Sutherland: Rocks and Shoals: Part 8
As promised, here's the next part of Rocks and Shoals. In this part, as promised, we've got plenty of Solly and Pierson kicking butt and taking names and also a lot of Atoa action.
Rocks and Shoals: Part 8
***********************************************************
As he zipped up his stealthsuit, Lynn Pierson stared directly into the eyes of his two lieutenants, “I don’t want you two doing anything stupid like trying to play hero and come after us if we frinx up. If you don’t hear from us in two hours or if you even think that Ershak is about to move on this place, I want you to get the girls, Alain, and the stuff in my safe out of here. Get to my ship, and then hightail it to the rendezvous point. No if…ands…or buts about it—got it?”
“But, Boss…”
“Got it, Dak?” Pierson repeated with increased emphasis.
“Yeah, Boss…”
“You too, S’nurl. I don’t want you going and getting yourself killed trying to take out Ershak’s entire syndicate on some vengeance quest.” Softening his voice, he added, “I need you, old friend, to keep Alena and Bala safe.”
“I undersssstand…even though I do not like it.” The loyal Gorn bodyguard replied, “I will do assssssss you assssssk.”
“Good.” The roguish Pierson responded as he clasped a hand on muscular reptile’s shoulder. Slipping a phaser one into his boot and knife into a sheath in the other boot, the ex-Starfleet officer turned towards Chief Brin who was similarly equipping himself, “You ready to go, Brin?”
“Ready when you are.” The red Orion taciturnly replied as he shoved a phaser into his belt.
“Let’s go do this then.” Pierson declared in grim tone as he strode out of his office.
*********************************************************************
“You’ll go in first, Atoa.” Sabrina Diaz commanded, her voice coming through the Moselle’s intercom. “If you’re as good as you say you are, then the depot’s scanners will read you as the Niger making its normal deliveries. You, Nura, and Banan and Hanya…” she instructed, referring to the lean dark haired male and petite dirty blonde haired female Bajorans from Ayenga’s cell also on board the runabout, “…will then take out the flight control team and neutralize the depots shielding and weapons arrays. Ayenga and I will then follow up with our teams.”
“Understand, Sabrina.” Manuele replied in a grim tone as the Bzzit Khaht woman sitting in the pilot’s seat gave him a supportive grin. “Don’t worry, it’ll work.”
“It better for your sake.” Ayenga’s caustic voice interjected.
“Ignore her.” Nura consoled, placing her free hand on the New Kauaian’s shoulder. “Like I said, I trust you.”
Feeling just the slightest twinge of guilt as he regarded the leathery skinned woman sitting next to him, Manuele’s lips turned up in a slight smile, “Thank you, Nura. Now…you ready to go in?”
“Yeah.” The ace pilot grinned back, “Let’s do this.”
“Remember…” Diaz’s voice came through one last time as she further admonished, addressing all of the teams, “…we do this as quick and clean as possible. I don’t want any deaths here.”
Hearing the Maquis leader’s instructions, Ayenga’s lips turned up into a cold smile. Turning towards her second in command, the Bajoran terrorist inquired in a cold voice, “Do Hanya and Banan understand what they’re supposed to do?” Taking her lieutenant’s single nod of the head as an answer, the Kon Ma leader further instructed, “Make sure they understand that they’re only to act when they get the signal. We have to make sure that the Fleeters are convinced that Sabrina is the one responsible for the package we’re leaving behind…right?”
“Understood, Ayenga.” Her Bajoran underling responded with a cold grin of his own. “We’ll make sure that Sabrina gets all of the credit she deserves for this one.”
*********************************************************************
Handing the ocular viewer back to Pierson, Solly grunted, “Sensor drones. Just like you said.”
“Yeah.” The ex-Starfleet officer whispered back as he peered through the oculars. “And their patrol routes overlap so that no part of the perimeter goes unguarded. Also, take one out, it immediately triggers a security bot with live guards backing it up.”
“So…” Chief Brin asked with a grimace, “How’re we going to get through?”
His lips turning up in a sly grin, Pierson took out two fist-sized objects. “A little something I picked up from a friend of a friend.” The rogue explained with a triumphant smirk. “They have holo-emitters that fool the drones’ visual sensors and also a package that’ll cover our biosignatures.”
Shaking his head, the red Orion replied, “I’m not even going to ask how or where you got those things. So…how much time will they give us.”
“Not much.” Pierson admitted. “Their batteries’ll give us two minutes—maybe two and a half. We have to be over the wall and on the other side and out of range of the scanners by then.”
“What about inside patrols?” Solly inquired.
“Got it covered.” Lynn answered back, his crooked grin returning, “I’ve got someone on the inside. All we have to do is get over the wall and past the inner perimeter guards.”
“All right.” Solly exhaled, “Let’s do it.”
**********************************************************************
Activating his comm unit, Manuele spoke, “Sigma Three? This is the Niger approaching on a heading of one-oh-two mark thirty.”
“Niger? This is Sigma Three Control. What happened to our usual guy?”
“Lieutenant Aiello is taking a few weeks of leave on Risa.” Manuele replied, giving the cover story that had already been worked out. “I’m Lieutenant Matt Ramos.”
After a few moments, the voice of the depot’s flight control officer once again came out from the speakers, “All right, Lieutenant. Everything checks out. You’re cleared for approach and landing on Pad Alpha. You got some people here who are really looking forward to the care packages you’re bringing with you.”
“Well…” Manuele chuckled, “I better hurry up then—I wouldn’t want to keep them waiting longer than I have to.”
“Smooth.” Nura praised as she glanced over at the human sitting next to her. “Tell the others to get ready to move while I guide us in.”
“Right.” Atoa replied as he got out of his chair. Walking to the back of the runabout, he spied the Bajoran couple who made up the rest of his assault team cleaning their weapons. Noting how professionally the pair had broken down, cleaned, and put back together their Klingon made disruptor carbines, the experienced security officer the female, Hanya, had modified the focus crystal so that the beam from her carbine would come out narrower, increasing both range and stopping power. The male, Banan, had also altered his weapon, adjusting the charge emitter so that it would put out an increased rate of fire, but at the expense of both accuracy and range. Mentally filing what he had seen in the back of his mind, Manuele called out, “Get ready, you two. We’re on our way in.”
Nodding their heads once in acknowledgement, the pair, after first slapping fresh power cells on to their weapons, stood up. Maintaining their silence as they brushed past him, the pair took their place on the tiny runabout’s two transport pads. Returning to the bow, Manuele rolled his eyes as he took his seat.
“Watch out for those two.” Nura whispered, “Especially the woman, Hanya. She’s what you humans call a ‘stone-killer’. She kills for one reason and one reason only—because she loves it. Don’t turn your back on her and whatever you do—don’t cross her.”
“Great group we’re travelling with.” Manuele observed with a wry grin.
Chuckling in response, Nura quipped, “The Kon Ma aren’t exactly known for their sense of humor, you know.” Her smile vanishing as the planetoid the depot was located on grew larger, the Bzzit Khaht remarked in a soft voice, “Get ready…it’s showtime.”
Calling out over his shoulder, Manuele alerted the Bajorans, “Ok…we’re beaming you over. Energize.”
As the Kon Ma couple dematerialized, the New Kauaian turned his attention back to his companion, “I hope we didn’t make a mistake just now beaming those two over.”
“Yeah.” Nura agreed, a grim expression on her face, “I do too.”
**********************************************************************
“Ok, Solly…” Pierson grinned as his thumb hovered over a tiny remote control button, “…the moment I push this button, the clock starts. We have two minutes to get over that wall and past the inner perimeter before the emitters run out of juice. You ready?” Taking the red Orion’s single nod of the head as assent, Lynn’s thumb pressed the button, activating the two holo-emitters. Nodding his head as the area in front of portion of the wall they targeted momentarily shimmered; Pierson slapped his teammate on the shoulder, “Now!”
Leaping to their feet, the pair sprinted towards the wall. As he neared the obstacle, Solly spotted the sensor drone out of the corner of his eye drawing closer. Picking up his pace as the drone approached, the red Orion said a rare silent prayer as he and Pierson, reaching the wall, began their climb. The drone, apparently fooled by the roguish human’s devices, passed the pair in silence as they scampered over the wall. Pointing at a small blockhouse thirty meters to his left, Pierson whispered, “Over there! Go! We’ve only got a minute left.” Reaching the blockhouse, Pierson keyed in a sequence. Sighing in relief as the door opened, the defrocked Starfleet officer flashed a roguish grin as the two men stepped inside, “We’re in.”
“Where are we?” Chief Brin asked as he drew his phaser.
“This is a maintenance shed.” Pierson explained, pointing at the various tools and devices hanging on hooks on the wall and lying on shelves. Nothing much special about the place…” Lynn smirked as he revealed another keypad concealed by a gardener’s smock hanging from a hook, “…except for this.” Punching in another key sequence, the rogue’s grin grew wider as a portion of the floor opened up to reveal a staircase. “Ershak has a tunnel complex under his estate. This’ll take us right to where we need to go.”
Shaking his head, the Bluefin chief commented dryly, “You’ve been planning this for some time, haven’t you?”
Nodding his head as he drew his own weapon, Pierson replied, “Yeah. Figured that sooner or later it’d come down to something like this, so I got someone inside Ershak’s organization a while ago and kept her in my pocket until now.”
“Why are you doing this?” Solly asked, “You’re putting everything on the line here. It can’t be just for Alena and the rest. This’ll burn things between you and Ershak completely. He’ll have no choice but to retaliate.” The red Orion said knowingly, “Otherwise he loses face completely before his people and his Ahmet’sur. And if you kill him, his Ahmet’sur would have to take you out if for no other reason than to avenge his honor. Not only that, the other Ahmets and Ahmet’surs will want to take out contracts on you—if for no other reason than to make an example out of you.”
“Yeah…there’s more.” Pierson admitted, his face now taking on a grim expression, “Ershak made a mistake—he made it personal between us when he brought my ex into this. But you’re right…” He conceded, the roguish grin quickly reappearing, “My days here on Persis IV are over anyway.” Shrugging his shoulders, the human remarked glumly, “Just as well…I’ve lived as long as I have out here ‘cause I know when it’s time to pull up stakes. Things are going to get ugly in this section of space soon—uglier than they are now—and I mean a lot uglier. I can feel it. Time to get while the getting’s good. I figure me, Dak, S’nurl and the girls’ll find us another place to set up.” Jerking his head towards the stairwell, Lynn concluded the conversation, “Look…we can talk more about this later. Right now…we’ve got work to do.”
“Yeah.” Solly agreed as the pair descended into the tunnel. “We’ve got an appointment with a fat green Orion.”
********************************************************************
“Flight control secure.”
Hearing Hanya’s icy words coming from the intercom speaker, Manuele took a deep breath. “Bring us on in, Nura.”
“Right.” The Bzzit Khaht acknowledged as she expertly piloted the runabout on to the waiting pad. “We’re down.” She said, reporting to Sabrina.
“Good.” The Maquis leader replied, “Proceed with the operation.”
“Well…” Nura remarked, cracking a sly grin as she got out of the pilot’s chair, “Let’s get to work.” Her smile vanishing, she added in a more guarded tone, “I don’t like leaving those two alone for too long. Between you and me…” she whispered, “…I don’t trust Ayenga. I think she’s up to something.”
“Yeah.” Manuele quickly agreed as he checked his phaser, finding that it had been locked to a mild stun setting as per Sabrina’s orders, “I know what you mean.”
Moments later, as the pair emerged from the airlock into the flight control center, both Nura and Manuele found, to their deepest regret, that their suspicions regarding their Bajoran teammates were justified. Finding one Starfleet crewman, wearing the gold and black jacket of an operations/security specialist, lying motionless on the deck, a phaser in his hand, and another, this one wearing command red, slumped in her chair; the New Kauaian growled as he approached the fallen security specialist, “They’re dead.”
A pained look on her face, Nura flashed the Bajoran couple an accusatory look, “What part of ‘No Killing’ don’t you understand?”
“We don’t take orders from Diaz.” Hanya replied haughtily. “In any event, we didn’t have a choice. That man…” she said, pointing at the human lying on the deck, “…was obviously going for his phaser, and she…” the Bajoran continued, jerking her head towards the gray-skinned, chestnut haired Bolian woman slumped over the console, “…was about to trigger an alarm.”
Glancing first at the fallen human and then at the Bolian woman, Manuele’s experience eye immediately told him that the Bajoran terrorist was lying. Calling Nura over to him, Atoa whispered in a low voice as the Bajorans watched warily, their weapons at the ready. “Nod your head and look relieved.” Following his instructions, the Bzzit Khaht listened intently as the New Kauaian spoke in a low whisper, “Hanya’s lying. That phaser was placed in the ensign’s hand after he was killed. You can tell by the way he’s clutching it and by its position in his hand. Also, the lieutenant’s hand is nowhere near the alarm.”
“So…what do we do?” Nura asked, nodding her head and speaking in a low, level whisper as Manuele instructed. “Call them on it?”
“No.” Manuele replied, his lips turning up into a false smile, “That’ll start a firefight for sure and we don’t want that. Follow my lead, ok?”
“Sure thing.” Nura replied, placing her trust in the burly man standing next to her.
Turning his attention back towards the Kon Ma terrorists, Manuele said in calm, level tone, “All right. You didn’t have a choice.” Seeing the pair relax just a touch, Atoa continued to speak, “But from now on, we’re doing this according to Diaz’s instructions—understood?”
“I told you…” Hanya replied dangerously, her finger dangerously close to the firing stud of the disruptor she carried, “…we only follow the orders of Ayenga.”
“Ok…” the New Kauaian shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly as he slipped unobtrusively into a combat stance, “…then I’ll just contact Sabrina and we’ll scrub the mission. Because, unless you agree, I’m not going to key in the access sequence and since I’m the only one who knows the correct combination...”
After a few moments of angry whispering between her and her partner, Hanya turned her attention back towards Manuele. “All right. We’ll do it your way for now. But…” she added in a menacing tone as she jerked her head down at the fallen security trooper, “…give me one reason, and I’ll burn a hole through you bigger than the one through him.”
“Whatever.” Atoa growled back in response as he moved towards the control console. Moving gingerly so as to not disturb the deceased Bolian, Manuele not only keyed in the sequences that would permit access to the rest of the facility, as well as flood it with anesthizine gas, but also keyed in another code, this one programmed to send out a prearranged signal to the Sutherland. Punching in the last code, the New Kauaian activated a comm signal, “Sabrina…you and Ayenga can bring your teams in now.”
“Right.” The former starship captain responded, “Ayenga…you hear?”
“Yeah.” The Bajoran replied, “We’re beginning our approach.”
“They’ll be at their landing positions in a few minutes.” Manuele said to Nura as he slipped on his breathing apparatus, “So we better get going. We need to get to the central facility and get what we can from there.”
“Right.” The leathery skinned Bzzit Khaht, donning her breathing filter, answered back, adding in a whisper as she glanced back at the Bajoran couple. “You did a good job with those two, but remember what I told you…watch your back—especially with that psycho.”
“Why didn’t we just gun ‘em down and be done with it?” Banan asked his companion in a low whisper, his voice muffled even more by the mask covering nose and mouth.
“We move when Ayenga tells us to and not a moment before.” Hanya replied in an equally low voice, “Besides, I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not lug around all that dead weight to the central core.”
As promised, here's the next part of Rocks and Shoals. In this part, as promised, we've got plenty of Solly and Pierson kicking butt and taking names and also a lot of Atoa action.
Rocks and Shoals: Part 8
***********************************************************
As he zipped up his stealthsuit, Lynn Pierson stared directly into the eyes of his two lieutenants, “I don’t want you two doing anything stupid like trying to play hero and come after us if we frinx up. If you don’t hear from us in two hours or if you even think that Ershak is about to move on this place, I want you to get the girls, Alain, and the stuff in my safe out of here. Get to my ship, and then hightail it to the rendezvous point. No if…ands…or buts about it—got it?”
“But, Boss…”
“Got it, Dak?” Pierson repeated with increased emphasis.
“Yeah, Boss…”
“You too, S’nurl. I don’t want you going and getting yourself killed trying to take out Ershak’s entire syndicate on some vengeance quest.” Softening his voice, he added, “I need you, old friend, to keep Alena and Bala safe.”
“I undersssstand…even though I do not like it.” The loyal Gorn bodyguard replied, “I will do assssssss you assssssk.”
“Good.” The roguish Pierson responded as he clasped a hand on muscular reptile’s shoulder. Slipping a phaser one into his boot and knife into a sheath in the other boot, the ex-Starfleet officer turned towards Chief Brin who was similarly equipping himself, “You ready to go, Brin?”
“Ready when you are.” The red Orion taciturnly replied as he shoved a phaser into his belt.
“Let’s go do this then.” Pierson declared in grim tone as he strode out of his office.
*********************************************************************
“You’ll go in first, Atoa.” Sabrina Diaz commanded, her voice coming through the Moselle’s intercom. “If you’re as good as you say you are, then the depot’s scanners will read you as the Niger making its normal deliveries. You, Nura, and Banan and Hanya…” she instructed, referring to the lean dark haired male and petite dirty blonde haired female Bajorans from Ayenga’s cell also on board the runabout, “…will then take out the flight control team and neutralize the depots shielding and weapons arrays. Ayenga and I will then follow up with our teams.”
“Understand, Sabrina.” Manuele replied in a grim tone as the Bzzit Khaht woman sitting in the pilot’s seat gave him a supportive grin. “Don’t worry, it’ll work.”
“It better for your sake.” Ayenga’s caustic voice interjected.
“Ignore her.” Nura consoled, placing her free hand on the New Kauaian’s shoulder. “Like I said, I trust you.”
Feeling just the slightest twinge of guilt as he regarded the leathery skinned woman sitting next to him, Manuele’s lips turned up in a slight smile, “Thank you, Nura. Now…you ready to go in?”
“Yeah.” The ace pilot grinned back, “Let’s do this.”
“Remember…” Diaz’s voice came through one last time as she further admonished, addressing all of the teams, “…we do this as quick and clean as possible. I don’t want any deaths here.”
Hearing the Maquis leader’s instructions, Ayenga’s lips turned up into a cold smile. Turning towards her second in command, the Bajoran terrorist inquired in a cold voice, “Do Hanya and Banan understand what they’re supposed to do?” Taking her lieutenant’s single nod of the head as an answer, the Kon Ma leader further instructed, “Make sure they understand that they’re only to act when they get the signal. We have to make sure that the Fleeters are convinced that Sabrina is the one responsible for the package we’re leaving behind…right?”
“Understood, Ayenga.” Her Bajoran underling responded with a cold grin of his own. “We’ll make sure that Sabrina gets all of the credit she deserves for this one.”
*********************************************************************
Handing the ocular viewer back to Pierson, Solly grunted, “Sensor drones. Just like you said.”
“Yeah.” The ex-Starfleet officer whispered back as he peered through the oculars. “And their patrol routes overlap so that no part of the perimeter goes unguarded. Also, take one out, it immediately triggers a security bot with live guards backing it up.”
“So…” Chief Brin asked with a grimace, “How’re we going to get through?”
His lips turning up in a sly grin, Pierson took out two fist-sized objects. “A little something I picked up from a friend of a friend.” The rogue explained with a triumphant smirk. “They have holo-emitters that fool the drones’ visual sensors and also a package that’ll cover our biosignatures.”
Shaking his head, the red Orion replied, “I’m not even going to ask how or where you got those things. So…how much time will they give us.”
“Not much.” Pierson admitted. “Their batteries’ll give us two minutes—maybe two and a half. We have to be over the wall and on the other side and out of range of the scanners by then.”
“What about inside patrols?” Solly inquired.
“Got it covered.” Lynn answered back, his crooked grin returning, “I’ve got someone on the inside. All we have to do is get over the wall and past the inner perimeter guards.”
“All right.” Solly exhaled, “Let’s do it.”
**********************************************************************
Activating his comm unit, Manuele spoke, “Sigma Three? This is the Niger approaching on a heading of one-oh-two mark thirty.”
“Niger? This is Sigma Three Control. What happened to our usual guy?”
“Lieutenant Aiello is taking a few weeks of leave on Risa.” Manuele replied, giving the cover story that had already been worked out. “I’m Lieutenant Matt Ramos.”
After a few moments, the voice of the depot’s flight control officer once again came out from the speakers, “All right, Lieutenant. Everything checks out. You’re cleared for approach and landing on Pad Alpha. You got some people here who are really looking forward to the care packages you’re bringing with you.”
“Well…” Manuele chuckled, “I better hurry up then—I wouldn’t want to keep them waiting longer than I have to.”
“Smooth.” Nura praised as she glanced over at the human sitting next to her. “Tell the others to get ready to move while I guide us in.”
“Right.” Atoa replied as he got out of his chair. Walking to the back of the runabout, he spied the Bajoran couple who made up the rest of his assault team cleaning their weapons. Noting how professionally the pair had broken down, cleaned, and put back together their Klingon made disruptor carbines, the experienced security officer the female, Hanya, had modified the focus crystal so that the beam from her carbine would come out narrower, increasing both range and stopping power. The male, Banan, had also altered his weapon, adjusting the charge emitter so that it would put out an increased rate of fire, but at the expense of both accuracy and range. Mentally filing what he had seen in the back of his mind, Manuele called out, “Get ready, you two. We’re on our way in.”
Nodding their heads once in acknowledgement, the pair, after first slapping fresh power cells on to their weapons, stood up. Maintaining their silence as they brushed past him, the pair took their place on the tiny runabout’s two transport pads. Returning to the bow, Manuele rolled his eyes as he took his seat.
“Watch out for those two.” Nura whispered, “Especially the woman, Hanya. She’s what you humans call a ‘stone-killer’. She kills for one reason and one reason only—because she loves it. Don’t turn your back on her and whatever you do—don’t cross her.”
“Great group we’re travelling with.” Manuele observed with a wry grin.
Chuckling in response, Nura quipped, “The Kon Ma aren’t exactly known for their sense of humor, you know.” Her smile vanishing as the planetoid the depot was located on grew larger, the Bzzit Khaht remarked in a soft voice, “Get ready…it’s showtime.”
Calling out over his shoulder, Manuele alerted the Bajorans, “Ok…we’re beaming you over. Energize.”
As the Kon Ma couple dematerialized, the New Kauaian turned his attention back to his companion, “I hope we didn’t make a mistake just now beaming those two over.”
“Yeah.” Nura agreed, a grim expression on her face, “I do too.”
**********************************************************************
“Ok, Solly…” Pierson grinned as his thumb hovered over a tiny remote control button, “…the moment I push this button, the clock starts. We have two minutes to get over that wall and past the inner perimeter before the emitters run out of juice. You ready?” Taking the red Orion’s single nod of the head as assent, Lynn’s thumb pressed the button, activating the two holo-emitters. Nodding his head as the area in front of portion of the wall they targeted momentarily shimmered; Pierson slapped his teammate on the shoulder, “Now!”
Leaping to their feet, the pair sprinted towards the wall. As he neared the obstacle, Solly spotted the sensor drone out of the corner of his eye drawing closer. Picking up his pace as the drone approached, the red Orion said a rare silent prayer as he and Pierson, reaching the wall, began their climb. The drone, apparently fooled by the roguish human’s devices, passed the pair in silence as they scampered over the wall. Pointing at a small blockhouse thirty meters to his left, Pierson whispered, “Over there! Go! We’ve only got a minute left.” Reaching the blockhouse, Pierson keyed in a sequence. Sighing in relief as the door opened, the defrocked Starfleet officer flashed a roguish grin as the two men stepped inside, “We’re in.”
“Where are we?” Chief Brin asked as he drew his phaser.
“This is a maintenance shed.” Pierson explained, pointing at the various tools and devices hanging on hooks on the wall and lying on shelves. Nothing much special about the place…” Lynn smirked as he revealed another keypad concealed by a gardener’s smock hanging from a hook, “…except for this.” Punching in another key sequence, the rogue’s grin grew wider as a portion of the floor opened up to reveal a staircase. “Ershak has a tunnel complex under his estate. This’ll take us right to where we need to go.”
Shaking his head, the Bluefin chief commented dryly, “You’ve been planning this for some time, haven’t you?”
Nodding his head as he drew his own weapon, Pierson replied, “Yeah. Figured that sooner or later it’d come down to something like this, so I got someone inside Ershak’s organization a while ago and kept her in my pocket until now.”
“Why are you doing this?” Solly asked, “You’re putting everything on the line here. It can’t be just for Alena and the rest. This’ll burn things between you and Ershak completely. He’ll have no choice but to retaliate.” The red Orion said knowingly, “Otherwise he loses face completely before his people and his Ahmet’sur. And if you kill him, his Ahmet’sur would have to take you out if for no other reason than to avenge his honor. Not only that, the other Ahmets and Ahmet’surs will want to take out contracts on you—if for no other reason than to make an example out of you.”
“Yeah…there’s more.” Pierson admitted, his face now taking on a grim expression, “Ershak made a mistake—he made it personal between us when he brought my ex into this. But you’re right…” He conceded, the roguish grin quickly reappearing, “My days here on Persis IV are over anyway.” Shrugging his shoulders, the human remarked glumly, “Just as well…I’ve lived as long as I have out here ‘cause I know when it’s time to pull up stakes. Things are going to get ugly in this section of space soon—uglier than they are now—and I mean a lot uglier. I can feel it. Time to get while the getting’s good. I figure me, Dak, S’nurl and the girls’ll find us another place to set up.” Jerking his head towards the stairwell, Lynn concluded the conversation, “Look…we can talk more about this later. Right now…we’ve got work to do.”
“Yeah.” Solly agreed as the pair descended into the tunnel. “We’ve got an appointment with a fat green Orion.”
********************************************************************
“Flight control secure.”
Hearing Hanya’s icy words coming from the intercom speaker, Manuele took a deep breath. “Bring us on in, Nura.”
“Right.” The Bzzit Khaht acknowledged as she expertly piloted the runabout on to the waiting pad. “We’re down.” She said, reporting to Sabrina.
“Good.” The Maquis leader replied, “Proceed with the operation.”
“Well…” Nura remarked, cracking a sly grin as she got out of the pilot’s chair, “Let’s get to work.” Her smile vanishing, she added in a more guarded tone, “I don’t like leaving those two alone for too long. Between you and me…” she whispered, “…I don’t trust Ayenga. I think she’s up to something.”
“Yeah.” Manuele quickly agreed as he checked his phaser, finding that it had been locked to a mild stun setting as per Sabrina’s orders, “I know what you mean.”
Moments later, as the pair emerged from the airlock into the flight control center, both Nura and Manuele found, to their deepest regret, that their suspicions regarding their Bajoran teammates were justified. Finding one Starfleet crewman, wearing the gold and black jacket of an operations/security specialist, lying motionless on the deck, a phaser in his hand, and another, this one wearing command red, slumped in her chair; the New Kauaian growled as he approached the fallen security specialist, “They’re dead.”
A pained look on her face, Nura flashed the Bajoran couple an accusatory look, “What part of ‘No Killing’ don’t you understand?”
“We don’t take orders from Diaz.” Hanya replied haughtily. “In any event, we didn’t have a choice. That man…” she said, pointing at the human lying on the deck, “…was obviously going for his phaser, and she…” the Bajoran continued, jerking her head towards the gray-skinned, chestnut haired Bolian woman slumped over the console, “…was about to trigger an alarm.”
Glancing first at the fallen human and then at the Bolian woman, Manuele’s experience eye immediately told him that the Bajoran terrorist was lying. Calling Nura over to him, Atoa whispered in a low voice as the Bajorans watched warily, their weapons at the ready. “Nod your head and look relieved.” Following his instructions, the Bzzit Khaht listened intently as the New Kauaian spoke in a low whisper, “Hanya’s lying. That phaser was placed in the ensign’s hand after he was killed. You can tell by the way he’s clutching it and by its position in his hand. Also, the lieutenant’s hand is nowhere near the alarm.”
“So…what do we do?” Nura asked, nodding her head and speaking in a low, level whisper as Manuele instructed. “Call them on it?”
“No.” Manuele replied, his lips turning up into a false smile, “That’ll start a firefight for sure and we don’t want that. Follow my lead, ok?”
“Sure thing.” Nura replied, placing her trust in the burly man standing next to her.
Turning his attention back towards the Kon Ma terrorists, Manuele said in calm, level tone, “All right. You didn’t have a choice.” Seeing the pair relax just a touch, Atoa continued to speak, “But from now on, we’re doing this according to Diaz’s instructions—understood?”
“I told you…” Hanya replied dangerously, her finger dangerously close to the firing stud of the disruptor she carried, “…we only follow the orders of Ayenga.”
“Ok…” the New Kauaian shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly as he slipped unobtrusively into a combat stance, “…then I’ll just contact Sabrina and we’ll scrub the mission. Because, unless you agree, I’m not going to key in the access sequence and since I’m the only one who knows the correct combination...”
After a few moments of angry whispering between her and her partner, Hanya turned her attention back towards Manuele. “All right. We’ll do it your way for now. But…” she added in a menacing tone as she jerked her head down at the fallen security trooper, “…give me one reason, and I’ll burn a hole through you bigger than the one through him.”
“Whatever.” Atoa growled back in response as he moved towards the control console. Moving gingerly so as to not disturb the deceased Bolian, Manuele not only keyed in the sequences that would permit access to the rest of the facility, as well as flood it with anesthizine gas, but also keyed in another code, this one programmed to send out a prearranged signal to the Sutherland. Punching in the last code, the New Kauaian activated a comm signal, “Sabrina…you and Ayenga can bring your teams in now.”
“Right.” The former starship captain responded, “Ayenga…you hear?”
“Yeah.” The Bajoran replied, “We’re beginning our approach.”
“They’ll be at their landing positions in a few minutes.” Manuele said to Nura as he slipped on his breathing apparatus, “So we better get going. We need to get to the central facility and get what we can from there.”
“Right.” The leathery skinned Bzzit Khaht, donning her breathing filter, answered back, adding in a whisper as she glanced back at the Bajoran couple. “You did a good job with those two, but remember what I told you…watch your back—especially with that psycho.”
“Why didn’t we just gun ‘em down and be done with it?” Banan asked his companion in a low whisper, his voice muffled even more by the mask covering nose and mouth.
“We move when Ayenga tells us to and not a moment before.” Hanya replied in an equally low voice, “Besides, I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not lug around all that dead weight to the central core.”
You've put together some great characters here - I must admit, I've developed an affinity for Pierson, the ex-Starfleet officer. Somehow, Harrison Ford pops in my head when I read his lines. Maybe it's the "roguish" bit! 
