Closure

On the other side of the anomaly Lt. Vincent stood on the bridge of the flagship, watching his sensors closely. The immediate area was clear for now, but the rest of the fleet was heavily outnumbered and taking a beating from the Romulan and Klingon armada. It seemed that negotiations had ended.

“Captain Gould, the rest of the fleet is likely getting hit pretty hard,” the tactical officer reported. “I advise that we jump to their assistance immediately once Lieutenant Commander Syntron is satisfied with our ion pulse activity.”

Syntron looked up from his console and said. "Correction, Lieutenant. The ion pulse operation has been finalized and has been satisfactory in accomplishing its goal. We are well within the established parameters necessary to begin Phase three. And it is nearing 1900. Captain, if I may begin?"

With a nod from Gould, Syntron said, "Lieutenant Vincent if you please. The deflector has been adjusted to fire a magneton pulse. While I monitor the sensors, please be prepared to fire on my mark. We may need more than one attempt, so be prepared."

"Aye, Sir," Lieutenant Vincent replied and stood ready at the Tactical console.

"Sixty seconds. I am generating a subspace tensor matrix to 27,354 cochranes which will prime the area for the artificial wormhole to form."

"Tee minus three, two, one, mark Lieutenant," Syntron announced and Josh Vincent fired the magneton pulse just at the correct time.

On the McKenzie Snowfire was doing preciously the same thing. Unfortunately at that moment the Negh'Vars and Birds of Prey that the Horizon had passed dropped out of warp and began firing on the McKenzie.

"Captain, we would do a lot better if we didn't have any interruptions," Snowfire suggested.

"This is Captain Crist to Starbase 10. Do you have any support you can send? We have Klingons giving us a hard time."

"Aye, this is Fleet Captain Samji. We already have the Republic heading to your position."

Unfortunately it did not show up soon enough and a torpedo from the Negh'Var shook the McKenzie just as an officer was also firing the magneton pulse at exactly 1900. This caused the power to fluctuate. "It didn't do it," the officer reported.

"Fire again," Snowfire ordered, and the officer complied. This time the magneton pulse hit the mark, but it was a few seconds off.

"We may need to do that again in five minutes," Snowfire said.

On the Lotus, Syntron was noticing the same thing with the sensors. "The artificial wormhole is not forming," he reported.

"Damn," muttered Vincent. "Ready on your mark to try again, Mister Syntron."

"Adequate work, Lieutenant," was the response, which could be considered high praise from a Vulcan.

The Republic was keeping the Klingons busy, although it was greatly outmatched by the ships. Again, they were taking a beating. The McKenzie used the five minutes to assist, heading straight for one of the Birds of Prey and firing all its phase cannons and quantum torpedoes. The Bird of Prey limped away and cloaked before the McKenzie could finish it off.

"Sixty seconds to next magneton pulse, Captain. I need you to face us toward the AH again."

"You heard her, Hughes," said Captain Crist. "And try to get us out of their weapons range too if you can."

"Aye sir," said Hughes and the little ship zipped away at full impulse after faking out the Klingon ships and making them think that it was headed for Starbase 10. That gave them ample time to fire the magneton pulse in peace.

"Tee minus three, two, one, mark."

On both ships the count was given and this time the pulses were fired at the exact same time, causing the subspace inversion field to form between the two points and a wormhole suddenly opened. The opening was small... barely big enough for a ship to fit through. However, on the Lotus' side where it was basically inside the Anomaly, the matter began pouring through. Plasma fires and debris went swirling into the small opening as if a vacuum hose was sucking up the Anomaly itself. The subspace fractures widened and the force began affecting the Lotus.

"Back us off," ordered Captain Gould.

They fought against the pull of both the wormhole and the subspace fractures until they were a safe distance away and the loose items on the bridge stopped moving toward the viewscreen.

The Anomaly burned brighter and brighter as more plasma was collected at the aperture, but after several tense minutes that seemed like hours, the Azimuth Horizon was finally pulled into normal space and then the opening itself was sucked into the artificial wormhole, which had grown in size since its initial inception to be bigger than even the stable one discovered at Deep Space Nine.

After the matter in the vicinity was either consumed or dispersed enough to no longer trigger the verteron particles, the wormhole closed.

A few minutes went by on the Lotus and then they heard a transmission from Captain Crist. "This is Crist on the McKenzie for the Lotus. Can anyone hear this?"

Nodding to Syntron, Gould said, "Loud and clear Captain."

"This is Lieutenant Snowfire. We can initiate the phase-conjugate graviton beam I presume?"

"You presume correctly, Lieutenant," responded Syntron. "The Azimuth Horizon is sealed."

The two science officers then imitated the beam with their sensors. The one on Syntron's side sealed it indefinitely. The one on Snowfire's was sealed with a specific frequency that would be highly classified, presented to only Captains, rotated frequently, and used as a key only to admit Starfleet ships through.

"Good work," said Captain Gould, and then ordered, "Initiate the transwarp drive. We have some fellow ships to assist."

"All hands, prepare for transwarp drive!"

At the command of Kheren, everyone on the bridge and within the entire lenght of the flagship of Lotus Fleet put on and activated the PIDs his own ship's first engineer had developped for the Artemis launch... a lifetime ago it seemed... and now available to the whole fleet. It would protect and secure every crewmember, seated or not, far more than the old seat restraints would have done at the time of Starfleet's original "Great Experiment" more than a century ago. It was a wise precaution, as what they were going to attempt, although apparently successfully tested by this brand new USS Horizon that had come so swiftly to their aid, had yet to be used on this much older design that was the Intrepid class USS Lotus.

In truth, the experimental new version of transwarp drive on the Lotus, fully implemented on this new Starfleet vessel coming to their aid, bore no ressemblance to the crude conduit-using Borg transwarp technology and was in fact more akin to what the Delta Quadrant reptilian species called the Voth used and to what Tom Paris had experimented with once during one of the many experiments the USS Voyager had made to find a way to get home... athough on a much more measured manner. It was in fact true transwarp, free-navigating beyond the standard warp barrier into a whole new speed scale not unlike that of warpspeed; thus, instead of accelerating from lightspeed by a cubic factor, it did so with warp speed, so that if transwarp factor 1 was virtually the same as warp 1, which was the speed of light, transwarp 2 was eight times warp 2 or five-hundred and twelve times the speed of light, same as warp 8... but when you got to transwarp 3, it became twenty -seven times warp 3... or the theoretically impossible warp 27... an astounding near- twenty thousand times the speed of light!

No wonder the engines and computer would be compromised after such a feat. At the same speed the USS Horizon had used to come to them, transwarp 4, they would get from their current position to any part of the Anomaly's sector in barely over two minutes!

And so, Kheren did not neglect to activate his own PID and make sure his captain had done the same. better safe than sorry, as Humans said...

And now, to come and save the say...

All the while his former first officer had directed the scientific effort of their operation, Kheren had reviewed in real time the military situation around the anomaly. With the Azimuth Horizon's interference now gone, he signaled Lieutenant Sainthill to link a direct sensor data feed to his XO chair armrest console. He was now quite aware of the developping situation on both side of the anomaly's sector and knew how to translate Gould's order into operational directives.

He was momentarily distracted by the specs of this new vessel Starfleet had fielded to assist the Alsea and the Spectre against the Romulan force; it was a masterpiece of starship design, eliciting genuine wonder and admiration from him... and a pang of sadness as he noticed how it ressembled in purpose and shape his own lost Artemis.

But his distraction did not last long enough for anyone to notice.

"Tactical; deploy armor immediately to support or structural integrity. Let, snot take any chances."

There was a low, muffled clanking sound as replicators outside the hull materiallized a thick layer of armoring scales all over the sleek form of the Lotus. Thus covered, it would be nearly impervious to enemy fire... and hopefully well protected and reinforced for the upcoming travel.

"Armor deployed and stable," confirmed Josh Vincent from behind the command well.

"Load all tubes and set for pinpoint single shot fire on command only and prepare armor deployement for the instant we drop back into normal space. "

"All tactical systems ready, Sir," Vincent then instantly reported.

"Helm, course; 187 mark 5, transwarp factor 4."

"Course plotted and laid in; transwarp at your command, Sir," announced helmsman Moor with a definite tremor of excitement in his voice, if not of genuine pride. After flying the Pirate's Pride, he was to take the flagship into it's first transwarp flight. What a great day this had been!

There was a tense moment of silence before Gould, sitting very straight in his command chair, finally gave the word.

"Engage!"

On the screen, it looked at first like any other jump into warp as the initial part was indeed an acceleration beyond warp 2.3; and then, the fast moving stars became long streaks of light, almost forming a tunnel of thin moving colored lines around them. It went so smoothly and ended up so swiftly, barely a few minutes later, that no one really realized what they had been experiencing... or noticed anything special... until several yellow and red lights flashed on both the helm console and at the engineering station.

"Engineering to bridge!"

"Yes Mister Adams," answered Kheren, taking care of ship management while Gould looked over at the tactical situation they had moved in. "Good work with your first transwarp travel."

"Thank you, exec; hope you enjoyed it..." answered chief engineer Adams, " because it will not happen again until we get back to base for major repairs... and that, only at low warp, mind you. The engines seem to have bore the strain well enough, to my surprise I would say... but our structural integrity is compromised. Without the armor, we would have simply disintegrated in mid-flight. fact is, we might have to keep it up until we get back; I'm not sure the integrity field will be enough, especially if we take any more serious damage."

"Cross your fingers then, Chief, as you Humans say... and keep chewing bubble gum. Bridge out."

The Andorian finished his talk with engineering just as Gould ordered:

"Alright, the McKenzie just completed the operation but both Crist's ship and Wyatt's old Republic are taking a beating and they can't take much more of this. We must cover them while they get out of here."

Instantly, Kheren once again acted fully his XO role.

"Mister Moor; heading 45 mark 15, full impulse. Bring us right between this Bird of prey squadron and the Republic, attack pattern Nova-Alpha."

With a brief glance over his shoulder, Moor complied; this was the oldest pattern in the USS Lotus' book, the "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" that was the very motto on the flagship's dedication plaque. And so, barely arrived on the scene, the Lotus streaked past the scarred, plasma-leaking Excelsior class vessel and seemingly going straight at the two K'Vort class Klingon destroyers coming about to pound again on the Republic.

"Mister Sainthill; link tactical sensor to deflector dish and send pulses alternatively at each of them both. Mister Vincent, target lock on her and prepare to modulate torpedo yield. "

With a puzzled look between Sainthill and Vincent, they both complied. The curious ping sound of enemy volleys impacting their regenerating plates was heard as, on screen, the incoming Klingon ships fired disruptors at them.

"Armor holding at 98%," Josh informed them.

Gould however quickly understood what was going on and flipped a comm switch open.

"Republic, this is the Lotus; Wyatt, get out of here now."

"Copy, Lotus. Gould, I owe you one, so you better get your butt out of there too afterwards, you hear?"

The much larger cruiser turned away to comply as the smaller form of the onrushing Intrepid class starship nevertheless covered it from the Klingon's firing angles, with no time for them to maneuver around their new adversary. nor did they cared to... as expected from them.

Then, Sainthill's head shot up from his console readouts.

"Sensor pulse is successfully reading their shield frequency!"

He and Vincent now both understood what Kheren had been planning; since because they were covered by their armoring they could not use their sensor-linked phasers to decipher enemy shield frequency, he had replaced them with emissions from their necessarily uncovered navigation deflector to use it in the same manner. hence the down the throat attack pattern he had also ordered.

"Torpedo ready!" shouted Josh.

"One and two; fire!"

Two glowing blue-white stars shot out from under the elongated saucer of the flagship and each went right through the Bird of prey shields to impact the bulging front of their boom section. Both warships exploded as the Lotus shot between them.

As she turned around, the Republic limped away far enough to jump into warp.

"Now, the McKenzie," then ordered Gould.

Things then got both easier and more complicated. Noticing the deadly arrival of the newcomer, the Klingons moved to assess this new threat with typical swiftness and efficiency. Half of their remaining forces circled around to chase the Lotus. They were thus able to relieve significant pressure from Captain Crist's ship; but now that the Klingons were behind them, they could not use the same delfector trick that had hepled dispatch two of them so quickly.

The battle thus raged anew and fiercier than ever.

About a half lightyear away, the Horizon was circling back around toward the field of battle after dispatching a couple Birds of Prey in the Anomaly before it was consumed by the artificial wormhole. The Klingons frustrating and ultimately devastating pursuit of the Horizon through the Anomaly involved the first ship getting stuck in a subspace rift that the Horizon's Pel-drive had automatically jumped away from. The second Klingon ship burned up in the fires of the Anomaly without the advantage of the metaphasic shielding. TheNegh'Var class, however, did not pursue and instead moved toward the battle again, focusing fire on both the Alsea and Romulan ships alike.

The Spectre and Alsea continued to take the brunt of the damage, however, and torpedoes from all sides started puncturing the hull. Hull breaches on all decks on all four ships were evident to the Horizon as they scanned the damage.

"Get us in there," Paris ordered, and the helmsman punched the enormous hull of the brand new ship through all the plasma and disruptor fire coming from the enemy vessels, but blocking the fire enough to give respite to the Lotus Fleet ships. Paris winced as a few of the beams punctured the shields and cut swaths across the hull. The plasma beams and torpedoes also created some considerable plasma fires that were being periodically put out by the automatic plasma suppression hazard emitters.

"Sir, it appears the Anomaly is completely dispersed. We have full sensors now."

"Well I think it's time for a graceful exit." As the Captain of the ship with the best tactical advantage, he took it upon himself to issue orders, but he didn't make it sound as such. Over the secure comm channel, he said, "Paris to all Lotus Fleet ships. I strongly suggest we retreat to assist the McKenzie and then return to Starbase 10... maximum warp. I'll cover your retreat."

"This is the Spectre, roger that. Aegis, you may want to hitch a ride in our flight bay. It should provide enough room if you enter in from the foredeck."

"We'd welcome the ride, Spectre," Doctor Nasaro-Myth replied and the helmsman Aguk Snow, did just that as the Spectre turned and approached, orienting the bridge module forward and backing in as the Spectre came toward it. It was a tight fit, but the skilled fingers of the Inuit helmsman guided the module in smoothly, leaving mere centimeters on either side to clear the flight bay's docking port.

The Spectre streaked out of sight at warp 9 leaving the Horizon and Alsea.

-----------------------------------------

The Alsea bucked hard as she was buffeted by disruptor cannon fire and the ship's computer sounded a warning to the Vulcan at the tactical console.

"Captain, hull breach on deck six."

"Seal the breach T'Lana," Jureth demanded "and dispatch damage control teams."

"Aye Sir."

The next report was from Lieutenant Tor in the secondary section.

"Captain, the anomaly has dissipated, I believe the Horizon has been sealed!"

"Confirmed Sir," Ensign Wynn said from ops, "I'm reading communications from the Fleet. The McKenzie, and Republic are engaged with a Klingon battle group, and Captain Paris is recommending we retreat to assist."

At the one auxiliary console on the Alsea's bridge that was still functioning science officer Ensign Michael Bryant looked at his readings and then looked again, and after the computer confirmed his suspicions he spoke up.

"Captain, we have a problem Sir, I'm detecting signs of the intradimensional portal we saw earlier."

"The Undine," Jureth said grimly

"Yes Sir, but it's not just one ship Sir."

"T'Lana?"

"Confirmed captain tactical sensors are showing as many as twenty targets!"

Jureth's jaw nearly dropped, it was time to leave this party and as quickly as they could do so.

"Oseno to engineering, Mister Thompson can we put this ship back together?"

"Negative Captain, we suffered major structural damage during the separation."

"What about the micro cores?"

"By some small miracle Sir they are both capable of about warp six."

"Understood, Osneo out."

Jureth closed the intercom and turned to the ship's computer "Computer, plot a course to the position of USS McKenzie warp six, and disseminate to all sections."

"Acknowledged," the computer replied "Course plotted and loaded to all navigational systems."

"Alsea to Horizon, Captain we have a new problem, Undine vessels emerging from a portal, possibly as many as twenty ships, it's time to leave."

"Roger that. You heard the man, get us the heck out of here," Paris ordered to the helmsman.

As the Horizon came about to make its retreat, the Undine ships started appearing through the portals that were forming, all along the edge of what used to be the Anomaly. They went first to the closest ships, the Romulan Birds of Prey, destroying them immediately. A few began battling the Mogai escorts and the Negh'Var, but most headed straight for the D'deridex and green and yellow plasma beams and torpedoes began streaking across the blackness of space in what looked like a horrific light show.

"Get out of here, Alsea," Paris ordered,

On the Alsea, Jureth gave a simple order "Computer, engage previously laid in course." and all three of the Alsea's sections in formation warped away from the battle.

"Let us do the same. Maximum warp," he said to the helmsman, but before he could carry out the order, the Tactical officer said, "Sir! a shuttle is emerging from the Regalis. The Regalis is firing on it. One lifesign... it's Human andRomulan!"

-----

Minutes ago, on the bridge of the IRW Regalis, half the crew had watched with the same horrified expression as the one painted on their Admiral and their Empress the new violent storm raging through space; a storm now of their own, unwilling, making... one that would now swallow their Empire, the Federation, the whole quadrant, into an inferno of destruction and suffering as final as that promised by the Azimuth Horizon.

"Escort her Highness and the Admiral to the brig," ordered the traitor ship commander to four soldier that came to the bridge to answer his summon. "Upon our return to the capital, they will be both charged with dereliction of duty and treason against the Empire."

One sub-lieutenant started to protest; the commandr shot him where he stood.

"Anyone else wants to join them in disgrace?" he asked with a sneer.

Sela almost jumped on him at this moment; but a firm and much stronger hand restrained her. Tomalak looked her in the eye and very subtly shook his head.

The sudden deep serenity in his eyes, the hard resolve etching his face, the mall confident smile at the corner of his lips, they all told her what he neede her to understand. The Empress of the Romulan Star Empire might have been impulsive and emotional, but she was exceptionally perceptive and very intelligent, qualities enhanced by her Human side; and what she had inherited from her Romulan blood was the cunning and indomitability her own stare and features now shard with those of Tomalak.

Silent and stoic, both went with solemn dignity with their guards. But before they entered the lift cabin, Sela turned and looked the traitor in the eye. her voice was soft as that of a lover and venomous as that of a snake.

"Whoever you are... know this; you, and all of those with you.... are already dead. Jolan Tru Rihansuu !"

As the lift door closed on her vicious smile, the officiers of the bridge still loyal to her stood straighter and answered with their own Jolan Tru Rihansuu!

The sacred words reverberated for a long time on the now silent command center of the ship as they jumped on their captors, only to be swiftly killed by the alert mutineers, but not without taking a few with them.

The survivng traitors were barely numerous enough to assume again command of the massive D'Deridez warship that the computer had been running all this time in pre-programmed battle actions. This had cost them significant tactical advantage that the Federation ship had exploited, but in their usual meek and half-hearted way. But now, the Klingons had showed up and they were not sparing in their attacks against both the Imperial Navy and Starfleet.

It was time to get back to the real problem at hand and show them all the might of the Romulan Star Empire!

As he sat in one of the command chairs of the dual command podium, the ship commander noticed for the first time the new Federation starship that had suddenly appeared on the scene. For a moent, he blinked with genuine awe. The starship was of the most familiar Starfleet design of a saucer necked to a secondary tubular hull underneath sporting two pylons holding a pair of long nacelles upward at the aft. But the lines where quite distinctive of any specific class he had ever studied... and it was truly huge, seemingly as much as their own one thousand and two-hundred meters, four point three million tons D'Deridex!

As it started firing formidable fire from impressive dual phaser arrays and spewing volleys of high yield quantum torpedoes, it felt more like they were fighting a mobile space station than a starship; but seeing it maneuver with the speed and grace of a heavy destroyer, shrugging off both Klingon and Romulan disruptor fire with exceptionally powerful shields, he knew that this was truly a battleship, one like the federation had never fielded... until now.

The commander saluted this USS Horizon with genuine respect. It's power would offer a well-remembered and celebrated challenge and her charred, broken hull a splendid trophy.

And as the flagship of the Romulan Star Empire plowed with renewed deadly vigor into the fray, deep in it's immense bowels, the allegedly deposed Empress and her faithful Admiral were led into the darker sections below, where were located the cells ususally used to discipline crewmen. Contrary to popular belief, it was not Klingons who never took prisonners; that they did aplenty, as showed their famous Rura Penthe prison planet and their invention of the mindsifter to extract information from captured enemies. It has always been the Romulans, since the very early days of the First Romulan-Federation War of the late twenty-second century. Thus, the guards escorting Sela and Tomalak, as well trained and alert as they were, were not all that ready for what happened next.

The ship had shook regularly under outside bombardment from enemy fire as they walked the corridors. But when they reached the cell blocks and were about to confine the couple into the same cell, one especially violent salvo rocked the entire massive warship, enough to send them all off balance.

This was the exact moment Tomalak had waited for.

As he fell, the old admiral angled his body to slam one of the guards. Grabbing his rifle, he tore it off his hands to swing it,s butt in the face of the other nearest one, then rolled on the face of the third as it fell hard on the deckplates to rise up on one knee and shoot the fourth one point blank in the gut... his movement now shielding Sela from them.

"Go! The tertiary shuttlebay is one deck above us! Go!"

"What about you?" she suddenly shouted as she started to runthen stopped to look at him with wide eyes.

He shot two other guards before the last one, the one he had stolen the weapon from, lunged at him and tried to wreste his disruptor rifle away from him. deflty, Tomalak disengaged the pistol part that made up the aft part of the elongated weapon and shot the surprised guard in the face.

"Stop acting like a Human woman and be our Empress! GO!"

And with those words, he ran the opposite way, pistol in hand, towards a new group of guards coming at a run from the other end of the corridor.

"Jolan Tru... Tomalak," she wispered at his back before diving into a maintenance tube to climb swiftly to the deck above.

She stepped a moment later into a deserted corridor and, as the entire warship trembled with the echoes of the savage space battle raging beyond it's reinforced hull, she swiftly came to the lower aft section of the titanic vessel.

Two guards stood before the access to the tertiary shuttlebay.

As they saw her, they stiffened their stance. Then they bowed in deference to her.

Obviously unaware of the situation, they stepped away when she came to the door. But then, a group of guards appeared from the other end of the passageway and started running towards them when they spotted her.

"Stop her! She's a traitor to the Empire!"

The two guards then immediately stood in front of her; then past her as they instantly opened fire at the incoming squad, mowing them down in a few volleys.

In the silence that followed, the guards took again their guarding post each side of the door, leaving the way open for Sela, bowing to her.

"Come with me," Sela then said to the both of them.

"Our duty is to give our life to ensure yours, your Highness," objected one with a solemn, determined tone not even a ramming starship could have shook. "We must stay here."

"I want your names, both of you, so that your faithfullness and courage shall be forever acclaimed and remembered," she then asked with great dignity.

"Remember us as two among all of those who swore to die for their duty to the throne, your Higness," said one. "Those of true Rihansuu Honor who will not soil their sacred word because of lies screamed in a corridor."

"Jolan Tru, your Highness," simply said the other.

With that, she bowed deeply to each of them in turn before stepping through the door. just as it closed, she saw another squad of armed soldiers enter the corridor. The sliding panel removed from her sight the two guards throwing themselves on one knee before it to start shooting at them and cover her escape.

She moved swiftly now; would not make their sacrifice... or that of Tomalak, a vain one.

And she would avenge them... all fo them... and especially him.

There was no one in the smallest shuttlebay of the warship, as it only held maintenance pods and cargo shuttles that were useless in a combat situation. So it was left unmanned during battle alert. Without a pause, she entered one cargo shuttle and activated the pre-launch sequence with expert practice. She might be the Empress, but for a much longer time she had been an officer of the Imperial Navy, taking years of hard work against heavy prejudice because of her mixed heritage through each and every rank until she rose to prominence. Flying a shuttle had been one of her most basic skills long even before that.

When the small craft was ready for launch, the access door blew away as a group of soldiers bursted through the sparks and the smoke. They instantly spotted the only active craft and started shooting at it, but their ahnd weapons could not do more that scar the thickened plates of the cargo ship.

With a baleful glare towards them, Sela lifted her craft from the deck, flew straight at the closed space door and activated the one small disrputor installed in front of her shuttle. She shot open the bay door, instantly exposing the unprepared soldiers to the deadly vaccuum of space as she flew out the instant the security forcefield snapped into place.

Around her, space was crisscrossed by green and golden streaks of burning lights, flares of blue-white, red and greenish fires, zooming masses of greenish, brownish and bluish hulls dancing one around the other amidst all the silent, deadly chaos. her diminutive craft shook with the savage violence erupting all around her, warning lights and klaxons envelopping her, then rumbles, tremors, sparks and smoke...

Jolan Tru... she finally said with defiance still in her voice. In true Rihansuu spirit, she accepted her incoming death; but in fierce Human wrath, she just regretted not sharing it with those that deserved it more than her.

-----

The shuttle was badly damaged and almost destroyed when Paris said, "Get a lock on her!" He knew Starfleet Intelligence would want to have a talk with her. "Beam her to the brig."

"Aye, Sir. We've got her."

"Time to go. Engage." The ship jumped to warp and followed the others to finally rendezvous with the rest of the Lotus Fleet ships near Starbase 10.