Their idea lasted long enough for Reyes and T’Prynn to make it most of the way across the casino, less than a dozen paces from the exit leading toward the corridor that would take them to the docking hatch, when it was foiled by at least one attentive member of the ship’s security contingent. That was when they heard the first shouts of warning and alarm, and people began to look and move around in response to the added security guards rushing toward the casino as well as the neighboring bar and restaurants. It was at that point that someone, perhaps feeling lucky and thinking of the rewards to be had from Ganz after capturing or killing the would-be escapees, opened fire. Then all hell broke loose on the gaming deck.

“Lieutenant Jackson,” T’Prynn said, “we are making our way to the docking port.”

In his head, Reyes heard the security chief reply, “Copy that, Lieutenant. We’re here.”

Reyes knew that Starfleet security teams could not board the Orion vessel uninvited, and he had to wonder just how far Jackson and even Admiral Nogura might push things if he and T’Prynn got close enough to the docking hatch that the decision to render assistance became a very real issue.

I guess we’re about to find out.

“Watch out,” T’Prynn said from Reyes’s right, and he turned in time to see the Vulcan raising her arm to aim her phaser at two hulking Orion security guards attempting to make their way through the crowd toward her and Reyes. She waited until the guards stepped into the open before putting them both down with a pair of well-aimed shots from her phaser. Though he knew there was little chance of making it off the ship without being forced to kill at least some of the Orions who would be standing between them and the exit, Reyes had pressed for nonlethal force during their escape attempt if at all possible. Perhaps the gesture, small though it was, might at least reduce the amount of interstellar wailing and gnashing of teeth his escape would generate once Ganz reported the incident to his superiors. The Orion had to know Reyes was not operating alone. Accusations of Starfleet collusion during his time as a “guest” aboard the Omari-Ekon would provide no small amount of ammunition for whatever passed for an Orion diplomat airing grievances to the Federation Council.

None of which I’ll get to enjoy if we don’t get the hell out of here.

“You know where you’re going, right?” he asked as he followed T’Prynn out of the casino and into the main passageway leading to the docking port that connected the Omari-Ekon to the station.

She nodded. “Affirmative.” Reyes nearly ran into her as she stopped and once more took aim with her phaser. Another security guard had emerged from the concealment of a support stanchion and was coming at them, but T’Prynn dispatched him with her phaser. A disruptor bolt flashed past Reyes’s right ear and he turned in that direction, instinct guiding his arm up and letting him take aim at the approaching Orion. He felt his finger on the weapon’s firing stud before the movement even registered in his mind, by which time a harsh flash of energy caught the guard in his muscled green torso. Reyes cursed the weapon in his hand, seeing the flesh on the Orion’s chest marred as he was struck and knocked backward, his mouth contorting in agony.

“Tell me you have another phaser on you?” he asked, reaching up to wipe sweat from his forehead.

“Negative,” T’Prynn replied. “We must keep moving. It is likely that more security personnel are converging on our position.”

“We’re blind here,” Jackson said. “They’ve activated shields that block our scans. You’re on your own getting to the exit.”

Using various groups of evacuating patrons for cover while at the same time praying that none of the security guards would see fit to start firing into the crowd, Reyes and T’Prynn ran from the casino. Ahead of them lay the entrance to the gangway that would take them to the docking port and—Reyes hoped—freedom.

He flinched as a disruptor blast chewed into the wall ahead of T’Prynn, and they both ducked while turning to face the new threat. Reyes saw a group of six Orions emerging from the casino, and his eyes widened in recognition as he saw who was at the front of the group: Ganz, carrying a disruptor pistol in his hand. One of his subordinates was talking into what had to be a communications device, no doubt calling for reinforcements, but Ganz’s eyes were locked on Reyes, and the burly Orion raised his weapon.

Without thinking, Reyes brought up his own weapon and fired. The shot was wide, passing just to the right of Ganz’s head but close enough that all six Orions ducked for cover. Reyes grunted in renewed irritation at his latest miss even as T’Prynn pushed him through the hatch. Stepping over the doorway’s threshold, she slammed her fist against the control panel set into the bulkhead to the hatch’s left side. She dropped to one knee as the door began to close, firing through the narrowing gap to keep the guards at bay until the entryway sealed itself. Then, before Reyes could offer any sort of protest, she fired her weapon at the panel, sending a blue streak of energy into it and destroying it.

“There are still people on board!” Reyes exclaimed.

T’Prynn moved past him. “This will offer us only momentary protection, and even Ganz is not so stupid as to fire on innocent civilians. We must hurry.” As the pair set off down the gangway, Reyes could hear the sounds of fists pummeling the hatch from the other side, followed by the unmistakable reports of weapons fire. How long would it take them to force the locking mechanism, or simply burn a hole through the door itself?

The gangway led them to an intersection with two options. To the left, the passageway quickly terminated at a reinforced hatch that, if Reyes could trust his memory, led to a maintenance area and an airlock providing access to the docking port’s exterior. The entrance to the station was to the right, and as he and T’Prynn ran in that direction, they saw that the portal beyond which lay their liberation from the Omari-Ekon was blocked by a quartet of Orions, each already wielding a disruptor pistol. One of the guards, standing behind a small workstation, reached for something and the corridor filled with the sounds of an alarm Klaxon.

“Aw, shit!” was all Reyes had time to utter before the first guard fired. His shot missed and T’Prynn’s aim was better, catching him in the chest. With no other choice available to him, Reyes lunged to his left, kneeling near the bulkhead as he opened fire with his own weapon. He tried to ignore the other Orions shooting at him as he popped off shot after shot down the narrow corridor, and tried not to think of just how many years had passed since his last foray into close-quarters battle.

Something hot punched him in the right thigh and Reyes dropped his disruptor as he sagged against the bulkhead. He smelled the stench of singed clothing and flesh and looked down to see the small scorched area on the side of his leg. Though it looked to have been only a glancing blow, the disruptor bolt had still burned through the material of the coveralls he had appropriated as well as his own skin and muscle tissue. His eyes watered from the pain of his injury even as more phaser fire filled the corridor, but the cacophony died and he looked up to see T’Prynn running to him.

“It does not appear to be serious,” she said, raising her voice to be heard over the alarm as she inspected his wound. Reyes managed to retrieve his fallen disruptor as she helped him to his feet, before looking up to see all four Orions lying on the deck, victims of T’Prynn’s formidable marksmanship. “We have to go. Now.”

Even with the siren blaring in the corridor, Reyes still heard the sounds of heavy, running footsteps echoing over deck plates and growing louder. Gritting his teeth against the pain in his thigh, he favored his injured leg and allowed T’Prynn to assist him down the passageway as he looked back the way they had come, waiting for Ganz and his minions to appear.