Veena walked over to the operations station and sat down, examining a padd.
She had just boarded before the ship had left and was not completely familiar
with things, but she had been informed that there was a search going on for a
missing child. Pari sighed, she always had a soft spot for children...she
hoped the little girl was ok.

She spotted the communications officer, Lt. Jazelle Doran, who she was told
she would be working closely with.

Veena walked over to her, and with a smile
said, "Ensign Veena Pari, junior operations officer. I was told to report to
you."

Doran looked up from her work to greet the young woman.

**** Emallia Janor ****

My quarters are fine, the bridge is fine, everything is fine. Too bad I
don't have anything to do with myself. Oh well.

If the generator hadn't gone out, we would have been going. And now a traitor? Man, we're NEVER going to LEAVE!!!!!!! I don't know, maybe I should look at all this as a warning sign and get out while I still can. Didn't something like this
plague the Titanic? a whole bunch of little problems?

Man, I'm screwed, I
mean, look at what happened to it. Oh well. Maybe if I hurry, I can catch this new operations officer. Rumor on the ship is that I went to the Academy with her. Maybe it's true.

As I rounded the corner, I heard a
scream. Then silence. I slowly made my way towards the scream. Rounding the
corner, I saw an officer, the spy maybe? rounding the corner, dragging a
small figure with them. I couldn't tell exactly who it was, but, judging
from the size and clothing, it was Laizia. I followed them, and as we
rounded the corner, I could see that he was taking her into a darkened room.

It was very large, I assumed it was one of the secondary control centers in the bowels of the ship. They were never used very often, only in
circumstances where the bridge was totally destroyed. Just as I was about
to leave and call for help, the familiar burning sensation of a phaser hit
me and I fell.

As I tried to stay consciences, all I could think was that the feeling of the stun wasn't the same. It was too slow.

"It's Roooomulaaaaaa. . . " I slurred my words as the darkness finally took over.

**** Xenia Rafko ****

After Nu'Daq left, I settled myself back in bed. I was completely exhausted and in pain. It was as if every cell in my body was on fire and I figured this was my reward for being so darn stubborn in the first place.

I slept for a brief period of time, as much as my aching body would let me. I woke to get some
painkillers and then to monitor myself. My hands shook as I held the tricorder in my hand and then it slipped from my fingers. I stared down in dismay at the now-broken instrument.

"Rafko to Okal."

"Okal here."

"I need your help," I said. I got out of bed and made my way to the dresser. I wasn't sure if I had another tricorder here.

"Anything serious?"

"I broke my tricorder," I answered as I shifted
through drawers. "Can you bring me another one or maybe fix this one?"

There was a chuckle and a second later, "I'm on my way. Just give me a few minutes, okay? I need to finish something up here."

I didn't find a tricorder and I didn't want to risk taking any drugs before assessing my true condition. I turned around, leaned against the dresser, contemplating the distance between here and the bed; it seemed immense.

This whole situation with Laizia seemed curious to me. Why would anyone want to kidnap the captain's daughter and never even leave the ship? It made no sense. And I was also beginning to doubt whether Ghanim was actually dead; Katja had said she had seen him foam at
the mouth, but why was his body beamed out? If he was dead, then why the need to remove him from the scene?

I took shallow, slow breaths; it hurt to do otherwise.

"Okay, Xenia, you can do this," I said to myself as I eyed the bed. I inched my way back, leaning against the wall for support.

If Laizia was on the ship, where was she hidden? I had scanned for her but had detected no traces. Unless she was hidden in a specially constructed room hidden from sensors... I hadn't had time to look at the schematics
- heck, I hadn't even had time to learn my own sickbay - but there had to be somewhere on the ship that was impermeable to all scanners.

The door chimed just as I was going to hail Nu'Daq.

"Come in," I called. I heard the doors slide open and then shut. "Catava, is that you?"

The lights went out; I could see a shadowy figure in the door.

"You've got to stop doing that," I said as my arm awkwardly brushed some items off of the bookstand next to my bed. "The lights, I mean."

"Still clumsy, I see."

I froze. It was not Okal, but I knew that voice, had heard that voice in the past. Gavin Rosaire.

"Surprised, Xenia? I suppose you are. You left me for dead, didn't you, back on Kapadia Prime? I don't suppose you thought I'd come back."

I pressed myself back against the wall.

"Is that way you're here?" I asked, trying to sound a lot stronger than I actually was. "To get back at me?"

"You give yourself way too much credit. In fact, you always have," Gavin continued. "No, I wouldn't come back from the dead just to taunt you, Xenia, but I must admit, it's a nice perk."

"Do you have Laizia?" I asked.

"What do you think?"

"I think..." I fell onto the bed. "I think you do."

"You can't get away from me, Xenia."

I rolled across the bed and landed with a thump on the floor on the other side.

"How did you get a commission on this ship?" I asked, ignoring the pain in my side.

"It's very easy, Xenia. You just have to know the right people," his voice sounded very close to me.

"Are you alone?" I said.

"I could answer that question, but it would give too much away."

"Why are you doing this? Were you working with
Ghanim?"

"So many questions."

I got myself to an upright position. My hand reached for a heavy vase, standard Starfleet issue, and I threw it at the intruder as best as I could. It missed him by a longshot, crashing loudly onto the floor.

"Where is Laizia?" I asked, panting.

"You would like to know, wouldn't you? But I'm afraid, my dear, that that's not going to happen."

"What do you want with a little girl?" I asked
desperately.

At that moment the door chimed. I was relieved: Okal.

"Don't get that, Xenia," he said. "It's not worth it to you."

"It's my friend. I asked her to come."

"It doesn't matter. She'll go away," he said.

By now he was standing right by me and his arm slipped under my elbow as he pulled me to my feet. "Computer, lights."

We were standing nose to nose.

"You haven't changed a bit," he said. "Still hard and cold and unfeeling, aren't you?"

"Where is Laizia?" I demanded. My head was swimming and I could barely focus on his face. "You can take me, just give her back."

"So you can betray me again?" his voice had an edge to it. "No, Xenia. I've waited a long time for this day, the day when the Cardassians are beaten back and Bajor rules supreme... this peace treaty, it is wrong, wrong."

"You're crazy," I breathed.

The door chimed again but I did not make a move to answer it.

He cupped my jaw in his hands, "Would you like to see Laizia? I can take you to her."

"Please," I said. "Just so I can see that she's okay. Whatever you want, I'll do it. Just let her go."

He considered, his head tipping from one side to the other. I held my breath, wondering what he would do.

"You will not try anything?" he asked.

"No," I promised. "I won't. Just let her go and I'll do whatever you want."

"Do you recognize this device?" he opened his palm. "You designed it yourself."

I nodded, looking down at the tiny black box in his hand. No need for a impermeable room; this little machine masked life signs. We had used it often in the past, hiding from Cardassian soldiers and occasionally, from the Federation.

The answer was so simple, but I had never thought of it. Why would I when I thought I had left everything associated with this device and this man behind?

"Two to transport," Gavin said. I nearly shrieked as the transporter gripped me.

**** Nu'Daq ****

Nu'Daq was annoyed. A crew member was missing and still onboard the ship, and he was not able to find her. This was extremely irritating. His time in Klingon Intelligence taught him to deal with such things, but somehow it didn't help.

"If someone masks his lifesigns, there is nothing to detect."

Suddenly an idea appeared. "Nu'Daq to Janor".

No answer.

"Computer, locate Lt. Janor".

"Lt. Janor is not on the ship".

"Computer, when and how did she leave?"

"Unknown".

How annoying, another crew member missing. He reported it to the captain. Worf was *not* happy. When Nu'Daq returned, he tried again.

"Nu'Daq to Okal".

This time he got an answer. "Okal here."

"Report to the bridge"

"On my way, sir!"

Within a few minutes she was there, one could think she had run all the way....

"Okal reporting as ordered, sir".

"I have an idea, Okal, and I need
your help. Since the intruder seems to have masked the life signs of his
abductees...."

Okal looked at him. "Did you say abductees, I mean plural?"

"Yes, I believe Lt. Janor has also been taken by our little spy".

"Oh my god, shouldn't we report this to the captain?"

"I have done that. But back to my idea. If someone completely masks their lifesigns, then there should be nothing. A nothing we might detect, using our sub space scanners inside
the vessel."

Okal pondered for a moment and mumbled to herself. "Yes, I think that's possible. But it will take an awful long time to scan the
entire ship. To scan such a small volume I need to narrow the beam considerably."

"How long?"

"Maybe a day".

"Do it!"

Okal looked eager and answered: "Yes, sir! Right away, sir!"

And in a hurry she left the bridge.

Nu'Daq resumed his post, and within a few minutes the call from Okal came.
The scanner was ready. Nu'Daq initiated the ship wide scan. All he could do
now was to wait.

As he was standing there, his console started to flash.

"Now what? An unauthorized transport?"

He tried to stop it, but it was too late. The
transport was initiated from the infamous transporter room 2. Nu'Daq smirked.

"Finally our little spy falls into my trap."

Nu'Daq was almost astonished at himself. When Okal's package had initially been transported in and out, Nu'Daq had checked the controls to the transporter in transporter room 2. And very carefully hidden in the computer access system he had found a "backdoor" to the system, a computer sub routine implanted into the system
carefully disguised, so that no one would find it. But he had.

Once again Nu'Daq said to himself: "All these years in Klingon Intelligence was not
wasted". He had equipped the transporter controls with a DNA residue sequencer and a cellular microscanner. In this manner he would be able to get the identity of anyone using the controls, without the user detecting the monitoring system. And now his little spy had tapped into the trap. A quick computer scan revealed the identity of the spy. It was ensign Melian of the Astronomy Department.

"Computer, make a personal trace on the
lifesigns of Ensign Melian, authorization Nu'Daq 1-6-alpha."

At the same moment another button on his console started to flash. It was
his trace on Xenia. He checked the controls. The life signs of Xenia were gone. Just like that. Only one conclusion: Her life signs had been masked too. And that would make her the third abductee. Nu'Daq's annoyance turned
into rage. If that spy harmed a hair on Xenia's head......

Nu'Daq concentrated on the tracking of Melian. She was off duty at the moment, so Nu'Daq was interested in her whereabouts. Kidnapping people means you have to feed them. And to feed them, you need to get to them. So it
would only be a matter of time. And Nu'Daq was a patient man.

Actually there was no need for a lot of patience. Melian headed for deck 24,
in the bottom of the ship. A deserted place. Ideal for hiding people. She went to section 16. Nu'Daq suddenly realized: It was a perfect hiding place.

On deck 24 there were 5 storage lockers for keeping possible trilithium waste. In case there was an Eigner displacement in the warp core producing highly dangerous trilithium waste. An Eigner displacement hadn't occurred in
many years, but it was still Starfleet protocol to keep 5 trililthium storage lockers. And they were heavily shielded..... Nu'Daq watched Melian enter one, then another, then a third locker. Three lockers, three abductees. As she exited the third locker, Nu'Daq made his move.

"Computer, erect level 10 force fields around deck 24 section 16." he activated his
comm badge: "Security team to deck 24 section 16".

He heard Arsinoe respond: "On the way."

"Computer, one to beam to deck 24 section 17."

The transporter caught him, and moments later he appeared on deck 24.

He was met by a rather angry female Starfleet ensign. She was carrying a
hypospray, and she was caught in between the force fields.

"Well, well, ensign. What have we here?" Nu'Daq said. Melian didn't answer. "I don't suppose you would like to explain your actions?"

Melian just looked at him with
defiance and dismay.

"Maybe not now, but later."

At that moment his security team arrived, headed by ensign Arsinoe.

"Computer lower force fields."

A slight shimmer, and the force fields were
down. Nu'Daq looked at Arsinoe.

"Ensign, escort this lady to the brig."

"Aye sir."

They headed off towards the brig, while Nu'Daq turned towards the storage rooms. He opened the first one. Inside was Laizia, gagged, bound and
frightened.

"Don't be afraid, Laizia. I'll get you out of there."

She didn't look convinced. Nu'Daq picked her up and sat her down in the hallway. He
removed her gag and ropes. "Isn't that better?"

Laizia still looked frightened.

"Is she gone? The Bajoran woman?"

Nu'Daq nodded and activated his comm badge.

"Nu'Daq to the captain. We have located your daughter, deck 24 section 16."

An excited voice came from the comm badge, it was Worf's.

"I am on the way. Worf out".

Laizia looked more relaxed. "Wait here, your vavoy is on the way".

Laizia gave a smile. "Thank you, man."

Nu'Daq turned towards the storage rooms once more. He opened the next one and was almost disappointed, when he found Lt. Janor. She appeared to have been hit by a phaser and she was unconscious. He picked her up and laid her
down in the hall way, removing her ties. Her phaser burn was not severe, so he turned to the storage rooms again. His hand shivered, as he motioned to open the third one. He slowly opened it, and to his relief he saw Xenia
lying in there, gagged and bound. At first he saw fear in her eyes, but as she realized who had opened the door, it turned to relief.

Nu'Daq felt an urge to give an ironic comment, but decided not to. He picked her up and sat
her down in the hall way, removing her rope and gag.

"Thank God it's you", she said, as she embraced him. "I thought this was the end".

Nu'Daq hugged her back. "You didn't think I would allow her to hurt you, did you?"

Xenia sat up straight. "Her?"

Nu'Daq looked at her. "Yes, it was ensign Melian from the Astronomy Department."

Xenia started to shake a little, "No, I was kidnapped by Gavin Rosaire."

Nu'Daq was surprised. "Who? Why?"

"Gavin Rosaire, a Bajoran He was dressed as a Starfleet ensign in a yellow uniform."

"We have to find him, and find him quick."

At that moment Worf and Dax appeared around the corner. Laizia jumped up and ran to them. Dax bent down and picked her up and have her a big hug. Worf came up to Nu'Daq.

"Report, lieutenant".

"I was able to track ensign Melian using the transporter in transporter room 2 once more, and I traced her to this location, where she had hidden the abductees; Laizia, Lt. Janor and Lt.Com. Rafko. I apprehended her and
checked on the three of them. They are fine, except for Lt. Janor, who suffers from a non-lethal phaser burn. Ensign Melian is now in the brig, but she has an accomplice, ensign Gavin Rosaire - although I doubt he is using that name on the ship."

"Find him, I want him in the brig next to ensign Melian by the time we reach the peace talks."

"Yes sir."

Worf left to escort his wife and child back to their quarters. Xenia had turned to help Janor.

"She will be fine, I just need to get her to sickbay."

"One moment. Nu'Daq to Arsinoe. Have you brought ensign Melian to the brig?"

"Yes sir, she is safe and sound in the brig."

"I want a double guard in the brig. And set up
guards at the sick bay and Lt.Com. Rafko as well."

Xenia shook her head, but Nu'Daq ignored it.

"Aye, aye, sir. Arsinoe out".

"I don't want guards at my quarters."

But she went quiet when Nu'Daq looked at her. Sometimes it was best not to argue with a Klingon.

"Computer, beam Lt. Janor to sickbay", Xenia ordered. Lt. Janor disappeared, and now only Xenia and Nu'Daq was left.

"You'd better return to your bed. You will be safe there now", Nu'Daq said with genuine care in his voice.

"I'm not sure I can make it back there", Xenia said exhaustedly.

"Oh, you can. Computer, transport Lt.Com. Rafko to her quarters." And with a shimmer
Xenia was gone too.

"Now to catch me another spy...." Suddenly Nu'Daq was contacted by computer.

"A low-level sub space distortion has been detected in Jeffries tube 21-A".

The scan for nothingness. Nu'Daq hurried towards deck 21. This one he wanted
to catch by himself. He had had the nerve to kidnap Xenia, this one he
wanted to deal with personally.

As he reached deck 21 he checked the computer again. He hadn't moved.

"Computer, erect a level 10 force field in Jeffries tube 21-A, junction 2."

Now the spy's only way out was past Nu'Daq. He took his mek'leth in his hand
and opened the Jeffries tube. And slowly he crawled into it. Nu'Daq could
hear someone moving away from him.

A slight "ouch" as he hit the force field in
the junction. Nu'Daq moved swiftly towards the junction. He exited the
Jeffries tube into the junction with a cry, but was surprised at the sight

It was no Bajoran male in a Starfleet uniform.

It was a tall woman with long
dark hair, curled eye brows, pointy ears, plain brown and gray clothing and
a rather bedraggled appearance. When she turned to face Nu'Daq, he was
surprised, looking at the face of the individual woke a lot of ancient
memories in Nu'Daq.

"Hello Nu'Daq", the individual said with a grin on her face. Nu'Daq was at a
loss of words....

***** Morgan *****

I stared out of the window as the transport ship approached the station.
I had heard a lot about Deep Space Nine, but I had never seen it. It really
did look like a bicycle wheel floating in space. Cardassians came up with
some weird stuff sometimes.

As the ship docked , I quickly ran over my plan again. It shouldn't be
too hard to get onto the Valjean, especially with the device I bought from
that Ferengi.

"It had better work", I thought to myself. I had spent all my
latinum on it.

There were still people walking around the station, even at 0300. I had
planned to arrive when most people were sleeping, but the chances of such a
busy station being totally silent were pretty slim. Still, the less people
that saw me the better. As I walked along the promenade, a few people
nodded, and one even gave me the Vulcan salute.

I tried not to snarl as I
ignored him. Vulcans! Everyone assumed that just because you had pointy
ears, you embraced their philosophy. Why didn't anyone notice my human side?

I worked my way up to the docking bay for the Valjean. I pulled my very
expensive device from my bag and placed it on the door. Like magic the door
opened. The Ferengi assured me that the sensors in the door would briefly
be disabled, so that no one could tell I had entered. The ship was dark and
silent as I climbed through the Jeffrys tubes to find a spot to settle in
for the night.

I grinned to myself as I curled up in a cozy little corner. Tomorrow the
Valjean would leave on a long mission, with me inside. Jordan will not be
able to find me for a long, long time.

**** Nu'Daq ****

Morgan had not changed a bit, since Nu'Daq last saw her. Seeing her here was
a bigger surprise than if Kahless himself had been standing in front of
Nu'Daq. For several minutes Nu'Daq was silent. Morgan kept looking at him
with her smirk grin.

Finally Nu'Daq broke the silence. "What are you doing here?"

"I am looking for a ride away from here. And this ship was heading in the
right direction. It's just my luck, that you are Chief of Security here. How
are things going in Klingon Intelligence - oh wait, you have been demoted to
serve on a Starfleet vessel, that's right?!"

Morgan smiled even more, she
knew very well, that Nu'Daq wasn't in Klingon Intelligence anymore. Nu'Daq
just hoped, Morgan wasn't aware of the reason why.

Morgan came up to Nu'Daq and put her arm around his shoulder. "But since you
are here, my friend, I need a favor."

Nu'Daq was feeling uneasy at the
touch of her, and he shivered as she called him "friend". They were many
things between them, but definitely not friendship. Morgan removed her arm
from Nu'Daq's shoulder and looked him straight in the eyes. "I would like to
get a position on this ship - perhaps as a civilian advisor to the Security
Department. I bet you can arrange that with the captain."

"No, I cannot do that. I won't do that". Nu'Daq was aware of the danger in
having her on the ship, and as a civilian advisor it would be even worse.

Morgan's face turned from smiling to angered. She raised her voice: "Yes you
will. You owe it to me. After what I did for you, how I helped you! Or do
you want the world to know the truth about Bragollach?"

Morgan's words made Nu'Daq shake a bit. If someone were to find out about
Bragollach - no, then he would rather die....... Nu'Daq saw no way out.
"Okay, I'll talk to the captain."

Morgan started smiling again. "I was positive we could reach an agreement.
Now take me to your captain."

"This way", Nu'Daq said and headed out of the Jeffries tube.

Once outside the Jeffries tube they entered a turbo lift. On their way to
the bridge Okal joined them. Morgan greeted her with a "hello pretty girl".

Okal looked at Morgan. "Who might you be?", she asked the young woman.

"My
name is Morgan, I'm an old friend of Nu'Daq's".

"You are? We weren't even
aware Nu'Daq _had_ friends", Okal answered with a smile. Morgan grinned a
bit.

"Oh but he does. And some time I'll tell you all about Nu'Daq."

"I'll look
forward to that", Okal replied with anticipation in her voice.

"No you won't,
ensign. There is nothing to tell".

Okal looked at Nu'Daq, he definitely
didn't look happy.

They reached the bridge, and Nu'Daq and Morgan headed for the captains ready
room and knocked.

"Enter".

They went inside.

"Yes, lieutenant. Who is our guest?", Worf asked Nu'Daq. Nu'Daq wasn't sure
what to tell.

"I would like to introduce you to Morgan. I know it is against
regulations, but since I for some time before our departure suspected a
possible Romulan problem, I asked Morgan to come. She is an expert on
Romulans and would do well as a civilian advisor onboard this ship."

Worf
didn't look too happy about this. He looked at Nu'Daq.

"Can you vouch for
her?"

Nu'Daq nodded.

"Since you have proven yourself to be honorable and
loyal to the ship and crew, albeit in strange ways, I will trust you on
this."

He turned to look at Morgan. "Consider yourself to be enlisted as a
civilian advisor to the Security Department onboard this ship for the
duration of this mission. I will give you a corresponding access to the
computer systems."

Morgan looked happy. "Thank you, captain".

"You are dismissed".

Nu'Daq and
Morgan left the ready room. Once on the bridge they were met by the curious
looks of the entire bridge crew. Nu'Daq ignored them.

Once back at his post
he pulled Morgan close. "I have assigned you quarters on deck 6, section 3.
Stay there. And remember this: I will keep an eye on you. I know you are a
good intelligence operative, but I'm not bad either. And if you try
something....."

"Then what?" Morgan looked at Nu'Daq with a defiant grin. "Are you willing
to risk exposing your little secret?"

Nu'Daq just grunted in response, not knowing what to say. Morgan turned
around and entered the turbo lift.

Nu'Daq concentrated on his console. There still was one more spy to catch.
At least he could put two of the spies in the brig, but what about Morgan?

**** Catava Okal *****

I made my made her way to Xenia's quarters. She had called for me no more than five minutes ago. I had to finish a routine scan of the dilithium matrix. In amongst all of our adventures we still had duties to attend. That was Starfleet for you; nine lives and no sleep.

I swung by sickbay on my way there. It was a minor stop and only a few paces from the turbolift.

I had made it to Xenia's and there was no answer. O rang her door buzzer twice. "Computer, locate Dr. Rafko."

"Dr. Rafko is in her quarters."

'She's probably sleeping,' I thought to myself. I didn't want o pester her so I tiptoed away to let her rest.

I went back to my dilithium matrix scans in engineering. About a half hour later I received a call from Nu'Daq to report on the bridge.

"Nu'Daq to Okal".

"Okal here," I tapped her badge.

"Report to the bridge."

"On my way, sir!"

Not sure on what ground we stood after the whole Klingon love purging ceremony, I dropped everything and reported right away.

After a brief meeting I had to go back to engineering to a perform a mass volume narrow subspace scan of, well, a cloak. But instead of a ship, I was looking for a person. Who, I wasn't entirely sure, but it sounded important.

Once the parameters were narrowed, the scan, although time consuming, was fairly straight forward. Scan one section, then another, then another and bingo. Jefferies tube, level 21-A. I had the computer relay my findings to Lt. Nu'Daq since he was no longer on the bridge. After about an hour it was spread shipwide that Laizia had been rescued with TWO others. Janor had been hit with a phaser wound... Apparently we had permission from DS9 to bring along Dr. Bashir or else Xenia would have to take on the burden of healing people whilst in the midst of being a bucket full of medical nanites herself.

I still had that medical tricorder she had asked for a couple of hours ago so I decided, seeing as my shift ended a half hour ago, to stop by and see her.

I rang at her door. The familiar chirp echoed when I pressed the button. "Come in," I heard from inside.

Xenia was laying in bed, skimming over some PADDS and sipping at a glass of water.

"Well, don't you look like a hundred strips of latinum?"

"Funny... is that my tricorder?"

"Yes, I stopped by earlier, but I thought you were sleeping, so I didn't come in."

Xenia rolled her eyes. "Of all the times for you NOT to break and enter."

I made a faux pained look. "I know. I heard. Are you all right?" I scanned her while I talked.

She sipped her water. "A little shaken. It was like I was staring into the face of a ghost from my past."

"Who was it who took you, if you don't mind me asking."

"He was an old comrade. His name is Gavin Rosaire. We were in the Maquis.. I thought, I mean there he was... I couldn't help him.. he didn't want to be helped." She looked off out her porthole at the passing stars.

"Well," I said trying to change the subject. "It appears all major arteries and veins are making excellent progress rejoining and dermal regeneration is progressing nicely. You still need some rest though."

She smiled. "Since when did you become a doctor?"

I threw my arms up in the air as if she was supposed to know what I was about to say. "I'm just trying to prove to everyone that I can do a little bit of everything. I do plan on moving my way up this Starfleet ladder you know."

"Oh, Catava, you won't be and ensign forever and we both know it." We chatted idly for an hour or so. Then she yawned.

"Well, I should let you get some sleep."

"Mmmm......" She was already well on her way.

I quietly left her new quarters. I was going to go to my own. There were more vacant rooms available, so asap I was going to put my name in for my own quarters. I didn't have anything against Yal, but to have privacy is a treasured thing.

As I rounded the corner to my own quarters, I saw flickering lights and a busted conduit. I took two more steps, very quietly, and noticed my door was ajar. "Okal to Security," I whispered.

"Arsinoe here."

"I need a team at Crew Quarters Alpha 16. Immediately."
I pushed on slowly.

"We're on our way."

I went inside my darkened apartment. Instinct told me I was not alone. With all the stealth I could muster I backed against a wall, in as much shadow from the corridor as I could. I heard a rustle. "Who's there?"

The noise was coming towards me. I ducked and heard my intruder hit the wall above me. I spun around and elbowed him in the back. I grabbed a sharp piece of metal casing I found glimmering in the flickering light of the doorway and hit him on the head with it. He moaned and now there was blood gushing from the back of his neck. I held his arms with one hand, sat on his back and held his head upwards.
"Who are you?!" I demanded.

"My name is Gavin, you Ktarian traitor!"

I tightened the grip on his neck. "Excuse me?!"

"You are friends with Xenia, you are a traitor..."

"Who sent you?!" I was getting very angry.

"My power is bestowed upon my by the Prophets."

"Give me a break... you obviously had orders. From whom?!"
He was having trouble breathing now. I felt no pity.

"From Ghanim."

I stopped to think for a moment. Janor's kidnapping was an accident but Lai's kidnapping, and Xenia's were planned by Ghanim? I could accept that seeing as it was close to his death. But my potential victimization? No, something was askew here.

"Ghanim is dead. I saw his body myself." Security had better hurry up. My grip was slipping due to the amount of his blood.

He laughed somewhat maniacally. "Ghamin has never left Bajor. The person you thought you saw, was a Founder." He laughed louder. I looked up and saw Arsinoe, standing ready, in my doorway.

***** Xenia Rafko ****

The door chimed and I was naturally suspicious and
asked the computer to identify my visitor.

"Ensign Okal," the computer chirped back at me.

Finally, and hopefully with my tricorder too. Though I
did feel a bit out of place to receive visitors, given
that I was in bed, reading some recent medical
journals.

"Well, don't you look like a hundred strips of
latinum?" Okal asked as she came in.

"Funny... is that my tricorder?" I made a face at my
friend.

"Yes, I stopped by earlier, but I thought you were
sleeping, so I didn't come in."

"Of all the times for you NOT to break and enter," I
told her.

"I know. I heard. Are you all right?" Okal began
waving the tricorder at me. I looked at her a bit
nervously; I hoped she knew what she was doing with
that thing.

I reached for my glass of water to moisten my dry
throat. "A little shaken. It was like I was staring
into the face of a ghost from my past."

"Who was it who took you, if you don't mind me
asking."

"He was an old comrade. His name is Gavin Rosaire.
We were in the Maquis.. I thought, I mean there he
was... I couldn't help him.. he didn't want to be
helped."

"Well," Okal said trying to change the subject. "It
appears all major arteries and veins are making
excellent progress rejoining and dermal regeneration
is progressing nicely. You still need some rest
though."

This comment amused me greatly. "Since when did you
become a doctor?"

"I'm just trying to prove to everyone that I can do a
little bit of everything. I do plan on moving my way
up this Starfleet ladder you know."

"Oh, Catava, you won't be an ensign forever and we
both know it."

"I guess I'm just worried," she admitted. "Especially
after all the excitement. This certainly won't look
good on my service record."

"Don't worry about it," I told her. "Just be your
brilliant engineering self and you will be fine."

"What I need is a nice warp core breach," Okal mused.
I laughed at her, even though the action sorely hurt
my stomach.

"No, anything but that," I said. "Don't doubt
yourself. Trust me on this one, okay?"

"I hope you're right."

"I am," I said confidently. I picked up the tricorder
she had put on the side of my bed. "You're right,
Catava. I am doing much better. Though, I think I'm
going to stay in bed for the next two days and do
nothing but sleep."

"Sounds wonderful," she said. And then she looked at
me suspiciously. "You mentioned the Maquis, Xenia. I
didn't know that about you..."

My eyes widened; had I really been so careless? But I
knew I could trust Catava, so I decided to be straight
with her.

"When I took my leave of absence from Starfleet, it
was to be with the Maquis," I said. "They needed a
doctor and I needed to get away from everything
Starfleet. It seemed, at the time, the ideal
arrangement."

"Aren't you afraid someone will find out?" she asked.

"Very afraid," I admitted. "It was less than a year; I
came back to Starfleet shortly afterwards and no one
asked questions. I just said I had been on sabbatical
on Bajor and everyone believed that."

"And this Gavin, what about him?"

"He's crazy. Very crazy," I said. "I thought he was
dead back on Kapadia Prime. That was the site of our
last major battle with the Cardassians. The beginning
of the end, you might say. He was so... fervent in his
desire to be rid of the Cardassians. He was very much
a proponent of genocide. He scared me."

"That would scare me too," Okal said.

"During that last battle, we were falling back. We
were on the ground, you see. It was hand to hand,
phaser to phaser, whatever you could grab. And I was
hit. Three times and I thought, I have to get out of
here fast and I saw Gavin and he was going crazy,
trying to kill as many Cardassians as he could. I
yelled for him to come with me, but he wouldn't move.
And I had to make a decision right there and then.
Save him or save myself. It was probably the most
cowardly thing I ever did and I did feel guilty about
it for quite while."

"Did you ever talk to anyone about it?"

"No, never. Who could I tell? You're the first person
I'm telling since leaving the Maquis. I don't really
trust anyone else with this information."

"What about Nu'Daq?"

"Especially not," I laughed bitterly. "He wouldn't
understand. He didn't understand why I needed to go
and he certainly wouldn't understand now."

"Why don't you try?"

"There are ghosts that should remain buried," I said
earnestly. "Promise you won't say anything to anyone."

"I promise."

I was feeling drowsy from the effects of my medication
and I could feel my eyes growing heavy.

"Well, I should let you get some sleep," Okal said.

"Mmmm......" I murmured. I did not notice when she
left.

**** Nu'Daq *****

Nu'Daq was still standing at his post. He was feeling better. Morgan hadn't shown herself for a while, and Arsinoe had just reported the capture of Gavin. He was now in sickbay, desperatly hanging on to life. None was sure, if he was going to make it. One thing troubled Nu'Daq.

Gavin had said, that a Founder impersonating Ghanim had engineered the whole plot.

Two possible explanations came to mind:

1) The Founder was one of the Changeling siblings sent into space hundreds of years ago, who had ended up in Romulan space, much like the renowned security chief Odo on DS9 had ended up in Bajoran space. The Romulans would have recognized the great potential of enlisting a changeling into the Tal Shiar.

2) The changeling was really a Founder, and the Founders had infiltrated the Romulan Empire on the highest levels, possibly the Tal Shiar itself - despite the rigorous safety procedures in the Tal Shiar. Nu'Daq wasn't sure which of the two possibilities was the worst. And what was even worse: To find out he would need the help of Morgan.

Besides Nu'Daq himself Morgan was the best intelligence agent Nu'Daq had ever encountered. And as a half-Vulcan she was an expert in Romulans. But first they had to catch the Romulan ship that was hopefully travelling ahead of them. There had been no trace of it, since they left DS9. He only hoped, the Romulans were so confident of their cloaking technology, that they wouldn't suspect the Valjean of being on to them.

As Nu'Daq was standing there, Worf entered the bridge. His stature was impressive, he was a good captain. Hard but just. Even though this was a Starfleet vessel Nu'Daq was actually impressed by Worf and his captaincy - although he would never admit it.

Worf took a seat in his chair. Beep, beep - an indicator on Nu'Daq's console started flashing and beeping. It was the signal he had been waiting for.

"Captain, we are picking up low level tachyon emissions straight ahead. It could be the Romulan ship." Worf rose from his chair. "Shields up. Red alert".

Immediately the ship went on red alert, and you could feel it. The excitement on the ship rose heavily.

"Open hailing frequencies!" Nu'Daq did as ordered.

Worf took a deep breath: "Romulan ship, this is Captain Worf of the Federation starship Valjean. You are trespassing into Federation territory. This is a violation of the Treaty of Algeron, and I order you to stop your ship, lower your cloak and prepare to be boarded."

For a moment everything went silent. The captain waited for a minute, no answer. "Close the channel. Can we disable their cloaking device?"

Since Lt. Janor was still in sickbay, an ensign from the science department was manning the science station. And he didn't look like he would make any suggestions.

"Worf to Lt. Lan."

"Lan here, how may I help you sir?"

"We need to disable the cloaking device of the Romulan ship ahead of us. How do we do that?"

"A fine tuned antimatter charge placed immediatly besides their ship might disable their cloaking shield for a few minutes - if it is not too powerful. If it is a Warbird it won't be enough".

"We'll just have to try it. Worf out".

Worf turned to Nu'Daq. "Can you put an antimatter charge and make it explode next to the ship?"

Nu'Daq smiled and said: "I could ignite one in a bird's nest while going past it with full impulse."

Worf was pleased, he liked confident officers. "Then do it".

Nu'Daq prepared the antimatter charge. "Ready sir".

"Very well, lieutenant. Fire when ready".

Nu'Daq made the aim and pressed the fire button. And he felt pleased, as he and the rest of the bridge crew watched the twinkling torpedo head for it's target. Within seconds a bright light indicated the antimatter explosion, and behold: A Romulan scout ship appeared out of nowhere.

But if someone had expected them to stop and surrender, they would be wrong. The ship increased speed and tried to escape. Worf didn't look too surprised.

"Helm, increase to warp 9."

The Valjean was a powerful ship, and within minutes they had caught up with the Romulan ship.

"Lieutenant Nu'Daq, take out their engines. Fire when ready."

"Yes sir", Nu'Daq answered. And everyone could hear the joy in his voice. He quickly prepared a quantum torpedo and targetted their engines. He pressed the fire button.

"Torpedo away."

The torpedo hit the romulan ship, which was disabled by the hit. Worf ordered a full stop. The tension on the bridge was thick. What would the Romulans do next? Fight a superior enemy? Not likely, but you never knew what a Romulan would do. The Romulan ship turned. It powered it's weapons and came within firing range. Worf did nothing. Nu'Daq felt a twitch in his trigger finger - he was eager to fire again, to kill his enemy. But he knew he couldn't without the captains orders. But he wished the Romulans would fight, probably as the only one on the bridge.

Then they heard the sound everyone but Nu'Daq had been waiting for.

"Incoming hail", Lt. Doran reported.

"On screen", Worf ordered. The view screen changed from displaying a Romulan ship to display the (in Nu'Daq's opinion) hideous and deceitful face of a Romulan commander.

"I am Commander Tebok of the Romulan Ship Turambar. How may I help you?"

Worf restrained himself. In his years in Starfleet he had learned a lot about diplomacy from captain Picard. He raised his voice: "I was about to ask you the same thing. You are a long way from home."

Tebok retorted: "As are you." Worf: "But at least I am in home territory. Last time I checked Romulan vessels were not allowed into Federation space without notifying Starfleet Command."

Tebok: "Hasn't such a notification been sent? I regret that, it must be a misunderstanding. We were sent here by the romulan Senate to ensure the peaceful and timely arrival of the Federation delegation to the upcoming peace talks. I hope the trip has been smooth and without problems?"

Worf: "Actually we have had some ... incidents. And we would appreciate your advice in these matters. So I would ask you and you second-in-command to beam over in an hour to discuss these ... incidents." Tebok pondered this for a while. It was obvious he didn't like the idea. On the other hand he had just been caught in the act so to speak. After a moment of thought he agreed to the meeting.

"We will be there. Tebok out".

The view screen changed back, displaying the hovering romulan ship. After the recent Dominion War the sight of a romulan ship in Federation space was no longer that intimidating, however it stil conveyed some feelings of unrest in most of the crew. Worf turned to Nu'Daq.

"Lieutenant, I need you to prepare a report to me about the recent events. I need somethin in hand to put pressure on the Romulans." "

Yes sir. I will start by questioning our captives". Nu'Daq headed into the turbolift, but instead of going to the brig he chose another destination.

"Computer, deck 6".

Nu'Daq had to find out, if the Romulans knew about the Founder or not. And there was one person onboard who could help him. And how much he hated the idea, it was necessary. He went to the living quarters on deck 6 and knocked on the door.

A gentle "Enter" came from the other side, and the doors slid open. Once again Nu'Daq was face to face with Morgan.

Morgan grinned.

"Nu'Daq, what an unexpected but pleasant surprise. To what do I owe the honor?" Nu'Daq was not too happy, but once more he heard himself say:

"Morgan, I need your help".

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