Title: Star Trek-Infinity: Friends and Foes [PG] (MISC)

Author: Charles Rando (trando@worldnet.att.net)

Series: MISC

Rating: [PG]

Part: NEW 1/2

Disclaimer: Paramount owns the characters in The Next Generation and DeepSpace Nine, and Peter David owns the Selelvian race (see his book, StrikeZone). I'd like to think that the characters I've invented and the story aremine. :-)

Summary: While on a diplomatic mission to a war ravaged planet, CounselorKassal's shuttle is attacked and kidnapped... by Ferengi! Can the Infinityrescue Kassal before she takes matters into her own hands?

CHAPTER ONE

"I've gotten to know him quite well," Admiral Ingrid Daubar was saying asshe and Captain Charles Rando stepped off one of the many turbolifts onStarbase 106. "He's the first of his kind in Starfleet, and he's veryexcited about it. After all, this will be the first ship he's served onthat's not organic."

Rando nodded. Little by little, Admiral Daubar had been giving him hints tothe identity of this new phantom officer since the Infinity had arrived atthe Starbase, but she still wasn't going far enough as to actually say WHOhe was.

"My warning is this, though," Daubar continued. "Never turn your back onhim. He might seem like the silent type, but if you give him a chance, he'lltalk your head off." She cocked her head to the side. "Of course, after allmy conversations with him, I still don't know his name."

"Well, you still know more about him than I do," Rando commented. They cameto a stop outside the doors to one of the guest quarters on the starbase."Is this it?"

"This is it," Daubar replied, smiling. "Prepare to be amazed." She pressedthe door chime.

Seconds later, the doors parted to reveal a young looking Vulcan dressed inStarfleet gold. "Greetings, Admiral," he replied. "I was not expectinganother visit fron you. Would you care to enter?"

"Thank you, Lieutenant D'vis," Daubar replied, leading Rando into the room.As they passed by D'vis, Rando shot Daubar a look that said, "You brought medown here to see a Vulcan?"

Daubar shook her head and chuckled. "Lieutenant, this is Captain CharlesRando, your soon-to-be new commanding officer. I thought he might like tomeet your roommate. Is the ensign around?"

"He is in the bathroom, readying himself for our departure," D'vis answeredstoically. He then added, with almost a bit of sarcasm, "I have never seenanyone else more obsessed with his appearance."

Daubar laughed. "Would you mind getting him for us, D'vis?" she asked.

"Of course, Admiral," D'vis replied, turning towards the side room. Randocould hear the Vulcan telling someone that they had guests, but he didn'thear any response. A moment later, D'vis returned.

"Captain Rando," he said, "may I introduce to you...." He paused, turninghis head towards the still hidden roommate. "Excuse me for asking, but whatwas your name again?"

The other officer replied by stepping out of the bathroom. He was dressedlike D'vis, in black and gold, indicating a position in either security orengineering. The major difference between the two outfits was that hisuniform looked like it was fitted over a body suit. And his entire head wascovered by a large helmet.

"Captain Rando," Admiral Daubar said, "you have the honor of commanding thefirst Breen in Starfleet."

******************************************************

Counselor's Log: Stardate 48359.6- Ensign LeMott and I are returning byshuttlecraft to the Infinity, after settling a minor dispute between thefactions on Bavarius IV. The time spent away from the ship was not asenjoyable as I had hoped... hours of indoor negotiations are not my idea ofa good time. But I am looking forward to meeting up with the Infinity atStarbase 106 and taking shoreleave there. There is apparently going to be aweek long music festival that I am anxious to attend....

The shuttle bucked violently before Kassal could finish her sentence. Sheran to the cockpit of the small craft. "What's happening?" she asked thepilot.

Ensign Meegan LeMott did not look away from her controls. "A FerengiMarauder just decloaked behind us!" she exclaimed.

Kassal blinked. "Decloaked?" she repeated. "But the Ferengi don't havecloaking devices, do they?"

"I don't know!" LeMott exclaimed. Kassal glanced at the young ensign, afraidthat she was becoming a bit too excited. "Maybe they bought it fromsomeone!" The shuttle rocked again. "They're hitting us with everythingthey've got! Our shields are down thirty percent!"

Kassal sat down in the co-pilot's seat. "Is there anything I can do tohelp?" she asked.

"I need something to slow them down so we can try to get away," LeMottanswered. "Can you think of anything?"

Kassal checked her console, adjusted a few controls, and finally pressed alarge button. A beam of phaser fire lanced out from the shuttle and hit theFerengi vessel's forward shields. "How's that?" Kassal asked.

"You brought their shields down fifteen percent!" LeMott exclaimed,apparently surprised that the Counselor was that good a shot. "They'rebacking off, but they're still firing on us!"

"Then maybe I can get them to back off a little more," Kassal replied,firing the phasers again. Both she and LeMott knew that the lightly armedshuttle would be no match for a Ferengi Marauder-class vessel, but fightingback might just give them enough time to think up an escape plan. "I'msending out a distress call to the Infinity ," Kassal reported.

LeMott shook her head. "The Ferengi are jamming are communications somehow."The ship shook again. "Sir, shields are down to thirty-five percent! Wecan't take much more of this!"

"We need someplace we can hide," Kassal said, calling up a star chart fortheir current sector. "What about this nebula? Do you think we could makeit?"

"My father used to tell me that there wouldn't be a nebula out there if yourship wasn't able to reach it," LeMott said with a grin. "Adjusting course.We'll arrive in three minutes."

Kassal looked at the Ensign. "What did your father mean by that?" she askedcuriously.

"My father always insisted that when he was piloting his ship away from somehostile alien, there would be a nebula close by to hide in, and they alwaysmade it there just in the nick of time. He maintained that the 'powers thatbe' work in mysterious ways," LeMott said. "Two minutes to the nebula. TheFerengi are increasing speed, trying to catch us before we get there," shereported. "Of course, it'll never work."

The Ferengi ship lanced its phasers at the shuttle again, scoring a directhit. The small ship shook, and the next thing Kassal knew, she was on theground. The shuttle had come to a complete stop... outside the nebula.

"Meegan, we've stopped!" Kassal began. "What do we...."

The lack of a pulse confirmed Kassal's fears... the young Ensign was dead,caught in the brunt of an exploding console. Kassal quickly checked theshuttle's status: warp and impulse engines were off-line, and the shieldswere down. At least the distress call was still going out, even if it thechances of it reaching anyone were slim. Suddenly, the shuttle jerked as ifsomething was now pulling on it. Then Kassal felt a transporter beam grabahold of her, and she was whisked off of the trapped shuttlecraft.

The next thing Kassal saw a short Ferengi leering at her. Then another, andanother. Kassal knew there was only one thing she could do in thissituation. She fainted.

"Welcome aboard my ship," she heard a nasally voice say, "I'm sure we'll beenjoying you quite thoroughly, my dear."

CHAPTER TWO

Captain Rando walked quickly out of the turbolift. He had escortedLieutenant D'vis and his new Breen engineer onto the ship before headingtowards the bridge. Oddly enough, throughout the whole trip over, theengineer had remained remarkably silent, not saying a single word; hisVulcan friend had been more of a conversationalist. In fact, Rando hadn'theard him utter a sound in the whole time they had been together, even afterD'vis had asked him his name. The engineer had just stood there, almost asif he was in awe of his new captain. Rando put the mystery of the silentBreen out of his head as he walked down to the command center. He checkedthe progress of the crew transfers on the small screen by his chair and theninquired, "Has there been any further word from the shuttle?"

Lieutenant Remley, at his usual post behind the tactical station, shook hishead. "Nothing new, sir. The last word we got from them was that theirdeparture had been delayed, and that they would be an hour late."

"So, how long before the Counselor's shuttle arrives at Starbase 106?" Randoasked, coming up beside Remley.

"It should enter their sensor range in about five hours, and actually arrivetwo hours later. We could take the ship out to retrieve them," Remleysuggested.

"With half the crew on shoreleave and the other half in the process ofleaving the ship? Unfortunately, I don't think that taking the ship outwould be possible, at least not without a good reason," Rando replied. Hesighed in frustration. A few days ago, the ship had been ordered to GalluntPrime to deal with a breakout of Virellen plague at the same time theceasefire they had negotiated on Bavarius IV a few months earlier had beenbroken, and since Sonja had been instrumental in getting the sides to sitdown and talk the last time, Starfleet wanted her back there as quickly aspossible. The Infinity was to proceed as planned to the Gallunt system,while Kassal was to take a shuttlecraft to Bavarius IV. They were then torendezvous at Starbase 106, where the Infinity would get time for shoreleaveand crew transfers. Rando had initially protested sending the Counseloralone into a potentially dangerous situation, but nevertheless, Starfleetinsisted Kassal get to Bavarius IV as quickly as possible, and Rando coulddo nothing to prevent it. The Infinity had successfully completed itsmission within the allotted time parameters, which was why it was currentlydocked at Starbase 106. Counselor Kassal, however, had apparantly beendelayed from leaving Bavarius IV by an hour, which, although it was not thatmuch time, was still enough to make Rando worry.

"We could have J.W. open a wormhole to the Counselor's shuttle," Remleypointed out. "We'd be out and back in less than a minute."

"Just to re-unite you quicker?" J.W. demanded. "I'm not going to strainmyself just for that." He sighed. "It takes a lot out of me even to open aspatial wormhole."

"I guess that answers that question," Rando commented. Part of him wishedthat the Bajoran Prophets hadn't had to put such a restraint on him, but itwas the only way to control the wormhole alien. "Besides," Rando thought,"J.W.'s interference caused a lot of death and destruction in that othertime line. I don't think that he wants to risk doing that again."

"Sir!" called Remley. "Admiral Daubar is hailing us!"

Rando let a look of confusion drift across his face. "I wonder why shedidn't just come onboard the ship?" he asked. "On screen, Lieutenant."

The face of the young, dirty blond admiral appeared on the ship'sviewscreen. "Charlie," she said, "I have some disturbing news that I thoughtyou'd want to hear right away. We've just received word that a faction onBavarius IV, one that's hostile to the Federation, has taken yournegotiations team hostage. They say if the Federation interferes any morewith the internal structure of the planet... they'll kill their hostages."

"Admiral, permission to head towards Bavarius IV," Rando began. "If we...."

"I'm sorry, Charlie, I'm afraid I can't let you go just yet," Daubar toldhim. "I'm still awaiting word from the Federation Council on Earth as to howto proceed. Bavarius IV is very important to this sector of space because ofits proximity to the Neutral Zone. and we don't want to do anything thatmight give the Bavarians a reason to join the Romulan empire. You're tocontinue your crew transfers, but I would suggest canceling shoreleave justin case you have to leave right away." She paused, afraid she wasoutstepping her bounds. "I'm sorry, Charlie, I'm getting ahead of myself.It's not my place to tell you how to run your ship."

Rando smiled, remembering how differently the changeling that had takenDaubar's place in the other timeline had viewed her power. "It's still agood suggestion, Ingrid," he said. Turning to Witherell, he ordered,"Commander, cancel shoreleave immediately. Get everyone who's supposed to beon the ship back aboard."

"Aye sir," Witherell responded. Rando felt slightly guilty. So far, neitherhis first officer or his security chief had been able to get one foot offthe ship. Of course, if something else went wrong, Counselor Kassal andEnsign LeMott might never enjoy shoreleave again.

Daubar noticed his concern. "Don't worry, Charlie, we'll figure this out...and we'll get your people back. Why don't you come down to my office?Hopefully by then, we'll have heard back about what to do."

Rando nodded. "I'll be there. Thank you, Ingrid," he said.

Daubar nodded back. "Daubar out."

"Sir," called out Lieutenant Remley, "when we were traveling with J.W., Igave Ensign Libby a very important piece of advice that I think you coulduse as well... never say that things are too quiet or that you don't have asituation that warrants action, because for some reason, it seems thesethings are attracted to people who talk like that."

"Very philosophical, Lieutenant," Rando commented. "Next time, I'll keep mybig mouth shut."

******************************************************

An hour after she had been taken from the shuttle, Counselor Kassal openedher eyes for the first time. She was alone... and she was completely naked.

It wasn't unexpected. Kassal knew that in Ferengi culture, women weren'tallowed to wear clothing. She also knew that Ferengi males seemed to have aninnate attraction to females of other species. One of her friends from theAcademy had joked that if he had to spend everyday looking at a nakedFerengi woman, he'd want to find a nice, non-Ferengi as quickly as possible.Of course, that wasn't how Kassal knew she wouldn't see any clothes on herwhen she opened her eyes... she had been conscious throughout the wholeordeal, but she had done her best not to let the Ferengi know that. If shewas going to get off of this ship safely, she was going to have to keep herhead. It wasn't going to be easy.

Out of all the creatures in the universe, Kassal despised Ferengi the most.It was the way so many of them drooled over "gorgeous" women... treated themlike nothing more than property... slaves. All they wanted was an attractivewoman who could perform Oo'Mox... Kassal shivered at the thought, and thencaught herself. Even though these creatures represented everything she hatedmost, she had to stay in control. She was going to need full use of herfacilities.

She stood and explored the room. It was fully carpeted and decorated inbright colors, something the Ferengi must have thought all women liked.There was, of course, a large bed-like object in the middle of the room...this was where she had "woken" up... a door on one wall, and little else.Kassal studied the door as best she could without appearing to; she had nodoubt she was being watched by a couple of drooling... she stopped herselfagain and moved on. As far as she could tell, there was no way to access thedoor controls from inside the room. She was going to have to wait forsomeone to enter before she could escape... and if she truly was beingwatched, well that just made it more difficult. She sat back down on the bedand waited. Someone would be around soon, she was positive.

Sure enough, the door opened less than a minute later and the first Ferengishe had seen after being beamed aboard the ship entered. He was a small,squat man, but dressed so elaborately that he obviously was the ship'scaptain... possibly a Daimon. She crossed her arms in front of herself andcrossed her legs as well... she was not going to make this easy for thisFerengi.

"My dear, you are even more lovely when you are awake," the little mancooed. "Your eyes are so blue... they remind me of the pools of Trekon III."

Kassal didn't respond to the compliment. "Who are you?" she demanded. "Whatdo you want with me?"

The Ferengi actually seemed to giggle. "You're feisty!" he exclaimed, andthen added, "I like that in a female." He reached out a hand and ran itthrough her hair. "And this is softer than the finest Tholian silk! I mustsay, I'm very glad we happened upon your shuttle."

Kassal jerked her entire body away from the Ferengi's touch. "Who are you?"she demanded again. "I am a Starfleet officer, and I...."

The Ferengi cut her off. "You used to be a Starfleet officer, my pretty...but no longer. Your uniform is gone, and now you're just another hew-manfemale... ripe for the taking. But let me introduce myself. Hi, my name isBrak. Daimon Brak."

Kassal absorbed this information while still keeping a watchful eye on thesmall man. So he was a Daimon? That would be very useful in her dealingswith him. As a Daimon, he would be in ultimate command of the ship...everything he said went, and he was quite taken with her. Perhaps, althoughshe hated to admit it, she could use that to her advantage. And there wassomething else he had said, something else that could be equally asvaluable.

Brak grinned broadly, showing off all of his teeth. "I just wanted to makesure that you weren't harmed during your transfer. I'll have someone bringyou some food in a little while, or maybe I'll bring it myself... if you'llask nicely."

Kassal didn't say a word.

If the Ferengi was bothered by her silence, he didn't show it. "Oh, you willbe enjoyable!" he exclaimed. "I love to break in stubborn hew-mans." Andwith that, he turned and left.

As the doors closed, realization struck her hard. How could she have missedit the first time? It was perhaps the most important key Brak could havegiven her.

He thought she was human.

Kassal smiled and arranged her hair to completely cover her Selelvian ears.Brak would soon learn how wrong he had been, and she wouldn't have todegrade herself at all to earn her freedom.

CHAPTER THREE

Rando spent the entire walk from the bridge of his ship to the commandcenter on the starbase hoping that Admiral Daubar had heard back from theFederation Council. As he walked off the turbolift onto the command center,Lieutenant Feldman, Daubar's OPS officer greeted him with a, "Welcome back,Captain."

"Hello, Feldman," Rando replied, and then broke out into a small grin.Feldman's idiosyncrasies were even stranger than Lieutenant Remley; whileRemley liked being referred to by his first name, Feldman preferred beingdenoted by his last. "Good to see you again."

"The Admiral's waiting for you in her office," Feldman replied, and Randonodded before heading to the office doors. He pressed the door chime, and afew seconds later Daubar's voice called him in.

"Have a seat, Charlie," Daubar offered as soon as Rando had entered theroom.

Rando sat across from her, asking, "Have you heard back from the FederationCouncil yet?"

Daubar nodded curtly. "This isn't Starfleet Command we're dealing with," shewarned him, "which explains the response we received." She stood and walkedover to the window, pausing to study the stars outside. "The FederationCouncil is unwilling to do anything to risk losing Bavarius IV to theRomulans, and that includes aggrivating the situation further. They arecompletely opposed to any type of rescue mission... they want to solve theproblem diplomatically."

"Surely they must know you can't deal with terrorists, especially when livesare at stake," Rando protested.

"You know that, and I know that," Daubar agreed as she turned back to Rando,"but the Council isn't willing to take any risks whatsoever. They're tryingto negotiate with the terrorists for the release of Counselor Kassal andEnsign LeMott."

Rando frowned. "By the time the negotiations end, they could both be dead."

"The good of the many outweighing the good of the few," Daubar stated. "I'msorry, Charlie. I did everything I could... pulled every string I couldthink of pulling, called in favors from people I met in our first year atthe Academy. It's no use."

Rando knew that no matter how much he disliked the situation, he had to goalong with it. "What are our orders, then?"

"After you complete your crew transfers, you're to proceed back to GalluntPrime. Starfleet wants to make sure that the plague there is under control."

Rando stood quickly. "The plague was under control when we left!" heexclaimed. "They're just making sure I don't get in the way."

Daubar nodded and motioned for Rando to sit back down. "I won't lie to youby denying that, Charlie. You're going to have to accept that the lives ofyour team are in the hands of the Federation's negotiators now. That's oneof the burdens of command... losing members your crew."

Rando flinched at that, as if her words brought up some memory that he wouldhave rather not recalled. She spared him an explanation by changing thesubject. "So, what did you think of Ensign... why can I never remember hisname?"

"He was not what I expected, based on your description of him," Randoanswered with a smile. "He was very quiet all the way over. He would nod orshake his head, but he never said anything."

Daubar sat back in her chair. "Oh, I'm sure that wherever he is now, he'stalking up a storm."

******************************************************

Lieutenant Commander Neddek reached out his hand. "Ensign, could you hand mea...?"

Before he could finish his question, Neddek heard the Breen engineer next tohim reach into the toolkit for the proper tool, which he promptly to Neddek.He accomplished this task so quickly and accurately that Neddek wassurprised to find himself holding the tool he had wanted... without havingto even ask for it.

"Thank you, Ensign," he replied, running the tool along the inside of theconsole. He had been attempting to increase the efficiency of the Infinity'swarp engines when the new crew transfers had arrived in engineering, andsince he had never worked beside a Breen before, Neddek had seen this as anopportunity to find out more about his new officer. During the time they hadworked together, the Breen had quickly done whatever Neddek had requested ofhim, a characteristic that satisfied the chief engineer. Of course, alsoduring the time they had worked together, the Breen hadn't said a singleword... a characteristic Neddek found curiuos. "Ensign," he asked, movinghis head slightly out from under his station so he could see the Breen. "Inoticed that you have not yet responded verbally to me. Why is that?"

The Breen shrugged. It appeared that the young engineer was experiencing thevery human response called... nervousness. Neddek wondered if the youngofficer was so worried about making a good impression on his commandingofficer that he was becoming... shy.

"Do you find it difficult to communicate with me?" Neddek asked. When theBreen nodded, Neddek replied, "I can understand your situation, for I haveknown many officers who have experienced the same thing. I am sure that,given sufficient time, you will become more accustomed to communicating."

The Breen titlted his head, seeming to indicate puzzlement, but before hecould respond in any manner, the sound of two pairs of approaching footstepscaught his attention.

"Commander, you under there?" called Lieutenant Remley. Beside him wasLieutenant D'vis.

Neddek pulled himself out from underneath his console and stood. "Yes,Lieutenant. How may I be of service?" There had been a time when Remley'svoice was enough to make Neddek bristle as much as a Vulcan could bristle.But after Remley had saved him from being drummed out of Starfleet, Neddekbegan to tolerate him a little more.

"I was wondering if you could help me access the sensor logs. LieutenantD'vis wants to familiarize himself with the system," Remley said.

Neddek turned to the Breen. "Ensign, would you assist Lieutenant D'vis?" Theengineer nodded and led D'vis away to a computer console.

"So, how's your new engineer working out?" Remley asked as soon as the twoofficers were out of earshot.

"He is an efficient and energetic worker," Neddek replied, "although I mustsay, his silence makes me pause. He has not said a single word to me, or toanyone else. It is possible that his failure to communicate may endanger theship."

Remley laughed. "Somehow I don't think it'll come to that, but you're rightthat it could cause problems. Do you think we should talk to theCounsel...?" He paused, remembering that Sonja wasn't on the ship, and thatshe could possibly be in danger. He shook his head. "It's just so strangewithout having her here. I hope she's all right."

"Counselor Kassal is capable of taking care of herself," Neddek assured him."I am sure she is fine."