Stardate 52062.8 The Etalom stood at the transporter controls, setting coordinates for the readied shuttle with one hand and locking onto her fetus with another. He energized both transports simultaneously. As he disappeared, Enoz felt the tissue disappear from within her. Her body immediately went into convulsions. Gasping for air and almost choking on her own spew, she barked out hoarsely, "Computer, deactivate annular confinement beam!" It didn't respond. Without being able to move or access anything by voice, there was nothing she could do but wait. Luckily, Security Officer Martens popped in. He saw her and jumped to the controls, releasing her. "I came in to transport reinforcements to Beeg, the Jem'Hadar are blocking.." "First things first," said Enoz, stumbling to the controls. Taj had gotten away in the shuttle. He was almost out of transporter range and she could only get one lock, on her fetus and the device it was attached to. She beamed it to a stasis tube in the stardrive's protected core, a place Taj would never find it. "Martens, get six hand phasers out of that locker. Set them to overload and place them around the platform." Martens caught on quick as Enoz quickly locked onto six groups of Jem'Hadar. She beamed the phasers out and the overloads vaporized all but three Jem'Hadar, injuring a few Equinox security officers in the process, but she figured that was a small price to pay. "Wow," said Martens, "The Goulavar don't seem to know how to set our weapons for kill, they're no threat now." He leveled his phaser and charged out the door. Still heavily disoriented, Enoz headed for the Bridge. Mason was already in the lift. Mull stood up from the command chair and stepped up to Ops when they got there, "The Romulan warbird is ten minutes away, the Wiansani five. Enoz took out most of the Jem'Hadar, Beeg's security force were able to handle the remaining few. Beeg just reported that the Goulavar are back in confinement." "How?", said Mason to Enoz. "Taj beamed my fetus out of me and then left in a shuttle. I got the fetus back and started beam bombing the Dominion." "The phaser explosion.. you?", Mason said, grinning, "Wait, what shuttle!? Jack Hindman, Borgatella and Wallin are..", Mason started. "Borgatella to bridge. The shuttlecraft prepared for Hindman is gone." "Acknowledged, standby," Mason grumbled, "Elea, lay in pursuit course for the shuttle." "Wait!", said Enoz, "I'm reading a group of five Goulavar Republic warships headed this way. ETA, seven minutes." "There's no way we could get the shuttle and Taj back before they get here, and even if we could outrun them, we have to get Hindman off," said Mason, "I'm sorry Enoz, but Taj will have to wait. I don't think the Wiansani and Romulans can handle 5 to 2 odds. Red alert! All hands to battle stations. Let's warn our friends. Enoz, the Wiansani. Mull, the Romulans." The red lights on the deck starting blinking as the usual klaxon started sounding. Mull started activating tactical and defensive systems with one hand and opening a channel with the other. "Equinox to Romulan Warbird K'Precht. Be advised, five Goulavar Republic ships on intercept course. Hostilities likely. Repeat..", Mull stopped as the warbird cloaked, shimmering and disappearing from the viewscreen, "They seem to have gotten the message, sir." "What about you, Enoz?" "No luck yet, sir. They're not responding... What the!?", Enoz stammered, "The Wiansani ship is phase shifting! They've laid in a collision course." "Will that harm us if they've phase shifted?", asked Mason. "I don't believe so," said Enoz. Everyone sat alertly as they watched the blurring Wiansani vessel approach them. Several hundred meters off the ship, the shields flared and the Wiansani vessel backed off, tumbling. "Borgatella to bridge. I just received another telepathic communication from the Wiansani. They say they're trying to save Hindman but we're not letting them." "Elaborate, Lieutenant," Mason said. "I can't sir. That's all they said." Mason bit his lip hard, "Mull, how much longer until those five Goulavar ships get here?" "Four sir, one broke off and warped out of sensor range just now. Two minutes on the rest." "Fire a probe in the direction of the fifth, there was a reason for that. In the meantime, drop shields." "Yes, sir." Mull lowered the shields. Though quite confused about the order, he had learned that Mason knew better than anyone what to do, even if the order was counterintuitive, "The Wiansani are making another pass at us." This time, the Wiansani ship started passing through the Equinox. Everyone on the Bridge began experiencing discomfort. Enoz, on top of her prevalent loss and pain, flashed back in memory to a mating ritual with her first triad. Mull felt as if he were being summoned by a Prophet that looked like Elea. Elea felt like someone had planted a virus in her databanks. Mason remembered a mind meld he had with his wife once, many years ago. They had only done that twice, before he had gotten too high in rank and melding with her might have given her knowledge she didn't have clearance for. A tear almost came to his eye at the thought of Chaz. He snapped to when a voice came over his commbadge. "Borgatella to bridge, Hindman has vanished." Without having to look around, he knew he was the first on the Bridge to come to. Seeing Goulavar ships preparing to fire looming on the viewscreen, he didn't hesitate to yell, "Computer, raise shields!" The shields did start to raise but not before the first volley of photon torpedoes ripped across the top of the saucer section, concentrated on the auxiliary warp engine. The shudder roused the rest of the bridge crew. "Return fire!", Mason yelled. Mull didn't even acknowledge the order, instantly pulverizing the fourth and rear ship with phaser fire as the group passed. The first three, surprised, warped out of weapon's range. "The last ship didn't have it's rear shields up," said Enoz. "They were expecting to have finished us with the first three and must have been conserving power," said Mason, "How bad were we hit?" "Shields at 57%. Saucer warp core containment field at 69%. Saucer impulse is down," Mull said, "The other three Goulavar are coming back around from above. Looks like they're going for the same spot on us. I can't find the Romulans or Wiansani." "Captain, all three Goulavar vessels have dropped their rear shields and doubled the power to the front," said Enoz. "That tells me where the Romulans will be," Mason said, "How long?" "Twenty five seconds," said Mull. "On my mark, execute the following sequence. Elea, lay in course 0 mark 270 at warp seven for exactly two seconds. Mull, at one point nine seconds lock on tractor beams to the first Goulavar ship and fire everything you've got at it." Mason closed his eyes counting the seconds down mentally as his officers preprogrammed their consoles. "Now!" Elea pressed one button and the Equinox flew straight up at the incoming trio, then stopped as tractor beams lashed out and held the first Goulavar ship in place. Mull's phasers and torpedoes rocked the first ship as the rear two reversed engines to avoid a collision with the first. The K'Precht decloaked behind them, firing wildly, destroying the third ship almost instantly. As the first ship exploded, the proximity of it hit the Equinox shields hard, sending everyone to the floor. The second ship fired a full volley of phasers and torpedoes at both the Equinox and still decloaking K'Precht. Both vessels lost engine control and began tumbling, but the Wiansani vessel faded back in and passed through the remaining Goulavar ship before fading away again. Mason scrambled to his feet, "Report!" Mull started talking before he was even on his feet, "Weapons off-line, shields are gone, saucer warp core containment down to 24%, navigation's knocked out. The Goulavar vessel is just floating out there.. Enoz?" "They're all dead," Enoz said, "The Wiansani just passed through them and killed the whole crew." Just as Mason turned to see the now ghost ship floating on the viewscreen, a torpedo shot out from the K'Precht and destroyed the defenseless ship. The explosion rocked the Warbird and tipped the Equinox as well. A few consoles sparked. "Ruthless Romulans," muttered Mull, "Pointed eared ba.." "That's enough!", said Mason. "Engineering to Bridge!", screamed Syxx, "That last explosion knocked out containment of the saucer section warp core - breach in seven minutes!" Mason inhaled deeply, wishing desperately that he could just eject it, but that wasn't a feature Starfleet planned to include on saucer warp engines until the next class of dual core starship.. If the Dominion leaves us any shipyards to build them with, he thought. "Go to the battle bridge and take command, Syxx. Prepare for separation sequence," the Captain ordered, "Bridge to all hands, evacuate the saucer section, repeat, evacuate the saucer section. This is not a drill. Three minutes!" Mull reactivated the klaxon and the lights lit up blue. Mason looked around the bridge, "Mull, Elea, Chandler, dismissed." The three left with little hesitation into a turbolift, leaving only Enoz and Mason. "We just got word from the probe," Enoz said, "That fifth Goulavar ship is going after the shuttle Taj stole." "We should be out of here long before that vessel gets back," said Mason, stepping up to Ops, "We're not leaving half of her here to light up the night sky. A warp core breach and explosion would be easily detectable on long range sensors. An autodestruct is completely chemical based and would be indistinguishable from background radiation. That'll hopefully delay the inevitable Goulavar reinforcements, get us a head start. Ready?" Enoz nodded. "Computer, recognize Captain Frank Mason, alpha-pi-tango-twelve- baker-four." "Recognized." "Computer," said Enoz, almost choking, "Recognize Lieutenant Commander Oblokoni'Slyt Enoz, theta-omega-five-mu-charlie-six." "Recognized." "Computer," said Mason, "Initiate autodestruct sequence for the saucer section. Set countdown for four minutes." "Oblokoni'Slyt Enoz, do you concur?", asked the computer. "I do," hoarsed Enoz. Both turned as a four minute countdown started on the viewscreen and the computer began monotonously audibly warning the impending doom of the top half of the ship. "Battle bridge to Bridge," came Mull's voice, "Everyone's down but you two, and we're ready for separation." "On our way," said Mason. He stepped halfway into the turbolift, then stopped, looking at the Equinox's dedication plaque. Impulsively, Enoz trotted to it and slapped her commbadge on to it, then joined Mason in the lift. As the lift descended, Mason started muttering, "My ready room...the concert hall... the Equilibrium... the Arboretum." "I'm sure we can find Mr. Clemons something to do, and I won't miss Reman's barber shop," joked Enoz. "Is every Oblokoni your age as callous as you are?", Mason asked. Enoz stood straight at the reprimand, but said nothing. She shouldn't have joked about something Federation officers seemed to take seriously. Of their fleet, but not of their world, she thought. The lift opened on Deck 16. They made their way down the corridor and turned into the Battle Bridge. It was laid out like the actual bridge, only smaller and with no ready room. On the viewscreen, Mason and Enoz watched as the already detached saucer drifted off. Enoz noted a weeping Ming in the corner and turned to Syxx, "Beam me up." The Bolian acted confused, but checked his panel. Glancing back at Ming he understood. He locked onto Enoz's commbadge and beamed the plaque directly in front of Ming. She looked down at it in even more shock, but her shaking stopped. The officers that weren't standing did, and the saucer lit up the viewscreen for a few seconds, then dissolved. "Is everyone accounted for?", asked Mason. Mull nodded. "Painful as this is, we still have most of her, and most importantly, those that serve her." He turned and sat in the smaller command chair. "The K'Precht routed power from their damaged cloaking systems to their engines, and are ready to leave.. fast," Mull reported. "Retract the nacelles and prepare for compact warp field," Mason said, "The Goulavar, Dominion and Wiansani aren't going anywhere, but we are. Home."