Divided Loyalties

[Dr Telano 0]

Ren stood silently as the turbo lift swiftly descended from the bridge to lower decks. There has been an explosion in the cargo bay and sickbay had to be prepared. As much as he trusted his staff, as the Chief Medical Officer he felt he had to personally oversee the emergency. Chief Medical Officer.. How had that happened? The shock of it was still settling in, and he blamed that shock for his inability to recognize a slowly developing pattern in their opponent’s strategy.

He was sitting right there on the bridge, watching the ship on the view screen as it made a sharp turn and warped off. Why didn’t he see it coming? That turn and warp maneuver was an easily recognizable maneuver, as was the mine that was waiting for the Arcadia when they tried to follow. The shuttle explosion, which of course killed no one and was meant to keep the crew busy investigating when we should be pursuing. These were all familiar tactics, all used by the Maquis in their fight against the Cardassians.

So who were we up against that knew old Maquis tricks? Those Maquis who were not captured by the Federation as Ren had been, or sent to the Delta Quadrant in the Voyager mishap were all dead, Slaughtered by the Dominion. To the Dominion, the Maquis that had plagued their new Cardassians allies were but a minor nuisance. Between founder infiltration and Jem’hadar raids, not a single Maquis cell survived; save those few smart enough to surrender to the Federation when they saw what was happening.

So who was it? Who knew all the old tricks and what purpose could they have for being in this region, let alone fighting against a Federation Starship. Was it revenge? To what purpose? The Cardassians are a shattered people now. The Dominion War left them in even worse shape then they had left Bajor, an Irony Ren tried best not to enjoy. Revenge against the Federation for not helping us when we needed it? Again, to what purpose? They did what they had to just as we did what we had to. Ren had never blamed the Federation, the Maquis had simply done what their rules and regulations wouldn’t allow them to do.

The purpose is the key, because understanding that and understanding what they want would give insight in how they would most likely seek to achieve it. Whoever is behind this is relying on old tricks, knowing as Ren does that there are few people still out there who would recognize them, let alone know how to counter them. He also recognized some creativity in the use of these strategies. They were dealing with someone who uses established strategy, but has enough creativity to expand and improve on them. Going down a list of survivors Ren knew of, he came across a few notable individuals who fit that, but there was no way to know who without more information.

Ren would have to think on that, and speak with the Captain. He had no idea what kind of experience Captain Moose had with the Maquis and the kind of tactics they used. He had to be ready for the kind of unorthodox tactics that they would continue to use against him. First however, Ren had to know what they wanted. Ren had devoted his life to the Maquis, had admired their conviction to go against public opinion to help the Bajorans and the innocents in the border regions. What were these mysterious Maquis remnants up to? Were they trying to free the slaves on that resort planet? Could Ren truly act against that cause? Was helping the Captain and Crew of the Arcadia the right thing to do?

That would all have to wait however, for the Turbo Lift had reached its destination, and Ren could already hear the commotion of preparations down the hall in Sickbay. Thankfully there was plenty of work for Ren to do, plenty to help him ignore the troubling questions brewing in his head.