The Beard Factor

The small cockpit of the scout ship displayed an all too familiar face. He sat weary as his face did show.

[Good afternoon Captains, I am Admiral Beard.]

Devore looked in amazement at the viewscreen.

Captain Devore had been moved from the back of the Bridge else where on the ship. He had been hooded as he was roughly dragged through the corridors and finally came to rest on a stainless steel, stone-cold chair. His uniform tunic had been ripped from his body allowing the ice cold metal to rest upon his back. Numerous times, Devore screamed out his name, rank, and service number but was often stifled as a hard fist connected to the side of his face.

"I am a Starfleet Officer and under the Geneva Convention of 2241 should not subject to this sort of treatment," Devore yelled just after another fist hit him. This time the hit seemed to jar loose a tooth. Of everything, this really upset him the most. Now he was going to be without a tooth. *I am going to kill whoever is doing this*.

"That is enough." Said a familiar voice form the other side of the darkness. "Remove his hood."

The brightness of the room and the adjustment from darkness to light caused Devore to squint. Then his eyes became accustomed to the new sights and knew for a fact who his captors were.

"Admiral Beard!" Devore said painfully.

"Hello Marc. By the way it is no longer Admiral..... Tom or Mr. Beard will do, as a matter of fact, how about god, or your majesty," Beard said sarcastically. He enjoyed seeing this. The man whom he has been after for months now sits before him, restrained and bleeding. A form of poetic justice Beard attributed to this.

"Why ?" Devore said looking around noticing the other person in the room. It was Lighter. He glared at Lighter, "Lighter. This man is crazy. This is not Leary. Leary is dead...."

"Save your breath, Devore. I know who he is. Beard here, or Leary, it doesn't matter which, is responsible for my getting out of prison. For that I am in debt of gratitude. As for you, what you did to him, I would happily do this to you on my own." Lighter said with a smile.

"You sadistic son-of-a-b........," Devore began, but before he finish his sentence Lighter had roundhoused him, causing blood to fly from Devore's mouth spraying the far wall.

"As you can see, Devore, this is no longer a Starfleet vessel but a ...., hmmm, that is interesting. Gary ? What would you call this ?" Beard asked.

"How about a pleasure cruise for us and for Devore, his coffin."

"Why are you doing this Beard ? Why such the intense hatred for me ?"

"Remember a name from your past ? Matthew Beard ?"

"No. Should I have ?"

"Lieutenant Matthew Beard, assistant engineer from the USS Lakota ?"

It hit Devore like a ton of bricks. He remembered him now. "Yes. I remember. He was the only one that could realign the EPS manifolds."

"YOU and you alone sent my son to his death."

"Beard, he was a Starfleet officer. He understood the risk and you should have to."

Unfazed by this remark, Beard began to reminisce. "Over 10 years ago, the Lakota was fighting a Jem'Hadar battle group. The Lakota was badly crippled and the only way to get away was to get the warp core back online."

"Yes, Admiral I remember. I was there."

"... and the only way to get it back online was to send someone into the plasma conduit and manually realign the EPS manifold."

"I know and Matt was the only one that could do it."

"So you sent MY son in there to do that, but didn't give him no time to get out. You re-engaged the warp core and my son was........., " There was a single tear falling from Beard's eye. "YOU killed my son !"

"Admiral. I had no choice. The Jem'Hadar was bearing down on the Lakota. If I hadn't engaged the warp drive, the kamikaze run would have destroyed the entire ship. "

"You don't understand." Beard continued. "There wasn't even enough left of Mattie to be shipped back to us for a proper burial. Janice died shortly after that."

"I am sorry Admiral."

"Stop calling me that ! I am not a member of Starfleet anymore. I am now your judge, jury and executioner. Lighter, go ahead and do with him what you will, but don't kill him. That is my job !"

"Yes sir." Lighter said with a gleam in his eye.

"But first. Let him rest. He will need to be fully rested for the pain I have planned for him."

"Understood." Lighter said slightly disappointed. He walked over to Devore yanked his head back by his hair. "Better sleep tight. Because first you dream, then you die."

Blackness for Devore.

"Admiral. I don't understand ? I thought that we were just going to scare him a little, then turn him over to the proper authorities." Lighter said handing Admiral Beard a cup of coffee.

"Gary, Devore is a man who is guilty through and through. I have hunted him for many years and you have done well by catching him. I don't know how you did it and I don't really care, but right now, all I am concern is carrying out justice."

"But sir. He still deserves a trial."

"Lighter you have gotten soft on me."

"No sir. Not at all....."

"Have you become a liability ?"

"Sir ?"

"A liability." Beard said as he got up and walked toward a port hole.

"No sir. I am loyal to Starfleet and to you. You got me out of jail and I owe you one." Beard quickly reaches into his pocket and pulled out a hypospray then quietly approached Lighter from behind "I just don't see how you acting as...........What, what are you doing...... ack !"

The hydrochloric sodium based solution acted quickly in Lighter's system. His arteries began to boil as the poison travelled slowly through his system to his heart. In a matter of seconds seeing that it was injected just under Lighter's right ear, the deadly compound reached his brain and literally fried it. The awful smell of searing gray matter seeped out of his ears as the Lighter collapsed on to the desk.

"I am sorry. You have done well, but I no longer need you,": Beard said. "Computer. Disable all sensors in this office, , Omega 001."

<Authorisation acknowledged. Sensors are off line.>

*Good !* Beard thought as he pulled out his type 1 phaser. He set it to power factor ten and fired it at the cadaver. Lighter's body vaporised leaving nothing but his combadge. *Now for Devore... Maybe let him rest for a few hours then I will take care of him.*