"This is Recon-1 to Team Leader--we've got a position on the hostages."

Knight motioned for the team to stop and tapped his communicator. "Team Leader to Recon-1. I copy. Go ahead."

"We're two floors below you, what 'appears' to be the basement level. We think we've found a secret passageway to another level."

"Proceed with caution, Recon-1. We will catch up. Team Leader out." Knight turned around. "Lets move out."

"Team Leader--" Rojc whispered to catch Knight's attention. "Shouldn't we get Tech to see what he can learn about the level before proceeding?"

Knight didn't bother to turn around. "No time, XO." Knight started moving stealthily down the corridor, followed by Iv'Oor. Rojc frowned and followed too.

It wasn't long before they reached an access hatch to the station's service conduits. After a moment of struggling, Knight removed the hatch and crawled in, still followed closely by Iv'Oor. Rojc secured the hatch after entering the conduit and continued along. It wasn't long before they reached the 'basement' level. The door to the secret passageway still remained open a crack, allowing Knight to locate it quickly.

Rojc tapped his communicator. "XO to Tech, see if you can't get us a reading on this secret level."

Knight spun around and glared at Rojc. "What are you doing, XO?" He tapped his communicator. "Team Leader to Tech--belay that order."

"Um, aye sir. Tech out."

"No excess communications, XO."

"Sir, take a look at the tricorder. Recon team is nowhere on the scanner. And they shouldn't have left the door open."

"Nothing to worry about. The level is obviously shielded. And they probably left the door open so we could find it quicker. Now lets go." Knight pried the door open farther.

Rojc shook his head disapprovingly and stepped clear of the door, motioning for Iv'Oor to do the same. Knight stepped through the entry way only to be met by several disruptor shots to his head and chest. He stumbled back and fell dead.

"Damn it!" Rojc cursed, "Run!"

Iv'Oor and Rojc sprinted away towards the service conduit they had come out of, only to find it gone.

"XO to Tech. Find us a way out of here!"

Iv'Oor glanced at her tri-corder. "Multiple hostiles converging on our position."

"XO to Tech. Respond!" Rojc looked at Iv'Oor.

She tapped some commands into the tri-corder. "Confirmed, they are jamming us."

"Then we're on our own. Assuming they haven't changed the actual structural layout, where is the closest stairway or turbolift?"

"There's a turbolift roughly 20 meters from here, but it takes us further into the compound. There's a stairway in the other direction about 35 meters away."

"Straight through the hostiles?"

"Yep."

"Set your phaser rifle to high spread, maximum yield."

Iv'Oor nodded and made the adjustments to her phaser rifle, while Rojc did the same to his.

"I'll take point. Let's go." They rounded the corner to find seven Jem'hadar. Rojc reacted quickly, stunning four of the seven enemy soldiers. Iv'Oor took care of the last three. Rojc and Iv'Oor took off in a sprint once more. Narrowly did they avoid two separate patrols before finally reaching the stairway.

"It's still there. So far so good," remarked Iv'Oor.

Rojc opened the entry-way and peered in. "All Clear."

The moments passed, but finally they reached one of the compound's exits. Iv'Oor blew the door off the hinges, only to run out the door into an ambush--they were surrounded.

"Computer, end simulation." The Jem'hadar disappeared and an irritated Captain Knight stepped forward. "I think I've seen enough for today. Commander Rojc--my office. Now. The rest of you are dismissed."

Rojc frowned as he followed Knight out of the Training Facility and down the hall. After they had arrived, Knight promptly walked behind his desk and plopped into the chair. He looked at Rojc. "What the hell was that?"

"It was your training program, don't ask me."

"I was talking about the team."

Rojc stared quizzically at Knight. "I don't quite understand."

Knight sighed. "No one was questioning orders--regardless of protocol--except for you. The way they performed, it's no wonder the simulation ended like it did."

"My team is used to my orders making sense and being logical. If the team leader doesn't know what's going on, then the failure is his fault."

"Well that's not how my team will be functioning. I don't like having mindless automatons out in the field."

"Like you pointed out, unnecessary comm traffic." Rojc was still frowning. "My team knows their jobs and what is expected of them. I make sure that they know the mission requirements from the beginning."

"Well I do not have that luxury, Lieutenant Commander, and it's doubtful that your 'method' would be applicable to this situation if I were able to release the mission briefing now--which I might remind you, is against protocol. And besides, I'd prefer to have the team intact throughout training, rather than seeing you jump ship right away."

"Look Knight, if I had the clearance to refuse this mission, I assure you I'd already be gone. But Intelligence Command is intent on me being on this mission. Like it or not, I am here to stay."

Knight cleared his throat. "In the future, I will expect you to address me as 'Captain' or 'Sir'. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes...sir," replied Rojc acerbically.

"Mr. Rojc, I am really getting annoyed with this bad attitude of yours. For someone with such a high reputation, I must say I am very disappointed."

Rojc struggled to maintain his composure and not to respond.

"You're really pushing it, Commander. I'm this close to bringing you up on charges of insubordination, and don't think I can't make it stick."

"And how would you like me to respond to that threat, sir?"

Knight rubbed his eyes and leveled his gaze directly at Rojc. "Look, I think we've well established that you don't like me and that I don't like you. What I want is for this mission to succeed, and that means I have your full and total cooperation."

"My 'full and total cooperation' means nothing if you refuse to acknowledge it. There are other ways to get my officers to respond rather than completely destroying the discipline I've tried to instill in them. I don't need to waste another six months rehabilitating my team after this mission is over."

Knight leaned back. "Fine Commander, I'm listening."

"What kind of message were you sending about questioning orders when you repeatedly dismissed my objections without too much thought?"

Knight opened his mouth to reply.

"I know, I know. You were waiting for someone else to say something." Rojc emphatically gestured with his left hand. "My team considers me the most knowledgeable and experienced among them--if you won't accept my suggestions, they sure aren't going to bother to voice their own."

Knight looked weary. "I assume this is going somewhere...?"

"There is such a thing as the direct approach. Tell them what you want and expect out of them. Using simulations to do all the training is not going to get you the results you want--at least not with my team."

"Commander--"

Rojc interrupted. "And you didn't even bother to give a briefing--giving them a vague sense that you were extremely upset with their performance is not enough."

"Are you finished?"

"Yes."

"Good. Then we'll skip the rest of the discussion." Knight paused. "You want to see the mission briefing? Here." He handed Rojc an isolinear data chip. "Review it and then bring your suggestions to me."

Rojc was somewhat confused by Knight's change of attitude. He took the data chip.

"Dismissed. And remember that it is for your eyes only. When I'm ready to show it to the rest of the team, I will."

Rojc viewed the data on the isolinear chip in stunned silence--someone had broken into a top-secret RST lab, rendered the design team unconscious, and made off with the entire BST and RST databases. All in under five minutes. And they used some type of jamming signal to mask their identities. Rojc shuddered.

He went on to the next set of files in the briefing--various reports, analysis', et cetera of the lab. The computer terminal log showed that the design team hadn't been logged in at the moment the attack began--which meant that someone broken every single one of the most sophisticated Federation encryption algorithms. Another bad sign. The last report on the lab also held some interest for Rojc--some sort of energy residue. It appeared kind of like a transporter signal, but there were no ships even within a subspace transporter's range.

The final set of 'detail' files contained various speculative reports on who was responsible for the attack. Several reports believed it had been Dominion activity. The blurring could be shrouded Jem'hadar and details on Dominion transporter technology are limited, so it's possible that an Invasive Transporter had been used. A few reports blamed the Romulans. The rest either suggested the Ferengi, Orion Syndicate, or the Breen. Only one report speculated that it was an unknown power responsible for the attack.

It was the mission briefing that Rojc found the most interesting, however. The orders were quite clear: discover the identity of the attackers and retrieve or destroy the stolen databases. What proved to be interesting were the supplemental materials attached to it. Both the Talarians and the Tzenkathi had reports of their deep space vessels encountering "a mysterious civilization". The reports were vague and often contradictory, but they all had a common thread: extremely advanced computer technology. The last of the supplemental materials was a mission log from the USS Enterprise-D approximately 11 years earlier about the planet of Iconia. The energy signatures from the Iconian Gateway bore startling similarities to the detected energy residue.

Rojc leaned back and took in everything in contemplative thought. Many analysts out-right refused to believe in another major Alpha Quadrant power within range of the Federation--if they haven't been discovered by now, they must not exist. Narrow thinking, yes, but those analysts did have some basis for their belief--Federation vessels have gone to the edge of explored space--visited the areas in the Talarian and Tzenkathi reports--and nothing "out of the ordinary" had ever been found. Still, analysts had been saying that there were no other "great civilizations" to be discovered for centuries. It seemed highly improbable, but nevertheless it was an issue that Rojc had dealt with on more than one occasion--the latest being the discovery of the Gosimere clone.

"Computer, time?"

"The time is 0112."

Rojc moaned and shut off the desk terminal. Any further work could be done tomorrow.

Rojc ran up behind Knight and stopped him. "Sir, a moment of your time before today's training session?"

Knight nodded affirmatively.

"Give the briefing to the team today." Rojc paused briefly to gauge Knight's reaction. "Nicot is a computer genius--he could do more with the readings. And Estrun is one of the better analysts I know."

Knight sighed. "This is a field unit, Commander, not an analysis team."

"I know that, sir. This is a headache of an assignment--certainly too much for me or you alone. Give the team a chance."

"Very well, if that's your recommendation."

Rojc nodded. "It is."

Knight tapped his communicator. "Knight to all members of Omega Team--change of plans: report to Briefing Room 12. Knight out." Knight gestured and he and Rojc started down the hall towards the briefing room. After a few strides, Knight spoke up. "I suppose you're wondering why I chose you and your team?"

"I have been considering an answer to that question."

"Your team rates very highly among Intelligence assessment. You came highly recommended."

"That's all?"

Knight smiled humorously. "Critically recommended as well. They said you could be 'brilliantly unorthodox'. Suffice to say, I was curious."

"And you are seriously disappointed, right?"

Knight took Rojc's response with amusement. "I still haven't come to a conclusion yet. Though I am somewhat disappointed to find you relying on your team for input so much. Not at all what I expected."

This time Rojc was amused. "Part of my philosophy is that one person is rarely infallible all the time." He stopped as he and Knight approached the entrance of the briefing room. "Besides, a good strategist copies; a great strategist steals."

They entered the room simultaneously finding the team already assembled. Knight and Rojc took their respective places at the table.

"Good morning all." Knight smiled as the team responded. "Commander Rojc has persuaded me to give you all access to the briefing. So here it is."

He keyed in some commands at the console at his right hand and the briefing appeared on each officer's personal terminal in front of them. They all promptly began reviewing the data.