The captain, a balding man of around fifty, led us up the ramp and into the ship. It was one of the cargo freighters I'd seen through the window, a long vessel with a small bridge and living quarters near the front and three detachable cargo holds attached in sequence behind it. Overall, the whole thing was maybe 250 feet long and looked like it was made up of more repaired material than original.
Inside, a long hallway ran from the bridge back to the first cargo hold, with doors that probably lead to a mess hall, sickbay, and crew quarters. The captain handed us off to his security chief and headed for the bridge. I was about to follow Otten and the others to the back of the ship when I heard my name.
"A word, please," Dominic said, nodding his head back down the plank. I followed him outside and waited to hear what he had to say.
"Did you really think you could sneak by?" he asked.
I couldn't do anything but shake my head. Maybe I would have been allowed to tag along to a training exercise, but the only reason I was being allowed on the Fury was because Dominic wanted me there.
"Good. I want you along on this mission. You know the Enterprise and her crew better than anyone we've got. They've got a better chance of succeeding if you go with them."
"What makes you think they won't just join the Enterprise?" I asked.
"Call it a hunch. I know how you people think. All they've got is each other, so they're not going to risk the lives of everyone they know on Sandor just for a chance that the Federation will take them in. Besides, Sandorians are suspicious, they don't trust anyone offworld or on."
Every bit of me wanted to tell Dominic he was wrong, but I couldn't. Otten and the others had no reason to trust the Enterprise any more than they trusted Dominic, who had promised them freedom and a planet of their own. And even if he didn't plan to go through on his promise to free them, he was definitely willing to kill any or all of the shapeshifters still on Sandor. And even if Sebastian didn't let him kill them, Dominic could still make their lives Hellish.
"You know I'm right," Dominic said, reading my expression. "Look, it's not hard. You don't even have to kill anyone. Just do as you're told, knock out some of their security and senior officers, and no one will get hurt." He stepped closer. "If you give me the Enterprise, I'll get you passage on any ship out of here you want. And I'll let your friend Brick go. You're smart, Lawrence, you know your Federation friends won't lift a finger to help anyone on Sandor." He gestured for me to enter the ship and turned to go. As I stepped up onto the ramp again, I heard him say, "Think about it. Could you live with yourself if you left all those people back there?"
I ignored him and found my way to the first cargo hold, where Otten and the others were seated in makeshift chairs in a corner. I took an empty one and turned to Otten.
"What are we going to do?" I asked him.
He looked tired and confused, but it was Moira who answered.
"We do what he told us to," she said. Her eyes were still red but her voice wasn't shaking anymore. "We either take the Enterprise or we get caught trying."
I shook my head. "We can't do that," I told her, but I was arguing against myself too.
"What else can we do?" Moira asked. "You heard him, if we don't do what they say then they're going to hurt or kill everyone we know." She choked on the world "kill."
The grey-haired man who Lewis had named Uric chimed in. "I've heard of the Federation though, we don't have a chance against them. We don't know anything about fighting."
Moira whirled on him. "What do you suggest we do then?"
"I don't know, I'm just saying we can't ju-"
"Enough," Otten cut in. "Fighting about this isn't going to help. Let's start from the beginning. Tasha, this is Moira Davis, Jasper Uric, Matt Koffolt," he pointed at a younger man with sandy blonde hair, "Dean Singer," a man my age who looked about as upset as Moira, "Jaime Winchester," a short man with a scar across one cheek who grinned at me, "and Samantha Burroughs," a brown-haired woman who looked more likely to hit me than shake my hand.
When Otten had finished the introductions, he turned to me. "Alright, you know most of our stories, they're all about the same. Now I think it's time you told us where you fit into all this." I nodded. Now that we'd somehow become directly involved in what the Enterprise was doing, it was time they knew what was going on.
The hold jerked, and I gripped the side of my chair as I felt and heard the ground slip away beneath us as the Fury took flight. I wished I could see the ceiling of the spaceport slide away as we lifted up higher into the sky. The shaking and groaning of the ship just got more intense as the Fury rose higher, until it finally went quiet.
"We cleared the atmosphere," I commented. Then, finding the others looking at me expectantly, I gave a very brief version of the Enterprise asking me for help and their mission at the wormhole, along with my own capture and imprisonment.
"So that's why Dominic wanted me along, because I know the ship and crew better than anyone else. But listen to me, it won't work. Even if we manage to take the ship at first, they've got more security systems and officers than we could deal with. And none of us know how to fly the thing, I'm not even sure if the captain of this ship could."
"So you're saying we side with the Federation over our own people?" Moira demanded.
"No! But do you really think Dominic will keep his word? He's not just going to let you all go, if this works then he'll just use the same leverage to make us fight his next battle for him. We'd be too valuable to him."
"She's right," Otten chimed in. He'd been quiet since I'd started my story but now he leaned forward and addressed his crew. "I don't know this Dominic, but he sent Brick off to be executed without even a thought. He doesn't care if we live or die, so he wouldn't care about breaking his word to us."
"Damn it, how can you be so cold, Rick?!" Moira shot at him. "You know what Brick means to me, how can you just write him off like that?"
"I'm with Moira." This time it was Dean who spoke. "Our only chance to help any of our friends is to do what they tell us. And maybe if we do this they'll let Brick go."
"Brick could be dead for all we know," the scarred Jaime said. He held his hands up in defense as Moira opened her mouth. "It's the truth. We're not going to be doing him any favors if we go on this suicide mission and get ourselves killed too."
"Are you too scared to even go, then?" Dean demanded.
"Don't be an idiot, Singer, I'm not scared," Jaime snapped at him. "But she's right, this is the Federation we're up against." He nodded at me. "Even if we somehow knock out their Captain and take the Enterprise, the other ships will be on us immediately. And we're just supposed to hand her over to Dominic's captain? What are they going to do with it?"
"Everyone shut up for a second!" The sand-haired man who Otten had called Matt finally spoke up. "Come on, we've been training together for months, everyone stop fighting. Otten's the one who's been training us, I think we should listen to what he has to say."
The group seemed to reach a consensus in this and turned toward Otten, looking for answers. He frowned.
"I agree with Moira," he finally said. "We can't just refuse to go or try for asylum and leave everyone behind." I opened my mouth to protest but he shot me a look that plainly said to hold my tongue. "But Jaime and Tasha are right too, we're up against something much more powerful than us and Dominic won't be in our debt even if we succeed."
I closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair. Our hands were tied no matter what we did. Everyone who'd spoken up had been right. There were few options and none of them led anywhere good. We couldn't just sit in the cargo hold, we couldn't defect, we probably couldn't take the ship on our own, and we shouldn't hand it over to the Sandorians to start a war with. So what could we do?
"Otten, hang on," I interrupted. "I think I have an idea."
*
The security chief of the small ship entered the cargo bay about ten minutes later to hand out and review assignments. The plan was simple enough. The eight of us would break into four groups of two and fan out over the ship. Jasper and Samantha would go to engineering to knock out Geordi and prevent the Enterprise from going to warp. Jaime had once worked as an engineer on a small passenger cruiser capable of warp speed which, although nothing like the Enterprise, gave him enough experience to recognize when a ship was about to go to warp and stop it.
Meanwhile, Dean and I would be on the bridge ensuring Picard and the other senior officers wouldn't have time to lock out the computer. Our job would be to secure or stun anyone with clearance to engage an emergency lockout, which included Picard, Riker, and Data. The third team was made up of Moira and Jaime. They would back up me and Dean on the bridge and help deal with any security personnel and to watch the turbolifts.
That left Matt and Otten. Matt would be beaming to the main shuttle bay to prevent any emergency shuttle launches and Otten was going to the main transporter room to force the Transporter Chief to lock out the transporter controls to Otten's voice prints. I almost wished I had one of those jobs, as I didn't look forward to seeing Picard or Riker's face when we landed on their Bridge.
The briefing lasted half an hour, and only ended when the Captain came over the intercom to announce their imminent arrival and call the chief to the bridge. Before he left, he drew a device from his pocket and swiped his thumb across it. Instantly, a clank rang out as eight metal restraints fell from our writs and onto the ground at the same time. The chief left the eight of us sitting in their seats, staring at each other. I doubted whether any of them had ever even been in a fight before, much less tried to knock out or stun or kill someone.
"Just remember what you're supposed to do and we'll be fine," Otten said. Everyone nodded automatically.
"Jasper, Samantha," I said. "They usually keep two security officers just outside of Engineering. Make sure you get them first, and then the others shouldn't be so hard. Geordi is the chief engineer, so he's the one you need to get to first. Everyone else will do as he says. Just watch the door after you've secured the place and you'll be fine."
I turned to Moira, Dean, and Jaime. "The bridge will be the hardest part. Everyone should be there since Sandor said they're finally willing to parlay. We need to get the Captain and First Officer under control first so they can't lock out the controls. Data the android and Worf the Klingon will be the biggest security threats, so you should probably just try to knock them out as quickly as possible." I cringed as I said it, but I knew it had to be done. "There are two turbolifts leading to the bridge, so Jasper and Moira will need to keep an eye on both of them."
I took a breath. "Otten, just make sure you get the transporters disabled. Matt should keep an eye on the shuttle bay but I don't think anyone will try to leave the Enterprise. That's not Federation style. Is everyone ready?"
They nodded. I could see the same nervousness on their faces as was twisting my gut. And why not? We were about to singlehandedly attack the Federation's flagship.
"And remember to pick a form that you're comfortable with," Otten added. "Something powerful but don't overdo it. Remember your training."
We all stood as the Captain came over the intercom and ordered us into transporter position. We stood and arranged into our groups, waiting for the signal. On the Bridge, I imagined that the fake delegates were starting their negotiations with the Enterprise. I wondered how long they would keep up the charade, long enough for the Enterprise to lower their shields to beam the delegates aboard. They would be requesting to be beamed directly to the bridge, as per Sandorian custom. This would ensure that the Captain and commanding officers would be on the bridge instead of scattered across the ship.
A voice came over the cargo transmitter. "Prepare for transport in 10, 9..."
Eight seconds we were beamed aboard the Enterprise, under different circumstances than I would have hoped.
I materialized in the corner of the bridge in front of the Captains Ready room, four paws on the ground and crouched. I immediately lunged for the closest figure, which happened to be Riker. A point blank attack from an 800 pound tiger, even with claws retracted, was enough to knock the wind out of him. I rolled and bounced up as a human man, grabbing Riker's phaser as I did. Two short blasts knocked Data unconscious but as I fired the second, I felt my legs knocked out from under me. I thrust my hands out to catch myself, barely rolling out of the way before a roaring lion snapped at where I had just been. Shock didn't have time to register before instinct kicked in and I rolled again, but not fast enough. I saw a blur of yellow fur and felt teeth close around my leg. White hot pain shot up my calf as the teeth punctured the pants and skin. I twisted around and fired the phaser.
The lion slumped to the ground, teeth relaxing. Still on the ground, I pointed the phaser at the Captain, praying that he hadn't had time to lock out the computer controls.
"Tasha?!" Dean crouched beside the lion and listened for breathing, then grabbed my arm to lift me up.
"Keep a phaser on him!" I gestured at the captain as I teetered to my feet. My leg felt like it was on fire and I could feel the warm blood soaking through my pants. But a quick glance around the Bridge told me it had been worth it. Data and an ensign I didn't recognize were slumped at the Ops and Conn while Jasper was pointing a phaser at a terrified Lieutenant standing at the engineering station. Worf's head was visible on the ground from behind the tactical station.
"Is everyone okay?" I asked.
"Fine," Jasper answered.
"Why did she attack you?" Dean demanded, not taking his eyes off of Picard or Riker, who was climbing to his feet.
"I don't know," I answered through gritted teeth. I pointed to the Lieutenant. "You, get down here. Jasper, help Dean keep an eye on them." I limped over to Riker's chair and sat down heavily. I needed to stop the bleeding soon or I wouldn't be able to finish this mission.
"What the Hell is this about?!"
"Shut up for a second, Commander," I snapped at Will, before pressing a button on his console. "Bridge to Transporter Room 1, Main Shuttlebay, and Engineering. Report."
"Otten here. I have transporter capability."
"Matt here. There were just three people in the shuttlebay."
"Jaime in Engineering. It's secure. We stunned the security and have the Chief Engineer."
"Good job, everyone," I told them. "There should be another group of security coming soon, Jaime, they'll want to defend Engineering once they realize they can't get the Bridge. Otten, I want you to transport yourself to the Bridge and Matt to Engineering. We need to stick together."
"Roger that," Otten said.
"Good luck everyone. Bridge out."
A few seconds later, Otten materialized in front of the viewscreen. He took one look at the room.
"What happened? Who shot her?" His eyes flashed as he glared at Picard and Riker, as if daring them to deny doing it.
"I did," I told him. I gripped my phaser and stood. "She turned on us, ripped up my leg."
Otten stepped around Moira and took my arm as I limped over to the lion.
"That's impossible."
"Well, apparently not! Listen to me," I whispered, lowering my voice. "Moira tried to kill me, I don't know why. But she had to have a reason. I need you to keep an eye on everyone, make sure no one else tries anything and that she doesn't wake up." I stepped away. "Now get her out of sight and find a phaser."
I leaned against the chair as Otten drug Moira over in front of the Captain's Ready Room and took up a position from which he could watch both us and our prisoners, the four conscious ones anyway. Data and the ensign didn't look likely to wake up anytime soon.
"Jasper, did you check on Worf?" I demanded, praying he hadn't been too enthusiastic.
"He's fine, just unconscious. But you need a doctor."
I nodded. I wasn't going to be conscious myself for much longer if I kept losing blood.
"Would you mind telling me what you're doing on my ship?"
I turned to Picard, surprised that he hadn't spoken up earlier. Riker was glaring around angrily as if he would throttle each and every one of us if he could.
"I'm sorry, Captain, I was preoccupied," I told him. It felt so strange to be standing here in front of them and yet be totally unrecognizable. "We were sent by the Sandorian government."
"I gathered that," Picard said dryly. "I should have known the diplomacy was a ruse. But you won't gain anything by taking the Enterprise."
I couldn't have agreed with him more. For now though, I had something else I needed to do. I stepped away from the chair and gestured towards it.
"If the three of you would sit down, please," I told him. "Lieutenant, just stand over there. I don't care."
"I'm not going to bloody sit down while you steal my ship."
I whirled on the Captain. At least, I tried. I mostly just hobbled. "Captain," I told him through gritted teeth. "I have just been bitten by a lion. I am bleeding all over your Bridge. The sooner you sit, the sooner we can get this over with, and the sooner we can all go home. It's your choice." I stepped back, trusting the Captain not to do anything stupid while Jaime, Otten, and Dean were pointing phasers at him. "Computer, hail the Fury."
As I turned toward the view screen, I shifted and felt my body taking on the long hair and fitted clothing that I had last seen Moira sporting.
"Moira, report," the Captain of the Fury demanded as his face blinked into view.
"The ship is ours," I told him curtly. "We've taken the Bridge and Engineering and the transporters are under our control."
"The shuttle bay?"
"Matt's there now," I lied.
"And Lawrence?"
I hesitated for half a second. "Dead. I killed her when we took the bridge." The bridge fell dead silent behind me.
The Captain was smiling. "Good, I'll let Dominic know. Don't worry, Brick hasn't been harmed. He'll be here waiting for you when you get back."
"And Dominic will do what he said?" I asked, gambling.
"Yes. You'll both be given transport off world. Don't worry, it's all sorted out. Now beam us aboard."
I nodded. "Give us one minute, Otten wants to come to the bridge to make sure the transporters work like they should. End transmission." The bridge of the Fury disappeared and the entire ship off the port bow reappeared on the screen. I turned back to the Bridge.
And found myself staring down a very angry Riker. Picard looked pale, but Will had stepped forward, his hands clenched into fists.
"Commander, back down," the Captain ordered but Riker ignored him. I glanced at Otten and saw him raising his phaser.
"Don't shoot him!" I snapped at the three of them. "Hang on a second, Riker." Without meaning to, I took a step back. I hadn't thought I could be scared of Will, but the anger in his eyes was enough to make anyone think twice.
"You killed her?" he asked, still walking towards me. I hobbled backward toward the viewscreen. He pointed over to where Moira was still unconscious. "You forced her to help you and then you killed her?"
"Don't be stupid, of course I didn't," I protested. I held my hands up as a symbol of peace, but another step back knocked me off balance as I felt my heel hit Data's prone leg. The next thing I knew, Riker was barreling down on me and I was sprawling onto my butt.
Belatedly, as I landed heavily on my rear and felt tears spring to my eyes from my jolted leg, I shifted into my normal form. Standing above me, Riker froze.
"Commander, back down, that's an order!"
"Goddamnit, Will, did you just punch me?!
The Captain and I both shouted at Riker at the same time. Breathing heavily, Riker stepped back.
"Don't you dare look like her," he threatened as he stepped back once more to stand level with Picard.
"Mother of—Otten, stun her again and help me up."
Otten fired another short burst at Moira's prone form and strode over to heft me up by the arm. I leaned against him heavily.
"Doctor Crusher, please report to the bridge immediately," I snapped into the intercom. "We may have a medical emergency." I glared at Will. "I don't have time for this, you idiot. How does it seem like a good idea to attack the people with the phasers?"
Will blinked at me.
"Now everyone just calm down," Otten said. He glanced between me and Riker, who was now looking at me with a hint of doubt on his face. He turned to the Captain. "Captain Picard, I'm Rick Otten. This is Tasha Lawrence, Dean Singer, and Jasper Uric. The Sandorian government has ordered me and my team to take the Enterprise to force your fleet to back down at the wormhole. We have been ordered to hand it over to the four soldiers on the Fury, who should be hailing us shortly to see what the delay is."
"Now that's obviously a terrible idea," I cut in. "So, we aren't going to do that. Instead, we're taking the ship for ourselves."