by Shards
She leaned in and, in a low voice, said, "I can't thank you enough for all of the services you have done for me."
Tiron looked at her with hope in his eyes, an odd counterpoint to the trickles of blood on his face. In a quavering voice, he asked, "Did everything turn out the way you intended it to?"
Keiko nodded, offering Tiron a gentle smile. "You did well, Tiron."
She raised her hand and presented her gift to him, a small green capsule. "This is for you."
He glanced at it, then at her. "How long will I have?"
She held his gaze. "About an hour. Do you think you can hold out for that long?"
Tiron glanced at the door Eddington and Shar had gone though, then back to Keiko. He nodded. "I suffered worse at the hands of Kozak. I can handle this well enough."
Keiko frowned. "I wish you didn't have to, but I don't know of another way."
Tiron shook his head. "Freedom doesn't come without its price, Keiko. I'll be all right. Give me the pill."
She stared into his eyes, finally nodded. She placed the capsule in his mouth and leaned down to give him a chaste kiss. She leaned back on her haunches and watched as he dry-swallowed the pill and grimaced.
She stood and said, "Thank you again, Tiron. Good luck. I hope we can meet again someday under better circumstances."
He looked up at her and nodded in silence. A film started to crawl over his eyes-the drug was taking effect. She gave him a final nod, then joined Shar and Eddington in the security office.
Eddington stared at her as she walked in. He put a hand on Shar's shoulder and said, "Go see to the prisoner."
Shar gave Keiko an ugly grin and pushed past her. Once the door had closed behind him, Eddington turned to Keiko.
"Care to tell me why you altered the angle of the security cameras and deactivated the audio pickups?"
Keiko pursed her lips. "I needed to talk to Tiron, and I didn't want an audience."
Eddington stroked his chin as his frown deepened. "Keiko, I didn't want to say anything in front of Shar, but something about this whole situation just doesn't feel right."
Keiko sighed. Eddington was no idiot. She gave him a tired smile. "A lot of things don't feel right, Michael." She walked past him toward the main doors, which opened as she approached. He didn't offer another comment, so she walked out onto the Promenade and didn't look back.
2375
Tiron pulled Keiko out of the line of fire and pressed her against the side of the rough-hewn mineshaft. "That way's blocked off, Keiko! Where do we go now?"
Keiko glanced past Tiron and saw a handful of guards, a mix of Cardassians and Klingons, working their way toward her group's position, firing their weapons with indiscriminate glee. "We'll have to go the other way around. At least, we know the way behind us is clear."
Tiron nodded and moved past her back down the corridor. Keiko and a couple of her freed slaves fired their weapons toward the approaching guards. Keiko didn't check to see if they'd hit anyone-she was more interested in slowing them down at this point.
Tiron led Keiko and the others through the main assembly area and into the prefab corridors that made up the facility's command and control center. Stepping over bodies of guards and slaves, Keiko moved over to the remnants of the computer consoles her people had destroyed a few minutes ago and addressed the twenty or so rebels with her.
"We can't take the easy way to the landing pads, so we'll have to work our way around to the ore loaders and get out that way."
Some of the former slaves traded groans and grimaces, but Keiko was pleased to see most of them nod with determination. She'd spent a long time training these people under the collective noses of Gul Zarale and his Alliance guards.
The large door leading deeper into the Alliance facility cycled open, and Keiko and her group took covering positions and aimed their weapons toward the door. Keiko saw who was on the other side and raised her hand. "Hold your fire!"
Tasha leaned her head in, then gave Keiko a smile when she laid eyes on her. "Oh, it's you."
Keiko stood up out from behind her cover and waved Tasha in. Tasha entered the control room, more freed slaves following behind her.
Keiko grinned. "Good work. How many do you have with you?"
"Forty-seven." She indicated the corridor from which she'd entered. "We lost some along the way, though."
Keiko nodded in sympathy. She'd lost several as well. "We need to keep moving." She pointed in the direction of the mining area. "We have guards moving in."
Tasha nodded and thumbed toward the Alliance corridors. "That way is clear. We didn't find Zarale, though. He must have slipped out."
Keiko frowned. "He's probably making a run for the transports. I should have killed him in his sleep last night."
Tasha gave her a sidelong smile. "Not much we can do about it now. Where to?"
Keiko waved Tiron over and clapped him on the shoulder. "Cover our backs, all right?"
Tiron nodded. "Go ahead."
Keiko moved back toward the mining corridors, Tasha and the others following behind. A massive Bolian fell into step with Keiko, taking point with her. She didn't recall his name.
The two paused near the opening to the central assembly area. Keiko checked the area and waved the others to follow. She turned to the Bolian.
"Go on ahead, and scout out the passage to the ore loaders. We'll be right behind you."
The Bolian nodded and trotted off in that direction, disruptor pistol in hand. He disappeared into one of the corridors leading off the assembly area. Tasha and the others joined her at the entrance.
Keiko glanced at them. "We head for the ore loaders and then on to the landing pads. We don't stop. We don't go back. Understood?"
Tasha looked into her eyes and nodded. Even if no one else understood what was at stake, at least she did. If they went back for someone who had fallen, or slowed their pace, they all might fail to get away. And they needed to get off the planet. There wouldn't be a second chance.
Keiko saw that her people were about as ready as they were ever going to be. She saw the Bolian at the entrance to the tunnel he had gone into. He waved at her to follow. She nodded.
"All right, people! Let's move!"
Keiko led the way, the other slaves charging in behind her. She followed the Bolian into the mining corridor, blasting the few remaining guards as they went, freeing what slaves were still imprisoned and adding them to their numbers. As they rushed through the mining complex, Keiko estimated that she had almost two hundred slaves with her. She and Tasha hadn't trained more than a third that number, so the remainder made for a nice bonus. The Terran rebellion on Terok Nor would no doubt appreciate the additional personnel.
In less time than Keiko would have expected, they were all rushing up the conveyor belt that carried ore to the transports. The Bolian rushed to the top of the conveyor and out onto the landing pad. A flurry of disruptor fire cut him down. Keiko paused at the entrance and looked out at the landing pad.
Two Cardassian transports sat on the pad, surrounded by a dozen or so Alliance guards, a mix of Klingons and Cardassians. Gul Zarale stood in the rough center of the group, hitching a bathrobe closed. Keiko saw that he wore only his underwear beneath the robe. For some strange reason, the image made her laugh.
Zarale yelled out. "Keiko! Surrender yourself!"
Keiko shook her head. "I don't think so!"
Zarale aimed a disruptor at Keiko, but Keiko was quicker on the draw. Zarale went down in a tangle of bathrobe and flailing limbs, an expression of surprise and betrayal evident on his face.
A moment of stunned silence followed, then Keiko's people rushed out from behind her and opened fire on the surprised guards. They cleared the landing pad in short order.
Keiko moved toward one of the transports, sidestepping Alliance bodies as she went. She glanced at Tasha and pointed toward the second transport. "Take command of that ship and get your people aboard! We're getting off this planet!"
/> Tasha tossed her a wave and directed her people toward the second transport. Keiko leaped aboard her own charge and moved to the cockpit. Slipping into the command chair, Keiko started up the launch sequence. She glanced out the forward viewport and saw dozens of former slaves rushing toward the transports, some firing behind them as they ran. The Alliance hadn't given up completely, even with their commanding officer dead.
Keiko continued the preflight preparation and yelled down the narrow corridor behind her. "Get those people aboard and secured! It's going to be a bumpy ride out of here."
Someone, she didn't know who, yelled an affirmative at her. Keiko finished the preflight and keyed on the comm system. "Tasha, Tasha, do you read?"
"Loud and clear, Keiko."
Keiko glanced out the side viewport at the other transport, saw Tasha at the controls. Several slaves piled into the second ship. Keiko guessed that Tasha saw much the same over there.
"Preflight is complete. I'll be ready to launch as soon as we've got everyone aboard."
She saw Tasha nod. "I'm right with you. Preflight's complete, course set for the Badlands. I figure we can set a new course for Terok Nor from there."
Keiko turned back to her own console and nodded. "Entering a similar course now. Once we get to orbit, we'll have to-"
A disruptor shot splashed against her fore viewport, making Keiko duck instinctively. She glanced outside. A handful of Alliance guards were firing at the two transports and the last few stragglers. A few slaves fired back, dropping a guard here and there.
Keiko keyed her transport's internal comm system. "Get the rest of our people aboard! We've got to go!"
Another affirmation was shouted out, and after a long moment, someone's voice filtered over the speaker. "Everyone's aboard, and the hatch is sealed. Take off!"
Keiko didn't need another request to do so, and she hit the controls to get the ship off the landing pad. She lifted off as someone piled into the seat next to her. She glanced over to see who it was.
"Bowers, right?" At the man's nod, she added, "Power up whatever sensors and shields this crate has, all right?" She remembered that he had been a shuttle pilot before the Alliance had appropriated his colony.
Bowers worked the console in front of him with long brown fingers. "Shields are negligible, but sensors are at full. We have a Klingon Bird of Prey in orbit. I suspect they know we're coming."
Keiko swore under her breath, then hailed Tasha's transport again. "Tasha, we're going to have company once we hit orbit."
Tasha's voice filtered in over the connection. "Understood. We're airborne, but this thing handles like a chunk of ore."
Keiko nodded, struggling with her own controls. "Don't I know it." She glanced through the viewport, seeing the cerulean skies darken as they neared the edge of the atmosphere. "Be ready. We get clear of the planet, and we hit warp as soon as possible. We're in no position to take on a Klingon warship."
Tasha acknowledged the order and signed off. Keiko glanced at Bowers. "What's the status of the Klingon?"
He glanced at her, then turned back to his controls. "Powering up weapons and shields. She's setting course to intercept us as soon as we clear the atmosphere."
Keiko shook her head and channeled more power into the transport's engines. She keyed the internal comm again. "Listen up, folks. We're about to enter orbit, but we're going to have company. This ship doesn't have any weapons, so we have to make a run for it. Make sure you're strapped in."
Keiko rolled her ship so that she could see Tasha's transport. Tasha had taken position off her port wing. Keiko saw Tasha and others in the cockpit.
"Tasha, we're going to have to do some fancy flying once the Klingon engages us."
"We've come to the same conclusion. Hope these transports are up for it."
Keiko nodded. "We don't have the means to fight back. Do your best to get clear, and then get your people to warp. This isn't a fight we can win-best to run from this one."
Tasha said, "Not something I like to do, but you're right."
Keiko manhandled the controls and brought her transport into low orbit. Within moments, she felt the concussive shocks from disruptor fire. The Klingon Bird of Prey swooped over her ship, rattling the cockpit.
Bowers worked his console. "Shields down to seventy-three percent. I doubt I'll be able to recharge them. This vessel wasn't built for fighting."
Keiko swore again and sent the transport into a series of evasive maneuvers. The thing responded like a brick in water. More disruptor blasts shook the sluggish ship.
Bowers said, "Minor damage to RCS system. Shields holding." He checked his readings, then added, "Keep up the evasive patterns."
The ship shook from another brace of blasts. Keiko shot him a look. He shrugged and said, "Really. They're helping."
Keiko shook her head and concentrated on the controls, continuing to use maneuvers that she hoped wouldn't tear the ship apart. The ship bucked again from another Klingon volley. Keiko caught herself on the side of the console and forced herself to keep her seat.
Bowers said, "The Klingon is veering toward the other transport. He's opening fire!"
Keiko rotated the ship to get a better look, and through the main viewport, she saw Tasha send her transport into a series of maneuvers much like the ones Keiko had so recently used. The Klingon stayed on her, bracketing her with bolts of deadly green energy.
As Keiko watched and worried, the Klingon scored a direct hit on the transport's starboard engine. It sparked and glowed, and the transport shuddered violently. Almost immediately, Tasha's voice filtered in over the comm.
"Starboard impulse engine is out!" Keiko heard her swear. Then, "We're leaking plasma." As the statement sank in, Tasha added, "I don't think we're going to make warp, Keiko. Get your people out of here. I'll distract the Klingon for as long as I can."
"Tasha, I-"
Tasha cut her off. "No time to argue. One transport is better than none. Get out of here. Get to Terok Nor. Help the rebellion."
Keiko stared at the console, as if she could somehow see through it to Tasha. She glanced at Bowers, saw his eyes clouded with concern. He frowned but nodded. She sighed, resigned to what she had to do.
Keiko rotated in her seat to take one last look at Tasha's transport as it staggered toward the Klingon warship. She then turned back to her console and sent her own ship into warp. She offered a silent thanks to Tasha and her crew, knowing that their sacrifice made Keiko's escape possible. She vowed to make good on that sacrifice, no matter how long it took.
The airlock door wheeled open. Keiko took a deep breath, centering herself and putting aside her sorrow for the time being. She stepped through the opening and onto Terok Nor. The barrel-chested leader of the Terran rebellion, Miles O'Brien, stood just inside the corridor attached to the airlock, along with a handful of technicians and armed guards.
She mustered up a smile as she approached and offered her hand. "Miles O'Brien?"
A momentary look of confusion crossed his face, but he soon replaced it with a sidelong smile. "Yeah, that's right." He took her hand and shook it with a firm grasp.
"Keiko Ishikawa. Thank you for allowing us to dock here. I've led a transport full of former Alliance slaves off the Korvat mining colony. Could you use our help?"
O'Brien stared at her, apparently not expecting such a windfall. He glanced over her shoulder at the dozens of former slaves making their way off the transport. He turned back to Keiko, still holding her hand. "Uh, yeah. Yes, of course."