Dawn had come to Duraxis. Lieutenant Commanders Kehlani Koh and Linus Rhodes, flanked by a half dozen civilian law enforcement officers, advanced down a narrow shaded street towards the home of the two juveniles that’d planted the Borg malware within the firmware of the fusion reactor. Never implicated in anything more than a petty theft before, this duo had almost ended the lives of every living soul on the colony, and it was time to get some answers.

“Watch where you point that thing,” Lieutenant Commander Koh cautioned sternly as one of the constables swept her with the barrel of his rifle. The way they moved, and the way they handled their weapons, their lack of training was readily apparent.

“Sorry, ma’am,” apologized the constable embarrassedly.

“And finger off the trigger until you’re ready to fire,” Lieutenant Commander Koh coached, noting his index finger had already slid under the trigger guard. “Which hopefully we won’t need to do.” Based on what she’d observed on the surveillance video, their targets might try and run, but she doubted they’d stand and fight. They were errand boys, not the actual monster who’d set out to commit mass murder.

“Understood,” the constable nodded as he trotted off.

Lieutenant Commander Koh slowed her pace, allowing herself to fall back. “Remind me again why we had to bring these guys?” she lamented under her breath quietly enough that only Lieutenant Commander Rhodes, the cyberintelligence specialist from ASTRA, could hear. “I’d take a nurse, a counselor, and an engineer over these guys.”

“Yeah, but the admiral is trying to play nice with the locals,” Lieutenant Commander Rhodes reminded her. “She promised a transparent investigation, and we’d hardly be starting off on the right foot if we nabbed two of their own without their involvement.” Of course, just a couple hours prior, he’d hacked into the colonial registrar’s data banks to determine the identity of their targets, but what they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.

Up ahead, the lead local law enforcement officer, a sergeant by the colony’s rank structure, raised his arm, his fist in a ball and his elbow at ninety degrees, the universal signal for stop. “Their home, it’s just up ahead. Next block, third dwelling down.”

As everyone drew up around the sergeant, Lieutenant Commander Koh cast her eyes forward, surveying the scene. This block, and a dozen just like it that they’d just trotted past, were little more than duranium sheets welded together, some of the insulation even visible through gaps in the sheet metal. Life was hard on Duraxis.

“Sergeant, you and Rhodes, you’re going to go knock and declare yourselves,” Lieutenant Commander Koh ordered. She then looked around, picking two constables most fit of the group. “You two, you’re with me. We’re going to go round back in case of a runner.”

“You think they’re going to run?” one of the men asked.

“They always run,” laughed Lieutenant Commander Rhodes. “Except for when they shoot.”

The eyes of the civilian officers got wide at that comment.

“He’s kidding,” Lieutenant Commander Koh assured them, noting they looked awfully nervous for a group of law enforcement professionals. And she didn’t like nervous. That’s how mistakes were made. “No one – neither us, nor them – are getting shot this morning. Understood?”

The civilian officers still looked uncertain. What if the kids shot at them first? They had seen the video. The Starfleet officers had shown it to them when they objected to the mission in the first place. It’d proven, beyond a doubt in their minds, that these kids had tried to blow up the colony, but if they were capable of such a deed, what else might they do?

“These are your people, and they’re kids, for crying out loud,” Lieutenant Commander Koh begged them to remember. She’d be damned if they had a repeat of the reactor, but these guys were totally giving her the same vibes as the Pacific Palisades folks had been putting off. “This is a Starfleet operation, and contrary to what you’ve heard, we don’t shoot civilians. Am I clear?”

Around the circle, the officers nodded. No shooting the kids.

“Alright, then let’s get it done,” Lieutenant Commander Koh said as she turned for the home. “If you’re not with me, and you’re providing cover for our knockers.” That had to be easy enough, right? “Ideally, they look outside, see you all there, and just come out with their hands up.”

The team then began to advance forward, Lieutenant Commander Koh and the two she’d picked out going around the back, while the others moved towards the front.

“In position,” Lieutenant Commander Koh reported over comms once they’d secured a vantage point of the rear exit from the alley that ran behind the homes.

“As are we,” Lieutenant Commander Rhodes confirmed as they drew up on the rusted door of the decrepit hovel, the sergeant at his side and the others in flanking positions around them.

“At your discretion, execute.”

Lieutenant Commander Rhodes knocked twice, and they waited, but no response.

“Security! Can we speak please?” 

Still nothing.

“We need to speak with you. Please open up!”

A moment later, they heard the bolt on the door release, and the door swung back slowly. Standing there was an elderly woman, her hair frazzled, her skin wrinkled, and her eyes tired. She looked more disappointed than shocked to see them. 

“What’d my boys do this time?” she asked. This wouldn’t be the first time security had come for Redrick and Devork, but she was surprised to see a Starfleet officer among them. Why was he here? She heard Starfleet had shown up and was trying to fix up the colony, but what had her sons done to provoke them?

“We’d just like to have a conversation with them if you don’t mind, ma’am,” Lieutenant Commander Rhodes offered gently. “Are they home?”

“Yes, they were just getting ready for school…”

Behind her, they heard a bustle of noise.

“Boys, come here!”

But they weren’t coming. That little break-in at the reactor, they’d been told it was just a small job to stick it to the man, but after the explosion, they’d put two and two together. And now security and Starfleet were at their door? Nope, it was time to run!

Over the mom’s shoulder, Lieutenant Commander Rhodes saw a pair of shadows make a break for it. “They’re rabbiting!” he reported over the comms, knowing Lieutenant Commander Koh already had the back covered.

The rear door of the home flew open, and the two boys rushed out. 

Lieutenant Commander Koh tackled the first, the older of the two, sweeping his feet out from under him and forcing him to the ground, chest down, applying flex cuffs to his wrists in one smooth motion before he could even react.

The other, the younger of the two, slammed headlong into the two local officers, but they weren’t as adept as Koh was. For a moment, there was a struggle as they tried to restrain him, but the scrawny kid managed to slither out of their grasp, and swiftly bolted down the alleyway.

And then a phaser shot rang out.

From her position mounted atop the older kid, Lieutenant Commander Koh flinched, fearful that yet again, there’d be a dead colonist in the dirt. But the good news was that the shot went wide. For once, their lack of training was a good thing. “What the fuck are you doing?! Don’t shoot! He’s unarmed!”

The guards turned towards her, confusion on their faces.

“Just secure this guy. I’ll go for the other one!”

They reholstered their weapons and took control of the restrained kid as Lieutenant Commander Koh raced off after the other young man.