here."

Ruwon's expression changed confused for a moment, but then he realized what was going on "Archer, that is a human name. You are not Romulan!"

"No," Brian admitted "the subterfuge was necessary. I am Commander Brian Archer of the USS Icarus."

"Starfleet," the older man practically spat the word "I gather you are responsible for all of the explosions?"

Archer nodded and Ruwon scowled at him "go back to your ship human, but leave me here."

"I can't do that," Brian countered "My mission was to rescue all of the hostages."

"You Starfleet officers are all the same, running around in your starships and interfering as you see fit. Your very presence here alone is despicable."

Brian did not understand the Romulan's attitude, and frankly he didn't have time for it. The security chief was getting more and more irritated with the man the longer he spoke with him.

"In fact," Ruwon continued "I would rather stay here than follow you anywhere human."

Archer had had enough "Fine," he said "stay here, I don't care. If you want to die who am I to stop you."

Brian lowered turned on his heel and was inches from the door when Ruwon spoke again "wait Archer."

"What?" Brian said with a scowl

"very well, I will come with you. I presume your starship has better accomidations than this."

Brian didn't respond, he walked through the door, but under his breath he said "not if I throw you in my brig."

With Archer in the lead they turned the corner into the rear corridor of the building and they were instantly met with disruptor fire from more soldiers. Brian and Zorak again returned fire this time withe Cassie joining them as this squad was larger than the last one. This group of Romulans were much more precise than the last few groups the rescue team had fought and Brian figured they were some of the elite of Sa'arvik's troops. The firefight was lasting longer than Brian wanted it to. He didn't know where Falcar was, but he presumed the crack pilot must be close by now. Just then one of the shots from the Romulans struck Ruwon in the arm and the aged Romulan dropped like a stone.

"Cover me!" Archer yelled to Cassie who nodded and Brian dropped to one knee to check on Ruwon

"Get your hands off me human!" Ruwon snapped and Brian smiled

"Nice to see the wouldn't hasn't changed your attitude, now get up."

As Ruwon pulled himself up Brian pulled a disruptor pistol from his belt. This weapon has been Volsikar's, and Brian thought it was time the weapon got some revenge for its former master. He dialed up the setting on the disruptor, and fiddled with the controls on it and shortly the weapon began to hum. Brian stood up and hurled the weapon toward the Romulan commandoes

"Get down!" he yelled at his party.

As he did the disruptor pistol exploded killing the commandos immediately in its area and either maiming or knocking unconscious the remaining men. Archer looked at his group as he pulled himself off the steel floor of the building and Ruwon scowled at him

"Are you insane Archer?! Are you trying to get us all killed?"

"No," Brian responded "but in your case I may make an exception."

The two men glared at each other for a second before Archer turned back toward the corridor and motioned for the group to move. As they did Brian quickened his pace but they encountered no further resistance until they exited into the courtyard at the rear of the building. Then, all hell broke loose.
The explosive Archer had placed in Sa'arvik's office went off and the entire building shook under the shock from the explosion. The attention of the in the courtyard was instantly drawn toward the door and seeing the hostages escaping the soldiers immediately opened fire. There were enough guards there that the rescue team was quickly pinned down behind what Archer believed had once been a statue of some sort. It provided precious little cover for the, and Brian knew they didn't have long before they would be surrounded. He fired off more shots from his disruptor rifle and activated his sub-dermal implant

"Archer to S'Talon, Falcar I don't know where you are, but we're running out of time!"

A shot from one of the Romulans hit what remained of the stone statue and sent chunks of it flying. One of the pieced hit Ruwon's companion, whose name Archer hadn't even bothered to get, and the man fell instantly unconscious. Brian followed the source of the shot and picked the soldier off with a well placed flurry of disruptor bolts. Brian keyed the transmitter again.

"Archer to Icarus, I don't know if you can hear me Captain, but we are pinned down outside the embassy and need immediate extraction!"

No reply came, and Brian fired his rifle again but the soldier he downed was replaced by another one.

"I'm out!" Cassie yelled indicating that the power pack on her rifle had run dry. She tossed the weapon aside and drew her pistol to continue providing what fire she could.

"Empty!" Zorak called as his own power cell ran dry and Brian knew it was not just a matter of time. He fired his weapon again and then reached for his last remaining explosive. He primed the charge and lobbed it like a grenade toward the soldiers, but the bomb bounced harmless away without exploding and Brian cursed out loud. The weapon was a dud. Three more shots and Brian's own rifle quit firing as well, and he switched seemlessly to his pistol as the Romulan soldiers began to sense their victory was near. They began advancing slowly on the statue knowing they had their quarry in hand.

Suddenly Brian heard the distinct sound of a ship's engines and the S'Talon swooped into view from behind one of the other city buildings. The Romulan craft popped into a hover above the hostages and the ship's disruptor cannon spat deadly fire toward the Romulan soldiers sending them scattering. Continuing to fire the cannon the S'Talon lowered down toward its target and hovered inches above the ground as the loading hatch went down.
Seeing the hatch Archer pulled Cassie back.

"Get them to the shuttle!" he yelled and she nodded in ackowledgment.

Brian took his pistol as Cassie began to lead the hostages to the S'Talon and he and Zorak began firing at some of the Romulans who were attempting to put up a counter attack after the devastation the shuttle had wrought. Cassie strider loaded the Ferengi ambassador practically tossing him onto the shuttle, and then helped the man from the Federation aboard. As she was turning to S'Lartus she could see the guards trying to turn one of the courtyard turrets on the shuttle.

"Archer!" she screamed "turret!!"

Brian heard Cassie scream and looked toward the turret but it was too late. The gun fired and impacted against the S'Talon knocking the shuttle out of position. Falcar recovered from the sudden jolt and quickly corrected the shuttle's position before firing her cannons again and devastating the gun and her crew. Outside Cassie helped S'Lartus aboard and grabbed Ruwon who shrugged her away pointing at the downed Romuland.

"Not without him!"

"Brian!" Cassie yelled again and pointed at the unconscious man who was the last of the hostages remaining.

Archer nodded at Cassie and tapped Zorak on the shoulder as he fired another shot. The Romulan looked to Brian who pointed at the down man and Zorak nodded. The two men holstered their weapons and lifted the unconscious man between them as they headed for the shuttle. Cassie ran toward them and helped them pull the man to the S'Talon loading him aboard with S'Lartus help from the inside. Then Cassie hopped aboard with Zorak next and finally Archer as he fired a parting shot at the Romulan reinforcements that were starting to come around from the other side of the building. The hatch of the S'Talon was coming up as Archer sat down next to Falcar.

"Nice timing Mister Falcar."

"Thank you Commander." the wry helmsman replied

The hatch closed and the S'Talon fired another volley from its cannon and rose skyward as fast as its engines could carry it. As they began to enter the upper atmosphere the ship's proximity alarm blared.

"What is it?" Brian asked Falcar

"A problem, fighters, closing fast."

Brian shook his head at the latest of issues in this mission and yelled at Zorak "open a communications channel!"

"Open Archer" he replied.

(( Scene continued in Chapter 9: Part 2B ))