by Qow'Hoch sutai-Kurkura < [email protected] >

Captain Kannar continued to stare at the viewscreen which held the image of the captured Ferengi freighter, as it drifted, no lifeless, close to the IKV Deathstalker. It was a mystery as to why the freighter had been waiting in the portion of Klingon space, especially since they were so close to the Neutral Zone, and Kannar did not like mysteries. Unfortunately, the entire Ferengi crew of six had died during the 'questioning' by the Klingons, so they were no closer to knowing what the little rodents had been up to now, than they were when they first happened upon the freighter, just over an hour ago.

Kannar slapped his com badge. "K'mach! What progress on the repairs?"

The voice of his engineer came back to him. "My lord, we are not quite finished."

"How much longer?" Kannar growled. Their cloaking device was not functioning and that was something he wanted working properly, this close to the Neutral Zone.

There was a pause, then K'mach said, "Another two hours, my lord."

"You have half that time!" he barked and cut the connection.

"Captain," Commander Komahl called out. "Sensors have picked up a localized subspace disturbance aft of our position."

Kannar whirled toward the tactical station. A subspace disturbance could indicate a ship coming out of warp. Since the sensors had not picked up any ship movement, that would mean that whatever might be out there was cloaked and in this section of space, the chances were better than 50/50 that any cloaked ship would be Romulan.

"Shields! Weapons!" Kannar snapped, automatically falling into battle language as he moved to the command chair and sat down facing the forward viewscreen. A klaxon sounded throughout the ship, to alert any officers not on duty to report to their respective stations. Kannar felt, rather than heard, the high pitched hum as the ship's shields went up around the Deathstalker.

"Weapons armed. Shields at full strength," Komahl reported quickly.

Kannar nodded, a grim smile on his face at the thought of an upcoming battle.

"War Bird decloaking off the starboard beam," Komahl announced. "Their weapons are armed and locked onto us."

A Romulan ship wavered into view and Kannar leaned forward in his command chair, fists clenched in anticipation. "Bring us around! Target weapons and fire!" he ordered, even as the Deathstalker was rocked as the War Bird let loose a salvo of disruptor fire. Kannar then watched in amazement as the Romulan ship shimmered out of existence, just before his own ship's weapons came on target and fired. The bolts of fire from the Deathstalker disappeared into empty space.

"Status!" Kannar shouted, slamming his fist down on the arm of the command chair, but not taking his eyes off the viewscreen.

"Shields holding," came back the report. "Two hits, starboard and forward shields. No damage."

"What are those targmey up to?" Kannar wondered.

"War Bird decloaking, aft!" Komahl shouted.

"Fire!" Kannar ordered. Both ships fired simultaneously and both scored direct hits. The Deathstalker was rocked once again, but gave as good as it got. The War Bird, not expecting such concentrated fire from the stern of the older Klingon destroyer, veered off and threw her cloak back up, but she took two more hits to her port side before vanishing completely. The Romulans were no doubt surprised to find this Bird of Prey had such sharp claws.

"Status," Kannar asked, again.

"Aft shields at 98%. Holding. Minimal damage from attack."

"Maj," Kannar said quietly, his eyes still on the viewscreen, then said to tactical, "Try to maintain a sensor lock on that ion trail, so we know where our prey might pop up next time."

"My lord, sensors are showing two distinct ion trails in the area."

"What?" Kannar bellowed, coming up out of his chair and whirling toward the tactical station. "Explain!"

"It can only mean that there are two War Birds attacking us, my lord."

"Evasive! Full impulse," Kannar ordered and the helm responded immediately with a pre-set series of evasive maneuvers. He watched as the stars whipped past the viewscreen at an odd angle as the ship banked sharply to starboard, then dropped and rolled to port. The Deathstalker was smaller, faster and more maneuverable than the ungainly, though more powerful War Birds, so Kannar knew that he had a few moments to think before the enemy ships would be a threat once again.

"What are they playing at?' he wondered aloud.

"May I make a suggestion, my lord?" asked K'lor. Kannar merely nodded, his attention still on the viewscreen. "There is a strong possibility that since these Romulans have crossed the border into Klingon space, they are the contact the Ferengi were waiting for. By finding a Klingon ship at their rendezvous point, they might well expect a trap, with other, cloaked Klingon ships waiting to attack once the War Birds showed themselves," he explained.

Kannar nodded. "Quite possible. But, why didn't the Romulans simply leave the area upon finding us here? Why risk possible death by attacking us over a Ferengi freighter?"

"Perhaps there is something on that freighter that the Romulans would be willing to risk destruction for to make sure we do not discover,: K'lor suggested.

Kannar considered this information and sat back down in his command chair. "Helm," he said quietly. "Continue evasive, but bring us back to our former position near the freighter. Sensors, keep me posted on those ion readings, if they reappear. Tactical, begin random disruptor fire, wide dispersal, for and aft batteries. Continue fire until we reach our former position," he continued. That should keep them on their toes, he thought to himself.

He felt the vibration through the deck and heard the sizzling hum of disruptor fire as shots lanced out into the surrounding space. "Perhaps there is something on that freighter the Romulans want," he muttered. "Or, perhaps there is something on board they do not want us to find. Either way, let them think that we are coming back because we want to claim the rusting hulk for ourselves."

"Sir, we are approaching our former position, " helm reported. Kannar nodded, a determined look on his face.

* * *

"All stop," Kannar ordered. The ship slowed to a stop and the IKV Deathstalker was once more within 1,000 kelicams of the disabled Ferengi freighter, very nearly the exact spot where the battle with the two Romulan War Birds began, just a short time ago.

"Helm," Kannar continued, quitely, but with firm resolve. "On my order, turn us quickly 180 degrees from wherever the next War Bird appears and line us up directly opposite that ship's position." Never taking his eyes from the forward viewscreen, he went on giving orders.

"Komahl. Prepare five torpedoes with a short proximity detonation, wide dispersal. On my mark, launch them in succession, 3 seconds apart. After the last torpedo is launched, prepare to fire on the freighter's position. Ready aft disruptors.: Komahl was already inputting the information into his console before Kannar finished speaking. "Any ion readings from the sensors?" he asked.

"Nothing definite, my lord," K'lor answered. "The ships have criss-crossed this area several times now and sensors can not pinpoint a recent trail."

"I thought as much," Kannar stated. After a moment, he said "Lower shields." This order took everyone on the bridge by surprise, as it would leave them basically defenseless before the predatory War Birds.

It took several seconds for someone to finally disengage the shields, but the crew's credit, no one voiced a word of question to this unusual order.

While under no obligation to explain his orders, Kannar felt that his crew would respond better if they knew that he had not suddenly lost his mind. "The Romulans will assume that we have lowered our shields to either transport a boarding party to the freighter, or beam something back from that ship. If they fear that we may find something they want badly enough to hide, they may act with haste -- a serious mistake, which we will capitalize on."

"War Bird decloaking, stern quarter!" Komahl announced, almost before Kannar had finished speaking.

"Shields!" Kannar ordered. "Helm, execute! Aft weapons, fire!"

Several things happened almost at once. The Deathstalker was rocked as the first salvo from the War Bird slammed into the ship, but Kannar did not take his eyes from the viewscreen. Deathstalker was returning fire, even though the ship was hit again as they turned away from the attacking War Bird and Kannar was thrown against the side of his command chair.

"Torpedoes!" Kannar shouted over the din of battle. "Mark!" he ordered and watched as the first of the lethal weapons streaked away from the ship and exploded in the distance, just as the second torpedo left the firing bay. The detonations of the torpedoes this close to the ship put them in some danger from the blasts, but Kannar was sure that the upgraded shields would protect them from serious harm.

"Sir, the War Bird is maneuvering to place itself between our ship and the freighter," Komahl announced as he continued to direct fire at the Romulan.

Kannar acknowledged that information with a wave of his hand. "They are trying to protect the freighter and its cargo. Maintain fire." Proximity alarms were now going off all of the bridge -- warning of the close torpedo detonations, as well as the closeness of the War Bird as it moved to cover the freighter.

As the Deathstalker continued its 180 degree turn, the second and third torpedoes had already exploded. As the next missile detonated some 100 kelicams from he last explosion, the other War Bird was suddenly outlined as her cloak was overloaded by the close detonation.

"There she is!" Kannar called out, pounding on the arm of his chair. "All weapons, FIRE!" he shouted, and the War Bird was immediately engulfed in green disruptor fire from all six forward batteries, causing the cloak to quickly fail. The fifth and final torpedo also streaked in toward the stricken War Bird. It was right on target and connected squarely with the ship whose shields were now partially disabled as a result of the continuous fire from the Klingon vessel. A series of blinding explosions resulted from the impact, showering white-hot debris in every direction.

Kannar shouted down the cheers from the bridge crew. "Bring us around to face the other War Bird," he ordered. "Target and fire all weapons!"

The second Romulan ship was still firing at the Deathstalker, but after witnessing the destruction of her sister ship and now coming under heavy fire herself, the captain of this War Bird must have had second thoughts about continuing the battle. She quickly veered off, but fired a couple of parting shots at the freighter as she did so, then cloaked and disappeared as the defenseless Ferengi vessel exploded.

Kannar now allowed the crew a few moments to celebrate their victory, but only a few.

Still watching the expanding debris fields on the view screen and angry that the freighter as well as the other War Bird had both escaped his grasp, Kannar finally bellowed, "Status!"

Shields at 83%," Komahl stated as the cheers of the officers quickly subsided. "Minimal damage reported. Damage control on site. Only minor injuries coming in."

"Can you follow the ion trail of that retreating ship?" Kannar asked.

"It is heading away, my lord, at warp six. Toward the Neutral Zone," K'lor told him.

Kannar stared at the slowly expanding debris field that was once the Ferengi freighter. "I want a full sensor scan of that debris," he stated, waving his hand toward the viewscreen. "Look for anything that might be unusual. The Romulans destroyed that ship to keep us from finding out something and I want to know what it was they were trying to hide."

"Yes, my lord," Komahl replied.

Finally turning from the viewscreen, he said to helm, "As soon as the scan is completed, get us out of this sector and back on our original heading." Kannar told Komahl that he had the bridge, and turned to leave.

"Captain," Komahl said and waited until Kannar was facing him. "Qapla' on a fine victory, my lord."

Kannar nodded and looked around the bridge at his crew. They were all watching him. "Qapla' to us all," he said. "A find and honorable victory, indeed."

The crew all stood straight and bowed their heads in acknowledgement of his praise, then as one, the shouted, "Qapla'!"

As Kannar turned to leave the bridge, he would have been more elated with their victory if he were not so concerned over the remaining question as to why the Ferengi had been waiting to make some sort of deal with the Romulans at all. It was a nagging mystery, and Kannar did not like mysteries.