“What about Mikaela?” Nog cried.

Ensign Leishman dropped into the pilot’s chair and made a cursory inspection of the controls before activating the shuttle’s sensors and computer systems. The hours she’d spent with the Avaril’s engineering staff finally paid off. Okay little David, we’re going to make the bad guys think you’re Goliath.She took out the makeshift device Permenter had given her and plugged it into a port on the shuttle’s main console. True to Bryanne’s promise, it fit perfectly into the Yrythny system, and instantly initiated an information upload. As the “noisemaker” programming poured into the shuttle’s computer, Leishman reconfigured the navigational system, integrating a datachip that allowed the shuttle to be remote piloted from the Defiant.The download completed, she reinitialized the computer matrix. Then she thumbed the switch on the transmitter, hailing the Avaril.“Shuttle to Avaril.This is Ensign Mikaela Leishman of the U.S.S. Defiant.Do you read?”

After a pause that was likely only seconds—but felt like minutes—the Avarilanswered. “We read you.”

“Power down primary systems, Avaril.Repeat, power down primary systems.”

“Ensign, if you’d clarify—”

“Scan the shuttle, Avaril.Tell me what you see.”

Another long pause. “Powering down primary power. Thank you, Ensign.”

She touched her combadge. “Defiant,what do you read?”

“Nice work, Mikaela,”said Bowers. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think there were twoAvarils out there.”

The Cheka ought to be seriously confused by the decoy, providing the real Avarila chance to restore their defensive capabilities. If Ston’yandecided to attack, at least the odds of the Avarilsurviving had improved, though she doubted Vaughn would let it get that far. He’d draw the Ston’yan’s fire before he allowed innocents to die.

“Leishman to Chao. Beam me out.” She closed her eyes…

…and opened them when she was back home. Leishman stepped off the transporter pad, nodding to Chao, who reported Leishman’s safe return to the bridge.

She once again heard Bowers’s cool, steady voice. “Ston’yan targeting weapons.”

“Ensign Tenmei, prepare to engageSton’yan. Evasive maneuvers,”Vaughn barked.

“Sir!”Bowers said. “It’s theSagan!”

“Shall I open a channel to Defiant—?”Shar said.

“No!” Jeshoh touched the emitter tip of his weapon to Shar’s neck. “Proceed toward the Cheka vessel.”

“Jeshoh, don’t do this!” Keren begged.

“That’s odd,” Shar said, assessing the sensor data. “I’m picking up two Avarils.”

“Why would there be two—?” Recognition dawned on Ezri. “Oh, that’s clever—Vaughn’s created a noisemaker.” She smiled, admiring the commander’s tactics.

“Sir?” Shar said.

“Trick the enemy’s sensors into believing that there are two ships out there. The enemy has to guess which one to hit first. The confusion buys time.”

“Giving the Avariltime to escape,” Shar reasoned.

Ezri nodded.

“Approach the Cheka ship, Lieutenant,” Jeshoh ordered.

Looking over her shoulder, Ezri recognized panic spreading over Jeshoh’s face. Should I say something…no. All his options need to be gone before he’ll budge.She nodded to Shar, who tapped in the commands to ease the Sagantoward the Cheka warship.

“Hail them,” Vaughn ordered. What the hell does Dax think she’s doing out here?

“They’re not answering our hails, sir,” Bowers reported.

“Who’s on board?” Vaughn asked. He stood behind Rahim, assimilating the data as it came up on screen.

“One Trill, one Andorian, and two Yrythny.”

“Are all their systems operational?”

“Yes, sir,” Bowers said. “Full shields, weapons, communications, and life support. They’ve set a course for the Ston’yan.”

What could Dax be up to?Without knowing why the Saganwas joining them, and because the Saganwasn’t answering their hails, he had to assume that this might not be a friendly visit. But he had to trust his senior officers to wrangle with the problem.

“Ensign Tenmei, proceed on course zero-nine-zero mark three,” Vaughn said. “Sam, get ready to throw a punch at the Ston’yan.Just hard enough to get their attention.”

“Aye, sir,” Sam grinned. “Preparing full spread of quantum torpedoes.”

Rahim said, “The Cheka have fired polaron cannons on one of the Avarils,sir.”

“They took the bait.” Vaughn expected they would. Having failed to receive their cargo from the Yrythny, they would attack. He was certain the Cheka had planned on taking out the Avarilfrom the onset. Many who double-cross find themselves double crossed at the end of the road. “On screen.”

Yellow and blue light erupted as an engine core breached. The brilliant flare dissipated, providing a full frontal view of the Ston’yan.

“Attack pattern beta, Ensign Tenmei!”

“The Cheka have destroyed an Avaril,” Shar announced, his listeners all watching him as they awaited the verdict: “The false one.”

Ezri wondered how much longer they could hover on the perimeter of the standoff. To this point, the Sagandidn’t pose a threat to any of the parties and was easy to ignore. With one of the pieces off the board, Ezri bet that the Cheka would come after them next—either tractor them in or blow them up. Neither option pleased her.

“Jeshoh, what’s to say the Cheka won’t turn on you?” Keren said, reaching for him.

He jerked away. “Because I have something they want.”

“And Keren? If the Cheka turn on you, they turn on her,” Ezri said calmly. “You don’t want that, Jeshoh. You know you don’t. Let me open a channel to the Defiant.You and Keren can take asylum with the crew until we can negotiate with your govern—”

“The way you negotiated the colonizing compromise?” Jeshoh snorted.

Ezri winced inwardly. I’ve failed the Yrythny spectacularly. All the more reason I have to figure out how to make it right.

She pressed on toward the Ston’yan.

On approach to the warship, Ensign Prynn Tenmei decided she didn’t like the look of it. Not because she found the Cheka to be foul creatures (though she did), or because the Ston’yanappeared terribly menacing. No, Prynn felt the Cheka starship lacked panache.

During the Dominion War, she had flown against (and admired) Jem’Hadar attack ships, Galor-class Cardassian cruisers; she’d flown in formation with Romulan warbirds and gone into battle alongside Klingon Birds-of-Prey. She might not like the Cardassians’ way of doing business—or the Romulans’ and Klingons’ for that matter—but at least their empires had developed spacecraft worthy of engagement. The Ston’yan,by contrast, was a clumsy predator, more like a blind shark battering its prey with its head before moving in for the kill. No style whatsoever.

“Ston’yantwenty-five thousand kilometers and closing,” she said.

“Acknowledged, Ensign. Maintain course,” Vaughn said.

Prynn hit the touchpad for navigational reference and considered the territory ahead. A wild-goose chase through one of this system’s asteroid belts might be fun. Close to the sun, maybe, or toward that gas giant… Hello?She broke into a smile when she saw the last piece of navigational data. Now that’s a nice surprise,she thought. Oh to be on theSton’yan’ s bridge when I sock this one to them.She tapped her combadge. “Conn to engineering. What’s the status on the femtobots?”

“Untested, but ready to go,”Nog said. “We need a 30-second window to activate the system and tactical will have to power down weapons.”

“Captain, I have an idea—but it’s risky,” Prynn said, wanting to give her father and Bowers a heads-up as to what she had in mind. “Transmitting navigational data and proposed target to your stations now. I’ll easily outfly the Ston’yan,but can we survive without weapons for half a minute?”