Where There's A Will

Chapter 1

"qaH, Hoch DoS, Qaw'"

"Very good lieutenant."  Captain Kargon looked at the display in front of him and made a mental note of the performance of his crew during the battle.  Looking at the destruction report he made his plans.  "Klag, Take your men down to the planet and see if there is anything of value to be gotten here.  Make sure we get all of our men out of this place."

"Yes sir." The consummate warrior, Klag was happy to be using his skills and talents in the one thing he was trained  and bred to do.  He walked from the bridge and made his way down to the transporter room.  When he arrived his landing party was assembled and fully armed. 

"We sweep for anything of value and free any of our fellow Klingon that may have had the misfortune to be held at this miserable place.  We kill any that oppose us."

The fellow Kilngons nodded or grunted in acknowledgement and stepped onto the transporter pad.  The transporter chief activated the beam and the red light surrounded the landing party.  The view shifted from that of the transporter room to that of a busted and destroyed control room.  As the transporter beam finished the warriors quickly raised their weapons and fanned out, alert for the potential of survivors from the bombardment.  

Klag walked slowly toward the control panel in front of him and noticed that it was still somewhat operational.  Pressing a few buttons he was able to access the manifest for the prison and he looked for the names of any fellow Klingons who may have been captured and taken to this rock.  As he scrolled the list and translated the Cardassian in his mind a name jumped out at him, "Riker, William T."

He looked down the corridor and made his way through the cell block.  The damage was not as significant as he made his way deep into the structure and he saw no signs of any Cardassian survivors.  He assumed that most of them had fled like cowards as the bombardment began. 

Walking through the tunnels past the broken cells and partial cave-ins it was looking more and more likely that there would be very few survivors here on Lazon Two that would be worth freeing.  As Klag rounded the corner he saw a cell standing partially open, but mostly undisturbed.  He looked at the inmate in the cell and recognized the face of Willian Riker immediately.  The only human he had ever met as an officer and respected because of his brief stint as the second in command of the Pagh.  He did not know how he had ended up on this rock in the capture of the Cardassians, but he knew that this man was Klingon at heart and needed to be set free of this confinement.

He looked into the cell and saw that Riker had been stunned by a falling piece of the ceiling which had knocked him unconscious, but he seemed to be relatively unhurt.  Firing his blaster at the partially broken lock it fell away from the door and he was able to swing  the door open and walked in.  Kneeling beside the human, Klag saw a man that looked so much different than the officer he had met just a few years before.  He shook him slightly and Riker stirred in his grasp.  

As Riker's eyes opened he saw the face of a Klingon staring at him and the shock was immediate.  He had no idea what was happening or what had transpired to have a Klingon helping to free him from this prison, but decided not to question.  He looked at his rescuer and took his hand in assistance as he rose to his feet.

Klag assisted him up and simply stated, "Riker.  I have no idea what has caused you to be in such a place, but I can not allow you to remain here any longer.  If you can make your way to the hanger bay, take a ship and get yourself off of this rock."

Confused as to how this Klingon knew who he was Thomas simply nodded an acknowledgement and began to walk toward the hanger bay.  Looking back he was able to mutter a quick "Thank You" before he saw the Klingon turn and continue his search for survivors.

As his head began to clear from the ceiling knocking him unconscious, the way became clearer in his mind and he finally made his way to the hanger bay.  Looking cautiously around for any of the Cardassians who might have been still there to stop him, he assessed the state of the vessels at his disposal.   The only ship that looked mostly undamaged and able to get him to some sort of civilization was a Bruja Class starship sitting on the complete opposite side of the hanger.  He hadn't seen any movement yet, but if the Cardassians were laying in wait for anyone to make a break for the ships he would be a sitting duck.

Deciding that it was better to die trying to get off of this rock rather than risk staying here or getting captured again.  He took a deep breath and made a break for the ship.  He braced himself for a blast or a shot from a phaser, but none came.  As he reached the ship and hit the panel on the side to open the door he finally let out his breath in a long sigh of relief.  

Climbing into the cockpit he hit the button to close and secure the door behind him,  His Carddasian was still very rudimentary, but his flight knowledge in starships was enough to figure out the controls fairly quickly and he had the ship ready to take off within minutes.  As he moved the ship  slowly out of the hanger and headed for deep space.  As the ship cleared the planet's atmosphere the thought finally hit him.  "Where was he going to go?"

The thoughts of Kira kept him grounded and thinking about going to see her on Deep Space 9 seemed to be a possible option, but those thoughts were now long gone and dormant in his mind.  Even the thought of trying to find Deanna was not a draw to him emotionally as it once was.  He realized after his time in prison that what he truly needed was home, or at least some sense of what home was now.  He set the ship on a course for Earth.