After the U.S.S. Grissom's mission to Anzibar, which ended with Captain Norman Kenyon's death and Commander Mackenzie Calhoun resigning from Starfleet in disgust, Calhoun, the future captain of the U.S.S. Excalibur, roamed the galaxy, getting into no small degree of trouble. After one particular incident, Admiral Alynna Nechayev bailed Calhoun out in exchange for conscripting him to do occasional covert missions on behalf of Starfleet Intelligence -- all unofficial, of course. "Loose Ends" takes place during that time in Calhoun's life between Starfleet tenures, and also shortly after the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Pegasus."

The Romulan threw Calhoun into the brig.

He fell to the deck, rolling at the last second to avoid serious injury. Sitting up on the floor of the detention cell, he regarded the Romulan smiling at him from outside the brig as the centurion tossed a small satchel with Calhoun's personal belongings on the cell's small bunk.

"On your feet," another Romulan said as he entered the cell, carrying what Calhoun recognized as a standard-issue medikit. Extracting a tricorder, the Romulan doctor activated the device and pointed it in Calhoun's direction, no doubt searching for any illicit weapons or other items hidden on his person.

Take as long as you like, Calhoun thought.

"That will be all for now, Centurion," a new voice said, and Calhoun looked up to see two more Romulans staring back at him. One was dark-skinned, and even without the uniform insignia designating him as this ship's commander, Calhoun recognized Sirol instantly.

With the cell's forcefield now activated, Sirol waited for the guard to exit the room and the doors to close behind him before he said, "You are quite a long way from your home, Xenexian. From what I have heard, very few of your people elect to leave their home planet." The commander's voice possessed a pleasant, almost lyrical quality, yet Calhoun still detected the suspicion behind the words.

Standing next to Sirol, the other Romulan was examining a padd he carried in his right hand. "According to our sources, he is a former Starfleet officer who apparently left the service in disgrace, and since then has been known to take on various jobs, many of them of dubious legality, for the right price." Reviewing the padd again, he added, "My people have completed their inspection of the spy's vessel and turned up nothing. If he has anything of value to justify us not killing him, we have yet to find it."

Calhoun saw the first hint of a smile curling the corners of Sirol's mouth. "And his claims of working as a smuggler? What of those, Major Taelus?"

"I believe the line between smuggler and spy to be very thin, Commander," the other Romulan replied. "It is a distinction I waste little time making. His cargo holds are empty, and given that he has trespassed into our space from the Federation side of the border, I see no reason to belabor the point."

From the uniform insignia, Calhoun recognized that Taelus was an agent of the Tal Shiar, an organization feared throughout the Romulan Empire. So far this agent's behavior was consistent with the normal methods employed by the Empire's elite secret police. That much had been demonstrated even as Calhoun was escorted through the ship. He noted how members of the Terix's crew moved with deliberate purpose to clear a path for them, avoiding eye contact with Taelus and doing everything to avoid drawing his attention.

"If he is a spy," Sirol said, "then you will have plenty of time to interrogate him once our current mission is completed."

"That is another point of concern," Taelus replied. "The timing of his arrival strikes me as decidedly convenient. Considering the cargo we carry for the Praetor, we cannot be too careful."

Sirol turned to Calhoun. "Why were you trespassing in Romulan space?"

"Like I said," Calhoun replied, "I'm a freelancer. I've been running arms and other supplies for various Maquis cells for about a year now. I'm sure your real spies have been keeping you up to date on that state of affairs."

Described by many as nothing more than a ragtag group of renegades, the Maquis had been wreaking havoc along the Federation-Cardassian border in recent months in defiance of the oppression and cruelty many of them had suffered at the hands of the Cardassians. Among their growing numbers were sympathizers who had renounced Federation citizenships and taken up arms to support their comrades. Black marketers throughout the quadrant had quickly seen the situation's profit potential, and the providing of weapons, food, medical supplies, and other equipment for the various resistance cells had become a clandestine industry unto itself.

"And you're buying weaponry from a Romulan contact?" Taelus asked, making no effort to hide his disdain and distrust. "From whom?" When Calhoun said nothing after several seconds, Taelus stepped closer to the forcefield. "You will answer my questions, Xenexian, I promise you."

Calhoun smiled at the expected threat. "You need to work on your temper, Major. It can blind you in a dangerous situation if you lose control of it."

Beside him, the Romulan doctor finally finished his examination and deactivated his scanner. "He is free of disease or other contaminants, Commander, and I've found nothing hidden on his person or among his clothing or possessions." He indicated the innocuous collection of items emptied from Calhoun's pockets and the pouch on his belt.

"Thank you, Dr. Arnata," Sirol replied. He pointed to the scar on Calhoun's face. "Considering the advanced nature of modern medical technology, particularly that belonging to the Federation, I have to wonder why you choose to retain such an unsightly blemish."

"It's a reminder to never let my guard down," Calhoun replied. "Hard to forget when you look at it in the mirror every day."

Reaching for Calhoun's left arm, Arnata pushed the sleeve of the loose-fitting tan shirt up to his elbow, revealing another thick, puckered scar running half the length of his forearm. "Is this one also a reminder?"

"Yes, that things aren't always what they appear to be." Leaning closer to Arnata, Calhoun added, "That's good advice, you know."

The doctor snorted derisively, but any comment he might have made was forgotten as the ship's intercom blared to life.

"Commander Sirol, this is the bridge. Internal sensors have detected several systems activating aboard the smuggler's ship. We are reading a buildup in its warp core."

Alarm washed over the faces of the Romulans, and Calhoun stood fast as Sirol stepped so close to the cell that he nearly made contact with the forcefield. "What have you done?" When Calhoun said nothing, the commander tapped his communicator pendant. "This is Sirol. Get that ship out of my landing bay immediately."

The voice from the bridge responded, "Commander, we have already attempted to do so, but it has activated a tractor beam and used it to secure itself to the deck plating. Its deflector shields are also raised, preventing us from approaching the vessel."

"What can this spy possibly be doing from inside his cell?" Taelus asked, his voice incredulous.

"I'm brokering a deal," Calhoun replied before exploding into motion.

He lunged across the cell and seized Arnata from behind, wrapping a forearm around his throat and twisting the doctor's left arm up and behind his back. Arnata screamed at the painful attack as Calhoun maneuvered him toward the cell entrance.

Taelus leapt forward, drawing his disruptor from its holster at his waist. "Release him!" he shouted as he reached for the panel controlling the forcefield. He was reacting instinctively, just as Calhoun had hoped he would.

"Wait!" he heard Sirol shout. Perhaps, in an instant of clarity, he had understood what Calhoun was doing.

By then it was too late.

The forcefield blinked and dissolved as Taelus leveled his disruptor at Calhoun, but the Xenexian had already moved Arnata in front of him to block the major's aim. Then Calhoun shoved the doctor forward and into Taelus, and both Romulans were forced off balance and heaved into the nearby bulkhead. The agent's arms came up as he slipped and fell to the deck, and Calhoun grabbed for Taelus's disruptor, wrenching it free of the major's grip.

"Stop right there!" Calhoun shouted as he saw Sirol moving for the door. The Romulan froze in his tracks, by which time Calhoun had the disruptor and was aiming it at him.

"Sound the alarm!" Taelus hissed as he and Arnata scrambled to extricate themselves from the tangle of their arms and legs, but Sirol would never reach his communicator before Calhoun stopped him. There was no way to alert the guard still waiting just outside.

After relieving the three Romulans of their communicators and weapons, Calhoun waved the disruptor's muzzle toward the cell, motioning Taelus and Arnata into the small room. Once they were inside he keyed the control panel and the forcefield flared back into existence.

Turning his attention back to Sirol, Calhoun noted how the commander seemed to be studying him with equal parts astonishment and admiration. "An ingenious, if rather foolhardy, tactic," Sirol said. "What do you want?"

Calhoun allowed himself a small smile. "It's really very simple. You have weapons and other supplies I need. Give me what I want, or else I'll destroy your ship."

"You cannot be serious," Sirol said, a challenge in his tone.

By way of reply, alert klaxons sounded and the voice from the intercom spoke again.

"Commander, the vessel's warp core is continuing to increase its energy output. We believe it is on a buildup to detonation!"

"It will continue to build for several more minutes," Calhoun said, "at which time my ship's computer will wait for a command from me to overload. Do I sound serious now?"

Sirol said nothing for several seconds, and Calhoun could not really blame him for the shock he must be feeling. After all, it was quite uncommon for a single man, working alone, to incapacitate a warbird of the Romulan fleet. The very idea should have been preposterous.

As long as you buy it for the time being.

Holding up Sirol's communicator, Calhoun said, "Your science officer should be receiving a set of instructions at his station on the bridge right about now. They call for a detail of five crewmen to begin transferring weapons and equipment I've specified to my ship's cargo hold."

"All of this, just to obtain supplies?" Sirol asked, his voice a strangled whisper. Calhoun shrugged. "Desperate times, Commander. I also want you to order the rest of your crew to confine themselves to the cargo holds on the lowest levels. I don't want anyone in the corridors when we leave here. Follow my instructions and you have my word that no harm will come to your crew. If you don't, you have my word that I'll blow this ship straight to hell."

He could almost see the commander's mind racing even as Sirol accepted the communicator and issued the appropriate orders, searching for some method to counter the attack on his ship. His options were few, Calhoun knew, except perhaps ordering the destruction of the ship itself.

"Thank you, Commander," Calhoun said as Sirol completed issuing his orders and handed back the communicator. "This will all be over soon."

"You dare to extort from us?" Taelus snarled from inside the cell. "I will carve your heart from your chest with a cook's dulled blade, Xenexian." Naked fury laced every word, and so palpable was the hatred in the agent's eyes that Calhoun thought he might actually try to push through the forcefield.

Instead of replying, Calhoun turned his attention to the tricorder he had confiscated from Dr. Arnata. It took only a moment to remember how to operate the device before he entered a series of commands and the unit's scan functions engaged. The tricorder took only a few seconds to lock on to the object he was seeking.

Okay, he mused as the tricorder showed him the location of the top-secret phased-cloaking device. Now I just have to get to it.

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