Stevens could not resist the playful chuckle as he set to work on his own tricorder. “I’m an engineer. I’m too smart for Intelligence.”

  Movement behind him made Duffy jump, and he lurched around to see Hrevet sighting down the barrel of her phaser rifle at something outside the ship.

  “What?” he whispered.

  After a moment, the Bolian lowered her weapon, convinced that all was still quiet. “Nothing,” was all she said before returning to her silent role as sentry. How many times had something caused her to react in such a fashion since all this had started? Duffy had lost count, but her behavior was beginning to fray his nerves.

  Of course, it was possible that the strain of the team’s current situation was wearing on the agent, as well. She was better at hiding its effects than he was, of that Duffy was certain, but even an experienced field operative had to be susceptible to the stresses of combat, right?

  Without their tricorders to help them scan for the presence of Breen soldiers, Duffy and Hrevet had kept watch for Rondon as he carried Stevens up the steep hillside to an area of what looked to be flat ground. The agents had decided that the ridge would make an ideal position from which to defend the vessel while Duffy and Hrevet tried again to retrieve the encryption equipment.

  It seemed to take forever for Rondon to transport his wounded charge up the hill, with Duffy’s pulse racing each time an odd noise echoed among the hills or a shadow seemed out of place amid the rocky terrain. Now back inside the ship, he at least could focus on his work.

  “Commander?” he asked as he continued to work, “this isn’t the first time you’ve had an assignment like this, is it?”

  “No,” Hrevet replied, “but it’s been a long time since I’ve been involved in anything this intense. I guess I’m out of practice more than I want to admit.” She shifted in an attempt to get more comfortable. “When I was an ensign and new to Intelligence, my team went on several missions into Cardassian space. This was before we signed the treaty, of course, so tensions tended to run high. Once in a while, one of those missions went bad and we ended up fighting our way out.”

  She nodded toward the hatch, beyond which still lay the shrouded body of Commander Donovan. “I probably would have died on one of those trips if not for Tobias. He was a lieutenant when I joined his team and had already had a few run-ins with Cardassians. He taught me things you don’t learn in school, things that keep you alive when the plan goes wrong.” She sighed, directing her gaze back through the open hatch. “I guess there are still some things to learn, though.” Duffy said nothing, intending to allow her whatever time she might want to spend in silence, but after a few moments, Hrevet turned back to him. “What about you? You’ve never had a mission like this before, have you?”

  The engineer chuckled. “What gave it away?” It was a weak attempt at humor as he returned to the partially disassembled control console. “There’s never been much call for this sort of thing until now, at least not for our crew. I mean, we’ve had a few scrapes since the war started, but nothing like this. I can only imagine what the ground forces are going through, dealing with situations like this every day.”

  Nodding, Hrevet replied. “In war, it’s important to remember that we’re all soldiers first, and specialists second. Many of us could find ourselves fighting on the front lines, whether in space or on some planet with strategic value, simply because there is no one else to send.”

  A lump formed in Duffy’s throat in response to the vision evoked by the agent’s words. The Dominion War had raged for nearly two years now, and was fast becoming the most costly conflict in Federation history with regard to lives and resources. Even the losses suffered on both sides of the Earth-Romulan War, fought before the Federation’s founding, paled in comparison to the widespread carnage inflicted in recent months.

  Trying to push the disturbing thoughts away, Duffy looked down to see that his hands were shaking. Clasping them together, he willed them to stop as he exhaled in a frustrated burst. “I could say I wasn’t scared right now, but I’d be lying.”

  Hrevet nodded, the hint of a smile on her face. “I would not believe you, anyway. Still, there’s no shame in being scared. It takes courage to admit one’s fear in the first place.”

  “Then I must be the bravest man on this planet,” Duffy countered.

  “And resourceful, judging by the progress you’ve made.” Hrevet indicated the various components and other equipment lying on the deck in a semicircle at Duffy’s feet.

  His hands under his control once more, Duffy surveyed the scene around him. “This is one of the most complex pieces of communications technology I’ve ever seen.” The mess before him was the result of nearly an hour’s work, and he had been forced to perform much of the console’s disassembly without most of his diagnostic instruments, thanks to whatever jamming method the Breen were employing. While his tricorder’s basic functions such as data storage and retrieval were unaffected, it was of little use in helping him identify and remove all of the hardware associated with the encryption prototype. The going was even slower than he had anticipated. He needed more time, which he was sure the Breen would not give him.

  And where the hell is the da Vinci?

  The away team had not heard from the ship since losing communications with them earlier. Was Captain Gold still facing off with the Breen ship? Had reinforcements arrived, forcing the da Vinci to retreat in the face of superior numbers? Could she have been destroyed?

  No, Duffy scolded himself as he shut down that line of thinking. He knew that his captain was an experienced and innovative tactician, though it was a facet of his personality that Duffy had witnessed on only a few occasions. Still, he was convinced that David Gold was far more than a chaperone for a shipload of engineers. If there was a way to handle the Breen, the da Vinci’s captain would find it.

  Something outside the ship caught Duffy’s eye. “Look,” he said, rising from where he was working and pointing toward the cockpit canopy. Out among the rocks, light flickered in a regular pattern.

  Faced with the jamming effect employed by the Breen, the away team had devised other methods of communicating with one another. Duffy had suggested they use their worklights along with a quickly conceived set of simple signals. Repeated flashing, for example, meant that the Breen had been spotted and were moving in their direction.

  “They’re coming,” Hrevet said, recognizing the prearranged signal.

  A disruptor bolt slammed into the hull an instant later.

  “Cover!” she barked as she positioned herself next to the open hatch. She was returning fire even as Duffy skulked back toward the cockpit, searching for signs of the approaching enemy. He saw nothing at first, but then Hrevet fired again and the flash of the phaser beam illuminated a shadowy figure darting between the rocks. Breen.

  “How many do you think there are?” he asked.

  Hrevet fired again before replying. “I’m not sure. Three, perhaps four.”

  Where are the others? Duffy wondered even as he caught sight of another fleeting figure. He fired his phaser rifle, hitting a boulder behind the Breen soldier as the alien dashed for concealment among another grouping of rocks.

  The sounds of more weapons drifted down from the hills to his left, and Duffy looked up to see the flashes of phaser and disruptor fire up on the ridge. Stevens and Rondon were under attack too!

  Though he was no tactician, even Duffy could see what was happening. The Breen, able to use their own scanning devices to pinpoint the away team’s locations, had split their forces and launched a simultaneous offensive. Forced to defend themselves from the new threat, Rondon and Stevens would be unable to provide covering fire in support of their teammates, and the Breen still had a large enough force to overrun Duffy and Hrevet.

  If they got close enough.

  Movement to his right. Duffy swung his phaser around and fired, but he was too late as the Breen jumped into a depression and out of sight. The soldier was less than forty meters from the ship now. Where were his buddies?

  “Duffy,” Hrevet called out, “I need to know now. Can you remove that thing or not?”

  Though his engineer’s pride scoffed at the idea that there was a task he could not accomplish, Duffy sighed in resignation. Even if he could get all of the necessary components identified and removed before the Breen overtook their position, there was no way he and Hrevet could move and protect it until the da Vinci returned for them.

  That left only one option if they hoped to keep the device out of enemy hands.

  Hrevet seemed to recognize the look in Duffy’s eyes. “That’s the way it has to be, then. You know what to do.”

  Duffy nodded. “But how?” he asked, more to himself than to the Bolian as his eyes scanned the interior of the scout vessel. With the warp core gone and with no torpedoes or other weapons systems of which to take advantage, his choices were limited.

  Other than the obvious one, of course.

  “Get ready to bug out,” Duffy said as he opened the access panel on the side of his phaser rifle and began to tinker.

  Looking over her shoulder, Hrevet saw what he was doing. “Setting it to overload may not be enough to destroy the entire ship. There might still be something the Breen can recover.”

  Duffy could not help a mischievous grin. “Trust me.”

  Stevens fired his phaser and caught the Breen in full charge, the soldier’s body enveloped by the weapon’s energy as he slumped to the ground. The alien was so close that dirt and bits of rock kicked up by his impact hit Stevens, peppering his uniform and stinging his exposed skin.

  “One down, two to go,” he said as he searched for another target. Their only warning had come from the tricorders Stevens had rigged to act as motion sensors, mere seconds after the two officers had seen weapons fire down on the rocky terrain surrounding the scout ship. Despite whatever the Breen had done to interfere with their equipment, the engineer’s efforts had been enough to alert them to the trio of Breen trying to sneak up on them.

  It had not been hard to figure out their opponent’s new strategy, dividing their numbers and launching synchronized attacks on the separated away team. Rondon had counted four sources of disruptor fire down below, aiming toward the scout craft, which meant the remaining three soldiers were working their way in this direction. The ridge where Stevens and Rondon had positioned themselves precluded assaults from all directions save two, and the Breen had wasted no time in exploiting those to the best of their ability.

  Something moved to Stevens’s right. Rondon saw it, too, because he reacted by sweeping his weapon in that direction and firing. The shot went wide left, and though Stevens did not understand the curse the Zaldan muttered in his native language, he could guess its meaning.

  “They are as elusive as Denebian slime devils,” Rondon snapped, frustration lacing his words.

  “But not as cuddly,” Stevens replied, just before a disruptor bolt struck the base of the boulder he was using for cover. He recoiled as stone shrapnel exploded in all directions, the heat from the blast singeing the skin on his hands and face. The sudden movement directed a fresh jolt of pain through his injured leg and he bit his lip to keep from crying out, wondering as he did so why he had bothered. After all, the Breen knew exactly where he and Rondon were.

  His ears were still ringing when a second volley tore into the dirt to his left, between where he and Rondon were lying. Mixed in with the soil and rock this time were pieces of composite metal and plastic shrapnel, all that remained of a tricorder and one of their worklights as they too were caught by the blast and disintegrated.

  “Look out!” Rondon warned as yet another barrage was unleashed on their position. The agent rolled to avoid a disruptor bolt that narrowly missed him, striking his phaser rifle instead. Sparks and black smoke erupted from the weapon and Rondon tossed it aside as he pushed himself to one knee. In one smooth motion he drew his hand phaser and fired with a confidence gained through years of practice and hard-won experience. To Stevens’s astonishment the Zaldan’s aim was true, catching another Breen in his helmet.

  No sooner had the soldier fallen than Stevens detected more movement to his left. He turned in time to see a third Breen, rising up from his place of concealment behind a small rise and aiming his disruptor at him.

  Oh shit….

  His own weapon hand came up almost without his conscious thought and his phaser fired. The shot lacked Rondon’s accuracy and instead hit the dirt embankment, throwing soil and rock into the air and causing the Breen to step back out of reflex. That was all Stevens needed to check his aim and fire again, this time striking the alien in the chest.

  “Nicely done,” Rondon said as he pulled himself to his feet and ran to the edge of the ridge that formed their original defensive position. “Come on, we have to see how Hrevet and your friend are faring.”

  If I know Duffy, he’s probably holding off the Breen with some of his bad jokes, Stevens thought as he pulled himself to his feet, gritting his teeth as pain lanced once more through his injured leg. He tried to walk, but had to steady himself against a boulder for a moment before stumbling forward to stand alongside his companion.

  For the first time, Stevens realized that the darkness was fading. Looking up he could see the first glow of sunrise peeking over the horizon. The shadows were beginning to retreat and their surroundings were taking on the first hints of substance and color. Mineral deposits in the soil reflected the feeble predawn light, and Stevens could make out the jagged features of the bland, almost barren landscape.

  He also saw Breen, four of them, moving with deliberate purpose toward the downed scout ship, their movements partially camouflaged by the rocky terrain. Stevens thought he could make out one person moving inside the ship’s cockpit, but it was hard to be sure at this distance.

  Then he saw Hrevet and Duffy lunge from the open hatch and head toward the rear of the vessel, firing phasers as they ran. They disappeared behind the craft, heading for a small ravine and the meager cover it offered.

  “Oh damn,” he whispered, understanding the reason behind his companions’ evacuation. “They’re going to blow up the ship.”

  “Keep moving!”

  Duffy felt Hrevet’s hand in his back as the Bolian pushed him farther down the rocky slope and into the ravine several dozen meters behind the crashed ship. The engineer fumbled with his tricorder, trying to study its miniaturized display as he ran.

  He had programmed the unit to link with his modified phaser rifle and order it to trigger its overload sequence. All that remained was for him to send the final command, but already he was detecting trouble with his hastily concocted plan. Even this small distance from the ship, the link he had established with his phaser rifle was fading. It was a testament to the Breen jamming equipment that it could disrupt even this simple, low-level function of the tricorder.

  “Wait,” he called over his shoulder. “I’m losing the signal the farther we go.”

  “Then blow it,” Hrevet said, firing her phaser back the way they had come as a Breen emerged from behind a large outcropping. Her shot missed and the soldier answered with a volley of his own as he ducked back around the rocks.

  “This close?” Duffy exclaimed. “We’ll be caught in the blast, or worse, buried under an avalanche.”

  While the phaser rifle’s overload yield was sufficient to destroy a Starfleet runabout, the Breen scout ship’s larger size and robust construction made Duffy doubt the weapon’s effectiveness. With no room for error, the engineer had decided to attach the rifle to the ship’s main drive plasma reservoir. The phaser’s detonation would act as the catalyst for igniting the craft’s remaining plasma, their combined force more than enough to incinerate the ship and anything inside it.

  “We’re dead anyway,” Hrevet said as she exchanged fire with the Breen, “but we can’t take the chance of them recovering that equipment.” When Duffy hesitated an additional few seconds, she turned back to him, her expression angry and determined. “Do it now!”

  With a silent plea to any deity or omnipotent superbeing who might be watching the final act of this insane play, Duffy closed his eyes as his thumb pressed the tricorder’s transmit key.

  Then his eyes jerked open as Hrevet grabbed him by the arm and dragged him farther into the ravine. “I didn’t say I was going to stand here and wait for it,” she snapped.

  The normal overload sequence would take thirty seconds, with an extra couple added on for the transmit delay. Duffy tried to count as he ran but gave up any hope of keeping track of the time as more disruptor fire burst around them.

  Luckily for him, Hrevet was picking up the slack.

  “Down!” she yelled, pushing Duffy behind a large boulder and firing one last time back up the ravine before dropping next to the engineer.

  Three seconds later, dawn erupted.

  At least, it seemed to. The explosion resulting from the combination of the phaser rifle’s overload and the ignition of the plasma was more than enough to simulate daylight for a few fleeting seconds. Duffy felt the ground tremble beneath them as the blast swept over them, the shockwave enough to make his teeth rattle. Debris showered the landscape, slamming into the hillside and anything between them and the center of the detonation.

  Anything, and anyone.

  Unmistakable cries of agony filtered to Duffy’s ears from somewhere behind them as the explosion faded. Out in the open at the time of detonation, the soldier had doubtless been unable to reach cover before being caught in the debris storm. Mercifully, the sounds died out after only a few seconds, leaving an eerie silence in their wake.

  “I wonder where the others are?” Duffy whispered a moment later.

  Hrevet rose to a crouch and studied their immediate surroundings, searching for threats. “It’s possible that one or two of them went for the ship instead of following us.” If that was the case, Duffy realized, those soldiers would be dead, vaporized along with the rest of the vessel’s interior. How many did that leave?