Gul Evek was a tall man of ample proportions. Despite his size which gave an impression of ungainliness, Gul Evek was anything but clumsy. His black armour fitted snugly around his body, and his neck was a little more pronounced than the average Cardassian. His scales which protruded from his temples down the sides of his neck were hard, bluish-purple in colour. It was his eyes though, that filled something like fear into those who looked at him. Cold, distant, something underhand and evil, Gul Evek projected the way his colleagues did: terror.

Brought up on Cardassia Prime, he had grown to an intense attachment of his homeworld, and like most other Cardassians he was fiercely proud of their heritage. Born into a military family, Gul Evek had shown very early on his inclination for the military sciences and like his father and grandfather before him, rose rapidly in the ranks of Cardassia's military and assumed at a relatively young age the title or rank of Gul. The first vessel he commanded had been the PerogNor, a smallish warship that had by the time he assumed command, almost outlived its life. The vessel was suffering from fatigue in its hull and bulkheads, and one day, while fighting off the advances of the Krepekians whose rich deposits of kolonium ore was the inducement Cardassia needed to plunder in the year 2355, it had taken one blast from a Krepekian vessel to cause the PeregNor's hull to breach. Were it not for the speedy transport to the Berotat, Gul Evek would have been a collection of molecules drifting in space like his vessel.

Thirteen of his men had died during that stand-off with the Krepekians who had put up a harder fight for the preservation of their home than the Cardassians had anticipated. Reprisal had been swift and chilling. Not a man or woman on Krepek remained alive who could tell their descendants that they had successfully protected their world; not a man or woman alive could say that they outwitted the superior Cardassians.

Still, Evek's eldest son Marek died…An eldest son was an eldest son, with all the importance attached to such a designation, just like he had been and his father before him. He had felt the loss then as keenly as if he himself contemplated his own death.

Then Korek and Soren died at the hands of the United Federation of Planets. The Federation had proved to be their most revered foe. So much so that the truce that had been signed three years ago, remained an uneasy one, one in which his people had often broken their pledge of maintaining peace. Evek was not afraid to admit to that. His three sons were dead, two at the hand of Federationists who protected other territories. Now, with a major stand-off looming, it was necessary to effect peace again. Three sons and one daughter were still at home, too young to fight and take up arms against the Federation aggressors.

His new vessel, the Vetar, a type 3 Galor-class warship, was the vessel most aspiring guls dreamed of commanding. Evek had been the most fortunate in being awarded the singular honour of commanding the Vetar, with a crew complement of two hundred. It was the most powerful vessel in the Cardassian fleet, establishing once again the faith that the Cardassian Union had in one of their most experienced guls. He had shown little emotion when his sons died, and more than anything else, it was this characteristic that endeared him to his superiors - the fact that he could, even when direly struck by calamity, he could surge ahead and confront his aggressors. The grieving had come later, after Soren died. Soren had been struck by a Federation shuttle of the Federation Galaxy-class starship, the USS Ormskirk. After Soren's death he had walked to the heat caves of Cardassia Prime where no one could see his grieving and wept for the sons he lost. The Union praised men like him who could, in the face of their own adversity, take on the next challenge and the next and the next.

Evek had the greatest faith in the battle capabilities of the Vetar. Armed with Galor-class plasma banks, the heavy weapons array was designed for his vessel and others of its class. The same plasma banks were installed in ten of the Vetar's shuttles.

The Federation would get the surprise they deserved as soon as the Treaty was signed. While talks were still under way for the terms of the new Treaty which was ultimately the last line of defence of the old overtures for a truce between Cardassia and the United Federation of planets, plans had gone ahead to arm the shuttles of the Galor-class vessels to the hilt. The Federation and the Klingons were their only real adversaries and they had needed to be prepared. Their shuttles were as menacing as their starships, and they would use any means necessary to protect their territory, even if that meant disregarding the rules of engagement.

His reconnaissance mission to Dorvan V was the task given him by the Union to establish a viable settlement to protect the Cardassian borders. Dorvan V, currently a member world of the United Federation of planets proved to have the natural resources the Cardassian Union sought. A simple halfway station, it was to provide valuable provisions for the military once they've established control of the region. Fortunately, Dorvan V lay on the perimeter of Federation space and close to the Cardassian border so that drawing it during the talks and coming Treaty into a protected Cardassian area of sorts, could be easy to manipulate its peoples. Evek growled with satisfaction as he thought of the ways in which they would subjugate those fighting them.

One man stood in the way of their progress.

Only one man.

That was why Gul Evek had called upon Sub-Commander Sedeka in his quest to whittle down the defence of Dorvan V, even before the Treaty was concluded. He had been pacing the floor of the Science Hall for the last hour waiting for Sub-Commander Sedeka to arrive with important news and developments.

Drumming his fingers against the hard outer armour of his military suit, he had a sudden vision of the Sub-Commander Sedeka. She was beautiful; she excited him, thrilled him to the point of madness. She was attracted to him, that he sensed the moment he had first laid eyes on her when she had been a junior commander on his earlier vessel. Sedeka was a predatory cat who sensed that he wanted to bury himself inside her. He lusted after her and Sedeka had been most forthcoming, but not without a price. She got under his skin, manipulative bitch that she was. A bitch who it seemed to him, was perpetually in heat. He fucked her on their first meeting in his office when he interviewed her for his engineering team.

But, although he was a widower and sometimes threw her to the floor to fuck her mindlessly, he still had four young children who remained his responsibility. Three of them were boys. Therefore when Sedeka arrived, he would brace himself against her and set about instructing her in the formidable task at hand for her. He grinned to himself as he paced the floor of the Science Institute. There was no doubt that Sedeka would find the task suited to her capabilities. Gul Evek could picture the malevolent curl to Sedeka's mouth while she eyed him with narrowed green eyes. He could imagine her saying: "Now, Gul Evek, when have I ever failed with any mission?"

But Sedeka was a maddening beacon that drew men to her, her beauty unsurpassed among the Cardassian women. Sedeka liked him, but Sedeka liked men. She was clever, astute, too astute to be caught up in any entanglement that would taint her image of being a brilliant tactician who was not above using her looks to achieve her goals. Together they could set about reducing the entire Federation to ashes. They made a team that would get results.

He was restlessly drumming his fingers and when the door opened at the end of the hall, Gul Evek, toughened Cardassian gul, for once gulped hard when Sub-Commander Sedeka walked towards him. Her hips swayed in supreme confidence of her powers; the black armour looked one hundred times better on her than on any male Cardassian gul, accentuating in understated tones the old Cardassian dictum that women gave class to any garment that justified the worship of beauty and shape. Evek could feel his crotch itching; the impulse to himself there to relieve the tightness was so potent that he gave an involuntary growl to prevent him from disgracing himself before this woman. Sedeka continued to saunter slowly towards him, the curve of her mouth the only indication that she knew the effect she was having on him. He relented as his bulge thickened; he found himself unable to keep his mind away from the prospect of laying this women flat on a table and burrowing his oversized pole in her. So he endured the ignominy of his condition that reflected a lack of control in him, cursed the fact that his mind that was usually closed and impenetrable to forces other than the matter at hand, could let him down at this important discussion.

Sedeka stopped in front of him. Her eyes dripped sensuality, the warmth of her breath drifting to him. When she spoke, her voice was low and husky.

"You called, Gul Evek."

Evek tried to shut out the full lips, the narrowing eyes that reminded him of their predatory Cardassian cat-walker. He could as easily take his dagger and jam it between her ribs and kill her as he could spread her legs and fuck her before even answering her. For one blinding second, Evek considered the former. Sedeka knew the power she had over him. She also knew when to draw the line. They were playing a game, like Earth's great chess game, constantly taking the pieces and marking new territory, pitting wit against wit. She danced around him, just as he danced around her. Who was going to strike first? His crotch had to wait, for a few moments at least, he thought with pleasure.

"I have a task for you," he started without preamble. He was glad that the gleam in her eyes darkened to something like disappointment for a fleeting second. What did she expect? That he'd fuck her first and then talk? It was like that in the past. Sedeka took one step forward and stood very close to him, far enough that there was a breathing space between them, close enough that it could render him uncomfortable.

"My guess is, it has certain…perks?" she asked huskily. Did her tongue come out and lick over her lower lip?

"Certainly, for a female like you, such a task would break the tedium of your day to day reconnaissance."

"A female like me?"

"Do not pretend, Sedeka," Gul Evek said as he closed the distance completely between them so that the breastplate of her armour touched his. His breath warmed her skin, the same bluish-purplish tinge like his. Her ridges were a little softened on her, enhancing her beauty rather than create a detracting or repulsive effect. "You know exactly what I mean."

Sedeka raised her hand to his face, and her fingernail scratched the underside of his chin.

"You know, Gul Evek, women like me are considered abhail. I find my pleasures with any man. I make no apology…"

"It's why I like you, Sub-Commander Sedeka. You do not pretend."

"So, what is this task you have for me?"

"I'll give you your reward first, Sedeka," Gul Evek growled as his hand touched her cheek. He had lost his resolve of earlier, but the anticipation of the joining thrilled him. Sedeka gave a cry of pleasure at the touch. Evek smiled. She wanted him. The kiss that followed was rough, hard, leaving a trail of blood on their lips only seconds later.

"Come," Evek commanded as he pulled Sedeka into an ante-room.

Quickly divesting her of her armour, he growled again as she groped frantically to help him. He pulled the bodysuit roughly from her, tearing it in the process.

"That's very, very good, Sedeka," he groaned as his mouth reached for one nipple into which he bit so hard that Sedeka cried out loudly. Evek did not stop; the biting excited her, drove her mad with pleasure. His hands grazed roughly over the scales on her back as he pulled her even closer to him. His mouth found the other nipple, and Sedeka's hands grasped at his hair to balance herself. He sucked hard on the nipple for a few moments in which he heard her cry out with lust. One hand found its way to her centre where he drilled two rough fingers into her, groaning as her moist inside lubricated him. Suddenly, the nipple plopped out of his mouth and he released her softness. He looked at her. His eyes were red, gleaming hotly, and his breathing was ragged.

Sedeka's eyes looked just as hot, fevering with lust. Her lips were parted.

"You're an imbecile, Evek. What are you waiting for?" she hissed provocatively. "There, you're limp already…" She insulted him and that provoked him to return the insult.

"No, bitch!" he cried. "I'm hard for you, Sedeka!" Then he threw her down, flipped her on her stomach, raised her hips and spread her thighs as wide as he could.

"I'll show you," he growled, wanting to kill her at the same time as Sedeka wiggled her hips.

"You're gonna bring your armada?" she taunted.

"Not this time, Sub-Commander," Evek boasted, then pushed his thick rod into her waiting centre, ramming it in so hard that Sedeka bobbed forward. Evek was still standing and he had lifted her thighs away from the floor as he hammered himself into her. Sedeka gave a loud cry of pleasure and Evek, incited by her wails and moans and grunts, kept ramming into her soft, moist vagina, feeling her walls move, separate and close around his cock like a giant clam. Their grunts joined; Sedeka was wet with her own juices. He groaned as his cock grazed roughly in and out, trying to drive in as deeply as he could. The sheer pleasure drove him wild. Sedeka accommodated him brilliantly as she too moved with him, giving, encouraging, coaxing to him madness. He enjoyed her, relished her softness, her participation. She couldn't get enough. Sedeka wanted more, more, more.

Evek thought he could fuck Sedeka till the next day without pausing, so deep and satisfying was the pleasure he got from pushing his engorged flesh deeply in and out of her soft body. When he screamed, Sedeka screamed too.

Minutes later, drowsy yet still aroused, he lifted Sedeka again. He held the sides of her head, looked deeply into her eyes. Her hands were already on his cock, coaxing it to painful hardness. Her lips were inviting, two doors to an entrance that promised soft, moist heat...

"Open your mouth, Sedeka…"

Evek lifted her to her knees as she complied and in the next moment, he pushed his cock slowly, languorously into her waiting mouth. He emitted a long, keening howl as he moved past her teeth that scraped him, grazed her tongue that lapped at his underside, moving past her tongue and traveling, going deeper and deeper into moist depths. Sedeka held his buttocks and pulled him closer to her. "Oh, the spirits, Sedeka, I want to vanish forever into you…" he moaned softly as he gave a final push and lodged himself to the hilt. He closed his eyes, the intense pleasure riding in lazy curls through his body, the urge to fuck her mouth so hard that she could only beg for mercy by pulling him even closer, only temporarily stayed so that she could shift and position her neck, craning it in such a way that the tip of his cock slipped over her gullet.

Sedeka grabbed his butt and gave him two hard pushes.

Evek screamed. She wanted him to ride her as hard as he did her vagina. He grabbed her hair and grunted with every thrust into her mouth. Evek was so crazed with pleasure that he lost all sense of who was in control. He knew distantly that Sedeka was fucking him, although he was doing all the work. She was not going to be the meek one in this hard and fast and elemental copulation. When he ejaculated down her throat, he swam in the darkness of embarrassment as Sedeka swallowed his cum. She sucked and sucked.

When at last she pushed him out of her mouth, she rose to her feet.

"I'm not finished, Evek," she said with a lazy drawl.

"Spirits, Sedeka," was all he could say before Sedeka pushed him with unexpected force on the floor so that he lay on his back, his cock again rock hard.

He laughed, but the laugh died as Sedeka straddled him and swiftly impaled herself on his waiting heat…

"Here, in this game, Evek, I am the master…"

***

The hour was late, but Gul Evek and Sub-Commander Sedeka were still deep in consultation. Their sex romp was put aside for the now more pressing task the sub-commander had been called to Evek's offices in the first place. Neither thought of the hours earlier when they rutted like animals and fed their heated hunger until they were exhausted. Now, Sedeka had been staring at the monitor for the last hour studying the data that scrolled endlessly. From time to time she would stop the scrolling, read and mull over what she had just read for long minutes.

Gul Evek stood at the adjacent monitor, looking scrumptiously at her, his mouth curving into a smile. He shook his head mentally as he turned his attention again to his console. There was no opportunity for him to feel aggrieved that Sedeka had put their rough copulation so quickly to one side. He was a man, and like a man, he wanted to female to remember at least a part of their intercourse, to establish it in her mind as a memory.

He didn't think he could lay claim to anything memorable of the two hours he had sex with her, nor could Sedeka lay any claims. In fact, he knew that any memory of what was good in intercourse invariably had at its core love, deep respect for the partner, a sharing of minds. With Sedeka there was none of that, so that the only claims he could ever make in future was that he did bed Sedeka, nothing more. She pleasured his body. For his more intellectual needs, he read a good book.

If Sedeka were searching for the right man, she would not find him among their own race. She was considered abhail as she herself stated earlier. He doubted seriously whether Sedeka would ever find such a man - one who would want her for more than her body. She had an incisive mind, was a brilliant engineer and tactician, but she inspired lust, not love.

Still, he did have a high regard for her in so far as her ability to be manipulative, seductive, pleasant with a deceptive and mean streak in her. She was a master, he gave her that due.

"Here is what the Cardassian Union wants you to do," he told her two hours ago.

"Ah, Evek, you did not come up with the idea for this mission yourself?"

Her words were an insult; they cut through him. The directive did come from higher up, and despite all his attempts to the contrary, Sedeka was quick to pounce on the fact that the idea had not been his own to start with.

"I was told to find the right person for the job. I thought of you," was his rejoinder.

"So, what is it I must do?"

Sedeka was suddenly business-like in her manner and voice. She had long smoothed her mane of hair, smoothed down her torn bodysuit and donned her armour over the suit. The boots were knee high and once again she was looking like a true Cardassian warrior. A warrior with a mission.

"The planet Dorvan V is your target. You are to proceed there before our armada moves in, and soften the locals."

Sedeka had given a knowing smirk. She understood very well what he meant by softening the locals. Still, Sedeka was exceptional, and she would employ her own unique brand of "softening up".

"To...ruffle a few feathers a bit before the finalisation of the Treaty, no doubt. They have their weaknesses, Evek. There's not a man or woman alive who is not vulnerable..."

She had given him a speculative look; he experienced a momentary anger and a return of the old urge to put a knife through her belly. She had been in control after he fucked her a few times. She had driven him to the edge of damnation, making him scream with hidden enjoyment. He hadn't wanted to let so much of himself go, but Sedeka...the bitch was royally in heat.

"You are right, Sub-Commander Sedeka."

He used her rank deliberately and sneered when her eyes flashed suddenly. There was an angry glint for only a moment, then it was gone. He was her senior in rank. He thrilled in reminding her of that from time to time, just to establish the order of rank between them. Now he stood watching her, grudgingly admiring her supreme concentration. Like most Cardassians, Sedeka had a photographic memory, and coupled with her ability to assimilate information and methodically analyse it, made her a formidable foe. He had been vindicated in his decision to select Sedeka and pledge to his superiors that it would be a successful mission.

"Anything yet?"

"Perhaps."

"Would Gul Evek be important enough to be informed?" He baited her. It was her duty to keep him informed.

Only then Sedeka looked up from her work and her elegantly ridged forehead deepened its frown. Her eyes though, were sharp as they fixed on him.

"Do you know my father's cousin Gul Gorek?"

Evek nodded. Gorek was a tyrant who neglected the culture of his race. He was coarse, uncouth and maniacal and, he strove to give the impression of Cardassian class.

"Yes, I know of him," Evek replied.

"Then you also know that - "

"He has a Bajoran mistress."

"Nothing escapes you, it seems," Sedeka replied, her eyes lighting up. Evek sensed she approved of they way he kept abreast of events in the Union. "Her name is Adra Karan," Sedeka added.

Gul Evek wondered what Gul Gorek's mistress had to do with Sedeka's plans. He didn't know how Adra Karan could fit into her scheme.

"She has a son, Tor Karan, Cadet First Class at Starfleet Academy..."

It dawned instantly on Evek. There was the link Sedeka needed.

"He has spoken with his mother? How?"

"Do not worry too much about that, Gul Evek. He does not in fact, talk much, and only parts with information he believes is innocuous, that cannot be used. But here is something very interesting." Sedeka beckoned him to her own station and let him look at the monitor. Evek started at the face of a woman in the uniform of a Starfleet Captain. He knew the four rank pips on the collar of her shirt indicated that designation. A beautiful woman, he supposed, by Earth standards, but too pale. Was she a Caucasian? he wondered.

"Captain Kathryn Janeway, commanding officer of the USS Crimond..." Evek was not going to ask Sedeka how she had come by this information on the crew complement of the USS Crimond. Sedeka spoke again.

"Does her name ring a bell, Evek?"

"Their so-called covert mission to Bajor a year ago. She must have met with family of Adra Karan."

"That's possible, Evek..."

"But there's more," he guessed.

"Information is sketchy, but it was all I needed. We're looking for links, Evek. Look here..."

Sedeka scrolled down and stopped, her hand going to the screen.

"The boy spoke with his mother in the last month, Evek," she said triumphantly.

"You got this via Gul Gorek.." Evek stated blandly. Sedeka nodded.

The picture of Tor Karan appeared on the screen. Sedeka could have been an undercover agent, Evek thought. She was already doing such work... He knew she had this information somehow downloaded to their computers. This was additional to all information they had on Federation officers and political leaders, their advancements in technology and the like. If only Cardassia had those industrial replicators...

"Tor Karan is a senior cadet, and in his current semester he is studying Advanced Tactical Training."

"He's not your target."

"No, but his commanding officer is."

"Who is he?"

"Commander Chakotay, Native American from Earth. His family lives on Dorvan V."

"Ah..."

"There's more."

"So?"

"This was relayed via Tor Karan to his mother. The boy is stupid."

"I hope that whatever calamity you have in store for your...er...victims, will not be attributed to young Tor Karan..."

"You get soft in the head, Gul Evek. There is no time for sentiment."

He agreed with her, but young Karan reminded him of his own Soren... Soren...

"Tell me."

"Commander Chakotay is married to Captain Kathryn Janeway," Sedeka stated, her eyes taking on a malicious gleam.

"Commander Chakotay of the USS Ormskirk..." Gul Evek exhaled slowly when he realised what he was reading when he looked at the face of Chakotay in Starfleet uniform. "His people are the inhabitants of Dorvan V and he may have been the - ."

"- pilot of one of the Ormskirk's shuttles who was responsible for Soren's death..." Sedeka said, her voice a little more sympathetic.

Gul Evek shook his head slowly, then he looked at Sedeka. She had been clever, very, very clever. Soren's death, more than that of his two other sons lay closest to his heart. Soren most resembled his late mother - Soren who had the makings of a leader, of a Gul; Soren who had dreams like none of his children had. Yes, he was sorriest to lose Soren. He had affection for his remaining children as a father would, but he loved Soren.

Inside him the rage built up, a rage that was directed at Chakotay, at Kathryn Janeway, at Dorvan V. If he wanted to hurt the United Federation of Planets, then their most devoted servants would be his targets. So Evek justified acting on the death of his son, while his task for the Cardassian Union suddenly paled, though nonetheless still very present. He looked at Sedeka, stared at her in a long, penetrating gaze.

"You know what you must do, Sub-Commander Sedeka," he said calmly, dangerously.

"Yes, Gul Evek. I know just what to do..."

Sedeka turned again to the face on the screen, staring long and contemplative at the face of Chakotay.

"We need Dorvan V, Sub-Commander. By whatever means necessary, we'll see that Dorvan V will be in our hands..."

"Do not worry, Evek. I have all the means at my disposal to achieve our ends..."

****