Out of the Trenches

[Jaiysa t'Tamarak 0]

There were days when it would have been extremely useful to be nothing more than a character in a story. They had the use of such interesting and heartening cliches which would occasionally be comforting, were they applicable in real life. It would be nice, for example, Jaiysa t'Tamarak reflected, to be able to say that things had moved so fast that she had not been able to process what had happened until she suddenly found herself bursting out into the open air alongside the lloann'na infiltrators.

 

It would be a lie, however. She knew exactly what had happened, had been very keenly aware of every second of the past hour and didn't like any of it.

 

t'Bone was at the center of it all. He was the third member of the conspiracy. His hostility, what she had perceived as his stupidity and annoying posturing -- it had been a front. He had certainly taken great risks with the team, leaving them in the hands of t'Goon on the assumption that the lloann'na would be too crafty for detection and t'Goon too stupid to actually follow through on his orders, but it had been a desperate move to retain their viability a little longer. He had done what he could from his position, and he had solved the last problem of the infiltration -- he had allowed their escape. Rather than the arrogant brat she had thought him to be, he was, like t'Bagg, one of the few on this planet who had been willing to work for what needed to be done.

 

It didn't really matter, of course, as he was now dead, having smoked a disruptor bolt through his own chest. She had seen him fall amid the crushed remains of the laboratory she had given over to the Federation officers. So that was another one off that already very short list. Pah...

 

At least the cure was safely in hand, the neurologist thought as she jogged through the corridors towards the main exit of the facility. The yyaio officer had reminded Jaiysa, of course, that their progress was as yet untested -- as if they did not all know perfectly well that the time to do this in an orderly fashion was long since past. It didn't matter; the Federation officers had succeeded far past Jaiysa's expectations of them. They had come, in secret and in danger, recalculated all the variables, rewritten all the rules. They had risked their lives for the Romulan people; they too had done what needed to be done, rather than what was personally or politically safe.

 

They had, in all probability, saved a large percentage of the Rihannsu race. Whether they appreciated the magnitude of this, she wasn't sure, but she had felt it powerfully in her gut as she watched the last case turned over to the young technician who would take it on to t'Mor'Talni and tr'Radaik. Lisia would get the credit which the Federation had earned, and with the deaths of t'Bagg and t'Bone, Jaiysa was the last person left alive to be grateful to the right people. Unfortunate.

 

For now, though, her mind was on practicalities. t'Bone had managed to take care of the internal security systems that would allow them to get out of the building. They had weaponry on hand which she had found for them (earning her the designation of "awesome" by one of the Federation security men) and the shuttle landing area was approximately two hundred yards from the facility's exit, all of which seemed very simple until you realized that everyone involved, including her, was to be shot on sight by the local constabulary.

 

t'Bone had, before he died, confirmed for Jaiysa what she had been all but certain of since the beginning of this little escapade -- she was as marked as they were. Her "medical career had been compromised," he had said, which they both knew was nothing more than a euphemism. She had to disappear.

 

The Federation second-in-command had picked up on it too, and without a blink had told Jaiysa to accompany them. This was no guarantee of her safety, of course -- all of them could still very easily be killed -- but it was certainly the only choice she had, and so she had nodded and led them out without a word. It occurred to her now to be disappointed, frightened, or concerned at the prospect of disappearing aboard a Federation ship, but in the long run it really played no cards she had not long since discarded from her hand.

 

There was nothing left for her here except dishonor and death, governmental stupidity and secrecy and a waste of the talents she had cultivated. She had to get out while she still could and if this was the way...she could think of worse or less well-equipped partners for that escape.

 

She keyed a code into the wall and burst through the heavy doors of the Echo facility and out into the cool open air. In the distance she could see the landing padd, a small shuttle sitting on it. She glanced around, looking for any immediate attack, and then quickly grabbed hold of the small disruptor pistol she had grabbed for herself. She had a sinking feeling they weren't home free yet.