Trevor pushed the bushes that were in his and Foster's way to the ground and stepped over them. He then attempted to hold them down so that Foster could also get over them, but they slipped out of his grip and shot backward, knocking Foster flat on his ass.
"Are you okay?" Trevor asked a laughing Foster.
"Yeah," Foster replied as he stood and dusted himself off. "I think I hurt my bottom parts, but other than that, I'm gravy."
Trevor laughed. Foster eyed him confusedly.
"What's funny?" He asked.
Trevor chuckled some more.
"Nobody says 'bottom' anymore. Except for maybe three-year-olds."
Foster shrugged. "I'm seven hundred and three."
Trevor laughed once again. "Kid, you're alright!"
Foster smiled at the compliment and the pair continued their trek through the woods to the stranded Runabout.
After about fifteen minutes of hiking, the pair could hear some voices screaming at them.
"What did they say?" Foster asked Trevor who was increasing his walking speed.
"They said 'stop or I'll shoot'."
Foster halted in his position. "Shouldn't we stop then?"
Trevor never turned back to his partner. "No! We'll be arrested again!"
"Ah – good point." Foster acknowledged as he scurried off to catch up with Trevor.
The pair continued walking at an accelerated pace. They had just come over a small rise when a tree branch above them was shattered into twigs.
"HOLY SHIT!" Trevor screamed. "I thought 'stop or we'll shoot' was just an expression!"
The pair began to run as they are blanketed with projectile fire – the rounds missing them by mere inches.
"The Runabout is just beyond these trees!" Trevor pointed.
Foster screamed and dropped to the ground. Trevor stopped and turned to his friend. "What happened?"
"I think I have been shot." Foster dryly replied as he staggered to his feet.
"Are you going to be okay?"
Foster laughed. "Projectile weapons don't hurt energy beings."
A shot lands about two inches from Trevor. "Well they sure as sugar hurt me, so we need to start running!"
Foster nodded and the pair began to run again. Within moments they were at the Runabout with a Zima security officer right on their tails.
"STOP!" He ordered.
Trevor opened the hatch and the pair jumped into the ship. Trevor jumps into his seat and begins to power up the craft. The Zima guard opened fire and bullets began to zing off the hull of the craft.
"Won't those hurt the hull?" Foster asked.
"The ship is impacted by thousands of micro asteroids per minute while in space." The Ami-computer explained. "Those bullets will do very minor damage if any."
Trevor grabbed a phaser rifle and headed back to the door. Foster grabbed him.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"We can't let them see us take off. I need to do what needs to be done to protect the prime directive."
Foster nods as Trevor hops outside and stuns the only visible guard. He quickly hops back in and takes his seat at the controls.
The hatch closes and seals as the Runabout begins to lift into the air. Once a few meters in the air, Trevor swings the nose of the ship 180 degrees to face a clearing. The runabout slowly starts to move towards the clearing.
After passing over some small hills, the pair see what seems like an entire battalion of guards, most armed with small arms, but a few armed with shoulder-mounted missile launchers.
"Now, those will do a bit more damage than the bullets." Ami-Computer states.
"Thank you very much, Captain obvious." Trevor groans. "Shields?"
"Two percent." She replies.
"Ugh," Trevor replies.
"I can stop them." Foster pipes up.
Trevor, without even thinking about it, pushes the ship to its maximum incline and thruster speed. "Do it."
Foster nods and disappears. As the ship climbs Trevor sees all the guards drop to the ground, appearing to be in pain.
Trevor stares at this for a moment till Foster reappears.
"What did you do?" Trevor asked.
"As you said, I did what needed to be done."
"What does that mean?"
Foster could sense some anger in Trevor's voice. "I killed them."
Trevor could only stare at Foster as the runabout climbed towards the cloud line; his staring only interrupted by the chirping of panels and Ami-Computer's voice piping in.
"Trevor, three plasma-powered fighter aircraft with highly explosive missiles are on an intercept course. They will be within weapons range in three minutes."
Trevor just groaned and turned back to his piloting. "We need to have a serious talk when we get out of this."
Foster sighed and took his seat in the back of the cabin.
The Sisko dropped out of warp at the very edge of sector Zulu 771. The smoothness of the stop implied that Ensign Ryouga Hibiki was off the clock.
Indeed he was.
Ryouga was hanging around ten-forward. He noted the stars slowing from the streaking warp effect to simply standing seemingly still.
"Hey." Mina's voice called to him.
Ryouga turned and saw her standing behind him.
"Hi." He stated. Ryouga turned back to his drink and resumed looking out the window.
"Do you mind if I sit down?" Mina asked.
Ryouga laughed. "What's the difference? As you are so inclined to mention as much as you can you are my commanding officer."
Mina sighed as she sat down. A waiter walked up to the table. Mina just shooed him away.
"Ryouga," Mina started. "I just got back from sickbay."
Ryouga shifted his eyes from the star field to Mina.
"And?" He asked.
"Negative," Mina replied.
The sigh of relief from Ryouga could be heard back at Starfleet Command in San Francisco.
Ryouga smiled. "Permission to speak freely?"
Mina nodded.
"I was going to do what you asked. I had never gotten drunk before, well not THAT drunk, and I know that you were very drunk too. I should have been able to control myself better." Ryouga stated.
Mina took a moment to take all that in before starting with her own speech.
"No, it's not your fault. I was also a willing participant in it. And I need to apologize for the way I reacted the next morning." Mina cleared her throat. "I hope that everything is okay."
Ryouga laughed. "It was a little swollen, but no worse for the wear."
"Still works?" Mina asked.
Ryouga blushed. "I think so."
Mina grinned. Ryouga was oblivious.
Then he got it.
"WHAT?" He screamed.
Everyone in ten-forward turned and looked at the pair. Mina smacked Ryouga on the top of the head.
"Come on," Mina ordered.
Ryouga blushed, grinned, and followed Mina out of the lounge.
Behind the bar, Gosnell grinned. He hit his communicator.
"Gosnell to Gosnell."
Feedback spewed out of his communicator. He hit it again after several of the bar patrons gave him the evil eye.
"Stupid thing. Not me Gosnell! The other one!" He hit his comm. badge once again. "Gosnell to Commander Gosnell."
"WHAT!" Lita yelled. "Some of us are trying to sleep here!"
"Sorry sweetie, just thought that you would want to know that Mina's getting some."
"WHAT?!?!?!" She exclaimed. The signal went dead and within just a few seconds Lita materialized in front of the bar. Gosnell's jaw dropped when he saw his half-naked wife appear. He quickly grabbed a spare Starfleet uniform jacket from behind the bar and made her put it on.
"What's this about Mina getting some?" Lita demanded the information.
"She left with Ryouga." Gosnell grinned.
Lita shook her head. "That doesn't mean anything."
Gosnell grinned. "He had the look."
"What look?"
Gosnell sighed. "Are we having sex tonight?"
"Probably," Lita replied quietly.
Gosnell got a big dopey grin on his face. Lita's eyes opened wide. Gosnell started to laugh.
"That look." He giggled.
Lita grinned. She then took a seat at the bar. "Give me a Mountain Dew." She said.
Gosnell shook his head negatively. "Not till you go put some pants on."
Lita suddenly realized that under the Starfleet jacket she was only wearing her underwear. Lita hit her comm. badge. "Execute site to site transport pattern Lita 7 G."
The computer chirped an acknowledgment and she vanished into nothingness.
"The Sisko has entered the sector," George stated to his siblings.
Tatewaki Kuno grinned. He walked over to the control panel. "Time to smite!" he grinned.
"Brother dear…" Kodachi grumbled. "You aren't thinking of hurting my darling Ranma."
"Oh for fucks sake," George grumbled as he entered the intercept coordinates into the computer. Tatewaki drew his bokken and took up a fighting stance across the way from his sister.
"My goal is to rescue the fair Akane Tendo and my beloved pig-tailed girl. If Saotome is to be destroyed it will be just a nice coincidence." Kuno stated.
Kodachi glowered. "That wretched Akane Tendo will NOT be brought aboard this ship as long as I am here."
"I can fix that!" Kuno bellowed.
"ON GUARD, BROTHER DEAR!" Kodachi retorted.
"Shaddup both of you!" George yelled, besting them both with two phaser blasts. The two siblings fell to the ground, stunned but unharmed.
Tatewaki staggers to his feet and draws his bokken on George. "How dare you fire upon the blue-" Kuno is cut off as George raises the phaser to bear on him.
"You want some more?" George asks.
Tatewaki re-holsters his bokken. "The mission at hand is of utmost importance. I yield for now, but we will finish this later."
Kodachi also staggers to her feet. "I DO NOT YIELD!" She screams as she charges the two Kuno boys with her rhythmic gymnastic ribbon twirling. George fires one shot, knocking her back on her ass.
Tatewaki grins slightly. Kodachi returns to her feet.
"Yes, the mission at hand is what we need to concentrate on. We'll settle this later." Kodachi cackles and flutters out of the room rose petals flying in every direction.
George merely shakes his head.
"Are these drones of yours going to work?" He asks Tatewaki.
"Do you doubt the workmanship of the house of Kuno?"
George eyes his brother for a moment, then speaks.
"No. Just curious."
Kuno nods. "Yes, they have been programmed to capture Akane Tendo and the pig-tailed girl. They have also been programmed to kill Ranma Saotome."
George nods. "Good. Five minutes to intercept."
Kuno looks at the panel. "What about that ship?"
George shrugs. "The neuron-radiation jammer will keep the Sisko from contacting them. After we are done with Ranma we can blow them up later."
Kuno cackles. George just groans.
Shampoo was playing a computer game on Ranma's command panel when Ranma walked onto the bridge. Shampoo quickly turned it off and moved to her own seat. Ranma just chuckled.
"You don't have to stop on my account." He said.
Shampoo just shrugged. "Shampoo losing anyway."
Ranma nodded and took his seat. He looked at the viewscreen. The stars seemed to just be sitting there.
Ranma stared a bit closer.
Those stars are doing something odd. He thought.
The stars in the center of the view screen seemed to move position ever so slightly, and then back to where they were. Ranma had seen that before.
"Holy shit." He said.
Before he could say anything else the Kuno cube de-cloaked and stopped right in front of the Sisko.
Shampoo hopped out of her seat. Ranma stood as well.
"SHIELDS!" They cried in unison.
The humming of the shields kicked in.
"RED ALERT!" Ranma yelled. "ALL SENIOR OFFICERS TO THE BRIDGE!"
In Mina's quarters:
Mina was straddling Ryouga. They were both under the covers. Mina was passionately kissing Ryouga. He was more than grateful to return the kisses, albeit very sloppily. Ryouga didn't do this type of thing too often. He wasn't very good at it.
Mina moved her attention down from Ryouga's face to his neck. Ryouga stroked Mina's back, his hands moving up and down from the top of her back to the bottom of her buttocks, as she nibbled on his neck.
Mina started to move lower. She ran her tongue on Ryouga's muscular chest. She gave Ryouga's man nipples some attention as well.
Ryouga moaned in pleasure. Mina continued down. Her tongue making a trail that led down Ryouga's midsection, past his waist, lower and down to his-
"RED ALERT! ALL SENIOR OFFICERS TO THE BRIDGE!" Ranma's voice bellowed over the P.A., followed by the red alert klaxons.
Mina sat up.
"SON OF A BITCH!" They both screamed in unison.
In Serena's quarters:
Serena was up earlier than usual. She wasn't dressed yet though. She was still wearing her cute little cotton bra and panty set that she slept in. They were cute because they had little bunnies on them.
Serena sighed. She didn't want to go and sit in ten-forward until breakfast time. Gosnell was very strict. He wouldn't serve Lucky Charms till 06:30. She didn't understand why not. She guessed it was just to make sure that no one else but she got any.
Serena walked over to her recliner and sat down. She looked at a book that was sitting on the coffee table next to the chair.
"Do I have time?" She pondered.
She nodded to herself that she did. She leaned back in her chair and got a bit more comfortable. She pushed a button that causes the footrest to come out. She knew this would be easier with her feet up.
She closed her eyes and allowed her hand to wander up and down the side of her leg.
Her hand stopped near her hips. She sighed in pleasure. She pulls out a remote control from between the arm of the chair and the cushion. She pointed it at a video screen on the wall and hit a button.
Cat Girl Nuku Nuku appeared on the viewer. She grinned.
"Now that's the stuff!" She exclaimed.
"RED ALERT! ALL SENIOR OFFICERS TO THE BRIDGE!"
"DAMMIT!" She whimpered as she hopped out of her chair.
In Ten-Forward:
Lita walks back into the lounge. She sees the bar very busy and her husband taking breakfast orders. She looks around for Raye or Serena but sees neither of them.
Gosnell looks up and acknowledges her presence. Lita smiles and walks up to the bar. She takes a seat near the middle. Gosnell walks up to her.
"I'll get you your Dew in just a minute, babe." He states as he runs over to take some more orders.
Lita smiles. She's been looking forward to this since she got up this morning. Well, this and the eventual drilling she was going to give Mina about the drilling Ryouga gave her.
Yeah, this is going to be a great day! She thought.
Gosnell walked back up to her with a big glass of the green bubbly liquid that she has grown to love – no – need.
"Thanks, babe!" She says, giving him a quick peck. Gosnell blushes and smiles then resumes his duties.
Lita picks up the glass.
She brings it close to her lips.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" Someone yells.
Lita sets the glass down and turns towards the windows. Outside there is an enormous cube-shaped ship towering over the relatively small Sisko.
"RED ALERT! ALL SENIOR OFFICERS TO THE BRIDGE!"
"Aw shit," Lita complains, hopping out of her seat and running off, her Mountain Dew untouched.
In Raye's quarters:
Jeff lights a candle. He places it in the center of the floor. He then sits on one side of it Indian style.
After a few moments, Raye walks in. She looks different, Jeff notices.
Raye was brushing her long flowing hair. She is letting it go loose like she used to do. Her uniform is in perfect condition. All her pips accounted for and lined up straight. Her communicator perfectly aligned where it should be.
Raye sets the brush down on her nightstand. She walks over and takes a seat on the other side of the candle, across from Jeff. Jeff smiles at her.
"I like your hair much better that way." He notes.
Raye smiles. "Thanks! I do too."
"Why were you wearing it the other way then?"
Raye frowns. "Just didn't feel like going through the trouble."
Jeff nods. "Okay. Silence is necessary."
"Yeah, yeah," Raye mumbles. "Computer, deactivate all audio in the room."
The computer chirps.
"Okay. Breathe deep. One. Two. Three." Jeff instructed as both he and Raye went into a deep meditative trance.
Suddenly the alert light in Raye's quarters started to flash, but no sound was heard.
In Sickbay:
Akane was walking around, checking to make sure that everything was in order. She had nurses and assistants to do all that but sometimes she was just so damned bored she had to do it.
Once she was done with her rounds she went into her office and sat down. She tapped some buttons on her computer, then shut it off.
"Activate E.M.H." She ordered.
The holographic doctor appeared. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency."
"Do you have to say that every time you appear?" Akane asked.
"Oh, I don't know. I guess it would be useful if you ever actually activated me in an emergency." It smugly replied.
Akane just glared at it. Akane had to be the only one who could put the fear of God in a holograph.
"I need to know how to deliver a baby," Akane said.
"Is someone pregnant?" The holograph asked. "The medical files don't say anything about that."
"Commander Mina Aino might be," Akane replied.
"Her last physical was this morning at 0522. She was also given a pregnancy test and it came up negative."
"What?" Akane asked, and punched up Mina's file confirming what the E.M.H. just informed her.
"As CMO you should pay a bit more attention to what is going on in Sickbay." The holograph stated.
"End program," Akane growled. The E.M.H. vanished.
Akane sighed and kicked her feet up and onto her desk. She pulled a pack of smokes and a lighter from out of her pocket. She also grabs her ashtray from out of her desk. She lights up and leans back.
Akane takes a deep drag on the cigarette.
"RED ALERT! ALL SENIOR OFFICERS TO THE BRIDGE!"
The sudden blaring of Ranma's voice over the P.A. startled her. She started to fall backward. She flailed her arms in a pathetic attempt to regain her balance.
She failed.
Akane went crashing to the ground.
"Son of a bitch." She cursed while still lying on the deck.
The Sisko was sitting about 30,000 meters from the Kuno cube. The Sisko looked absolutely minuscule in comparison. This Kuno cube was over thirty times bigger than the first one they had come in contact with.
Side by side it looked like Verne Troyer (Mini-Me) standing next to Louie Anderson. It didn't seem like a fair fight at all.
If Ranma was worried though, you couldn't tell. He simply looked at the cube that completely filled the viewscreen.
Shampoo on the other hand was awe-struck.
"It so big!" She commented.
Ranma nodded. "Tactical analysis."
Shampoo checked her display. "They have the usual Kuno weapons. Torpedoes, phasers, cutting beam. Nothing special."
Nothing special. That thought bounced around in Ranma's head. Could the Kuno's just have been bluffing to see if Ranma would actually turn himself over to them?
"They're hailing us." The tactical officer announced.
The turbolift doors opened and Serena and Lita walked onto the bridge. The tactical officer acknowledged Lita and turned the station over to her. Serena took a spot next to Lita.
"On screen," Ranma ordered.
Lita complied and George Kuno appeared.
"Hi-diddly-hi!" George grinned.
Ranma snickered. "I'm Captain Ranma-"
George wouldn't let him finish. "I know who you are Captain. Please lower your shields and prepare to be boarded."
It's about this time that Ryouga and Mina entered the bridge. Mina scurried down to her station but Ryouga walked a bit slower. He also made a point to keep his hands in front of him.
In front of you know what.
Ranma laughed at George's arrogance.
"I'll do no such thing!"
George sighed. "Look, man. I don't have anything against you personally. The first time we tangled I wanted to blow you out of the sky just because father wanted to."
Ranma put his finger up to stop George.
George sighed. "Yes, I know I'm black. I'm adopted, okay?"
Ranma put his finger down. George continued.
"Here is the deal. I can't sleep because of you. That nutball brother of mine has dreams of killing you and he constantly has to scream in them. Then he has dreams of deflowering your other half."
Ranma put his finger up again. Again George sighed.
"Yes, I know that you and the pig-tailed girl are one in the same. As I stated before, I'm adopted."
Ranma puts his finger down again.
"Then there is Kodachi! I'm not even going to tell you the horrible things she dreams about!"
Ranma nods. "I doubt I'd want to hear about them anyway."
George nods back. "At any rate, for this to come to an end you must lower your shields and allow us to board. You, along with Akane Tendo and Shampoo will be taken prisoner. The rest of your crew will go on to live long and happy lives, free to pursue both economical and spiritual enlightenment."
Shampoo stands. "WHY SHAMPOO?!"
George grins. "Cause I think you're hot. I got myself some of that Amazon Jungle Fever. And shouldn't I think about myself every now and then?"
Shampoo just looks at Ranma. "He crazy!" She notes.
Ranma nods. "Sorry. You want to come over you are going to have to do it the hard way."
George nods. "Okay then. See you in a few."
The communication ends. Ranma sighs as Lita's terminal starts to chirp.
"They're powering up their forward torpedo bays." She informs Ranma.
"Fire at will." Ranma dryly replies, sitting in his seat.
Lita nods.
The Sisko unleashes a tremendous amount of both normal and quantum torpedoes, along with every forward phaser bank. The torpedoes impact the cube with an incredible explosion. Once the smoke had cleared everyone was surprised to see the cube not only in one piece, but
seemingly unscathed.
"What?" Ranma asked no one.
Lita prepared to fire again when several silver streaks of light come flying out of the cube and impact the Sisko's shields.
The ship shakes violently. Panels explode. Pointless steam ducts spray people with steam.
"SHIELDS DOWN TO 60 PERCENT!" Lita yelled.
"RETURN FIRE! FULL SPREAD OF QUANTUM TORPEDOES!" Ranma yelled back.
Lita complied. Quantum torpedoes came from every torpedo bay on the Sisko. They impacted the cube, one after the other. Immediately following the impact multiple standard torpedoes fired and impacted the cube.
"They are taking damage," Lita responded.
Shampoo checked her display. "Target weapons, engines." Shampoo ordered.
Lita complied and fired again.
The cube also fired its weapon again. The torpedoes passed each other on the way to their respective targets.
The Sisko got slammed once again knocking people in every which direction.
The cube also took a tremendous amount of damage from the quantum torpedo regular torpedo volleys.
"Shields at 10 percent!" Lita said. "The cube's engines are offline, but her weapons-" Lita didn't need to finish. Six more of the silver torpedoes streaked towards the Sisko, slamming into her.
"SHIELDS DOWN! HULL BREACH DECK 3, SECTION 16. EMERGENCY FORCE FIELD IN PLACE!" Lita stated as she returned fire.
The next volley of torpedoes from the Sisko all struck in the same place. Right where the silver torpedoes were coming from. A massive explosion came from that section blowing debris out into space.
There was an eerie silence for a few moments while everyone regained their bearings. Lita was the first to speak.
"Their weapons are offline." She reported.
"Get our shields up," Ranma ordered.
"Working on it, sir," Serena replied from the engineering station on the aft section of the bridge.
"Too late," Lita said. "We've been boarded."
"How many?" Shampoo asked.
"50," Lita replied.
Ranma looked at Shampoo who returned the look. Ranma turned back to Lita. "Where at?"
Lita checked her display. "Deck three, section five."
Ranma's stomach dropped. "Sickbay."
Ranma stood and turned to Shampoo. "You have the bridge." He stated as he walked to the turbo lift. Shampoo turned to Mina.
"You have bridge." She stated walking over to Ranma. Lita eyed the pair.
"I have a security team en route."
Ranma shook his head. "Sickbay."
Lita understood. "I'm coming with you then."
Ranma nodded. Ryouga stood, once again shielding his groin from view.
"Ranma."
Ranma turned. "Don't worry. I need you here in case we need to get lost." Ranma laughed at his own joke.
Ryouga scowled for a bit before he got the play on words. Once he was sure Ranma was gone he laughed as well.
"What an ass." Ryouga giggled.
The trio exited the turbo lift on deck three. Yelling and phaser fire could be heard down the hallways. Lita walked up to a wall panel. She ran her hand along the back of the crease until she found a button. She hit it and a section of the wall opened up revealing four phaser rifles.
Lita tossed one to Ranma, one to Shampoo, and kept the other two for herself.
The trio quietly made their way down the hall. They stopped when they saw what appeared to be Tatewaki Kuno lying dead on the floor.
Ranma checked it for a pulse.
Nothing.
"Captain," Lita called. Ranma ran over to where she was. There was another Tatewaki on the ground. This one also had no pulse.
They looked up the hall. The floor was strewn with Tatewakis. Ranma was befuddled. He didn't think that Kuno was narcissistic enough to make an entire army in his image.
"They robots!" Shampoo noted as she pointed to one of the Kunos busted open head. There were wires and chips sticking out of, as well as a blue ooze dripping from the wound.
The trio continued on. Every now and then they would find a security officer lying on the ground. Lita would stop and check for a pulse. They all had one. The Kunos were apparently just stunning the resistance.
The group advanced towards Sickbay.
"LET GO OF ME!" Akane's voice screamed from inside the sickbay doors.
Ranma opened the doors and saw a Kuno drone dragging Akane by her wrist. He noticed Ranma.
"I SHALL SMITE THE!" The drone yelled in a Kuno/Robot voice.
The drone let go of Akane and charged at Ranma. Ranma fired his phaser. The blast hit the drone sending his internal parts flying out of the back of him.
Several other drones walked over and started their attack on the trio. As Ranma and the other fought another drone grabbed Akane and flung her over his shoulder.
The drone carried Akane out the second set of sickbay doors. As soon as Ranma and the others finished off the drones they pursued the drone that had Akane.
"RANMA!" Akane yelled.
"I'M COMING, AKANE!" Ranma called back.
Suddenly another dozen drones materialized in front of them. A couple of them went to help the one drone with Akane, the others stayed to stall Ranma and the group.
"Engineering to Saotome!" Serena's voice called.
Ranma ignored her but Lita answered. "What is it, Serena?"
"Uh-Lita?"
"Yes, what is it, Serena?"
"I have shields back in place. No more will be beaming over, and they can't beam back out unless they use a transporter room." Serena explained over the comm. system.
"Acknowledged." Lita slapped her badge and fired at one of the drones.
Ranma was more interested in avoiding the drones and catching up with Akane than he was with shooting them. The only ones he shot were ones that were directly in his path with no way around them.
"RANMA!" Akane screamed helplessly as the Kuno drones carried her off and down the Sisko's corridors.
Ranma ran after them, followed by Shampoo and Lita. Lita drew her phaser rifle to bear and fired once, striking one of the drones. The drone collapsed in a shower of sparks. The drone carrying Akane kept walking. Three of the other drones turned and faced the trio.
Lita fired again striking the next drone. He also went down in a heap, sparks flying from his torso.
Shampoo fired this time; however, her phaser blast hit the drone and dissipated.
"They've adapted!" Lita yelled, starting to back away.
"We can't let them take Akane!" Ranma yelled back, continuing forward.
Lita nodded and ran up to one of the drones, and smashed her rifle over its head. The rifle broke into a thousand pieces, but the crude attack was effective. The drone fell over, a gooey blue ooze coming from its wounds. Lita looked at the ooze and gagged.
Another drone charged at Ranma. He quickly jumped over it and continued after the drone carrying Akane.
Shampoo smiled at the drone as she did some very impressive Amazon ninja-like attacks, sending the drone into oblivion, blue ooze coming from gashes on its body.
"Nice," Lita commented, running after her captain.
Shampoo smiled and ran after Lita. "Shampoo got blue ooze on her boot!" She complained.
"RANMA!" Akane cried while pounding and kicking the drone.
Ranma jumped over and dodged the Kuno drones that had already been bested. He couldn't stop. He had to get to Akane before the drone reached the transporter room.
Lita and Shampoo finally caught up with Ranma. The three of them ran around a corner to find themselves face to face with about thirty of the Kuno look-a-likes. Ranma could do nothing as he watched the screaming Akane be carried off into transporter room six. He could do nothing as he heard the transporters energize.
Anger swelled in Ranma's face. Shampoo and Lita stared at him as he began to glow bright red.
"What the?" Lita pondered. She was soon grabbed by Shampoo who pulled her into a doorway.
Ranma started to laugh in his anger. The Kuno drones moved ever so close to him. They all in unison drew their bokkens.
"Fucking Kuno's." Ranma laughed.
The Kuno's raised their bokkens and prepared to land their blows on their sworn enemy.
Ranma crouched and placed his arms straight in front of him, his palms out facing his enemy. "Hiryu Shoten Ha!" Ranma screamed. The ki blast was unbelievable. The glowing sphere that blasted from Ranma's hands cut through all the Kunos, through the door to the transporter room, and through the wall behind that, creating a passageway into cargo bay five.
Ranma dropped to his knees exhausted. His breathing was somewhat shallow, but it wasn't due to the energy drain of his ki blast.
Ranma raised his arm up enough to discreetly wipe the moisture that was forming in his eyes. He stood and turned to where Shampoo was. Lita was still hiding in the doorway. Ranma regained his composure and started to speak to his first officer.
"I'm going over there," Ranma stated quite matter-of-factly.
"Not alone you not." Shampoo replied in the same tone.
"Shampoo –" Ranma started. Shampoo shook her head. Ranma stopped speaking.
"Shampoo know how it feel to lose someone you love. Shampoo no want Ranma to have to go through what Shampoo go through."
Shampoo thought for a second.
"Shampoo want to protect Ranma from the pain."
Ranma managed a weak grin. "Thank you."
Ranma remembered his feeble lie to her about wanting to protect her from the pain she would feel in knowing that he and Akane were married. Ranma knew, however, that Shampoo was not lying to him. She cared about him. She cared enough to let go. She cared enough to help him get back his true love.
It was about this time that Lita wandered out of her hiding place. She examined the left-overs of the Kuno drones. She then stared in awe at the remains of the wall behind them. She then noticed that she could see all the way into cargo bay five.
"Jesus Christ!" She exclaimed.
"Ready?" Ranma asked Shampoo.
"Huh?" Lita asked.
"We're going to the Kuno ship to get Akane back," Ranma said, starting to walk away.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Lita protested. Ranma stopped and turned back to her. "You two are not going over there without me."
"This isn't your fight," Ranma stated.
Lita pointed to the wall. "Look what they did to my ship!" Lita corrected herself. "I mean your ship."
Ranma raised an eyebrow. "I actually did that."
Lita nodded. "Yes, but you wouldn't have if it wasn't for them. Besides, if you get killed guess who gets their ass chewed out? Me, that's who." Lita starts to flail her arms in overdramatizing her point.
"I'm chief of security. Your security is my business. Guess what that means, Captain! I go where you go. Oh yes, I'm going, that's final."
Ranma laughed. "Fine."
Lita nodded at her victory. She wasn't going to let the Kuno's get away with coming in here, shooting her security personnel and making her not be able to drink her Mountain Dew.
I guess Gosnell was right! That stuff is addictive! She thought.
Lita shook off her thought. She realized she could not let them get away with this. No, they were going to pay and pay big.
"Aino to Saotome!" Mina's voice called over the comm.
"Yes, Commander?" Ranma answered.
On the bridge:
"Captain, the Kuno ship is starting to move away. It appears that they have their engines working again." Mina replied from the captain's seat.
"Immobilize them. DO NOT destroy them, but stop them." Ranma ordered. "I, Commander Shampoo, and Commander Gosnell are going over there."
Mina laughed. She would never be used to hearing the phrase 'Commander Gosnell'.
Why did she have to marry someone with such a funny name? She thought.
"Did you get that, Commander?" Ranma asked.
Mina shook off her giggles. "Yes sir. I'll take care of it." She replied.
Mina stood and turned to the helm.
"Ryouga, set course 1-0-2 mark 0-0-7, engage at full impulse on my mark."
"Aye," Ryouga mumbled, adjusting himself slightly to hide the woody he still had.
"Tactical. Prepare one full volley of photon torpedoes from all dorsal tubes. Target their engines. Fire on my mark."
"Aye!" The tactical officer stated.
Mina let the Kuno ship drift away a bit further before-
"HELM!" She yelled.
Ryouga complied and the ship shot forward towards the ship, catching up with it very quickly. It appeared that they might collide with the Kuno cube but the seven-degree downward pitch of the Sisko was taking them lower than the cube.
"FIRE!" Mina screamed.
Torpedoes a plenty burst from the ship's three dorsal launchers. They all impacted the Kuno's engine array located along the bottom of the cube. The Kuno ship drifted to a stop.
"Ryouga, bring us about. Tactical, if they try and move again, fire another volley of torpedoes at their engines. Be careful not to destroy them. We have officers over there."
The tactical officer acknowledged Mina's command. Ryouga hit some commands into his station and the ship very quickly, and very roughly, pulled a 180. Any crew member that was standing was sent to the deck. Mina happened to be standing.
"Damn it Hibiki!" She snarled.
In the armory, Ranma was passing out phaser rifles to his two female assistants. All three of them had taken off their uniform jackets. Now they were simply clad in the grey sleeveless shirts, black uniform pants, and their boots. They had reapplied their communicators to their undershirts.
Lita did some work on a tricorder for a moment. She then connected it to her phaser rifle. It chirped a few times and she nodded. Lita went over to Ranma and Shampoo's rifles and did the same thing.
"The blast yield and frequency should modulate randomly enough so the Kunos won't be able to adapt as quickly," Lita explained.
"As quickly?" Shampoo worriedly asked.
Lita nodded. "Their technology is very advanced. It won't take very long for them to figure out the mathematics behind the frequency change.
"I did, however, program each rifle differently, so it should take longer for all three to become useless." Lita finished, slinging her rifle over her shoulder.
"Good job, Commander." Ranma nodded. "Now, let's go."
The two girls nodded and followed their commanding officer out of the armory. They walked down the hall and past the trashed corridor leading to transporter room one. Ranma's blast had demolished the control computer so they would have to walk down to transporter room two, just a section away.
Ranma thought to himself along the way. He thought that he was stupid for allowing Akane to be put in the position that she was in.
Ranma worried what kind of positions Kuno would try and put Akane into. Ranma shuddered at that thought.
He also shuddered at the thought of Kuno turning Akane into one of them. Into placing her into the Kuno collective. Ranma didn't know if he could remain married to her if she was going to be spouting off bad Shakespeare.
Ranma kicked himself slightly for thinking of such a silly thing at such a serious time. He knew that it was a possibility that he would never see Akane again if the Kunos were to escape.
He also knew that there was a possibility that they would be able to use their new weapon on Earth and that was also unacceptable.
The trio arrived at transporter room two. The transporter chief acknowledged them as they entered.
"Off to kick some ass?" He mused.
Ranma nodded. "What gave it away?"
"It's a tradition in Starfleet that when you are off to kick some ass you do it in just the sleeveless undershirts." He replied as he punched some commands into his console.
"Where do you think they took her?" Lita asked Ranma.
Ranma knew exactly where they took her. "Chief, put us a couple of decks below the main control center of the ship."
"Yes sir." He replied. "Ready."
"Energize," Ranma ordered as the three disappeared off the pad.
"I THOUGHT THEY DID NOT HAVE SPACE FLIGHT!" Trevor screamed as machine-gun fire pelted his Runabout.
"I said they don't have warp drive." The computer replied.
Trevor groaned. Foster looked to Trevor.
"I can stop them." He stated.
"No, thank you." Trevor snarled. "You've done quite enough for me today."
Foster looked at his feet. "I was only trying to help."
"If you want to help, fix the warp drive!"
"I can't fix mechanical things," Foster replied quietly. "And if I use my power to give us a boost we could end up in another galaxy."
Trevor just groaned. "How much longer till we breach the outer atmosphere?"
The computer thought about this for a moment. "One minute."
"Can they follow us that far in those things?" Trevor said, grabbing his console as the ship shook as the bullets began to penetrate the Runabout's shields.
"Yes, but the projectile weapons and missiles shouldn't be as effective."
"How far out is the Crossroads?"
The computer thought for a few more moments. "77 thousand kilometers."
Trevor groaned. He knew that if they followed him that far and saw the Crossroads he would have blown the prime directive all to hell. He knew that even though he would like to escape, he couldn't let that happen.
"Trevor, I can stop them without killing them," Foster said.
Trevor thought about this for a bit. The last time that Foster said that several people were killed. Granted they were trying to kill him, but they thought he was a threat.
"Trevor, they are still low enough they can eject from their ships and parachute down to the planet."
The computer agreed. "We're only at 8 kilometers."
"They should be wearing oxygen masks," Foster added.
"Okay, okay!" Trevor yelled. "But if you kill them I am going to be SUPER pissed."
Foster nodded and vanished. Moments later Trevor watched the wings on one, then the next, then the final aircraft fall off. The jets started to plummet and sure enough, the canopies blew off and the pilots ejected. They floated softly and quietly back down to the planet.
"There are eight more on an intercept course." The computer informed Trevor.
"Right," Trevor replied, checking his displays. "Will we beat them out of the atmosphere?"
"Yes." She answered.
"Okay, as soon as we are clear of the atmosphere set a course for the farthest moon, full impulse."
The computer chirped a reply.
"Will we be safe there?" Foster asked as he reappeared in the seat next to Trevor.
"Yes. The moon will shield us from their primitive radar. Plus we can outrun them at impulse so we will be able to find a good crater to hide in before they even get there."
Foster smiled. He looked down at the display screen. He then turned back to Trevor.
"I thought you said there was only one Federation ship in this sector."
"Yeah," Trevor replied. "The Crossroads."
"That's Ami's ship." The computer helpfully added.
Trevor blushed.
"I see a second one. And then a third ship that's not Federation." Foster stated, pointing the blips out to Trevor.
Trevor read the display and snarled. "Why didn't you tell me there was another ship out there?"
"It wasn't there last time I checked." The computer replied.
"Dammit!" Trevor said. "I'm removing your AI chip when this is over with. You're developing an attitude."
The computer made a noise that can only be described as a computer blowing raspberries at him. Trevor just returned the sentiment as the ship left the planet's atmosphere and shot off towards the moon at full impulse.
The battle had startled both Raye and Jeff out of deep meditation. Raye honestly couldn't be happier. She was tired of these sessions. Sure, they were helping her deal with the memories, but to deal with them she had to remember them.
Jeff stood. He helped Raye to her feet.
"Lights." He called out.
The lights came on. Raye looked at him and nodded. "A jolt that strong can't be Hibiki. I better get to the bridge."
Jeff nodded and they walked to the doors. They refused to open.
"What the hell?" Raye asked. She pushed some buttons on the panel next to the door. They simply chirped in a noncompliant sort of way.
"Computer, why won't the doors open?" Jeff asked.
"General quarters have been sounded." The computer replied.
"WHY?" Raye yelled.
"Intruder alert." The computer answered.
Raye slapped her comm. badge. "Hino to bridge."
"Go ahead, Raye." Mina's voice replied.
"What's going on?"
"I'm a little too busy to explain it now," Mina stated. "But we've been boarded."
"Do you need me up there?" Raye asked.
"No." Mina dryly replied. "The safest place for you is to stay in your quarters. I'll call you back later. Aino out."
The comm. signal terminated. Raye sighed.
"I guess we're stuck here." Jeff mused. "What do you want to do?"
"I sure as hell don't want to do anymore meditating," Raye grumbled. Jeff nodded and walked over to her bed. He sat down on it. He patted the seat next to him. Raye raised an eyebrow.
"I don't think we should do that either." She stated.
Jeff laughed. "No, no."
Raye cautiously walked over and sat down on her bed next to him. Jeff smiled and scooted over to the other end of the bed. He stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a deck of playing cards.
"You play poker?" he asked.
Raye cocked her head slightly. "A little."
Jeff nodded. He turned towards the replicator. "Two beers, 8 degrees, M.G.D. circa 2003." The replicator complied and two beers appeared. Jeff hopped off the bed, walked over, grabbed the beers, and returned to his sitting position on Raye's bed. He handed Raye one of the beers. "You want to deal?"
Raye took the cards from him. She looked at the backs of the cards. On the back was the Starfleet Medical logo. She then turned the cards over and on the front of each card was a different picture of a Starfleet psychiatrist. Raye laughed when she saw the card with Jeff's picture on it. He had a beatnik-looking goatee.
"I was going through a phase," Jeff replied to Raye's unanswered question.
Raye laughed again as she shuffled the cards and started to deal.
"The game is seven-card stud. Nothing wild."