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| - "Lt. Toma, I'm putting you in command of the security detachment guarding the anterior Cargo dock." Commander Logan reported to his subordinate. The Federation Embassy to Cardassia was on high security alert, with several members of Starfleet brass arriving for a conference with the Detapa Council. "Yes, sir. How many officers are you posting there?" the young security officer inquired. Logan turned away as he answered question, "I'm stationing three officers under your command." Aznia gestured to get her commanding officer's attention. "Sir..." she interjected, "With all due respect, I think that entrance will be vulnerable with just four hands standing guard. If the True Way chooses to attack..." The annoyed Commander cut in, "Then we'll need plenty of officers on the upper levels to protect the delegates. Now, if you can't manage your assignment, I'd be happy to give someone else the opportunity." Aznia was stunned by the Commander's blunt lack of foresight. "I'll take care of it, sir." He'd already turned to walk away. Lt. Toma's tried to shake off the unpleasant encounter, while formulating a strategy for defending the vulnerable entrance. A Ferengi Ensign approached the senior Lieutenant, "Lt. Jr. Grade Quallo reporting for Duty, ma'am." "I haven't seen you around Mr. Quallo, are you new to Cardassia?" Toma asked. Quallo nodded, "I'm actually stationed aboard the U.S.S. Marcus. We transported Ambassador Sugihara to this conference. I just volunteered for some extra duty shifts to help out here." "Commendable." Toma smiled, "I've been stationed here for the past 9 months. I'm just hoping to get enough service experience under my belt to apply with the Starfleet JAG corps." "Ah, the law and order type?" Quallo answered, "Too technical. Too wordy. I like to think you can generally follow the spirit of the law, and not just the letter. Every situation is different." Aznia smiled, returning to business, "Well, I want to thank you for volunteering. Just make sure you familiarize yourself with the area. I'm afraid we'll be spread a little thin." "I'll be ready, ma'am." Quallo assured the officer in command. Two more officers approached, "Lt. Toma, we've been assigned to your command." the first familiar face indicated. "Ensign Briggs, Ensign Stafford," Aznia acknowledged, "this is Lt. Quallo, he'll be tagging along with us." "Sir." "Sir." Both officers acknowledged their superior. "It's just going to be the four of us guarding the area. This isn't a typical security watch. We've got high profile targets inside this building, we need to be prepared for the worst. Report for duty in the building's cargo hold at 1700." The four red shirted officers nodded in unison, acknowledging the assignment. They split up to enjoy a meal and a bit of rest before their shift. --- It was 1625 hours, and Aznia entered the cargo hold to find logistics clerks still at work. She approached Lt. Nelson, who stood guard at the rear gate. "Hello, Dave." Nelson smiled back, "Hey, Az. I was told you'd be taking night watch here. Nothing out of the ordinary to report." "You're coming off a double shift, aren't you?" "Aye. I covered Alpha and Beta shift today. The regulars from Alpha shift will be helping out with Delta shift tonight at the conference... I've been on duty since 0100." Lt. Toma smiled, "Go ahead and take off. I'll cover the last half-hour of your shift." "Thanks, Az. I'm going right to bed." Nelson sighed and bent his neck, working out a bothersome crick. He turned his back from his assignment for just a moment, as Aznia approached to hold the position. As the officers exchanged positions, a ripple flashed through the air drawing Aznia's attention. She drew her phaser on the rapidly moving form. "Nelson, watch out!" A Jem'hadar soldier decloaked directly behind Lt. Nelson, who was unable to avoid the swing of of the soldier's battle axe. Aznia unholstered her phaser and shot down the Jem'hadar soldier, who's body fell beside Nelson's. "Get out of here! Evacuate the area!" Aznia screamed across the cargo hold, as unarmed crewmen scrambled deeper into the facility. By now, Jem'hadar and Cardassian terrorists began flooding into the building through the cargo doors. Aznia ducked a cavalcade of disruptor fire as she herded the remaining officers toward the nearest door. She tapped her commbadge, "Toma to operations, lower the blast doors!" There was no response, the commbadge was unable to connect to the communications network. Aznia leapt into the corridoor, and rushed the logistics team to and old stair well, clearing the area of vulnerable crew. As she looked back, she counted at least 20 True Way terrorists tracking her, with more entering the premises by the moment. She turned a corner firing her phaser backward to clear some of the approaching terrorists. Aznia reached an auxiliary control room where she could seal all of the blast doors on the lower level. As she entered the room, she found Lt. Quallo accomplishing that very task. "I've left one blast door open for another 60 seconds, we can take the Jeffries tube at the end of this corridor and seal it manually once we're through." Quallo planned their escape. Aznia opened the door to exit the auxiliary control room, immediately shooting down a Cardassian terrorist near their position. She bolted for the Jeffries Tube access door. Quallo fended off two Jem'hadar by the time they escaped into the crawl space, climbing a ladder to a second level portal. They were able to manually seal the tunnel with a thick bulkhead before the True Way terrorists could pursue them. Aznia and Quallo crawled to the deck-2 Jeffries tube access door, opening the access manually. They were welcomed by three Federation security officers who'd drawn down on them. "It's us, stand down!" Aznia shouted at the armed officers. Lt. Briggs reached down, giving Aznia a hand up from the crawl space. "We lost Nelson and several crewman from the logistics team. I counted at least 20 Jem'hadar soldiers down there, probably more. We've lost deck-1, but we were able to seal them in." Aznia reported. Commander Logan stepped forward, "How do you know they're sealed in?" Quallo piped in, "I jammed the locking mechanism with a fractal encryption code. They're not leaving deck-1 without one of us to let them out." "They've jammed communications and transporters. We have no way of calling in reenforcements, and no way of escaping until we've dealt with them." Logan reported. "Luckily, we should have the superior manpower to wipe them out." "Commander, that might be true, but that's going to be a very bloody fight!" Aznia responded. "It seems they were targeting a shift change to try and overwhelm the security in the cargo hold before anyone could react. They're just lucky that Quallo was there to seal the doors." "Why did they attack before the scheduled shift change?! Your shift wasn't supposed to begin until 1700, Lieutenant." Logan scoffed. "Your carelessness is going to result in a lot of bloodshed!" "Commander!" Quallo piped in, "If they'd attacked when we were all together in the Cargo hold at 1700, I would've never been near the Auxiliary control room. We would've been overwhelmed before the deck could be sealed off. When Aznia arrived to her shift early, it only introduced an unpredictable element to the terrorists plan, and it certainly worked to our benefit." "That's enough Lieutenant!" Logan shot back. "For now, your orders are to stand guard at the northern stair well. I've had enough insubordination and reckless behavior from the two of you. We'll deal with that matter later." Aznia and Quallo reported to the northern stair well, a large tritanium bulkhead blocked access to the downward stairs. "I can't believe that guy." Quallo shook his head, "I can't believe you have to report to such a stubborn, nearsighted Commander." "Let's just focus on our duty," Aznia tried to shake off the shot to her confidence. Quallo answered, "Look. Just know that this isn't your fault at all. I know people like Logan... Always looking for their next scapegoat. You saved a lot of people by giving me the time to encrypt the doors." "We got lucky." Aznia shot back. Quallo responded, "No, you did well." Aznia forced a smile, acknowledging the kind words. A short time passed before Logan approached with a group of security officers. "Quallo, I'm putting together a team to storm the lower level. I want you on that team. Toma, your orders are to stand guard here!" Quallo nodded to acknowledge his orders, and bravely stepped forward to march into a bloody fight. "Commander!" Aznia stopped her superior. Logan sighed, annoyed again by the Lieutenant. "What!?" "This isn't right. The threat is neutral for the moment. They're trapped, we're trapped. I say we give them a way out." Aznia reasoned with Logan. "Give them a way out!?" Logan chuckled, "What? So they can come back next week? No. They go down here." "Next week, maybe you should station proper security at the anterior cargo bay! In the mean time, what's say we don't get everyone killed??" Aznia shouted back in frustration, clearly crossing the line to insubordination. "I've had enough of you, Toma." Logan lurched in, uncomfortably face to face with Aznia. "If I didn't need the manpower, you'd be relieved of duty by now. I'm going to see that you're knocked down to Ensign when this is through." The Commander turned away, continuing to recruit an attack team. Aznia rested her face in her palms, frustration taking over. Quallo turned back, giving Aznia an assured look as he nervously disappeared around the corner. Aznia knew she had to do something. Logan was going to get a lot of people killed if he stormed the ground level. "Hell... I'm facing a court martial one way or another." Aznia said to herself aloud. "I might as well make it count." She turned to the blast doors she was guarding. There was one door at each level of the stairwell. She opened the deck two blast doors manually. Stepping inside, she sealed the upper door behind her. She walked down the stairs to the lower door, which was the only thing standing between her and dozens of True Way terrorists. She positioned her head close to the door. "I want to talk!!" she screamed through the bulkhead. For a few moments, dead silence followed her plea. She feared that this futile attempt at peace would fail. The silence finally broke, "I'm listening." a confident female voice responded, muffled by the bulkhead. Aznia Answered, "I can open the blast doors. Let me through and guarantee my safety. I'll allow you to escape." "Typical Starfleet, always looking to negotiate." the voice responded, chuckling. "Place any weapons you have on the ground and open the door. Then we can properly talk." "No." Aznia insisted. "I keep my phaser. These are my terms." "Do you really think that your phaser will protect you from 50 True Way soldiers?" the voice scoffed. Aznia reasoned, "Not at all. The phaser is for me. I'm not going to be tortured and forced to open any doors other than the exit. At the first sign of treachery I'll shoot myself, and your only escape becomes a battle with 500 Federation security officers who have a distinct tactical advantage." She greatly exaggerated the Federation presence at the station, but the message was still sent clearly. The voice on the other side chuckled again, "You know... I like you... I didn't get your name." "You don't need it." Aznia responded. "Alright, open the door, and I'll personally escort you to the Auxiliary control room." The cunning voice acquiesced to Aznia's demands. Aznia double checked the encryption on the upper level's blast doors, assuring a tight seal. She used the same panel to open the deck-one doors. A Vorta smiled back at her on the other side, followed by two very large Jem'hadar. "My name is Xi'youn," the Vorta introduced herself. "Interesting that the Federation would send you, unaccompanied, to let us out." "Let's just take care of this..." Aznia stood nervous with her phaser tight to her own chest. Xi'youn nodded, gesturing for Toma to lead the way. They entered the Auxiliary control room and Aznia quickly tapped a few buttons on the panel, releasing the exterior blast doors. "It's interesting that you would defy orders to help us." Xi'youn perceptively acknowledged the situation. "What do you mean?" Aznia asked. "Well, Starfleet would've never approved your plan to use suicide as a threat against capture. They never would've sent you alone in the first place. You've gone rogue to free us." The Jem'hadar wisely called out the Lieutenant's plan. "Just get the hell out of here." Aznia wanted this situation diffused quickly. Xi'youn nodded, stating "You've saved a lot of lives here." as the last enemy forces fled from the facility. She sealed the doors once the deck was clear, and proceeded to check her commbadge. The signal was open. "Toma to Logan." she chimed, "The threat is neutralized. Send a team to deck one to check for any straggling enemy forces." "What do you mean, neutralized!?" Logan shouted over the communications system. "Toma, what have you done!?" Aznia removed her badge, tossing it on the ground; solemnly waiting for the end of her Starfleet career to come. She walked to Nelson's body in the Cargo Bay, knelt down beside it, and whispered a quiet apology. It would only be a moment before her blowhard Commander arrived to deliver punishment. "At ease, Lieutenant." The Admiral dropped ranks, "You made some tough decisions. And now you're standing here, worried about the future, shaken, confidence rocked... I get it. The fact that you broke the rules doesn't mean you did the wrong thing. In this case I think it means you put the wellbeing of others before yourself. I'm assigning you to the U.S.S. L'étoile Du Nord. They need a new Security Chief. Admiral Edinger Deet serves as flag officer, and he's a very good friend of mine. Someone I've spoken to, and someone who sees the same potential in you that I do. He's someone that I think you can learn a lot from." "But, Admiral... How many deserving officers are waiting for a posting like that?" Aznia cautiously responded, "I don't deserve..." "Do you want me to bring those insubordination charges back up?" Park chided, interrupting, "You're the best person for the job. Trust me." "Thank you, Admiral." Aznia perked up, "I won't let you down!" "Dismissed!" Park ordered. Aznia turned to leave the Ward room. "Oh wait..." Park added, "Now that the legal formalities are out of the way, I just wanted to let you know that Captain Deet has been given special dispensation to promote his choice for Security Chief, whoever that may be, to Lieutenant Commander." Park reached into his pocket, extracting a small box that contained a gold pip. "Thank you, Admiral." Aznia responded, somewhat dumbfounded by the sudden shift in favors. "Go pack your things. You'll be reporting for duty as soon as the L'étoile Du Nord arrives tomorrow."
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