It was a darn shame, the operation had been running smoothly until now. Maxwell rolled the cigar from the right corner of his mouth to the left. "Charlotte separate the shuttle from the ship please, if we don't detach now then they'll get in."

"Of course sir." The synthetic swiftly obeyed, her hands fluttering over the controls effortlessly. "What about the rest of the crew sir? Should I send out a distress signal for them?"

"No, we don't want to attract attention to this mess. I want the shuttle moved to observation distance, scan for any outgoing frequencies."

"Yes sir." Metallic clunks filled the void of sound, followed by the hum of jets activating, propelling them away from the carnage. Charlie watched as the ship grew smaller and smaller in the window. She wondered what would become of the others on board.

"Charlie what's the matter?"

"Nothing sir…"

"Charlotte my dear you might be highly advanced but I can see through your lies. Tell me what on your mind, all data from you is useful." Maxwell leant back in his armchair, watching the vastness of space consume the mess they were leaving behind. "Come talk to me." Charlie looked over at Maxwell, his demeanour seeming very relaxed.

"There's a lot of people on the Damselfly. Leaving them seems… cruel. It feels wrong."

"It's business Charlotte, you know this. This is why I don't let you mingle. That empathy you're feeling is useless in this corporate world." She looks back towards the window.

"Observational distance achieved, would you like me to conceal our vessel?"

"You read my mind dear."

xXxXx

He had finally reached the communications tower. Warm crimson coated his arms, the taste of iron filled his mouth. Limping he made his way to the external communications room, locking the door behind him. "S.O.S, this is the Damselfly we are in need of immediate assistance! We are in the Omega quadrant sector 23B-7Z. I repeat we need immediate assistance. This is Woodie Castor, a member of the security team. Please. Anyone respond!" Nothing but the sound of static responded. A low guttural growl came from above, looking up Woodie could see the saliva of one of those things dripping from the air vent. Woodie lifted the axe he had in hand and prepared to strike, he wasn't going down without a fight. He'd give it scars to remember him by. "I'm coming Lucy., I'll see you real soon baby."

"Um, sir there's a distress call coming from the Damselfly. What do you want me to do?" Maxwell sat up, losing the relaxed composure he just had.

"Active the jammer! Do not let that call be heard!"

"Y-yes sir!" Charlie jumped a little at the sudden change in attitude and pressed her fingers against the projected screen with haste. She still didn't feel good about what they were doing, but Maxwell had been very nice and insightful thus far. This was just part of the job; the contingency plan. "Jammers are functioning, it's highly unlikely for any ship to track the Damselfly's position now the transmission's been severed unless they were in the local zone."

"Keep alert. Nothing gets off that ship without our pursuit."

"Of course sir."

"Captain we're picking up a signal."

"What's it saying?"

"… It's an S.O.S." A grin spread across Willow's face, bingo. They had found the perfect recipe for stranded vessels. A few stray asteroids, electromagnetic interference and a smidge of isolation made for a gold mine; as long as you were willing to make a few threats.

"How close?"

"Not very far."

"I'll get onto tracking that for ya cap."

"Fantastic work the both of you. Is there anything else in the perimeter?"

"Not that I can see- oh. It's stopped."

"Stopped? Check again Wendy, try a different frequency."

"… Still nothing." Willow frowned, looking down at the screen in front of Wendy. Signals didn't often go dead so quickly.

"What do you think happened Walani?"

"There's an asteroid belt nearby, a few may have been flung out of orbit and struck their transmitter Cap."

"Do you think anyone else heard them?"

"Probably not, the signal was very short and would take time to trace from long distance, if possible at all. They're as good as dead out here."

"Full speed ahead it is! Let's go get us some goodies ladies."