Part 4: Dividing Alliance

“What should we do with him?” Tom asked, looking at the now unconscious Siward.

“Well,” Alex smiled. “We could recruit his help.”

Tom laughed at this, “He won’t help us.”

“He’s a politician, Tom. He values his reputation over his ethic standings.”

“What are you suggesting, Alex?”

“We blackmail him, either he helps us or we inform the public of the Mavaino Alliance and his involvement with it.”

“Right,” Tom said with a smile as he pulled a phaser rifle from his bag. Swinging the weapon over his shoulder he returned his gaze to Alex. “You stay here with him, do what you have to. I’m going to find B’Elanna and Chakotay.”

Alex took a step towards Tom, “We shouldn’t split up.”

“We only have until tomorrow. We can get more done if we are apart.”

“Well where are you going? We still don’t know where they are.”

“You let me worry about that,” Tom said heading to the door. “You worry about the good Ambassador.”

* * * *

“What is that?” Chakotay asked, coming to stand by B’Elanna and staring at the small silver object in her hand.

A smile spread across her face, “This Chakotay, is our way out.”

“That tiny piece of metal is our way out?” Chakotay laughed.

B’Elanna glared at him, “This happens to be a tool, Tom showed me something similar once. It’s some kind of lock pick.”

“Hmmmm, and did Tom also show you how to use it?”

B’Elanna flushed scarlet, “Not exactly but I’m an engineer, how hard can it be?”

* * * *

Deval, the Dasavion Capital was very large. The population was surly close to a million.

Its destruction would be devastating.

Sighing Tom pulled out his tricorder. He had transported himself to the roof of the Valto Building, tallest in Deval. It gave him a view of the entire city.

It was a beautiful city, one of the most wondrous that Tom had ever seen. He couldn’t allow it to be destroyed any more than he could allow his friends to die.

He knew that he was close to finding them, that if they are going to be destroyed in the destruction of Deval that they would need to be in Deval.

Pulling out his tricorder he began one of his more advanced scans, with the population so high it would be hard to locate any one individual but B’Elanna’s distinct Klingon life signs would make it considerably easier. And hopefully, Chakotay would be with her.

Tom smirked when he found a match.

Undeniably Klingon life signs and beside them, a human male. He’d found them, on the edge of the city, in what appeared to be a basement.

Wasting no time Tom tapped into Voyagers transporters once again and materialized behind the old building serving as a prison.

Holding his phaser at his side Tom entered the backdoor. He detected only two Dasavion life signs in the building, both in a room to his right.

He lifted the phaser and pushed through the door.

The two guards had hit the floor before they had known what was happening.

* * * *

“Damn it!” B’Elanna cried as she again failed to unlock the prison door.

“Give it up, B’Elanna,” Chakotay sighed.

“I don’t give up!” she yelled back.

“Well perhaps you’d benefit from some help.”

Both of the captives looked up at the voice.

“Tom!” B’Elanna exclaimed with a smile. “How did you find us?”

“I don’t have time to explain, stand away from the door.”

Chakotay and B’Elanna stepped back and Tom blew the door open with his phaser.

B’Elanna’s grin went lop-sided and she threw the lock pick over her shoulder.

“Okay,” Tom smiled. “Now lets get you two out of here.”

* * * *

“Oh Mister Siward,” Alex coed. “It seems you’ve fallen asleep on me again. Kindly wake up.”

The Ambassador groaned and slowly opened his eyes. “You,” he growled weakly. “Why are you still here?”

“I require your assistance. And you are going to give it to me.”

“Why would I want to help you?”

“Because if you don’t, I’ll destroy your career and you along with it. You’ll be hauled off in manacles.”

Siward paled, “No, you mustn’t tell anyone about me. It will destroy everything.”

“That would be the point.”

Siward gulped, “What is it that you want from me?”

“I want you to set up a meeting with Second Factions leader.”

“But he’ll never meet with me! He never meets with anyone.”

“Not my problem.”

“I can’t do what you’re asking of me.”

“Then perhaps I should send a communiqué to your President, tell him all about our little chat earlier.”

“No! Fine, I’ll try to get a meeting but I promise nothing.”

“You’re wasting time,” Alex snapped. “Make your communiqué or I’ll make mine.”

Siward pulled himself up and headed to his desk, he activated his console, “Redan, I need to meet with your leader.”

Redan’s eyes went cold, “Sir, you know Odious meets with no one.”

“Tell him to make an exception, it’s urgent.”

Redan disappeared for a moment then returned to view, “Odious has agreed to meet with you, albeit reluctantly. Is this line secure?”

“Absolutely,” Siward replied, his voice cracking only slightly as Alex pressed her phaser deeper into his side.

“Odious will meet you in Deval.”

“Deval!” Siward cried.

“Do you want to meet with him or not?” Redan asked sternly.

“Yes, yes. Where in Deval?”

“The Taial Building, he’ll be in the lobby.”

“How will I know him?” Siward asked.

“He’ll know you,” Redan answered cryptically before closing the link.

“Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Alex asked.

“We’ll see,” Siward said softly.

* * * *

“Tom there’s something I need to tell you. I came across an encoded transmition and there was this set of coordinates…”

Tom looked at B’Elanna, “Siward had told us you’d know the coordinates.”

“Whose Siward?” Chakotay asked.

“Never mind that, what are the coordinates?”

“Three, two, eighty, ninety, four.” B’Elanna recited.

Tom nodded and logged the numbers into his tricorder, “I need to get there.”

B’Elanna nodded, “First lets go back to Voyager.”

“Right, I’ll transport you and Chakotay back.”

“What about you, Tom?” Chakotay asked.

“Alex and I still have things to do,” Tom told them.

“We’ll help,” B’Elanna said quickly.

“You can’t,” Tom said, the corners of his mouth twitching. “It might create a conflict of interest.”

“How so?” Chakotay asked.

Tom tinkered with his tricorder, and B’Elanna and Chakotay began to dematerialize. “Because I plan to break the Prime Directive.”

* * * *

Alex stared at the reflection in her blue wine glass. She could see a middle aged man walk across the lobby, stopping behind her, beside Siward but she didn’t dare turn to look.

“Mister Siward, I presume,” the man said.

Alex kept her gaze on the bartender, asked him to refill her glass.

“Odious, thank you for meeting me.”

“It better be important,” Odious said coolly. “We’re taking a big risk.”

“It’s about the prisoners, people have been asking questions,” Siward whispered.

“I hope you haven’t been giving them answers.”

“No, no of course not.”

Odious sighed, “I hadn’t wanted to do this, I hope you can understand. You’ve just become too big a risk.”

“What are you talking about?” Siward asked bemused.

Odious moved his hand towards Siward. Alex saw something catch the light in his hand. A needle, maybe.

Siward had hit the floor and gone into spasms before Alex had even swiveled around on her bar stool.

Odious met her gaze, “And I’m afraid you’ve become a risk as well my dear. You should never have told Siward to make this meeting.”

“How did you know?”

Odious just grabbed her roughly by the arm. Alex didn’t say another word as he began to drag her out but she could hear the frantic cries of the people behind her… “He’s dead!” “Stop them!”

Odious just continued to drag Alex with him, pulling her out onto the street, “I thought you’d put up more of a fight,” he said. “You are an operative for your ship Voyager, are you not?”

“I pick my battles, Odious.”

He gave a slight smile, “I think I shall keep you alive for awhile. You may be useful, no?”

“I’d rather die than be of use to you.”

“That can be arranged, if you insist?”

Alex only glared at him.

“That’s what I thought,” Odious said as he began to walk faster, dragging Alex with him. “Hurry up!” he yelled. “We only have two hours until the Day of Odious.”

“You’ve named a day after yourself,” Alex said smartly. “How very modest of you.”

“I didn’t name a day after myself dear girl. I named myself after a day. Odious is only my cryptonym.”

“Why? Why are you going to destroy your own city?”

“The Dasavions need to be humbled. I will show them their true place with the destruction of their city.”

“But you’re Dasavion!” Alex cried.

Odious grimaced with disgust, “I am Mavaino! I am only undercover as a Dasavion. If I were truly a Dasavion I would kill myself!”

“What makes the Dasavions so inferior?”

“Nothing makes them inferior. They simply are what they are. Don’t tell me you’ve never met a species inferior to yourself.”

“I haven’t. I never judge the species I meet. Although I must admit my impression of the Mavaino has been rather abysmal”

* * * *

Tom walked faster, trying to keep Alex in his sight. He had just sent B’Elanna and Chakotay back to the ship when he’d seen Alex get dragged out of a nearby building.

He didn’t recognize the man holding a phaser to his partner but he suspected he was a member of the Mavaino Alliance.

Tom was an expert shot, he could easily take the man out but then again Alex could just as easily escape his grasp.

Alex wanted to know where she was being taken and Tom had to stop the Day of Odious from being carried out. He didn’t have a ship or know where to find one but this man might lead them to one.

Tom fell back as the man pulled Alex from the flow of people and into an old garage. Waiting a few beats Tom continued to follow them. He peeked into the garage and saw the Dasavion talking to a uniformed guard. The guard nodded and disappeared behind a ship.

The ship wasn’t very big, it was gold with both smooth and rigid lines, it was unlike any of the Dasavion ships Tom had seen and he guessed it was Mavaino.

The ship had a large cargo door in its rear. He saw the man with Alex smile as it began to rise upwards and motion for Alex to enter the ship. Alex gave the man a long look then entered the ship with her captor at her heels.

Tom entered the garage when the cargo door began to close. He waited until the last moment then slid through the cargo door and moved behind a stack of crates.

He saw Alex and her captor disappear into the cockpit and two guards stepped in front of the hallway.

He rested his phase rifle on top of one of the crates and aimed it at one of the guards.

Tom was about to fire when he felt something cool jam into his neck.

“Drop the phaser, son.”

Tom sighed and rested his hands above his head.
 

TBC