The shuttle sped from the shuttlebay and immediately turned to starboard, its nose dipping towards the planet. With their sensors scrambled, the Harrier slipped past the Klingon birds of prey unnoticed.

“Calhoun’s jamming signal’s working as advertised,” Raisa reported as the shuttle entered Valdran’s upper atmosphere.

In the pilot’s seat, Lieutenant da Costa’s eyes darted down to the controls before lifting back to the horizon. “Hull’s beginning to heat up. Reconfiguring shields for atmospheric entry.”

“Ark Royal must be a helluva change, da Costa,” Tanner said from the aft section. “After flyin’ a beast like Challenger.”

Da Costa nodded, “It’s been an adjustment.”

“A bit of a downgrade,” Callahan chimed in.

Raisa watched da Costa roll his eyes, unseen by Callahan. “Bigger isn’t necessarily better.”

“Our Lieutenant da Costa ain’t no size queen,” Tanner replied. Even though she couldn’t see his face, Raisa could imagine the cheeky grin on his face. She glanced at da Costa and could see the colour rising in his cheeks and a shy smile pulling at his lips.

“Ark Royal’s smaller, but she’s also more agile,” da Costa explained. “Honestly, I prefer flying Ark Royal.

Callahan leaned forward. “Then why not remain at Starfleet Command flying shuttles? If it’s a question of agility, aren’t they more agile than Ark Royal?”

“I didn’t join Starfleet to ferry VIPs around in shuttles,” da Costa replied. “I wanted to explore the galaxy at the controls of a starship. Fleet Captain Forrester gave me the chance to do that.”

An awkward silence fell upon the shuttle’s interior at the mention of Forrester’s name. “I was sorry to hear what happened to him,” Raisa said, breaking the silence. “From what I hear, he was a good man.”

“He is,” da Costa replied softly, correcting Raisa. “And one of the finest officers I’ve ever served with.”

“D’ya really think he’s still alive?” Tanner asked.

Da Costa nodded. “I do.” He replied. “I won’t believe otherwise until someone shows me the body, or someone I trust tells me they’ve seen it.”

“Sounds like wishful thinking to me.”

Raisa watched da Costa as Callahan’s words sunk in. His back stiffened and his jaw clenched. “Starfleet Command may have given up on the Captain, but those of us who served under him haven’t,” da Costa announced cooly. “He’s out there somewhere.”

“Looks like we’re through the upper atmosphere,” Raisa commented as she looked out the viewport. Take us to five hundred feet and let’s see if we can identify a good place to set the shuttle down.”

Ark Royal was blind. The wide band jamming signal being emitted to jam the Klingon sensors and communications had the effect of also jamming Ark Royal’s. On the bridge Captain Arlo Henris slowly paced back and forward in front of the command chair, his hands clasped behind his back.

Commander Shukri’s shuttle left the shuttlebay minutes earlier and, Arlo assumed, was currently flying at full speed towards Valdran’s surface. Meanwhile, the Klingons were no doubt hard at work trying to overcome the Ark Royal’s jamming signal.

“Status,” Arlo snapped for the third time in as many minutes.

T’Reya responded, “My answer has not changed since you last asked, Captain.” If Arlo didn’t know better, he’d swear he could hear an edge of frustration in the Vulcan’s voice. “There has been no change in the signal.”

Arlo resumed his pacing. With each passing minute, the likelihood of the Klingons overcoming the jamming signal increased. The main question for Arlo was, would the away team be able to make it to the surface before that happened? He would soon receive his answer.

“Sir, I’m detecting fluctuations in the jamming signal,” T’Reya reported a few minutes later. “I believe the Klingons are close to neutralising the jamming signal.”

Arlo moved to stand in front of the command chair. Pressing a control on the armrest, he announced, “All hands battle stations.” An alarm sounded. Arlo had no sooner finished speaking than he was thrown back into his command chair as a volley of disruptor fire struck the shields, causing the deck to pitch beneath his feet. “Helm, attack pattern gamma-five-one-niner. Mister Calhoun, return fire.”

Ark Royal gave as good as she got, unleashing the full force of her powerful arsenal on the lead Klingon ship. Multiple phaser beams and a volley of torpedoes relentlessly pounded the shields of the Vor’cha-class ship.

“Sir, one of the birds of prey is breaking off,” Calhoun shouted over the din. “It’s heading for the shuttle.”

Shit. Arlo couldn’t let the Klingons reach the shuttle. “Target that bird of prey and open up with everything we have.”

“I can’t get a lock,” Calhoun replied seconds later. “The other ships are running interference.”

Shit! The ship lurched again as the shields absorbed another round of disruptor fire, but they wouldn’t hold up much longer under this kind of sustained fire. “Mister Calderwood, signal the shuttle. Let them know they’re going to have company.”

“There’s a Klingon bird of prey on an intercept course,” Raisa announced as she read the message from Ark Royal. A glance at the sensors, which were now working again, confirmed the report. “Take evasive manouvers.”

The shuttle banked sharply to the left and da Costa pushed her engines as hard as he could within a planet’s atmosphere. It wouldn’t be enough. The bird of prey would catch up with them easily. Their only hope was that da Costa could use the planet’s terrain to confuse the bird of prey’s sensors and hopefully evade them 

“Can you lose them?” Callahan asked.

The pilot’s fingers were already frantically working his console. “I’ll try.”

“I’m raising the shields,” Raisa added. Her voice was steady despite the fear she felt creeping over her.

The shuttle accelerated and veered closer to the ground until the shuttle was skimming the tree tops as da Costa pushed the limits of the Type-9 shuttle. Raisa’s eyes stayed fixed on the sensors, watching as the bird of prey closed in on them. “They’ll be in weapons range in thirty seconds.”

The terrain below them turned rugged and mountainous. “I’ll try to lose them in that ravine,” da Costa pointed to the terrain to their port side. “Something in there is interfering with our sensors. I’m hoping theirs will be equally affected.” The bird of prey was too big to follow them in, but da Costa sounded confident he could lose them and she latched onto his confidence like a life jacket.

The shuttle dipped into the ravine, zigzagging around the terrain, never staying still long enough for the Klingons to get a good shot. They couldn’t see it through the viewport, but they knew the bird of prey was above them, stalking them like a predator stalking its prey. It was only a matter of time before they pounced.

Raisa’s heart thundered. The odds were against them, and she knew it, though she was trying not to think about it. Thoughts of her husband and daughter were unhelpful at that moment. The bird of prey’s twin disruptor cannons would make quick work of the poorly defended shuttle. Raisa gave herself a mental shake and focused on her console.

A bolt of green energy shot out of the sky, narrowly missing the shuttle. A rapid succession of disruptor blasts followed, shooting down from the sky like a rain shower from hell. Under da Costa’s skilled control, the shuttle nimbly danced around most of the blasts, but for all of his skill, he couldn’t completely avoid them.

The shuttle rocked violently as one of the disruptor blasts caught the shields in a glancing blow. “Shields down to seventy-one percent!” Raisa shouted over the din.

Ahead of them, the ravine split into two narrow paths; a fork in the road. “Lieutenant-”

“I see it,” da Costa replied tersely.  

More disruptor blasts rained down, forcing the shuttle toward the left fork. They were left with no choice. Da Costa banked hard to port so late that the shuttle just barely cleared the rock face. 

“We’re being funnelled,” Raisa said darkly.

The young pilot glanced at her, “Into what?”

“Nothing good.”

They waited for more disruptor fire, but it never came. Raisa leaned forward and twisted to look above them, trying to glimpse the bird of prey with little success. “What are they waiting for?”

“Uh, Commander.”

Raisa looked at da Costa, who was staring straight out the forward viewport with a grim expression. She followed his gaze and understood why he sounded so worried. Ahead of them, the ravine came to a dead end, a sheer face of rock greeted them.

The rock face wasn’t what da Costa was worried about. It was the Klingon bird of prey hovering above it, her wings lowered in attack position waiting for the shuttle. Raisa thought at that moment how aptly named the Klingon ship was; it looked like a bird ready to strike its prey. They were the prey. The nose of the shuttle rose to take them up over the end of the ravine and into the waiting arms of the Klingons.

The bird of prey unleashed a barrage of disruptor fire directly at the shuttle. Da Costa tried desperately to evade it, but the narrow confines of the ravine left them with little room to manoeuvre. The shields collapsed under such intense bombardment, allowing the blasts to impact directly on the shuttle. Inside, they were tossed around like rag dolls.

“Engines are offline!” da Costa shouted as he climbed back into the pilot’s chair with blood trickling down the ridges on his forehead. “We’re losing altitude!” He tried valiantly to regain control but with no success. The shuttle was dead and would hit the ground no matter what they did.

Raisa fought against that panic that threatened to overwhelm her. She opened a comm channel, hoping their signal would reach Ark Royal. “Mayday, mayday, may-”

She ran out of time. Raisa sent up a silent prayer to whatever higher power existed in the universe, asking them to watch over Ashraf and Aisha. Her last thought was of them as the shuttle struck the ground.

Ark Royal unleashed another storm of phaser fire and quantum torpedoes on two of the Vor’cha-class cruisers. They easily withstood the Starfleet ship’s attack and responded in kind, peppering Ark Royal with disrupter fire and torpedoes. A console to Arlo’s left exploded in a shower of sparks, catching the officer manning it. She fell to the ground with a scream that could curdle the blood.

Arlo punched the comm control on his chair. “Medical team to the bridge.”

“Shields down to forty-two percent!” Calhoun shouted, just about making himself heard over the racket.

Calderwood turned from the communications station. “Sir, I’m receiving a transmission. Audio only.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Mayday, mayday, may-” Commander Shukri’s voice was unmistakable. 

“Shuttle Harrier, what’s your status?” Ark Royal lurched to port as the Klingons landed more blows, but there was only silence from the shuttle. “Shuttle Harrier, please respond.” Arlo looked at Calderwood questioningly. The chief communications officer shook his head slowly, worry etched on his features.

“Sir!” Wescott screamed to make herself heard over another console exploding as Ark Royal took another pummelling. “We can’t take much more of this. We have to retreat.”

Arlo wanted to argue. Wanted to tell her they didn’t leave people behind. There was a chance, however remote, that Commander Shukri and her team were still alive and he didn’t want to abandon them. He wouldn’t abandon them. But they would be of no use to anyone if the Klingons blew Ark Royal to bits. There was no choice for them to retreat and regroup.

“Damn,” Arlo muttered, thumping the armrest. “Helm, break orbit. Get us out of here.”