Prologue
Golgotha Station
Deneb El Ohab System
Stardate 66475.698 (Earth date – 23rd June 2389)
Golgotha Station orbited a dying star on the very edges of Federation space.
Few starships ever came out so far, to a section of space stuck between the Ferengi Alliance and the mythical First Federation. The few that did came only to resupply the station or to deliver prisoners. Such an isolated location was perfect for Golgotha's primary purpose - housing the men, women and aliens who were considered to be the most dangerous criminals in the Federation.
Though nominally run by Starfleet, the station was administered by a civilian crew and guards working for the Federation Penal Service. These were not the agreeable guards who manned 'rehabilitation' prisons like the New Zealand Penal Settlement. The guards who served on Golgotha were as strong as Klingons and as bad-tempered as targs.
The station itself looked nothing like standard Starfleet issue prefab modules. A central unit connected to five other barrel-like modules through a series of metal arms and wires. The station's command and control centre - known collaquily as the Hub - lay in that central cylinder. The five others bore letters as their sole identifiers - A, B, H, P and Z. Each cylinder was then split into numbered sections.
The lights in Section B4 switched on at 0800 hours as per usual. The prisoner known only as Jules already sat on the edge of his bunk, watching the plasma-reinforced door to his individual cell, as per usual. Exactly ten seconds after the light went on, Jules heard the click of his door unlocking, as per usual. And ten seconds after that he was up and out the door.
As per usual.
Of course, nothing was usual about that day. No one but Jules knew that, though. None of them knew that today was the day he escaped.
xxx
Administrator Gall exited his office and strode across the top level of the operations center of the Hub. The nerve centre of the prison facility was lined with all manner of control consoles, in command of everything from the air and water that the prisoners received to the level of electricity running through the secure barriers that separated the various sections. This morning, a handful of technicians in white uniforms sat in various chairs, maintaining a lazy eye on what was going on.
Elevated slightly above the rest was the Desk, a rectangular console with holographic technology, which allowed the Administrator and his staff to keep an instant eye on every part of the prison complex. Stood at the far end of the Desk at this early hour was Jolana Liim, Gall's attractive deputy administrator. Jolana was relatively new to the station, dispatched by the Federation Penal Service to take over after Gall's former assistant, a human named Gospar, died in a freak airlock accident.
And what a shame that was, Gall thought, eyeing his new deputy's ample bosom as he struggled up the steps to the Desk. Jolana Liim was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen, including in certain 'special' holo-programs he sometimes endulged in. She also had the distinction of being half-Klingon and half-Romulan, which only added to her appeal.
She looked up at him and nodded her head demurely. Gall repressed a shiver of desire. He really would have to get round to inputting those scans he had taken of her into his holo-program generator. He could just picture her in one of those skimpy nurse uniforms from Vulcan Love Slave 3...
A flashing light caught his attention on the outskirts of the Desk. He frowned.
"What is that?"
Jolana frowned as well, the discrete wrinkles on her forehead becoming more pronounced. "I'm not sure."
She turned to one of the stations, giving Gall a mesmerising look at her delicious behind.
"Technician Grears? What is happening in Sector 3.1?"
The technician - a spotty human on his third month in the job - consulted his screens. "An unidentified ship has just appeared in system."
Gall turned away from his study of Jolana Liim's ample attributes, his attention finally turning to the problem at hand. "An unidentified ship?"
"Yes, sir. It... It seems to be in some kind of trouble."
What the hell... "Hail them."
Grears pushed a couple of buttons on his screen, then shook his head. "No response. The sensors aren't picking up any life signs."
Gall shared a glance with Jolana. An automated ship? Out here?
He was about to ask Grears to run his scans again when the lights began to flicker throughout the Hub. Everyone looked up, then turned back to their screen just in time to see them begin to flash and flicker with static, as well.
"What's happening?" Gall demanded.
"We've got some kind of cascade failure, sir," one of the technicians replied. "It seems... It's as if someone has planted a virus in the system."
A virus? "Well find it, get rid of it." He turned to Jolana, anger eliminating any last vestiges of attraction. "Damn it, Jolana, what the hell..."
He trailed off as he saw the phaser in her hand. Jolana met his eyes and smiled. "You were saying?"
"What is going on here?"
"I believe this is called a prison break, sir."
A break? He gasped. There hadn't been an escape from this station in all its history. How can this be happening?
Where is security? he wondered suddenly. Jolana seemed to read his mind.
"Don't worry, as far as the rest of the station is concerned, there is absolutely nothing wrong. The Hub has been totally isolated. All the cameras have been instructed to show a repeating loop of the two of us talking."
"You," Gall shouted. "You did this, you bitch!"
Jolana's smile widened. "I'm just the message girl, Mr. Gall. The man with the plan is locked away in one of your little cells."
"Who?"
"Now that," Jolana drawled, "would be telling."
xxx
Jules passed one of the guards, dropping a little credit chip in his palm. The guard, a hulking Orion, winked at him and let him pass.
Jules had been greasing the guard's palm for the past three months, just for this day. As far as the guard was concerned, he wanted access to this closet to spend some ‘quality’ time with one of the other prisoners. Instead, Jules had been using the time to break through the panels at the rear of the closet, giving him access to the crawl space beyond.
As he opened the door and stepped into the closet, Jules closed his eyes for a moment, mentally picturing the plan of the station. It appeared before him with crystaline perfection, and he traced his route with his mind's eye. As soon as he was sure of where he was going, he opened his eyes and got to work.
xxx
Back in the Hub, the woman who called herself Jolana had forced all of the technicians - and Gall - into a corner, where she was better able to keep her phaser pointed at them. Gall watched as she walked carefully over to one of the control screens and began to press keys, her eyes never wavering from her surveillance of the captives.
"Why are you doing this?" Gall demanded after a few moments of silence. "Surely you don't think you'll be able to get away? The moment the rest of the station realises what is happening..."
"I'll be long gone."
"And what about that ship? We've all seen it. We have the scans. Starfleet will be on your trail five minutes after you leave."
Jolana smirked. "Trust me, the man I'm breaking out will have all of that figured out."
Gall opened his mouth to say something more, but Jolana seemed to have tired of him. Stepping away from the controls, she aimed and fired the phaser. Gall let out a piercing wail, closing his eyes and waiting for death.
Death never came. He opened his eyes again to see Jolana smirking at him. He turned his head slightly and saw a burn mark on the wall beside his head.
"Next time, I'll aim for your left eye," she whispered.
Gall believed her.
xxx
Once the panel had been removed, Jules clambered through the opening and into the crawl space beyond. It was a tight squeeze, but months of prison food and the strict training regime he had forced on himself had left him thinner than he had been since... Well, suffice it to say that it had been a while.
He turned left, using his elbows and knees to push himself forward, trusting to his other senses since the crawlspace had no illumination. He counted under his breath, knowing precisely how much distance he could cover in how many heartbeats. When he reached twenty, he paused and reached out a hand to his left.
As expected, he had arrived at a junction. Squirming, he forced his body round the corner and began to drag himself forward again. He started counting again, trying not to calculate exactly how long it had been since he climbed into the tight space.
He would either make it or he wouldn't.
He had moved a few centimetres when he came to a sudden stop. He strained with his elbows and felt a sharp pain in his foot. He pulled on it again and again, forcing a sharp groan out from between his clenched jaw.
He was stuck.
xxx
Jolana seemed nervous.
A few minutes had passed since she shot the wall behind him. Gall had had time to calm down, and now he had noticed that she was constantly checking the screen to her left and checking a chrono on her wrist.
He decided to chance a comment. "You see," he said. "Whatever you had planned, it isn't working. Just give it up. Any minute now, one of the guards will realise something is wrong and--"
As if to prove his point, a knocking came on the far door of the Hub, followed moments later by a voice.
"Administrator? Deputy Liim? Is everything alright in there?"
Gall allowed a wide smile to spread over his face. "You're surrounded, Jolana. Whatever you had planned, it has failed. Now, just..."
He trailed off as he realised that Jolana wasn't looking at him. Her eyes were focused on the screen. When she turned back to him, her smile was wider than his.
"Goodbye, administrator."
Reaching over, she tapped a finger on one of the controls. Before Gall knew what was happening, the hum of a transporter beam filled the room. The familiar luminescence surrounded the half-Klingon, half-Romulan woman, and she vanished.
xxx
Jules shook his arms and legs out slightly as he materialised on the transporter pad aboard his ship. It was good to be out of that cramped space.
He started forward, moving through an arch and onto the bridge. He smiled when he saw Ki'mel already sat at the conn.
"Everything went as planned?"
She didn't look at him, her entire attention focused on piloting the ship. Jules saw the starfield spin through the viewscreen, the tentacular shape of the prison station vanishing on the left hand side.
"You were late."
"Sorry, I got stuck." He reached down and rubbed at his shoeless foot, wincing as his fingers pressed against the bruised bone. He straightened. "Did you plant the mines?"
She nodded. "Ready to blow when you are."
Jules didn't answer, crossing the space between him and the secondary console. He sat down beside her, checking the screens. "Let's wait until we're ready to jump."
"And you're sure they won't be able to follow us?"
Jules nodded. "Certain. I designed these engines myself. Starfleet doesn't have anything that could track her. Besides, with the holo emitters I had installed, their scans will be useful. They’ll be looking for the wrong kind of ship."
"Alright. We'll be ready to jump in five, four, three, two..."
"Punch it."
As Ki'mel activated the warp drive, Jules sent a tight transmission back to the station behind them. On the rear screen readout, he just had the time to glimpse a series of explosions rock the structure, carefully placed quantum mines, slightly out of phase with real-time, rendering passage between the various parts of the station impossible. And destroying the prison's communication's array in one fell swoop.
He sat back, relieved. He had been almost sure that the plan would work. He calculated the odds in his head, the calculation taking a couple of seconds. Up until now, he had never allowed himself to run them, worried that it might discourage him. When he had finished, he allowed himself a wince. Good thing I didn't, he thought.
Ki'mel released the controls once she was sure the ship was safely at warp. She turned to him.
"Good to see you, boss."
Jules smiled. "And you, Ki. Thanks for... Thanks for getting me out of there."
"No problem. It was fun."
Jules nodded. An awkward silence grew between them, broken after a few minutes by Ki'mel. "So. What now?"
"Have you kept in touch with our contact like I asked?"
She nodded. "He's still going ahead with it."
Dammit! Jules scowled. "Then I guess we need to find some way of stopping him."
"And how do we do that?"
Jules smiled. "I have a couple of ideas."
His former operative sighed and turned back to the controls. "I thought you might. So, where to?"
"How are relations with the Cardassians?"
"Cardassians?"
He nodded. "Yeah. I need to get to the Trivas system."
Ki'mel groaned. "I was afraid you were going to say that. Oh well. Cardassian space, here we come."
"And then, we need to start making some calls. I have a couple of people I'd like to bring in."
"What kind of people?"
Jules' only answer was a cheeky smile.
xxx
It took Gall's technicians two days to get the communications' relay back up, and an extra day to finish repairing the damage to the connections between the various modules. By that time, the guards in each section had done a head count and discovered who had been taken.
When Gall received the news, his heart stopped. After taking a few moments to try and process the news, he left the Hub and took refuge in his office. He sat behind his desk for a good few moments before he made the call.
A stately Vulcan man, his dark hair slowly going gray around his temples, appeared on screen after a few moments. Dressed all in black, he had the classic emotionless expression of all of his people. Gall swallowed.
"What is it?"
"I... I have some news, sir. About... About the prisoner."
"What kind of news?"
"He... He escaped. Four days ago."
The Vulcan's only reaction was a raised eyebrow. "How did this happen?"
Gall quickly sketched out the events that had led to the prisoner's escape, glossing over his role in hiring Jolana Liim and his failure to stop her. Once he was done, the Vulcan nodded.
"Very well. I will handle this matter personally."
"Sir, I... What is going to happen to me?"
"To you?" The Vulcan seemed puzzled. "Absolutely nothing."
Gall heaved a sigh of relief. He had heard stories about this man, about the section he worked for. He had been expecting some kind of reprisal. He was happy to learn that there wouldn't be.
"Thank you, sir."
"T'lor out."
The screen went blank. Gall sat there for a moment longer, and then brought up the file of the escaped prisoner. Not for the first time, he studied it - the picture of a young man in a blue Starfleet medical uniform, the Starfleet service record, the list of crimes that had led to his incarceration. As he studied the file, he wondered again, What the hell had led a former Chief of Starfleet Intelligence to a place like this?
And why were Section 31 after him?
This is looking to be a great adventure story. 
