Split Loyalties

"Follow the Engineering Section Lieutenant." Commander Rashad ordered.

Zack ran his fingers over the console and the small heavily armed shuttle followed the Engineering section of its parent ship.

"How long until we intercept the rogue vessel ?" Lieutenant Moss asked.

"Ten minutes." Zack replied.

Moss moved over to Commander Rashad and knelt beside her.

"Commander, could I have a quick word in private." He whispered so no-one else on the command deck could hear. Moss then stood up and headed off the deck down the corridor.

"Lieutenant Dare, you have the Bridge." Rashad announced. "I'll be back in five minutes."

Rashad left the Bridge and followed Moss, finding him in one of the crew quarters. The room was filled with various weapons and bags and Moss was busy checking them over.

"So what do you want to talk to me about ?" T'Kul asked, examining the array of weapons and equipment in the room.

Moss walked over to the door and locked it before turning back to face Rashad.

"I need you help." Stefen said. "Now."

Rashad did not like the sound of this, but she knew that time was short and it would be easier to just listen to what he had to say than protest.

"Explain." T'Kul announced in a very calm, Vulcan voice.

"Just before we left the Leviathan, I received a message…." Stefen started. "…from a Section 31 agent within Omega. He said that he was with Klang and would help me to rescue Jessica."

"Can you trust this person ?" Rashad enquired. "It could just be a trap, one designed to get you to come to Klang. You'd be much easier to kill away from the Leviathan."

"I don't." Stefen admitted. "But he gave me the co-ordinates of the base, as well as co-ordinates which he said that I would be able to transport in without being detected. He said he'd be waiting for me at the co-ordinates. Plus I know Klang, he loves the hunt, stalking his prey, luring me away from the ship into a trap isn't his style. But there's another problem, we have a time limit."

"A time-limit !……." T'Kul exclaimed. "……..I'm beginning to like this less and less."

"In just over twenty hours, Jessica's going to be executed." Stefen stated. "The base is a little over nineteen hours at warp nine from our current location, which would give me about an hour to find Jessica and get out."

"If we do this, we do this together." Rashad said firmly."

"NO." Stefen shouted. "I must go alone. The contact won't help me if I bring anyone else along. I was going to take one of the Jem'Hadar shuttles and get her myself, but then I thought of the Hellcat. It can reach the Omega base much faster and creep in undetected. All I need from you is your help in getting into the base and getting us both out again."

Rashad was very quiet. She knew the risks they'd be taking, both Stefen and the crew. But she also knew that if she took the Hellcat on the mission, she'd be betraying everyone on the Leviathan and the Federation, not to mention putting the crew of the Hellcat in danger. She now realised just hope bad both Captain Devore and Captain Taybar must feel every time they were forced to fight.

"Commander, I ask you both as my commanding officer and a fellow Section 31 officer to help me." Stefen pleaded. "I need your help, I can do this."

"What about Klang, the base, Omega." Rashad asked.

"Hopefully my friend's involvement in the rescue will remain undetected." Stefen speculated. "We can come back later and finish them off with the full force of Section 31."

"I'm not happy about this." T'Kul said, a tone of defeat in her voice. "But we need to finish off Omega. So far we've had nothing, so I'll help you, but we must be certain that the Leviathan and the transports are safe before we leave. We'll also need to deactivate the transponder and the communications array. I'm the only one authorised to deal with the transponder, so you'll have to disable the communications systems."

"Done." Stefen confirmed, a half-smile crossing his face.

"One more thing…." Rashad said, wiping the smile off Stefen's face. "…I'd like to see the message for myself. I'd like to double-check it's authenticity before I'll allow you to leave the ship."

Stefen stood up and reached inside one of the bags on the floor. He pulled out a small Padd and handed it to Rashad. They both headed for the door and after Stefen had unlocked the door, they headed back to the Command deck.

They continued to sit, watch and wait for the opportunity to leave. Eventually the Jem'Hadar vessel started to limp away from the Engineering section, but long range sensors had also detected the presence of two Jem'Hadar vessel on the edge of the system.

Silently, Rashad disabled the vessels transponder whilst at the same time Lieutenant Moss disabled the communications array.

"Helm, set a course for the co-ordinates that Lieutenant Moss is transferring to your console." Rashad ordered.

Behind her, Stefen was entering in the co-ordinates of the Omega base into the helm systems for Zack to plot a new course. Zack checked the co-ordinates and then turned around to look at the Commander.

"Commander, I thought the plan was to retun to the Leviathan after the battle and then proceed to our destination ?" He asked.

"Plans have changed." Rashad replied firmly. "The Captain was unsure about waiting around and so ordered me to take another course to our destination. She hoped that having three trails to track rather than two would make things harder for the rogue Jem'Hadar. Now carry out my orders."

"Course laid in." Zack reported. "Engaging on your mark, Warp nine."

"Engage." Rashad stated.

The Hellcat jumped to warp and headed for its next location.

*I just hope this little deception is going to be worth it.* Rashad thought to herself as she watched the Engineering section slowly demising on the viewscreen as Zack piloted their new destination.

"Lieutenant Dare, how far are we from the Jem'Hadar vessels ?" Rashad enquired.

"We're well away from the system and the vessels." Zack reported.

"Then drop out of warp and prepare to jump to slipstream." Rashad ordered. "Maximum speed."

"Confirmed Commander." Zack replied.

*Just where are we going ?* He thought to himself. *We're heading well away from the Jem'Hadar and the Leviathan. But orders are orders.*

"Preparing to enter the slipstream in five..four..three..two…one." Zack repeated.

The Hellcat increased speed as ahead of them a quantum slipstream vortex started to form and the Hellcat was pulled in."

"We're travelling at T-warp fourteen point one." Zack reported. "Time to destination Fifteen hours, eleven minutes."