"Report!"

Tuvok regarded his console with a look of surprise—which, on a Vulcan, was little more than a slightly raised eyebrow.

"Sensors have detected a massive displacement of ionized particles, Captain. I believe one of the Mildri ships has been destroyed."

Janeway grinned rakishly at her chief of security. "Good shooting, Tuvok."

"On the contrary, Captain. If a Mildri ship has been destroyed, it was not due to phaser fire from this vessel." The admission seemed difficult for the Vulcan to make, as if he would have preferred it had been his accomplishment.

"Explain." A frown replaced the captain’s grin in an instant.

"According to my calculations, it would take approximately four direct hits to disable each Mildri scout vessel. Our phasers have only impacted on the pursuing vessels a total of four times. Since it is unlikely that all four shots impacted the same ship, logic dictates that the Mildri vessel was compromised in some other way. Perhaps they, too, are being pursued."

"That’s not exactly what I was hoping to hear, Tuvok," groused Janeway, turning immediately to her pilot. "Ara, if I give the order to go to half impulse, can you get us out of the atmosphere and into open space?"

"Yes, Captain," said Ara, taking a steadying breath, "but it won’t be a smooth ride. We will take a significant amount of damage."

"That’s something I’ll just have to risk, Ensign." She turned to the rest of the shuttle’s crew. "I don’t know about the rest of you, but I don’t want to be around if and when the Mildri battle of the sexes breaks out."

B’Elanna snorted.

"Half impulse on my mark, Ensign."

"Aye, Captain," said Ara, making the necessary adjustments on her board. Even with the use of only one arm, Ara had proven to be an exceptional pilot. Janeway wasn’t at all surprised that her skills had caught Chakotay’s attention back when he commanded his particular cell of the Maquis.

A brief curse shattered the silence of the shuttle and Janeway glanced over at her chief engineer, immediately disturbed by the dark, wine-colored stain that continued to spread across the tunic over her lower back.

"B’Elanna—" She was going to tell the young woman to give up her post and strap herself in with the safety restraints but B’Elanna must have suspected that because she jumped in with her own announcement before the captain could finish.

"I think I can make this a little less bumpy for us, Captain. I am adjusting the shield harmonics now." She didn’t turn as she finished her calculations, her back rigid while she waited for the captain to speak. Janeway only smiled, struck by the loyalty of this woman who had once been her most vocal opponent.

"Good work, Lieutenant," she said quietly and her smile stayed put as B’Elanna’s shoulders relaxed.

Just how did I, little Katie Janeway from Indiana, rate a crew like this one? she wondered.

"All right, Ensign," she said cheerfully, turning to Ara. "Let’s see if your training is all it should be. Go to half impulse."

Ara took a shallow breath and keyed the command, forcing her injured arm to brace the rest of her body against the massive convulsions of the tiny craft as it struggled against the gravity of the planet and the last of the radiation storms. The engines’ whine spiraled upward in pitch and volume the harder they worked and the Bajoran was certain her teeth would shatter before they had finally pulled clear.

Just when it seemed the shuttle would finally break apart, the turbulence began to lessen.

"Storm density is decreasing, Captain," observed Tuvok, straining to make his voice heard above the screech of the engines. "Sensors are coming back online." He frowned at the data coming in. "There are 11 Mildri scout ships in pursuit, Captain."

A brief flash illuminated the shuttle’s cabin and a tiny chirp sounded at his board.

"Correction," amended the security chief. "There are now ten Mildri ships in pursuit."

Janeway made her way over to Tuvok’s station, looking over his shoulder at the ship formations on his screen. "Here’s that war I was hoping to avoid," she muttered as another brief flash and chirp knelled the death toll of another scout ship. The problem was she couldn’t tell who was pursuing whom. Her only shot at survival was to avoid them all.

"B’Elanna, route all available power to shields." Janeway heard the comforting hum of energy increasing around her as B’Elanna implemented her order. She nodded appreciatively.

"Tuvok—"

"I am maintaining sensor lock on the lead Mildri ships, Captain," said Tuvok calmly. "I will fire only if fired upon."

Janeway put her hand on Tuvok’s shoulder in a silent ‘thank you’. She was just about to order Ara to initiate an evasive maneuver when the young ensign made a startling announcement.

"I have Voyager on long range sensors, Captain!"

Janeway blinked. "Tuvok?"

"Communications are still down, Captain," he replied, reading her mind. "And it would appear the Mildri have called for reinforcements," he added. "There are now 18 vessels in pursuit and more en route. Intercept in 45 seconds."

"How long until we clear the planet’s atmosphere?" she barked, competing with the whine of the shuttle’s overworked engines and the brief pops and flashes of secondary systems succumbing to the strain. The radiation storms might be breaking up but they were still trapped by the planet’s gravity and it was obviously taking its toll on the battered shuttle.

"70 seconds," replied Ara as her uninjured hand continuously corrected and adjusted their flight pattern.

Janeway fought her way back to her station.

"Right. B’Elanna, I want all available power diverted to the aft shields," she said, settling herself into her flight chair. "Tuvok, initiate a looped transmission to Voyager requesting immediate beam out on my mark. B’Elanna, if I give that order, drop all shields. Understood?"

"Aye, Captain." B’Elanna nodded sharply.

"Good. Now let’s give the Mildri something to think about. Tuvok, fire phasers on my mark, wide spread pattern. Target the center of their formation."

Tuvok keyed the targeting calculations. "Intercept in 30 seconds, Captain," he reminded coolly.

"Fire."

The cabin of the shuttle was deathly silent as Tuvok’s volley sliced through the atmosphere toward the pursuing Mildri ships, some shots finding their marks and some careening harmlessly through empty space.

"Eight vessels are shearing off from the main force, Captain," reported the Vulcan. "They are attempting to flank us."

"Steady, Ensign," warned Janeway, noticing Ara’s tense posture. To Tuvok she said, "Target the remaining vessels, Commander. I want them to flank us from the other side."

B’Elanna was the only officer with time enough to gape at the captain. She caught herself quickly, though, and shook her head, scraping together a few extra kilojules of power to divert to the shields. Anything to give them an advantage. Or at least a sliver of hope.

"Fire," ordered the captain and the second volley arced across the rapidly closing distance between the shuttle and its pursuers.

"The remaining vessels changing course to a flanking formation, Captain. Intercept in 15 seconds."

Janeway turned to her pilot with a look of grim determination. "Ara, initiate evasive maneuver Beta E on my mark."

If the dark-haired ensign was at all disconcerted by the order, the only indication she gave was a brittle nod of acknowledgement. She calmly entered the course headings into her board and waited.

No one breathed. The seconds ticked by resolutely and still Janeway remained silent. Despite her usually stoic nature, Ara began to worry. Her heart pounded like a temple gong in her chest and her eyes flicked nervously back and forth between her board and the viewport. She absolutely knew that her fingers were shaking and was horrified by the thought.

"Intercept in ten…nine…eight…seven…"

Ara couldn’t fathom why Tuvok sounded so damn calm. She could clearly see the lead scout ships converging on her location, screaming in from either side. She fought the dual urges to vomit and to wipe her sweaty hand on her uniform pants.

"…six…five…"

"Engage," said Janeway and Ara punched her board as if life itself depended on it.

Which it did.