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Chapter Two

"Pah!"

Captain Kilmar turned and saw one of his officers banging his fists upon one of the forward consoles of the Federation Bridge.

"What is it?" He demanded.

"I cannot get this console to function..." The Klingon said through clenched teeth. "It seems the Federation computer activated a security program once it realized the ship was being boarded...All the main consoles are non-functional except the propulsion systems and external sensors."

"What of internal systems? Sensors and communications?"

"We will have to use our own communicators to stay in contact with the others on board and the other ships of the fleet." The officer said.

"And the internal sensors?" Kilmar asked.

"Non-functional," The officer said.

Kilmar frowned, and then said: "Try to do something about this...We need to get this ship operational before we go into battle..."

* * *

Tarses and the rest of his staff arrived in front of the doors of the USS-Card's main cargo bay where most of the rest of the crew was being held.

"Okay..." Tarses whispered to his staff. "There are twenty Klingons in there...We can take them out but we'll have to be really careful about it. We have the element of surprise on our side but they have the advantage of number on their side...We need to be fast and precise...Surgical..." He grinned.

They all nodded in understanding, and then they separated...

Five of them would go to the upper-level of the cargo-bay from where they would dispatch as many Klingon guards as possible while the rest of the staff would enter through the main door and take cover behind cargo containers.

When the five on the upper-level signaled that they were in position, Tarses counted to three and they entered.

The Klingons were very surprised to see them...As phaser beams streaked across the bay in all directions, Tarses couldn't help but remember the Dominion War...He had been on the front line in most of the larger combats that had taken place on land. The sound of phaser fire had become to him like the sound of the sea was for a fisherman...

Five Klingons were taken totally by surprise, which left fifteen against fifteen...The Klingons that had not been stunned quickly hid behind containers at the other side of the bay; the USS-Card's crew lay as low as they could on the floor, hoping not to get hit by a stray phaser blast.

Tarses decided to use a rather barbaric tactic he had learned from a barbaric lieutenant who had had his arm sliced off by a Jem'Hadar during the war, he had told Tarses that no one was protected from an overloaded phaser.

The doctor had never actually tried the tactic, but there was a first time for everything... He set his hand-phaser to overload and threw it towards the cargo containers behind which the Klingons were hiding. The phaser exploded and most of the Klingons were thrown across the bay...Only two remained.

"We've got them!" One of the nurses said.

The two remaining Klingons quickly surrendered, seeing the futility of a battle against fifteen Starfleet officers wielding phasers, and then they joined their comrades in the brig.

* * *

A few minutes later, on board the bridge of the Card, the officer who was sitting at the Ops station cried out: "Captain!"

Kilmar stepped down towards the officer and asked: "What is it?"

The officer grinned: "I have managed to pass around some of the security systems of the starship, we now have control of most of the systems on board and our repair crews have fixed most of the damage caused by our minefield...The ship is now fully-functional."

Kilmar placed a hand on the officer's shoulder: "Good work..."

"Thank you, si..." The Klingon stopped, his eyes locked on the readings displayed on his console.

"What is it?" Kilmar asked.

"The Starfleet officers!" The officer said. "They're no longer in the brig!"

"What?!" Kilmar checked the readings for himself. "How is that possible?"

Suddenly, all the turbolift doors opened and Starfleet officers poured out of the lift, pointing phasers and disruptors at the Klingon crew.

One of the Starfleet officers with a blue collar said: "Surrender, now."

There was no alternative, if the Klingons fought it would bring them nowhere...They would be stunned and thrown into the brig as well...

Kilmar pulled out his disruptor and threw it towards the blue-collared Starfleet officer: "We surrender..."

* * *

"Master!" The young Klingon ensign who was seated at the conn station of the Okarax, the River of Blood's flagship, suddenly said. "The Federation vessel is going off course!"

"What?!" Doksath stood up from his chair. "Put it on screen."

The screen changed to a view of the fleet, the Akira-class federation ship was, indeed, moving away.

"Contact captain Kilmar, now." Doksath ordered.

The ensign nodded and initiated a commlink, but no answer came: "They're not responding, sir."

General Rax came forward from the back of the bridge: "The Starfleet crew...They must have taken back control of the starship, somehow."

"Wonderful..." Doksath grunted. "Send the Rikthar and the Qu'qchn after them...They must not leave this sector alive."

"Yes, master." The ensign nodded.

* * *

"Doctor," An ensign that Tarses didn't know said from his seat at the conn. "There are two Klingon ships breaking formation and on an intercept course."

"Figures..." Tarses frowned. "Okay, go to maximum speed; can we outrun them?"

"I'm not sure...Those two ships are birds of prey and they're quick." The ensign said.

"So either we fight them, or outsmart them..." Tarses said. "Both options are rather risky..."

"There is one way we can stop them," Sharon Davies said, seated at Ops. "If we can get reinforcements."

"And where will we get some?" Tarses asked.

"There is a Klingon starbase one light-year away." She said. "If we can get over there and convince them of what is going on they will help us to get those birds of our tail."

Tarses pondered for a minute, and then nodded: "Okay, set a course for the starbase and open a hailing frequency to the station."

"Aye," Davies said. "Hailing frequency open."

The face of a large, young Klingon with wild black hair appeared on the screen: "I am commander Torgon of Klingon starbase fifteen, please state your business, Federation vessel."

"I'm commander Tarses of the Federation starship Card." Tarses said. "We need your help, commander. There are two Klingon birds of prey that are following us, they mean to destroy us...These ships belong to a dangerous faction known as the River of Blood. Their armada has assembled in the neighboring system; perhaps you have noticed them on your sensors?"

Torgon seemed to consider Tarses for a moment; if he wasn't aware of anything about the River of Blood it was going to be a bit more difficult to convince him. But the armada was large enough proof that something was going on in the Empire.

"I see..." Torgon still seemed dubious. "How can I be sure that you are not the enemy?"

"You can't," Tarses admitted. "But you have my word...If you do not help us to destroy those ships, the Empire will be in even greater risk than it already is."

Torgon pondered some more, and then, to Tarses' relief, nodded: "We shall extend our shields around your ship." And he blinked off the screen.

Tarses sighed: "Thank you." He said.

The Card approached the large Klingon station and halted alongside it; the massive shield bubble of the starbase extended and surrounded the Federation ship. The two birds of prey did not halt their course and continued straight towards the starbase.

"Full power to weapons," Tarses said. "Prepare to fire..."

"The starbase is arming disruptors," Davies said. "Their preparing to fire at the birds of prey."

"The Klingon ships are slowing..." The ensign at conn reported. "It seems they're getting a little scared."

"They have entered firing range," The officer at tactical said.

"Fire," Tarses ordered.

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