15 – ‘Nail in the Horseshoe’

Star Trek: Cayuga

15 – ‘Nail in the Horseshoe’

By Jack Elmlinger

“… analyses conducted by the Starships Cayuga, Starsong, Warrior, and Atlantis seem to confirm the date of origin that Huang gave you.” The man had introduced himself but she hadn’t bothered to remember it. The only thing that distinguished from anyone else was his nondescript civilian gray suit on a space station full of Starfleet officers. “I wish to remind you, Commander, that the future represented by Mister Huang is only one of an infinite number of possibilities and not an assured series of events.” 

Davi zh’Tali sat sprawled out in her chair, staring at the featureless wall behind him. Her uniform jacket was unzipped, exposing her rumpled maroon shirt. 

“I expect that you understand that anything you learned from Mister Huang is considered top secret under Starfleet’s temporal protection policies. Do you need anything else from me?” 

zh’Tali’s gaze flickered to the man’s face and then towards the door. 

He shrugged and keyed the door open. A Starfleet officer stood waiting on the other side of the door. “Good luck,” the Temporal Affairs man muttered as he passed by. 

The Starfleet officer placed a stack of PADDS on the table and leaned over, offering her hand. “Commander zh’Tali, I’m — “

“Captain Gabriel Hunter, commanding officer of the starship Interceptor.” zh’Tali’s eyes suddenly focused on him, startling the captain into pulling his hand back. 

“Yes… well,” Hunter said, sitting down,” I was afraid that you wouldn’t remember me.” 

“I remember everyone involved with my duties.” The zhen roused herself, correcting her posture and visibly gathering her demeanor. “The last time that I heard, you and Interceptor acted as the public face of Project Damocles.” 

“The whole Borg Defense Initiative, really,” the captain corrected her distractedly, shuttling through the PADDs in search of a particular one.

zh’Tali smirked at him, a hint of sadism glinting in her eyes. “Yes, I imagine that you have had your work cut out for you since the Ishtar debacle. But then, you had a new Centaur class starship to break in after that.” 

Hunter looked up at her, sharply. “It isn’t polite to speak ill of the dead, zh’Siaak.” 

“zh’Tali and I warned Shelby at the inception of Damocles that it was a foolish venture.” 

Hunter pressed on, moving away from the argument that was trying to gain new life. “We’ve collected both the Borg drone and the assimilated officer accidentally transported back from the installation. Do you have anything to add to the official report?” 

“They were Borg and I killed them. The away team was evacuated and our last sensor readings indicated that the Cube was in the process of assimilating the space station. Given that it never fired at us, I assumed that they completed their task.” 

“Retreating was wise. There’s no way that your ship could have survived a battle against a Cube.” 

“I wasn’t in command at the time,” zh’Tali said coldly. 

“Fifty ships from the Seventh Fleet under Admiral Falconer searched the area. There was no trace of the Cube or the installation.” 

zh’Tali snorted at this statement with contempt. “That’s hardly surprising. They’re the Borg.” 

Hunter passed a PADD to her across the table. “Also, we analyzed the Cayuga’s sensor readings and matched the particular matter to that found in the drive manifolds of the shuttlecraft Garibaldi and of the starship Atlantis. We believe that the Cube you encountered was the same vessel that abducted the cultists from the Briner Nebula.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

After eight weeks of staring at the walls of the shuttlecraft Ivanova, Captain Jeanne Pozach found the tight corridors of Starbase Three-Nine-Five to be a welcome change. Hearing that her ship had encountered the Borg and that a member of her crew had been assimilated was far less than welcome. 

“You’re sure that it was the Borg?,” Pasko demanded to know. 

“No, Sean,” Aimee Maguire said dryly as she ran her fingers over the bandage that covered her forehead,” it was some other group of cybernetic aliens that flies around in giant cube-shaped ships.” She glanced over at the captain and caught her concerned expression. “I’m all right, really,” she lied to her. “It’s just… the Borg, Jeanne. There were Borg. Ntannu had only just gotten out of Sickbay and his leg’s still shattered. And Fuller…” 

“Assimilated. I know.” 

Down the corridor, a door slid open and Commander zh’Tali stepped out. She blinked, her only sigh of surprise, and said,” Captain, Lieutenant, welcome back.” 

“Commander,” Pozach said, cooly,” I would like to speak with you.” zh’Tali inclined her chin and fell into step with her. “Am I to understand that you’re responsible for Mbanu and Riker being in Sickbay?”

zh’Tali hesitated before she answered with a,” Yes, sir.” 

“Any particular reason?,” Pozach asked her, pointedly not looking at her. 

“Lieutenant Commander Riker removed me from the field of combat prematurely. I was… distraught.” 

Behind her, Maguire held a finger up to her temple and spiralled it. “Distraught? More like engaged. You hit poor Mbanu with the drone that she accidentally beamed aboard.” 

The Andorian ignored her. 

“I don’t care if you were distraught, enraged, or apathetic, Commander,” the Captain snapped at her. “You’re confined to quarters until I think of something better — “ She walked straight into Vasily Keitsev. 

For a moment, the five of them stood silent with each of them staring at each other in shock. 

Keitsev squawked and bolted down the corridor. 

“Get him!,” Pasko shouted, launching after him. zh’Tali quickly outpaced him immediately. Keitsev swerved around a corner, shoving a crew member out of the way and the First Officer vaulted over the obstacle. The former operations officer’s last thought before she collided with him was that he should have never come back to the Cayuga. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Harsh buzzing in his ears dragged Keitsev back to consciousness. “Where…?,” he gasped before his head exploded in pain. 

“Sorry about the head,” he heard someone say. “You really should watch out for those bulkheads.” 

“Pasko,” he hissed as he struggled to sit up before he took stock of the three men standing behind the energy barrier. “I’m on the Cayuga.” 

“When Station Security learned that you were one of ours, they were delighted to let us take custody of you,” Lieutenant Ntannu explained, leaning heavily on a cane. “What are you doing back here, Keitsev?” 

“Taking in the sights,” Keitsev said, squinting against the overhead lights. 

Pasko stepped up to the force field. “Now, Vasily, you’ve already been charged with the murder of Allison Cheney and the assault on Aimee, in addition to whatever else you did during the Buckingham incident.” He leaned forward, his brown hair levitating towards the force field. “You’re going to the stockades on Jaros II and the only time that you’ll see the stars is at night.

“But, maybe you don’t have to watch the century go by behind bars,” the pilot continued glibly before anger flashed across his face. “Why were you here on Starbase Three-Nine-Five? What’s its significance?” 

“Well, it was built before Starbase Three-Nine-Six, and after Starbase Three-Nine-Four. I think that’s pretty fantastic.” 

“Lieutenant,” Ensign Leung said gravely,” we believe that you are working with the Maquis.” 

Keitsev was about to open his mouth to respond, but the sound of the Brig doors opening interrupted him. Lieutenant Ntannu and Leung straightened up and Pasko stepped back uncomfortably. 

“Clear the room,” Commander zh’Tali ordered them. 

“I almost feel bad for you,” Pasko told the traitor as he followed Ntannu and Leung out the door.

“Hello, Mister Keitsev,” the Andorian said. “You and I are going to have a conversation.” 

Keitsev smirked at her. “You’re going to ask me what I was doing, over and over again, until I break?” 

A faint smile crossed her lips. “No.” 

She reached out and deactivated the force field that separated her from Keitsev. “Eight months ago, you asked me to teach you about war.” She stepped across the threshold and he backed up against the wall. “In interrogation, did you know that the Romulans use a device colloquially known as a ‘brain sifter’? They’re unfortunately lethal.” She began to pace the length of the cell. “Also, there are the Jem’hadar who are specifically bred as interrogators who are… quite efficient.” She stopped in front of the prisoner and peered down over him. 

“You can’t do this to me. I have rights.” 

zh’Tali smiled outright at him. “You’ve got rights. Lots of rights. But right now, there’s you, me, and a question. What were you doing on Starbase Three-Five-Nine?” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“ch’Eenar is going to attack a Cardassian world.” 

The declaration hung over the Situation Room. Pasko and Maguire sat with their arms folded identically across their chests. “I thought we put him away,” asked the engineer. 

Crumpled in his chair, Keitsev grimaced and rubbed his right shoulder. “We’re more resourceful than you think.” With a look prompted by zh’Tali, he continued quickly. “The components that I stole were meant to be for a shield enhancer. We wanted our ships to be as ready as possible.” 

“What ships?,” demanded Pasko. 

“ch’Eenar’s Peregrine class ships, two birds-of-prey and other ships.” The pilot started to demand more information but the prisoner held up a hand defensively. “Honestly, I don’t know what the other ships are.” 

“Where did you get the birds-of-prey from?,” Riker asked him, worry filled his voice.

“The Klingons don’t like the Cardassians any more than we do.” 

Pozach was unimpressed. “It’s more likely that you found a downtrodden Klingon house and paid them for the ships.” She folded her arms in front of her. “What sort of attack are we talking about here? Fly in and raze some colony like Laiat Prime?” 

“No, ch’Eenar secured never three and a half tons of cobalt dicelinide. I heard he tried to get a sample of a Cardassian bio-weapon but his contacts couldn’t come through for him.” 

“Cobalt dicelinide?,” Moru repeated, horrified. 

“Doctor?,” Pozach asked the Bolian, hoping for some clarification. 

“Cobalt dicelinide is a biogenic weapon. It’s mostly harmless to humanoids like you and me, but it’s lethal to the Cardassians or anything that evolved on Cardassia Prime. Death usually occurs within four to five hours.” He paused, thinking for a moment. “Three and a half tons of the stuff could be diluted into more than enough to poison the atmosphere of an entire planet in only a few hours.” 

The eyes of the senior staff shifted towards Keitsev. “That … was the idea,” he told them. “The tanks were mounted onto a ship, a large shuttlecraft or something of the sort. Once it’s inside the atmosphere, the controlled detonation of the fusion reactors spreads the chemical across an area of several thousand miles in a few seconds.” 

“When and where??,” the captain prompted him, quietly. 

“I don’t know,” he whispered to her. 

“Come on, Lieutenant!” 

“He does not know,” zh’Tali repeated dryly. 

“Then we’re dead,” Maguire said, with the thoughts of innocent dead Cardassians filling her mind. 

Pozach cleared her throat. “Fine. Mister Ntannu, return the prisoner to the Brig. Everyone is dismissed.” She laid a hand on zh’Tali’s shoulder. The room emptied out and she slowly turned to her right. “Didn’t I confine you to your quarters?,” she asked her as the commander stared straight ahead. “I don’t want to know what you did to get that information, but it’s unacceptable. We’re citizens of the Federation and Starfleet officers. We don’t … brutalize… prisoners.” 

“Of course,” the Commander said quietly,” I’m sure that if we just talked to Keitsev and filled him up with visions of buttercups and rainbows, he would’ve come around to our side and mend his evil ways.” She paused in thought for a moment. “In several months, much sooner than that, ch’Eenar is going to launch a biogenic attack that could kill untold millions, if not, billions of people. I believe that an argument can be made for… expediency.” 

Pozach clamped down on her anger. “Your quarters. Don’t leave them. You’re relieved of duty until further notice.” 

zh’Tali stood and marched out of the Situation Room. pozach watched her leave and ran a hand through her hair. She walked over to her Ready Room and punched a few commands into the terminal on her desk. After a short delay, Tracy Royal appeared on her monitor screen. 

“What can I do for you, Captain?” 

“Ensign,” Pozach said,” we’ve received some information that the Maquis operative known as ch’Eenar is planning a biogenic attack on a Cardassian world. I asked Mister Riker but he wasn’t a member of the Maquis for very long.” 

Royal’s face fell at this line of questioning. “I see… and you want to know how he’s going to do it.” 

“And where.” 

“I don’t know how much help I can be, Captain. I wasn’t in ch’Eenar’s cell and I probably wouldn’t have heard about him if he hadn’t been so… aggressive in promoting himself.” 

“Meaning?” 

“You have to understand, Captain. When we — the Maquis — went above ground with our activities before the war, it wasn’t about killing Cardassians. It was about freeing our worlds from Cardassian fascism with the only way that we had left to us after the Federation abandoned us.” She shook her head. “As the fight carried on, we started getting more and more people who cared more about combat and slaughter than liberation and justice. Then the Cardassians joined the Dominion and the Jem’hadar came.” Royal shuddered at that thought. “Wait, you said biogenic weapons?” 

Pozach nodded. 

“Michael Eddington was the only one brave enough to use biogenics. Theoretically, he turned over everything when he was arrested but a good hero doesn’t show his entire hand.” Royal thought for a moment and it seemed to Pozach that she had once admired the former Starfleet security officer-turned-Maquis freedom fighter. “When attacking a target, any target, you have to remember that the Maquis will be outnumbered and outgunned. The only time that we fielded significantly more ships than the Cardassians was when we bushwhacked Gul Evek’s Galor class cruiser.”

“So Cardassia Prime is out?,” Pozach asked her. 

“Too big and too well-defended,” she agreed with her. “He’ll pick a weaker target but one that’s still of value. Anything less would be a waste of personnel and resources.” 

Pozach frowned before she said, slowly. “Iannar.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Captain, Atlantis and the Starsong are in position. Warrior and Patseyev are to be estimated, two minutes away.” 

Pozach glanced down at the display in the arm of her chair. The five starships had fallen into far orbits around Iannar, hoping to head off ch’Eenar’s attack before it reached the planet. 

“Incoming call from Shendo,” Riker announced from Ops. “It’s Governor Rusek.” 

“On screen.” The view shifted away from the small fleet of cargo ships in orbit of Iannar III to a lavish office. “Governor Rusek,” she said,” I see that you’ve done quite well for yourself since we last talked.” 

Rusek smiled at her and adjusted his fashionable suit. “I must thank you, Captain. You have a Ferengi’s ears for business. With an opportunity like ours, Iannar had been able to profit greatly from the assistance of the Sr’khymer’arni.” 

“I’ll take that in the spirit that it was intended. Our ships are in position.” 

Rusek nodded. “We’ve moved the civilian population into shelters and I’ve been told that the Sr’khymer’arni have done the same.” 

“Captain,” Riker said, interrupting them,” the Warrior reports a sensor contact with a Peregrine class vessel.” He frowned and pressed his ear plug closer to his ear. “It’s gone. Apparently, it’s cloaked.” 

Pozach closed the channel to Governor Rusek. “All ships are to maintain position. They’re just trying to spook us into breaking the blockade.” 

“More ships are decloaking. Two Birds-of-Prey and the Peregrine class courier. They’re attacking the Patseyev!” The main viewscreen shifted views to show the old Excelsior class starship’s shields flaring under the assault of emerald-and crimson-hued energy blasts. 

Pasko glanced back worriedly at the captain but she muttered,” Feint.” The ships finished their pass, swinging away and wavering from sight. “Cayuga to Patseyev,” she said. “What’s your status?” 

“Our shields are down to forty-four percent,” Captain Talmadge’s voice answered her. “Damage is contained to our primary sensor array and we’re working off of our secondary array now. We’ll live, Jeannie.” 

The channel closed and Pozach leaned forward, steepling her fingers. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Commander zh’Tali paced her quarters like a caged animal. Through the large windows, she could see flares of shields and torpedoes exploding. “Computer, show strategic display,” she said, approaching her desk. 

The computer chirped its response. “Unable to comply. All command-level functions from this terminal have been disabled by Captain Jeanne Pozach.” 

“Of course, they have,” the Andorian zhen growled as she sat down. “Override command lockout, authorization zh’Tali-omega-foxtrot-four-eight-three.” 

The screen obligingly changed to an orbital view of Iannar III and the five starships orbiting around it. As she watched, an icon representing a Maquis ship appeared on the screen and opened fire on Atlantis. The other Starfleet ships stubbornly held their positions as the Intrepid class starship fought back but the cloaking device-equipped ships were as elusive as smoke. She heard Riker report limited damage to the Atlantis and Pozach ordered Captain Wintamaba to maneuver her ship back into position. 

She understood the tactic immediately. The Maquis were avoiding the heavier-armed Starsong in favor of the weaker Patseyev and Warrior. They were offering them a choice. Break the blockade to defend the small ships or allow them to be destroyed.

zh’Tali folded her arms and waited. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Contact!,” Riker yelled. “The Warrior’s starboard shields have been weakened — “ The ship rocked and he continued his report,” Now they’re on us!” 

“Shields are down by seven percent,” Maguire reported from the engineering console. “We got off light.” 

Pozach watched the viewscreen with ice in her eyes. “Pasko, fire at will.” 

The helmsman shook his head. “They’ve cloaked again.” 

Seconds of silence stretched into minutes and Pasko shifted in his chair. Riker glanced around the Bridge and Maguire rapped her fingers on her console while the captain waited for the Maquis to make their next move. 

On the viewer, a brilliant red star appeared and sailed towards the Patseyev. The older ship twisted away as best as it could, dodging most of the incoming salvo. “Nice move,” Pasko whispered underneath his breath. Across the star system, the big starship dove and rolled as three raiders hounded her, returning phaser fire sporadically. He winced as an emerald disruptor bolt penetrated the shields and blackened the white hull plating of the port nacelle pylon. 

Maguire frowned. “They aren’t cloaking.” 

As another weapons blast struck the Patseyev, Pozach triggered her combadge. “Starsong, break formation and defend the Patseyev.” Immediately, the Excelsior class starship rolled away from her position, spitting a dozen torpedoes at the raiders. The Maquis ships scattered and slipped into invisibility for a moment before they reappeared briefly for another pass at the Patseyev. 

“Order the Starsong to continue to engage the Maquis,” Pozach said. “Have Patseyev fall back to our position while the Warrior, Atlantis and the Cayuga — “

“Atlantis reports that one Danube class runabout decloaking on the far side of Iannar and it’s running for the planet!,” Riker interrupted her. 

“There’s the attack. Redirect all ships after the runabout. Pasko, get us after them.” 

Cayuga raced along the horizon of Iannar III. The Patseyev matched their course but fell behind as Pasko called up the full speed of the impulse engines. As he watched, the sensors showed the runabout dancing just above the atmosphere, corkscrewing to avoid a phaser strike from the Warrior. 

Suddenly the temperature in the upper atmosphere spiked upward. “Oh, God,” Pasko whispered. 

“Royal to Cayuga.” The urgency in her voice told him that she had seen it too. 

“I see it, Royal,” he answered her, manipulating the viewscreen to display the source of the heat. It came from a single freighter falling out of orbit. 

“The runabout was another feint,” Pozach said, realizing it too late. 

“The ship is the NAC-30724, a Sydney class passenger transport vessel,” Riker read the sensor report from his board. “It’s been making relief runs, courtesy of the Federation Rescue Aid Society for eight months now, the last twenty days out of Iannar III.” He glanced up. “It’s already in the atmosphere.” 

“Then we can’t shoot them down,” Maguire said. “If we can’t get a direct hit at the warp core, then we can’t be sure that the explosion will wipe out the biogenic agents.” 

Pozach stood up from her seat and leaned over Pasko’s shoulder. “Take down their shields. An away team can beam over and capture the vessel.” 

“Phasers are going to be less than two-third effective due to atmospheric blooming,” Maguire said, nervously as she ordered Zehna to assemble a team in the transporter room. “I’m also detecting a transport inhibitor so beaming over there won’t be possible beyond a range of six hundred meters.” 

“Given the projected course and speed,” Riker interjected,” the Sydney class transport will impact upon a Sr’khymer’arni settlement in seven minutes.” 

“Sean,” the Captain said, gritting her teeth,” take us into the atmosphere.” 

Pasko’s fingers moved over his console as he said over his shoulder. “I feel obliged to point out that this class of ship wasn’t designed for hazardous atmospheric travel. She’ll break apart.” 

“She’ll hold together,” the Chief Engineer boasted, altering the shape of the shields and increasing power to the structural integrity fields. The ship began to vibrate and a panel high up on a wall popped loose and clattered to the ground. “Come on, baby, hold together,” she muttered underneath her breath, patting the edge of her console, lovingly. 

“I’ve got a weapons lock,” Pasko cried out. “Firing!”

“Aimee, get down to the transporter room,” the Captain ordered as she returned to her seat. “I want you to lead the away team over to the transport. Capture it, disable the biogenic weapon, the transport inhibitor, and then place the ship in orbit.” 

Maguire swallowed down her fear. “Yes, sir,” she said and as she headed for the doors at the back of the Bridge, she called out,” Time?” 

“Five minutes and fifty seconds,” the Ops officer reported. 

“We’re being targeted,” Pasko said as the doors closed behind Aimee. “It’s ch’Eenar’s Peregrine.” 

The deck dropped away as two photon torpedoes exploded against the shields. Pasko’s white-knuckle grip kept him in his chair but Pozach and Riker had to haul themselves back up into their seats. Blood tickled down the captain’s right temple. “This is going to make it damned hard to beam the team over there,” muttered the helmsman. 

“Focus on the transport’s shields,” Pozach said, panting as the pain began to catch up with her. “ch’Eenar is… trying to keep us away from it.” 

The Cayuga screamed through the sky like a burning meteor, bearing relentlessly down on the death of an entire planet. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Lieutenant Maguire grabbed the doorframe of the transporter room as the violence of the ship’s vibrating under atmospheric conditions increased. 

“Listen up!,” she yelled at the five officers assembled before her. “We have less than five minutes to board, capture, and disable a Maquis freighter before it destroys a Sr’khymer’arni settlement and poisons the entire planet.” Leaning against the wall for balance, she snapped her tool pouches and a phaser to her belt. “We’ve only got one shot at this. Leung, D’sal, and Baskins, I need you to secure the ship and get it onto another course, one that doesn’t intersect with the ground. There may be some Maquis aboard and we don’t have time to be nice — that means fire first, ask questions later. Zehna, Hollenbeck, and I are going to find and disable the biogenic weapon.” 

She looked at her team and forced away her fear. “We can do this.” 

“I’m sure that you can.” 

Startled, Maguire turned to see Commander zh’Tali. She opened her mouth to ask,” Didn’t Pozach bust you down to Ensign–?,” but her fist knocked her down to the floor, unconscious. The Andorian snatched the phaser rifle from D’sal’s hands and cracked it over the back of Zehna’s hands, dropping him. She moved between the other crew members, the ship’s rumble adding to her dance.

Leung tried to pin her from behind but a quick elbow to gut knocked him down. She spun with the force of the blow, crushing Leung and Hollenbeck underneath her attack. D’sal threw a punch that she caught, breaking the Napean’s wrist, and leveled him down to the floor. Behind the transporter console, Petty Officer Mbanu fell after a quick blow to the face. 

zh’Tali stood among all of the injured people and readied the transporter. She triggered the countdown and while still clutching D’sal’s phaser rifle, she stepped onto the transporter pad. A moment later, she dissolved into glimmering silver-blue light. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“We’re five hundred meters away from the transport,” Pasko announced. “ch’Eenar is keeping his distance for the moment. I’m ready.” 

Riker’s gaze was fixed on his readouts. “Transporter room reports ready.” 

“Novack, boost the structural integrity fields,” the captain ordered the replacement engineer. “Our shields will be down for eight seconds during transport. Mister Riker, tell the away team that they can go.” Silently, she crossed her fingers. 

Cayuga bucked horribly as the atmospheric turbulence crashed directly against the hull. The ship screamed with imagined pain as the hull plated on the leading edge of the saucer section began to slough off. Pasko fought his console and gravity’s pull but the damage from the atmosphere and phaser blasts from on high slammed the ship to starboard and down… Dreadfully down…

“Transporters are down and shields are back up!” 

“Damage report!,” Pozach barked up above the din. 

“Hull breaches on Decks Three, Four, and Five,” Novack said desperately, scanning the master systems display. “Deck Seven, too. The second torpedo hit our port impulse engine, damaging the fusion reactor. It’s offline.” He frowned at the data in front of him. “The reactor is going critical. I’m shutting it down and dumping the fusion piles.” 

“Captain, the transporter room is calling for you.” 

“Put it on.” 

There was silence for a moment. “Jeanne?” 

“Aimee?,” Pozach asked, leaning forward. “Why aren’t you on the transport?” 

“zh’Tali… She.. beat us up… Transported out…” 

“Riker, raise her!,” Pozach snapped at him. 

“She’s not wearing a combadge. Detonation in two minutes and forty seconds.” 

Pozach watched the Sydney class transport on the viewscreen and swore in Vaskan.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

A quick glance around the Bridge of the Sydney class vessel told zh’Tali that any hope of altering the ship’s course had been in vain since the navigation and piloting systems had been removed entirely. She found a single man in the engine room and dispatched him quickly. Strapped to the fusion reactors were the tubes of biogenic material and the Andorian estimated that two minutes remained before the ship reached the Sr’khymer’arni settlement, but she had done many more important things  than this in less time than that. 

Commander Davi zh’Tali, First Officer of the USS Cayuga, signed her phaser rifle on the dilithium chamber of the ship’s warp core and fired. That was when the darkness finally took hold of her for the last time. 

The End… 

14 – ‘Meanings and Endings’

Star Trek: Cayuga

‘Meanings and Endings’

By Jack Elmlinger

The hatch of the shuttlecraft opened up and Jeanne Pozach stepped out onto the smooth blue stone of Intooine for the first time in eighteen years. Behind her, Sean Pasko shouldered his bag, breathing in deeply before gagging.” The atmosphere’s really thick here,” he said, choking.

“You’ll get used to it,” Pozach said distractedly, her eyes scanning over the perpetually shadowed landing field. 

Pasko squinted into the gloom. “Who are the humanoids?,” he asked her, indicating the bipedal aliens in the distance. 

“They’re Vaskans.” She sighed. “They won’t come close to us. They don’t like strangers or technology that they can’t sense.” 

“I thought they knew you?” 

“Not anymore.” She glanced at him apologetically. “It’s improper for us to attempt to leave without an escort.” 

Pasko plopped down onto the short, spiky grass. “Great.” They waited in silence for what seemed like a very long time before Pozach stirred. 

“There.” 

A Human strode towards them across the plateau. Pozach left her bag and rushed over to meet him, clutching him in a tight hug. “Chris,” she said,” how are you?” 

“I’ve been better,” he admitted with a smile. “Loch’etid and Rah’Meto send their greetings.” 

“I thought they wouldn’t actually come over.” 

“You’ve been gone for too long,” Chris reproached her, noting her bitterness. “You know how they are.” 

Pozach turned to Pasko. “Chris, this is my friend and Aloxim-tem, Sean Pasko. Sean, this is my cousin, Chris Pozach.” 

“Glad to meet you.” 

“Thank you for coming,” Chris responded politely. 

“Where is the Rictara being held?,” the captain asked as he led them from the landing field. 

Chris shook his head. “There’s no time for the formal welcoming, Jeanne. If you could have come sooner…” 

“There’s no fast way across the Federation, Chris. We came as quickly as we could.” 

“Almost three weeks at Warp Five to get to Bilana II. Then we had another week on that new soliton trade route,” PAsko enthused. “But I’ll tell you. I’ve never seen a shuttlecraft try to do Warp Nine-point-Seven before. In fact– “

“Sean,” Pozach said quietly. 

Pasko looked over with confusion before he lapsed into silence. 

“I’ll go prepare her,” Chris said and lengthened his stride. 

As they crested over the hell, Pozach’s steps became smaller and slower. She said softly,” My grandparents were some of the original colonists here. Intooine was a joint venture between Humans and Vaskans to facilitate cultural exchange. We share a lot of traditions,” — she sighed — ,” including the Aloxim. Your role is to listen, to remember, and to keep a testament of what’s said.” 

Pozach paused at the front steps of one of the houses. She brushed her fingers against the railing before shaking her head. They stepped inside and she led them down a long hallway, glancing furtively at the framed photographs that lined it. Chris stood next to the door at the end of the hallway. He nodded to his cousin and with a quiet growl from the bottom of her throat, she gripped the doorknob, twisted it, and stepped inside. 

It was dark. Thick curtains covered the windows and a thin, frail woman lay in bed, her dark skin sallow. Pozach stepped up stiffly to the foot of the bed and Pasko stood against the wall. 

“Hello, Mother.” 

“Jeanne,” the woman said,” you came.” 

Pozach took a steadying breath and began to speak by rote. “As you prepare yourself to leave this life behind you, I remind you that your time has not been wasted. My accomplishments are yours.” She gazed at the ceiling and continued her recitation. “Fourteen years ago, I graduated seventy-eighth in my class from Starfleet Academy with a specialization in Diplomacy and Federation Law. Three years later, I was assigned as a liaison to the Federation Council. At the end of the Dominion War, I was assigned by Starfleet as First Officer and later as Captain of the USS Cayuga.” 

“Why are you so formal?,” her mother asked her, struggling against her sheets to sit up. 

Pozach’s mouth twitched at her question. “I’m doing as the Aloxim requires.” 

Her mother smiled weakly. “I think that we’re beyond simply following the letter of the ritual.” 

“Why?,” Pozach  snapped at her, her carefully-maintained poise shattering and her words falling from her lips like shards of glass. “What do you think this is? Some perfect world where loving daughters rush home to embrace their dying mothers? This is no utopia. In a utopia, governments don’t addict others to crushing psychotropic drugs in order to deaden their will to resist oppression. In a utopia, innocent people aren’t killed because a madwoman believes that their entire species is evil. In a utopia, people don’t steal food from the mouths of children in order to make a profit. In a utopia, wars don’t leave hundreds of millions dead!”

In a utopia,” she continued through her sudden tears,” fourteen-year old girls aren’t beaten and raped by their fathers while their mothers stand by and do nothing… and nineteen-year old women don’t run away all the way to Earth after killing their fathers.”: 

“But,” her mother whispered helplessly,” you were our perfect girl.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Pasko sat on the edge of a cliff, his legs dangling over the edge. The horizon began to warm with dawn’s morning glow, and as he watched amazed, drops of rain flew up into the sky. 

He glanced up as Captain Pozach sat down heavily next to him. The tears on her face mixed imperceptibly with the rain. 

“Jeanne, I…” 

“Don’t say anything,” she said, interrupting him. “Just don’t talk.” 

The End…

13 – ‘Deus Ex Machina’

Star Trek: Cayuga

13 – ‘Deus Ex Machina’

By Jack Elmlinger

Commander zh’Tali stared into her cup of coffee. 

It had been forty-eight hours since Captain Pozach and Lieutenant Pasko had departed the ship by shuttlecraft to parts unknown. “Shore leave,” the captain had said for the reason of her absence. 

Forty-eight days of delivering supplies to Cardassian worlds. Forty-eight days of long shifts on the Bridge, watching the stars slip by as absolutely nothing of importance happened. 

Command had never held her interest since she preferred to work alone or, if forced, as part of a small group. Having over eighty people dependent on her orders had caused her to make changes that she didn’t like. Her humiliating battle with Stavek had shown her how crippled she had come as a result. 

The pretense wore on her. 

zh’Tali dropped her mug off at the replicator and walked out into the corridor. The crew members that passed by her nodded in greeting and she acknowledged them, feeling docile. She reached the turbolift and waited. Seconds stretched out into minutes and she turned away, impatient. The Bridge was four decks above her which was an easy climb through the Jefferies tubes. She crouched to open a hatch, stopping in mid-motion when she noticed the text stamped upon it. 

“‘No matter where you go, there you’?,” she read, and a small malicious smile crept across her face. “zh’Tali to Maguire. Meet me in the Situation Room now. We need to talk.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Only bad things can come of this,” Aimee Maguire muttered as the situation door opened before her. Commander zh’Tali was waiting for her, tal and severe. That was when the chief engineer hoped that she hadn’t heard her comment. 

“I found a peculiar phrase on a Jefferies tube hatch,” the commander told her. “Further investigation revealed several more between the Mess Hall and the Bridge.” 

“Graffiti?” 

“Doubtful,” the Andorian said as she picked up a PADD and read,” ‘No matter where you are, there you are’. ‘Three hundred thousand kilometers per second, it’s not just a good idea, it’s the law’. ‘Your mileage may vary, of course’. ‘Caution: objects in the mirror are closer than they appear’. ‘A stitch in time saves nine’. ‘In space, no one can hear you scream.’”

“Oh,” Maguire said with understanding,” they’re little gags that the Antares Shipyards crew have put in for the last hundred years. You should see the one underneath the master systems display in Engineering. It has ‘A duck in the shuttle’ on it.” 

“How many are there?” 

Maguire shrugged. “The Chief Engineer before me, Stern, once said that there are somewhere around a hundred and forty of them. I’ve only found sixty-three of them myself. There’s a list posted in the Toy Room.” 

zh’Tali sat down at the table. “I want them removed,” she said, dismissively while reaching for another PADD. 

“But they’re such neat little –” 

“… can come of this,” Maguire muttered as she walked through the Situation Room door. 

“What the hell?!,” the Maguire closest to zh’Tali yelled.

zh’Tali eyed the doppelganger carefully. “Security, Intruder alert. Report to the Situation Room immediately.” The two Maguires stared at each other with matching flabbergasted expressions and …

zh’Tali stared into her mug of coffee. 

It had been forty-eight days since Captain Pozach and Lieutenant Pasko had departed the ship by shuttlecraft for parts unknown. “Shore leave,” the captain had said. 

Wait a minute.

zh’Tali shook her head and the other officers in the Mess Hall looked at each other with confusion. 

“Maguire to zh’Tali.” 

zh’Tali tapped her combadge. “Proceed. 

“Are you about to yell at me?” 

“I don’t have any particular cause to,” – she frowned – ,” although I feel that I should.” 

“Duly noted, Commander. How about I just consider myself yelled at?” 

“Probably safe,” she said, standing up. “Bridge, go to Yellow Alert and — “

“Commander!,” someone yelled. zh’Tali twirled around to see a confused Sr’khymer’arni Paici glance around and then disappear. 

At least, now things were interesting. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“The effect has been reported as far out as Cardassia Prime,” Thomas Riker reported to the Senior Staff,” with such effects beyond our range of perception extending much further than that. Mapping reveals that the effect had spread out in a spherical fashion from a point, sixteen lightyears from our present position.” The Senior Staff sat around the table in the Situation Room, accepting the information as the operations officer reported it. 

“So what is it?,” Ntannu asked. 

“An effect of temporal manipulation,” Brandon Hobbes said quietly, with his eyes fixed to his PADD. The Andorian zhen resisted the urge to rip it from out of his grasp and beat him with it. “It was first categorized by Doctor Paul Mannheim. The effect is distinguished by a sort of temporal ripple.” 

“People and objects are displaced back and forth in space-time by minutes or hours,” Riker said, looking at zh’Tali. “There was a report of this happening aboard my brother Will’s ship back in 2364.” 

“More than that,” Maguire said. “I got out of the shower and found Sam in my quarters. He hasn’t been aboard for months.” 

“It could have been a Dixon from the future rather than the past,” Hobbes suggested. “Was his hair cut differently? What sort of uniform was he wearing?” 

“Uh..,” the engineer’s cheeks reddened at this type of questioning.

“So what are we supposed to do about this?,” Doctor Moru demanded to know. 

“We are the closest starship to the epicenter of this event,” zh’Tali told them. “As such, Admiral sh’Diaar has ordered us to investigate. Mister Hobbes, I want you to continue analyzing the effect.” 

Hobbes nodded at her order. “I’m working with Commander Malstrom over subspace. We think that we can determine how far into the future or the past that this phenomenon originates from examining the duration of the effects.” 

Riker cracked a smile. “I guess we’ll all be talking to the Department of Temporal Affairs after this one, huh?” 

“Mister Riker,” the First Officer of the Cayuga said slowly,” you are making me angry. You would not like me when I am angry.” 

“Hell, we don’t like you when you’re happy,” Maguire muttered under her breath. 

zh’Tali let the comment slide. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“How the hell did we miss that?,” Aerru spoke up from the helm. 

zh’Tali leaned forward, squinting at the object on the viewscreen. It was shaped like a thick snowflake with hundreds of lines etched out onto its golden hull. “Operations?” 

Riker was frowning over his instruments. “Interesting sensor returns,” he commented. “I can’t get a read on a specific power source but it’s pumping out a hell of a lot of energy. Given that it’s so close to our supply route, I can’t believe that no one’s seen it before and I’m not picking up a cloaking device. The outer hull is composed of a cobalt-neutronium alloy. I can’t get any good readings on the interior, due to the interference from the hull and the power core.” He paused in his recitation of the sensor readings. “But I am picking up one lifeform.” 

Standing up from the command chair, the First Officer announced,” Lieutenant Ntannu and Maguire are to report to the Armory, each with a second. Mister Riker, you have the Bridge.” 

She stepped into the Armory just ahead of Maguire and Newberry. Ntannu and Fuller passed them Type-II phasers and went back to checking out their phaser rifles. zh’Tali laid out a hand phaser, a phaser rifle, and her kar’takin, making her own preparations. 

“What are our objectives?,” Maguire asked her as she wrapped her long braid behind her head and pinned it into place. 

“Reconnaissance,” the commander said, stripping off her uniform. “We have no proof of hostile intent but we need to determine what the lifeform is doing here.” Nweberry, Ntannu, and Fuller had turned away to protect her modesty as she pulled on her black combat suit with a smirk. “Lieutenant Maguire, you and Ensign Newberry will determine the installation’s purpose. Remember that Starfleet regulations are to be adhered to at all times. If we find temporarily displaced personnel or technology, each of you are to consider that knowledge to be held in the — in the utmost — “

Her voice trailed off at the sight of her kar’takin. Its blade shattered and shards of it scattered across the floor. She lifted it in disquieted awe. 

“Commander?” 

The weapon was whole again and she pulled her eyes from it. “Utmost secrecy. We must minimize the contamination of our timeline.” Wary of the axe, she holstered her weapons and turned to face her team. “Move out to the transporter room.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

They materialized into a cathedral. 

Lieutenant Maguire gazed up at a ceiling that arched over them at six hundred feet above. The walls were made of an elegant bronze, gilded with good in intricate patterns that chased each other out of sight. 

“I think it’s got its own weather control system up there,” Crewman Fuller whispered. 

“The lifeform is in the next chamber,” Ntannu said, holding out his tricorder in front of him. “The target is a Human male. I’m reading some kind of augmentation device in the cerebral cortex, function unknown.” 

zh’Tali lifted up her rifle. “Mister Ntannu, you and Fuller are with me. Engineers, follow us when the room is secure.” 

Maguire knelt next to the door, working her tricorder across the keypad. She tapped the largest button and all three hundred feet of the door dropped down into the floor, releasing a tremendous rush of air. The commander frowned at the noise and quickly stepped across the threshold. 

A male humanoid stood at a control console whose height was as tall as three body-lengths. He was altering circuits at a frenzied pace. 

“Identify yourself! State your business and purpose on this installation,” zh’Tali barked at him. The man looked up in surprise. While he was clearly a member of Starfleet, but his uniform was markedly different from their own with black trousers complimenting a yellow tunic and a hollow arrowhead mounted against a pair of trapezoids that made up his combadge. Three gold pips were lined up across his right clavicle and he made the Andorian uneasy. “Do you understand me?” 

“Captain Maguire?,” he asked, surprised. “I had no idea that I’d find you here. Quickly, I need your help.” 

“Say what?” 

Irritation rolled in zh’Tali’s eyes. “Help you with what, exactly?” 

The man looked at her as if he was seeing her for the first time. “To get the artifact into working order so that we can use it.” 

zh’Tali motioned for Maguire and Newberry to step forward. “Examine his equipment and the console.” She consciously lowered her weapon. “Who are you and what does this device do?” 

“I’m Commander Leonard Huang of the Federation Remnant ship Paradise. The year that I departed from was 2411,” — Huang raised his chin up defiantly — ,” and this device will ensure that my timeline will never occur.” 

“That’s a silly plan,” Maguire muttered as she pulled a massive access panel off of the console. “You can’t eliminate a timeline because whatever you do will only create another parallel universe. The first one will still exist. You just won’t be in it.” 

Huang frowned at her. “That’s not what you said when you sent me here, Captain.” 

“Why do you keep calling me ‘Captain’?,” she asked him. 

“Because…,” Huang said with a look that spoke to the truth of his statement,” … you’re the Captain.” 

“What is the nature of the future that you wish to eliminate?,” zh’Tali asked dangerously. 

“In my time, the entire Beta Quadrant and most of the Alpha Quadrant has been overrun and assimilated by the Borg.” 

“Yours is one of many possible futures.” 

“They came at us with just one Cube but Starfleet was confident because the Borg Defense Initiative had made great leaps in defensive technology. More than seven hundred starships met the Cube in the Symoy system and… it was horrible. Every innovation — the sensor masking, the transphasic torpedoes, the deployable armor, even the Enterprise — was useless like they’ve seen it all before.” 

He shook his head. “They ripped the heart out of the Federation and took their time, working through the Romulans and the Klingons since there was less resistance there.” Ntannu and Fuller traded uneasy looks and Huang shouted,” They would have taken this half of the Galaxy all the way to the Rim if the Pajahni hadn’t triggered this Artifact, and wiped out a good number of them!” 

Fuller snorted, relaxing. “You had been going until the Pajahni part.” 

zh’Tali watched the exchange warily. “What exactly does this installation do?” 

“It’s a fabulous piece of technology,” the time traveler told her. “We’ve never managed to figure out how but it’s capable of breaking the bonds of all ferrous materials omni-laterally within a hundred and twenty lightyear radius. Utterly lethal against the Borg, naturally. I’ve been modifying the device to increase its range so I can direct it towards the Delta Quadrant.” 

Maguire shot a worried look over her shoulder. “You know more about this thing than I do but…” She glanced down at her tricorder readings. “I don’t think that this thing was designed to be targeted. According to these readings, even with your modifications, the effect wouldn’t hit not only every planet and starship between here and the Delta Quadrant, but also everything within fifty or sixty lightyears of here.” 

“That’s the entire Cardassian Union,” Fuller breathed. 

“And a large portion of the Federation,” Ntannu said, tightening his grip on his rifle. 

“Acceptable losses,” was Huang’s comment. 

“Deactivate the device,” zh’Tali snapped at him. Maguire frantically manipulated the controls before she resorted to ripping the entire circuit board out of the console. She looked back at the zhen in desperation with her mouth working wordlessly. 

“I can’t.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Thomas Riker did his best to hide his amusement but a moronic grin kept threatening to slide across his face. He wrapped his fingers around the ends of the command chair’s arms. Command. An entire starship full of officers and personnel under his command. Even his brother wouldn’t believe it since he was still a First Officer himself. Maybe the old stick-in-the-mud would buy him a drink for his ingenuity. 

From Ops, Ensign Thornton interrupted his thoughts. “Commander? There’s another ship coming out of warp in the system. Their course will bring them to the installation within seven minutes.” She frowned at her board. “They’re generating some kind of interference. Sensors, communications, and transporters are all being affected.” 

“It’s probably the Patseyev or one of the other ships,” he said, sitting back in the command chair. “Well, put them on the screen and let’s see who these sloppy people are.” 

The viewscreen shifted views from the slowly-rotating installation to a field of stars with a dark shape at its center that slowly blotted out more and more stars as it grew closer. 

“Great Maker,” Aerru whispered underneath his breath. 

For a moment, Riker ridiculed himself for the thought that command was neither easy or fun. 

“Battle Stations!” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Commander zh’Tali forced a theoretically calming breath in and out of her lungs. “Commander Huang, while I respect that you are attempting to defend the Federation, your methods are deplorable. You will deactivate the device and accompany us back to the Cayuga. Starfleet Command will decide what to do with this installation.” 

Contempt twisted his face. “Small woman,” Huang spat back at her. “Yes, billions will die here but death is better than assimilation. Think about how many more lives will be saved!” 

zh’Tali motioned for the security officers to restrain him. “Lieutenant Maguire, keep trying to shut down this technology. Failing in that task, please find a way to overload the weapon in order to destroy this installation prior to its weapon firing.” 

“I don’t even know how long I have,” Maguire told her. “Minutes, maybe an hour at the moment. And I’ve never seen anything like this before!”

zh’Tali tapped her combadge. “zh’Tali to Cayuga. Beam the away team back to the ship and begin torpedo bombardment of the installation.” 

Her combadge was silent and then a familiar and insidious voice spoke from it. 

“No,” Huang hissed angrily. 

“We are the Borg. We will investigate the Demedra outpost. If you attempt to intervene, you will be destroyed. Resistance is futile.” 

The first drones materialized into existence around them. 

“How?!,” Huang screamed. “How did they find me?!” 

“Could it have been that massive splash that you made in the fabric of space-time getting ?!,” Maguire shouted at him as she drew her phaser from its holster. 

Crimson fire lashed out when zh’Tali dropped a drone with her phaser. “Backs to the wall! Set your weapons to rotating modulation frequencies!” 

A dozen Borg drones were already in the room with more drones appearing every few seconds. They scanned the room with dispassion, taking in the architecture, the massive console, and the Starfleet officers. Cold metal and implants covered their skin and cold eyes fell onto their objective. Snarling like a fierce animal from the arctic climes of Andoria, zh’Tali fired her phaser again, her shots landing in the center of a drone’s chest. It fell with sparks flying from its wound, but another immediately took its place. The inexorable creatures forced the Starfleet officers back along the chamber while Lieutenant Ntannu passed Huang his hand phaser. 

“You don’t even have compression phasers?,” he cried at the Ktarian security chief. 

A phaser beam glared against the first shield and Maguire began screaming obscenities that would make anyone’s mother blush crimson. “Focus fire and use a higher setting!,” Ntannu yelled at her. 

Nine dead drones lay on the floor when zh’Tali smashed the butt of her rifle into a drone’s face and drew her kar’takin from its sheath, bellowing. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“We’ve got to get out of here,” Riker whispered, his throat feeling like paper. “Run. Run away. It’s not us that they want. They won’t follow us.” 

“But…” Aerru turned in his chair. “The away team. They’re still on the installation.” 

Riker glanced sharply at the Kelpien helmsman. “Fine, fine!” He launched himself forward from the command chair and leaned heavily over the helm. On the main screen, the Borg Cube dominated the view, its hull glowing with an eerie green “Hail the Cube.” 

Thornton looked so sharply from her console that her earpiece fell out. “Hailing frequencies open,” she said in a hushed voice. 

“Borg vessel,” Riker said, swallowing hard with fear,” this is Lieutenant Commander Thomas Rik — “

“Designations are irrelevant,” a chorus of voices from the Borg Cube answered him. 

Their dismissal stung and Riker shivered at it. “Several of our officers are still aboard that installation.” 

“Do not impede our progress.” On the viewscreen, the Cube rotated as if it wanted to offer them a better identical side. “If you attempt to intervene, we will destroy you.” 

The channel cut out between the two ships and Riker felt a drop of sweat rolling down off of his forehead while he analyzed his options. Turning tail and escaping without the away team, no matter how tempting it was, wasn’t one of them. Loyalty and honor had been too deeply ingratiated into the crew for them to obey that order. “Are the transporters still offline?,” he asked Thornton. 

“The Borg Cube’s electromagnetic field is still in full effect,” Thornton said. “Transport is impossible beyond twenty meters.” 

Riker paced back to the command chair and turned back to face Aerru. “How are you at tight maneuvering?” 

“Sir?,” the pilot asked him, eyeing the Cube fearfully. 

The Lieutenant Commander sat down in the command chair. “We’re going to do a full-impulse close pass of the installation. As close to the hull as you can get, Mister Aerru.” He tapped his combadge. “Bridge to Transporter Room.” 

“Mbanu here, sir.” 

Riker licked his lips with anticipation. “Petty Officer Mbanu, I know that the targeting scanners are messy but they’re going to get better and when they do, I need you to pull the away team out as fast as you can.” 

“Aye, sir.” There was a pause and the transporter technician asked him,” Sir, what’s causing this interference? I’ve never seen anything like it before.” 

“You don’t need to know.” He cut the channel. “Aerru, take us in.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Ntannu took a crushing blow to his leg and Maguire screamed at zh’Tali for help. 

She wasn’t listening. 

The seventh drone fell under her axe and the Andorian lashed out at an eighth drone. Giddy rage flooded over her body and she tore the optical implant from the drone’s face. Behind her, the others were nearly overwhelmed by the Borg — drone to the right, cleave its neck — but she didn’t care. They were here and she could kill them. 

Maguire pulled the Ktarian security chief back as far as she could and fired off her hand phaser. The console where they had first seen Huang was emitting an ominous tone. She spared a second to glance worriedly at the Borg drones clustered around it before she fired again. The charge on her phaser was almost depleted since Level Sixteen used up a lot of energy but even that seemed to be doing very little to slow down the Borg’s advance. 

Huang stumbled back, almost trying to climb the wall with his eyes shifting frantically from one drone to the next. His hand lashed out, grasping Newberry’s shoulders. “Don’t let them take you alive,” he hissed at him and tapped his temple twice. His skin glowed, a white light shining from his eyes and mouth before he disintegrated entirely. 

zh’Tali roared and pivoted atop her pile of mutilated drones. A Borg drone reached out for her, tubules sprouting from its gauntlet. They searched for her like blind worms and she swung twice at it, once through the elbow and once through the side of the drone’s head. She sensed movement behind her and slammed her kar’takin into another drone’s eye. With a roar, she smashed the blade into its chest and her eyes widened as it shattered into pieces. 

She stepped back in shock and glanced around the circle of drones surrounding her, each of them standing just out of her reach. zh’Tali panted and raised the hefted remains of her ruined kar’takin over her head. 

“Fine,” she snarled at them. The circle surrounding her and her dead collapsed as she struck in three directions and blood flew wild. She buried the jagged edge of her weapon into one drone and felt the others lay hands on her. 

Then the world turned blue and silver. 

The End… 

12 – ‘Flightless’

Star Trek: Cayuga

12 – ‘Flightless’

By Jack Elmlinger

Running was undignified for a commander. It implied a state of panic or a lack of control over a situation. 

Yet zh’Tali ran. 

She burst out of her quarters, knocking Mbanu and Collier into the wall while speeding for the turbolift. “We’ve been intercepted by a runabout,” Riker had told her. “The pilot says that he knows you.” She didn’t know very many people and thinking about the ones that she did know only spurred her on. 

The Bridge doors barely had time to open to admit her. She continued on and caught herself outside the doors to the Captain’s Ready Room. They opened and the Andorian’s blood froze. 

“Hello, Davi,” Stavek said, his face as painstakingly neutral as any dignified Vulcan should be. “I trust that you are well.” 

“Lieutenant Commander Stavek was just telling me about the 383rd’s downtime,” Captain Pozach said with a smile. “I had no idea that you were versed in the baroque style.” 

Ignoring the jab, zh’Tali asked him,” What brings you here, Commander?” 

“Sentimental reasons. I wish to speak to you,” — the Vulcan touched a strand of his white hair — ,” about old times.” 

“My quarters are available.” She sounded hurried and she knew it. 

“Of course.” Stavek rose from his seat and turned towards Pozach. The zhen’s adrenaline spiked as he moved and she caught his hand an inch from the desk. It was holding a guitar pick. “You play?,” he asked, ignoring zh’Tali’s grip on his wrist. 

“When I can find the time.” Pozach;s gaze played over to zh’Tali’s hand which was so tight on Stavek’s.

“I would very much like to hear that. I have found ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’ and ‘Helter Skelter’ to be quite enjoyable.” He straightened up and asked zh’Tali. “Shall we, Davi?” 

She released his hand. “After you.” 

He followed her to the turbolift in silence. Once the doors had closed behind them, she requested, “Deck Two.” She waited exactly four seconds before then saying,” Hold lift.” She turned towards Stavek and said,” Get off my ship. Now. And don’t ever come back.” 

Stavek’s face broke into a broad smile. “Why, Davi, where is your sense of camaraderie?” 

“I reserve that for my comrades,” she spat back at him, forcing herself to face the Vulcan’s eerie leer. “What is your business here?” 

“I told you. I’m just looking in on my old friend.” Stavek began to move, deliberately slow. 

zh’Tali felt her back touch the wall. “You’ve seen me. Leave.” 

“And this Vulcan, Sayvok,” Stavek continued. “I’ve heard much about that unique flower in the harsh landscape of Vulcan conformity.” 

“He had returned to the Academy.” She saw an opening and took it. “I will take you to the transporter room — “

“And I’m going to kill Wiebach.” 

zh’Tali swallowed at his revelation. “Then I suggest that you look back on Earth for him.” 

“I’ve already been there and spent a few days with his wife and children. None of them seemed very happy to discuss dear Nathan.” 

“I trust that they are all dead now?” 

“What sort of savage do you take me for?,” the insane Vulcan asked with a grin. “There would be no sport in it.” 

“I have forgotten that you are a connoisseur of murder. Wiebach is not here.” 

Stavek turned towards the lift doors. “We shall see. Computer, resume.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Nathan Wiebach was mildly surprised to see zh’Tali enter his quarters, open up his luggage and begin packing his belongings. 

“Going somewhere?,” he asked her. 

“Yes, you are,” she said, holding up his mek’leth to check the edge of it against the light. “Stavek is here.” 

“Stavek is here?,” he repeated incredulously. “Has he come for you or for me? How did he know where to find us?” 

“You,” the Andorian said, throwing him an empty bag,” and I assume that there is a trail of dead Cardassians on Iannar II who had the misfortune of knowing you as well as broken security around the captain’s report on the Romulans’ role at Noghhar.” She shook her head. “We have to get you off of the ship because a battle here would involve numerous casualties. Discipline is lax. I will request a shuttlecraft and shore leave.” 

“Then they’ll know that something’s wrong,” Wiebach muttered, pulling pants from drawers. 

“If we can get you to a nonaligned station, you can book passage to Talarian space. Stavek won’t suspect that you’ve entered the territory of a xenophobic race.” 

“Done,” Wiebach said, hefting his bags. “How fast can you get us a shuttlecraft?” 

zh’Tali was already leaving the room. “Proceed to the Shuttle Bay via the Jefferies tubes. I’ll meet you there.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Apparently, the difference is that one has five dice and the other, multi-colored cards,” Aimee Maguire nodded, pleased by her succinct description. She tweaked the large red sock carefully attached to the warp core and glanced back at Trevor Newberry. “Is it straight?,” she asked him. 

Newberry looked at her and then the sock with something between amusement and strained respect. “As socks go.” Maguire hopped off of the railing that circled around the warp core and hurried into the Toy Room. 

“Next is the eggnog that contains egg but no bog. Then you wrap up a bunch of cheap gifts in decorative paper.” She glanced at the PADD on the table. “And signing, though I think that’s optional.” 

“What’s all of this for again?,” Newberry asked her, eyeing the collection of gaudy baubles littering the Toy Room. 

“Christmas! It’s the most wonderful time of the year!,” she cried out. “And besides that, it means something to Sean for some reason.” From the corner of her eyes, she caught a flash of moment in the main room and called out,” Hey, you there!” 

A Vulcan stepped into the Toy Room. he glanced over the odd arrangements and raised an eyebrow. “I apologize. I am in search of Commander zh’Tali.” 

“Well, she’s not here.” 

“I saw her in the Shuttle Bay,” Newberry said,” about four hours ago.” 

“Is that so?,” the Vulcan asked before he lashed out. Newberry gasped as Stavek dug his fingers into his face. “Good sport, Davi.” 

Maguire reached under the workbench and pulled out a phaser that had been brought in for repairs. “Drop him! Now!” Stavek leered at her and she fired. She shuddered, his eyes rolling back into his head. Then the chief engineer felt his hand brush her shoulder. 

“Oh, sh–”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Captain Pozach stared at the man on her monitor screen. “Do you understand me?,” he asked her. 

“Yes, of course,” she said coldly. “More to the point, do you understand me?” 

“The Aloxim is upon you and you have duties.” 

“Duties to my ship and to my crew. I withdrew from your ‘duties’ long ago.” She deactivated the screen and locked eyes with Jim Morrison before twisting her chair to stare at the stars. 

“Pozach to Pasko,” she said with a tone of defeatism. 

“Pasko here.” 

“When you get some time, I’d like to speak with you.” 

“Sure thing,” he said and the intercom clicked off. Pozach leaned back and closed her eyes. 

“Riker to Pozach.” 

Pozach sighed. “Go ahead, Commander.” 

“Lieutenant Commander Stavek’s runabout just tore out of here at Warp Five without so much as a goodbye. He’s following the course that Commander zh’Tali took for her shore leave.” 

Pozach’s eyes opened. “No response to hails?” 

“None, Captain.” 

“Lay in a pursuit course and follow them at a discrete distance. Something’s going on here.” 

“Aye, sir.” There was a pause before he said,” Warp drive is offline.” 

Grabbing her black and gray vest off of the couch, Pozach headed for the door. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Report!,” snapped the Captain as she walked onto the Bridge. 

Riker stood up from the command chair and took his place at Ops. “The warp drive is disabled. I don’t know if it’s a computer failure or a technical one.” 

“What does Lieutenant Maguire have to say about it?” 

Riker shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Medical teams have been summoned to Engineering. Everyone on duty has been… rendered unconscious.” 

“I’m past thinking that our guest may have been more than he let on.” Pozach settled down into her chair. “Mister Riker, take Lieutenant Ntannu and a security team in the Garibaldi and see if you can get a warning to Commander zh’Tali. Failing in that, try to help her however she needs it.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

It was a horrible space station that was barely even airtight but there was a transport docked there. That was all that mattered to Davi zh’Tali. 

“Get on the ship.” 

“What are you going to do?,” Wiebach asked her. 

zh’Tali shoved him towards the transport’s hatch. “I’m going to take the Ivanova and buy you some time which will all be for naught if you don’t leave!” 

Wiebach glanced into the ship. “Davi… thank you. For –” 

“Get on the damned ship.” 

Wiebach nodded and gathered his bags. He paused as if he was going to say goodbye but the flash in her eyes made him step back in so that the hatch could cycle shut. 

zh’Tali watched as the transport gently lifted away before sailing off into the darkness of space. She turned away and weaved through the debris that filled the corridor, trying to focus on her next move. The Tong Beak Nebula wasn’t that far away from her. At the end of the hall, she could see the af section of the Ivanova’s nacelles. 

An arm slammed into her face, smashing her nose and knocking her onto her back. 

“Were I to guess, I would surmise that Wiebach is somewhere nearby,” Stavek commented. 

zh’Tali struggled to her feet. “I thought that I would make it sporting for you.” 

Stavek’s bark of laughter startled her. “You would make it sporting? You’re weak, Davi! You’ve let them poison you. Command? Command is for those idiots concerned with piddling issues like crew evaluations and fuel consumption reports. It must be killing you, pretending that you care, that all of these menial tasks mean anything to you — “ 

Green blood splashed against the wall and zh’Tali followed her first blow with a roundhouse kick to the head. The Vulcan was still standing so she slammed her fist into the center of his chest and felt something crack. It had to be one of the servo motivators to her prosthetic arm. 

Stavek smirked up from the ground. Her boot met his chin as she punted him through a pile of debris and into the wall. Snarling with anger, she advanced upon him. A piece of metal shot out at her, slicing open zh’Tali’s scalp and staining her white hair with blue blood. She was lucky that her antennae had been avoided. She roared at him, blocking two torso blows before he took a snap-kick to the gut. Her arms wrapped around his leg and she leveled Stavek’s head into the floor. 

The other leg whipped around and the zhen saw stars on her way down. She managed to roll away and then come back up onto her feet. 

“I must thank you, Davi. I haven’t had this much fun since the Jem’hadar left.” Stavek put a finger to his lips in thought. “Well, except for Terranova. She always did fight well for an Augment.” 

zh’Tali charged at him, leaping into the air and pinning Stavek’s neck between her shins. Her momentum slammed him into the ground but she stumbled on her recovery. A fist hit her jaw, throwing her head back. Her arm flew out for balance and the Vulcan was there to twist it and slam her back down.” 

zh’Tali struggled to rise but Stavek’s foot between her shoulders crushed her to the ground. “We’ll have to do this again sometime,” he said, spitting out a tooth and a stream of green blood. “Now to find Wiebach.” 

Darkness took her after that. 

The End…

11 – ‘Stationary Lives’

Star Trek: Cayuga

11 – ‘Stationary Lives’

By Jack Elmlinger

“I need a hand,” Aimee announced as her eyes darted around the room before they settled upon a small tree placed incongruously in the corner. 

Sean rolled over in his bed, shielding his eyes from the light that spilled out into his quarters from the corridor. “What? Aimee, do you have any idea…?” 

“What time is it? Yes, you have to be on duty in two hours.” She stepped inside and began rifling through his closest. “But I need help now.” 

“What kind of help?,” he asked her as he freed himself from his bed sheets. 

“Help help,” she said. “Isn’t that what friends do for each other?” She tossed a pile of clothes at him. “Hurry up already.” 

Sean stumbled into his uniform and followed her into the corridor. Crouched next to an open Jefferies hatch was Crewman Fuller, clutching a wire cage. “Any luck?,” Aimee asked him as she squatted down next to him. 

“No,” Fuller said in a quiet voice. “I’m sorry.” 

“Trouble?,” Sean asked. 

“Fuller’s vole got loose,” she explained to him,” and I was sitting here, working peacefully when the little rodent went roaring right past me and into the tube.” 

“I’m really sorry,” the security officer said plaintively. 

“Anyways, we need to pry the thing back out. I’ve locked down this section so it can’t run too far.” She crawled into the tube. 

“Aimee, I’m not really in the mood for…” Sean said to her feet. 

“Come on,” she interrupted him. “I don’t want that thing chewing through the ODN lines or breeding or something.” Sean sighed and crawled in after her. “Make sure to close the hatch behind you.” 

They had crawled in silence for a few minutes when Aimee said,” So when did you start keeping shrubberies in your quarters?” 

“Shrubbery?,” Sean repeated dumbly before understanding came to him. “It’s not shrubbery. It’s a Christmas tree. A small one and do you know how hard it is to get a full-sized evergreen in Cardassian space?” 

“Why do you need one in the first place?,” she asked him as she twisted around a corner. 

“It’s a tradition. A celebration of my faith.” Sean rounded the corner to see that she was much farther ahead of him. 

“Your faith in trees?” 

“It’s a symbol of the immortality of God and the hope that we can also achieve everlasting life.” 

“I have my own hope for everlasting life,” revealed the Chief Engineer, glad that he couldn’t see her grin. “It involves eating well, exercising regularly, and avoiding Commander zh’Tali.” She regarded the narrow Jefferies tube stretched before her. “You know, I’m not getting paid enough for this.” 

“We’ve had this conversation already,” Sean said, anger slipping into his voice. “You’re not getting paid at all.” 

“You’re right!,” she exclaimed with astonishment. “I should write a letter. I should write several — “

“I thought that we were supposed to respect other people’s beliefs, Aimee.” 

“Oh, I respect them all right, but that just seems silly,” she replied and then pointed. “There’s the vole! I’m going to strangle Fuller with that thing!” 

“I don’t see what’s so silly about it. My faith has helped me through a lot of tight spots and I’m serious about it.” 

“And I’m serious about catching that damned vole! Come on, I think we’ve got it cornered.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“We can get the rest tomorrow,” Tetsuko Torushaga said as the last of the antimatter pods were ferried through the Patseyev’s engine room. “Unless you want to do another run today?” 

Sean forced his eyes open. “Over to the Cayuga, back here and over there again? No, thank you. Nice to fly something different once in a while, though.” 

“Need help finding the shuttle bay again?,” the Patseyev’s chief engineer asked him. 

“Actually, I was going to stay aboard for a while,” the pilot answered him with a smile. “I’m sure that I’ll be able to find it later.” 

He left the Patseyev’s cramped engine room in favor of her cramped corridors. The ship had been built long before the Cayuga but there were some subtle differences between a Saber class light cruiser and an Excelsior class battleship. A hit of blue where the Cayuga had silver, corners that turned less sharply and a ceiling that seemed even higher. Sean wandered around aimlessly for twenty minutes before an idea came to him. 

“Computer, locate Ensign Tracy Royal.” 

“Ensign Royal is in her quarters.” 

“And where is that?,” he asked with a grin 

Minutes later, and Royal opened the door to her quarters. “Lieutenant,” she said with a slight smile,” what brings you here?” 

He swallowed at the sight of her long red hair, freed from its braids and flowing over the curves of her shoulders. His gaze swept down the rest of her body before he belatedly croaked,” I’m off-duty?” He forced a cough. “I was hoping that you’d call me Sean.” 

“Sean,” Tracy agreed as she stepped aside. 

He sat down carefully at her desk. “I just brought over a load of antimatter from the Cayuga,” he said to find in the silence,” and I didn’t feel like going home yet.” 

“You’re more than welcome here,” Tracy assured him, sitting gracefully on her bed. 

As her gaze on him intensified, Sean glanced anxiously around the room before finally fixing his eyes on the flash of gold hanging by the bathroom door. “Is that a cross?,” he asked her. 

She followed his gaze to the necklace. “An heirloom. It’s the only tangible memory that I have of my father.” 

Sean noded, missing the sorrow that shuffled through her eyes. “I had a heck of a time finding an evergreen for Christmas. The Cardassians don’t terraform environments where they can grow.” 

“You mean a tree?” 

“Malstrom to Royal.” 

Frowning, Tracy crossed over to the dresser and she dug into it for a second before coming up with her combadge. “Go ahead, Kimberly.” 

“Are you up for poker tonight? I’ve got Laker and Doctor Mohammed but we need a fourth.” 

Tracy shook her head. “Not tonight. Why don’t you ask Torushaga or Martinez?” 

“Torushaga wins too often. Catch you later.” 

Sean watched her return to the bed. “You didn’t use your console,” he observed, gesturing behind him.

“Oh,” she said, waving dismissively at it. “That thing hasn’t worked in months. It’s just some wiring gone bad or something. I haven’t had time to repair it.” 

“You shouldn’t have to do that. Why don’t I take care of it for you?” 

Tracy’s eyebrows rose just slightly. “That would be kind of you.” 

Sean smiled. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Go away!,” Aimee bellowed. 

“Do you know what time it is?,” Sean asked brightly as he leaned over her bed. 

Blearily, she twisted in her sheets and sat up. “Looks like it’s half past… oh, forget it.” She rolled out of bed and Sean quickly turned away. “What?,” she demanded as he studiously watched the wall. “Oh.” She looked down. “Oh, fine.” She pulled on a robe and scowled at him. “How the hell did you expect me to be dressed?” 

“I just got back from the Patseyev,” he said, perching himself on her desk. 

“Damn, I was hoping you’d gotten lost.” Aimee pushed her hair out of her eyes. “You left thirteen hours ago. What took you so long?” 

Sean grinned at her. “I ran into Tracy Royal and chatted with her for a bit. Fixed her console.” 

“Is that a euphemism?” 

“What?” 

“For the sex that you obviously went to have with her.” 

“It’s not like that,” he insisted before sighing. “I can’t help myself, Aimee. I’m,” — his hands gestured impotently — ,” fascinated by the woman. Her poise, her manner… I’m awestruck.” 

“Okay, fine” Aimee rubbed her forehead. “Look, I know that the woman’s attractive and maybe you had a decent conversation. But what about Alice?” 

“What about her?” 

“Don’t you two have a puppy love thing going on? Isn’t Royal going to get in the way of that?” 

“I told you that I’m not acting inappropriately towards Tracy.” 

“Do you think that Alice would agree with that?” 

Sean stood up from the desk chair. “I’m not you,” he spat back at her. “I’m not going to get bored with Alice and then drop her.” 

Aimee shook her head and crawled back into bed. “It sounds like you already have.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

A lack of sleep made flying very difficult, Sean reflected. He forced his tired eyes to focus on the Patseyev’s shuttle doors. He was met in the bay by Commander Torushaga and Ensign Royal.

“Give Captain Pozach our thanks,” the engineer said. 

“It’s nothing,” he yawned while carefully affixing antigravity units to the blue antimatter containers. Patseyev engineers began to cautiously remove them and in a few minutes, he and Tracy were alone in the shuttle bay. 

“Have you eaten lunch yet?,” she asked him.

“No, actually.” Tracy motioned him towards the door and she led the way to the turbolift. They traveled in silence with Sean anxiously examining every aspect of the turbolift while she waited sedately. 

The Patseyev’s Mess Hall was similar to the Cayuga’s Mess Hall, only it was slightly larger and missing the piano. Sean found a table while Tracy ordered their food from the bank of replicators sitting against one wall. “I’m still getting used to smaller ships than these older ships,” he told her. “My last posting was aboard the Venture which has a lot more leg room.” 

“Galaxy class?,” she asked him as she arranged her salad. 

Sean nodded at her. “Flying the Cayuga is nothing like the Venture. Back then, I didn’t make maneuvers as much as slow turns.” 

“I know what you mean. I was assigned to the Lexington out of the Academy. The Nebula class is every bit as sluggish as the Galaxy class.” 

“You started aboard the Lexington?,” he asked her incredulously. “I spent a year and a half, bouncing around different assignments before I settled on the Venture.” He shook his head. “Man, it’s too bad that you ruined it.” 

Tracy’s fork slowed inches above her plate. The polite smile was gone. “Excuse me?” 

“You had a great career ahead of you,” Sean continued blithely. “I mean, you were assigned to a major starship right out of the Academy. Then you wasted all of that potential with the Maquis.” 

“My time with the Maquis was hardly a ‘waste’, Lieutenant,” Royal said coldly. “I found a way to free my home.” 

“Oh, yeah, I’ve been really impressed by the Maquis commitment to high morality,” he returned with a little bit of sarcasm. “Stealing medical supplies, hijacking Federation starships, poisoning a planet, and let’s not forget wiping out the entire Laiat Prime colony.” 

“I cannot defend the actions of all Maquis.” 

“Of course, you can’t.” 

“But I did what I thought that I had to do,” she finished. “You find murder objectionable, Lieutenant? The crew complement of a Galor class warship is over five hundred. How many of those lives have you helped to destroy?” 

“That was during the war.” 

“Yes… yes, it was.” 

Her stare bored into him and Pasko shifted under it. “I’ve got to get back to the Cayuga,” he muttered, walking away to the door before he paused to glance over his shoulder. From Royal’s quietly enraged expression, he knew that they would share no more lunches. The realization only brought him relief. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The blinking console grabbed Sean’s attention the moment that he walked into his quarters and he raced towards it. Almost missing the seat as he sat down, he pawed at the activation pad. The Federation emblem appeared for a moment before it disappeared. 

“Aaron! Aaron, knock it off!,” Alice’s voice bubbled up from the console. “Sayvok, can you read him a poem or something?” Laughter rose up from behind her and she turned to face the screen. “Hi, Sean. I’m sorry that I haven’t written in so long but we’ve been busy here. I got assigned to the Jovian run! I got my very own shuttle and I’ve learned how to fly by gesturing emphatically.” She laughed, leaning back in her chair. 

“I got to see my brothers and my parents,” she continued. “They’re done, being mad at me for joining Starfleet and I think they’re just happy that I’m alive. And they’re proud of me.” Alice preened for a moment before she became more serious. “They’d really like to meet you too. I told them that the Cayuga is a long ways away but I thought that maybe if you got some shore leave, we could…” Her voice trailed off and Sean felt his heart go through contortions, contracting at the sorrow on her face and expanding because he knew that she missed him. 

“Sam says that he’s had Doc Moru’s dad for requisite Understanding the Dominion class. Isn’t that weird?” She paused for a moment and then confessed. “I’m going to drop in on him tomorrow, just to say hello.” Alice glanced furtively left and right before she planted a kiss on the monitor. “Soon, Joe, soon.” 

Sean Pasko stared at the screen long enough after her image disappeared, then lying down to sleep. He dreamed that she was with him during the entire sleep cycle.

The End…

10 – ‘Sic Transit Gloria Mundi’

Star Trek: Cayuga

10 – ‘Sic Transit Gloria Mundi’

By Jack Elmlinger

The shuttlecraft Garibaldi’s rear hatch opened downward and Aimee Maguire tried to decide whether to be more afraid of Davi zh’Tali or Sean Pasko. Doctor Zimthar Moru followed behind her.

“Aimee,” the latter breathed, pulling her into a hug,” you’re all right?” He touched the braid that ran down her back before snapping at her. “Don’t you ever do that again!” 

“Hi, Sean,” she said weakly. “Ah, Commander.” 

“I trust that your shore leave went well, Doctor Moru?,” zh’Tali asked the Bolian physician dryly. 

Moru sighed and slung his bag across his back. “I saw all of the finest sights of Cardassia Prime that I could stomach, including a … charming little dive bar.” 

zh’Tali turned toward Maguire. “Lieutenant, I am ordered to escort you to your quarters.” Maguire nodded and extracted herself from Pasko. Glumly, she followed the blue-skinned commander from the shuttle bay.

They entered the turbolift and the chief engineer shifted uncomfortably. “Well?,” she asked her. 

zh’Tali glanced at her.

“No ‘How dare you abandon your duty?’ No ‘Where’s your sense of pride? No ‘Bad Aimee’?,” she demanded to know. “Don’t you have anything to say?” 

zh’Tali pondered over her decision for a minute. “I like your hair. The braid suits you.” 

Maguire stood flabbergasted as the doors opened. “You’re not going to yell at me?,” she asked her as she followed the commander down the hallway. 

“No.” 

They reached her quarters and Maguire frowned at her. “Why not?” 

“I’m not the Captain,” zh’Tali said, keyed the door open with her thumbprint. 

Maguire stepped inside and she dropped her bag on her desk. She glanced at the computer on the desktop, noting the seventeen messages sent to her from the Gihlan by Sam Dixon. 

“Aimee?” 

“Jeanne,” Maguire said as she turned towards her bed,” I suppose that Commander zh’Tali didn’t want to take you away from your big speech.” 

“I’m glad that Moru found you,” Pozach said with a hint of forced civility. 

“And I’m glad to have been found. After all, leaving didn’t mean that I wanted to be alone.” 

“Of course, Sickbay wasn’t private enough for you.” 

“Well, I couldn’t have stayed” 

“Because we’ve been making it intolerable for you to live here.” 

“Because I couldn’t deal with Sam!” Aimee’s gaze dropped down to the floor and she continued softly,” And because I couldn’t deal with you.” 

“Couldn’t bear to be around your conquests?,” the Captain asked in a snappish manner. 

“No!,” Aimee cried at her. “Jeanne, no, I…” She moved over and sat down heavily on the bed beside Jeanne. “I almost got married once when I was at the Academy. His name was Wesley and he just… lit up my life.” She looked up at her captain. “But after a few months, he decided that he didn’t feel the same way anymore. If he ever did, I don’t know.” 

“What happened to him?” 

“As far as I know, he evolved into a higher being or went on a journey or something.” 

“Well,” Jeanne said, lifting one hand up and placing it lightly on Aimee’s shoulder,” I hope you remember where your dress uniform is.” 

Maguire gave her a choked laugh. “Why? Are we having a party?” 

“Something like that.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

When Tom Riker entered the Patseyev’s conference lounge with the rest of the senior staff, he realized that something was very, very wrong.” We are seriously overdressed,” he muttered to Hobbes. 

At the head of the table, Steven Talmadge stood up from his seat. “Please come in,” he welcomed them, and have a seat.” 

The Cayuga’s crew took their places opposite their counterparts and badly tried their best to appear casual. 

“With all of the action that we’ve had lately, we haven’t had a chance to get to know each other,” Talmadge explained to everyone. He motioned to the Tellarite officer sitting at his right. “My First Officer, Grudak.” The Tellarite squinted at the crew and scowled. Talmadge continued with the introductions. “Kimberly Malstrom, my Chief Science Officer.” 

“This is Artie,” the woman said as she hoisted a massive beetle up onto her lap. 

“Nice bug,” Maguire said with a smirl. 

“She’s been enamored with it ever since Iannar,” Talmadge said indulgently. 

“He,” the scientist corrected him mildly. 

Talmadge smiled good-humoredly and gestured towards his other officers in turn. “Tetsuko Torushaga, Joachim Martinez, and James Mohammed, my Chiefs of Engineering, Security, and Medical, respectively.” 

“A pleasure,” Doctor Mohammed said with a British-Indian accent. 

“And all the way down at the end of the table is Tracy Royal, our helmswoman.” 

Pasko turned towards the other pilot. A stray wisp of red hair was curled against her smooth white cheek, pointing at her lips like an arrow. “Wow,” he breathed very, very quietly. He glanced around, embarrassed and said louder,” I saw you flying shuttle runs down on Iannar. You’re better than anyone that I’ve seen come out of flight school. Where did you learn?” 

Royal’s eyes focused on him and it seemed that her notice gave his heart wings to fly. However, her word pinioned them. “With the Maquis.” 

Maguire shot Pozach a look and the Cayuga officers shifted uncomfortably.

“Excellent piloting,” Pasko recovered gracelessly, reaching for his glass. 

“What I’ve seen of the Sr’khymer’arni has been fascinating,” Mohammed said into the silence. “Four distinct sentient species that co-evolved on the same planet.” 

“Have you looked at their gene mapping?,” Moru asked his fellow physician. “They share a few traits as if each evolved separately.” 

Torushaga interjected between the two doctors. “It’s impressive that they developed a single language.” 

“Actually, it’s more common than you’d think,” Riker said, adding to the conversation. “By the time that they had achieved faster-than-light travel, the majority of cultures had developed a unified language. Humans are one of the few exceptions.” 

With none of his usual nervousness, Hobbes asked him,” On what basis do they choose one language?” 

Riker looked at him. “Commonly, it’s cultural assimilation. Other times, like the language of the Children of Tama, the language is synthesized or based on a common religion or mythology.” 

Maguire frowned at this. “How does it work?” 

“Everything that the Tamarians say is a reference to one of twenty-seven epic tales,” Riker explained to them, becoming more animated with each word. It had been his ‘transporter twin’ William Riker who had original contact with one of their ships aboard the Enterprise-D. “For example, if someone wanted to express a lack of understanding or frustration, you would say, ‘Shaka, when the walls fell,’ which is a reference to the tale in which the hero Shaka attempted to build a city.” 

“So their entire language is based on metaphors?” 

“Solkoth! His eyes uncovered!” 

“Are you swearing at me?” 

Pozach hid a smile behind her hand. “How is the study of the Sr’khymer’arni going?” 

“They’re incredible,” Malstrom said, her pale violet eyes shining with excitement. “In less than two weeks, they’ve revered the effects of the s’rogiie and set up enclosed colonies on the northern continent. My science teams have catalogued over six hundred types of insects, including my Alfie.” She snuggled the beetle to her chest which made Maguire and Torushaga exchange glances. Alifie squirmed under the science officer’s loving devotion.

The intercom sounded for attention overhead. “Bridge to Captain Talmadge.” 

Talmadge glanced up, tapping his combadge. “Go ahead.” 

“Captain, we’re receiving a Priority-One transmission from the USS Starsong, care of Starbase Three-Five-Nine. The Cayuga is hailing us, reporting that they’re receiving the same transmission for Captain Pozach.” 

Both captains exchanged a look. “In my Ready Room,” he said, standing up from his seat. “But, please, everyone, don’t stop dinner on our account. Starfleet probably just wants us to wash their laundry.” He and Pozach left the room, much faster than his easy tone implied. 

“That would be a big load for the washers,” Maguire joked. 

“Well,” Grudak snorted. 

“Please pass the salad,” zh’Tali requested of the Tellarite. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The screen flashed with the Federation insignia before Captain Weynik appeared on Talmadge’s desk monitor. “Captains,” the Roylan said without any preamble,” Cayuga and Patseyev are to go to Yellow Alert and begin sensor scans of the surrounding area immediately.” 

“Trouble?,” Talmadge asked him. 

“The starship Warrior was sent into the Briner Nebula to check up on the cultists that Captain Pozach found there, seven months ago,” the alien captain told them, shaking his head in frustration. “They’re gone. All of the colonists and their equipment. Warrior’s science officer also reported a unique electromagnetic signature all over the settlement.” 

“The Borg,” whispered Pozach. 

Weynik nodded grimly. “That’s what Starfleet thinks it could be. Given their transwarp conduits, they could be back in the Delta Quadrant by now. Until we’re sure of that fact, we need everyone to keep a very careful eye open.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Could you hand me my cardigan?,” Royal asked. 

She stood and the swirl of her skirts captivated Pasko for a moment. “I… I’m sorry?” 

“My cardigan. It’s on the chair.” 

“Oh, oh, yeah, sure.” He walked towards it but he found Maguire blocking his path. 

“What the hell are you doing?!,” she hissed at him. “‘Uh, yeah, sure’. Do you remember Alice? Cute little dirty blonde with the habit of saying inane things and a complete inability to hold her liquor?” 

“Yes, of course, but,” he said, glancing back at Royal,” look at her!” Realizing that they were paying her attention, Royal smiled politely, her braids sliding over her shoulders as she turned to face them. 

“Let me get that cardigan,” Maguire said after a moment.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Commander zh’Tali stepped into her quarters, shedding off the white overcoat of her dress uniform. She entered her bedroom in search of a hangar, only to be completely unsurprised to find Nathan Wiebach sitting on her bed. 

“How did you get in?,” she asked him, taking off the blue dress tunic and black trousers. 

“Our codes still work,” Nathan said, holding up a hangar. Davi took it from him and hung her uniform up on it. “I imagine that there’s very little that we can’t do with the Cayuga’s computers.” 

“I would thank you not to exercise that privilege too often.” She placed her dress uniform in her closet and pulled on a robe. “Though she has many personal flaws, Lieutenant Maguire is exceptionally skilled with computers.” 

Davi left them for a moment before returning with two mugs of green tea. Nathan accepted one of them gratefully. “Have you been well?,” she asked him. “I hadn’t heard from you since…” 

“Since two days after the Dominion surrendered,” he said, finishing her sentence. “I went home, actually, to my wife and sons.” 

Davi smiled. “You spoke of them often.” 

Nathan glanced away from her with an almost hurt expression on his face. “Yeah, I guess I did.” Davi’s smile disappeared and he continued reluctantly. “It wasn’t a good fit anymore. I couldn’t like the life that I had before the war and the 383rd.” He before adding,” I killed the dog. Accidentally, of course, but it.. Underscored why I couldn’t stay with them. So I went to look for somewhere that I could be useful.” 

“I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve that. You weren’t like the rest of us.” 

“I’m not insane, you mean,” Nathan said quietly. “Not like Terranova, or Neville, or Stavek, or Redford, or the others.” 

“Or me,” the zhen replied. “Then again, at least, my insanity doesn’t lead to indiscriminate killing.” 

Nathan shook himself. “But how are you? Are you adjusting to life as a starship officer?” 

“It is… unsettling.” Davi stood and began to pace before the bed. “In the 383rd, there was mutual respect for ability. In my time with the Borg Defense Initiative, there was commonality of purpose.” 

“You’re having trouble relating.” 

Davi shook her head at him. “It’s not just that. During their downtime, they lounge or play. During staff meetings, they socialize.” She held up her hands, confused. “I feel that they waste so much.” 

“That’s what people do in their free time, Davi.” 

“I suppose,” she said, sitting back down next to him. “Captain Pozach informed me that this is evidence of a Borg incursion in the Briner Nebula.” 

“You seem surprisingly calm,” Nathan said. “I’d expect you to advocate dropping everything to go hunt them down.” 

“We have our orders. We are to keep a lookout for them. We don’t even know if they’re still here.” Her eyes hardened. “If they are, I will be ready.” 

Nathan shook his head. “Keep tilting at those windmills, Davi.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“No, no, you can’t turn it on.” 

If she didn’t feel so beholden to him, Aimee Maguire might have let some crass comments slip from her lips. She did, however, so she allowed herself no more irritation than wrinkling her nose. 

“Doc, if you refuse to use the Emergency Medical Holographic program, then I’ve got to maintain it, just to make sure that the program hasn’t developed any flaws.” She tapped the tool pouches strapped to her belt. “It’s already behind schedule because…” 

Moru glanced up from the biobed that he was stretched out on. “I can guess why.” He sat up. “Listen to me, Aimee. I’ve been a Starfleet officer for ten years and a medical doctor for the last sixteen. I refuse to have a hologram and a computer masquerade around as a real doctor in my Sickbay.” 

“What are we supposed to do for medical care if you’re killed in a battle?,” the Chief Engineer asked him. “We’ve only got two other doctors aboard and personally, I’d rather deal with a hologram than Doctor Memrin.” 

“My nurses are very competent.” 

Maguire sighed. “Computer, activate the Emergency Medical Holographic program.” 

“I really wish you hadn’t done that,” Moru said with a groan. 

The air in the center of the room shimmered and a balding man in Starfleet uniform appeared before them. “Please state the nature of the medical emergency.” 

“I need to test your program for fragmentation,” Maguire said, pointedly ignoring Moru’s grumblings. 

The hologram looked offended at her statement. “That’s hardly necessary. The E.M.H. Mark One is not known for degrading.” He shot a dark look towards Doctor Moru. “Not that I’ve ever been put to much use. I understand why you might be afraid of me,” the hologram continued as the engineer watched his behavioral algorithms play across her PADD. “After all, I have the total library of over two thousand medical references and the personal experiences of forty-seven of the finest physicians in the Federation. What could you possibly have that would compare to my abilities as a physician?” 

Moru poked the hologram’s shoulder and he was slightly surprised by the tactile resistance. “A charming bedside manner,” he said lightly. “Plus we Bolians aren’t supposed to have any hair.” 

The hologram stuttered at the insinuation. “This is simply the rudest — “

“I’m done,” Maguire said.

Moru snickered joyfully. “Computer, end program.” 

The hologram disappeared with a satisfying squawk. 

“Well, I’ve got everything that I need,” Maguire said before she left Sickbay and headed for the nearest turbolift. Stepping inside, she reviewed the data that she had collected. The doors parted again before her and she stepped into Engineering, turning left for the Toy Room. 

The Toy Room had once been the Chief Engineer’s office when Stern had been in charge. Following the Battle of Cindel and Maguire’s promotion to Chief Engineer, the room had slowly become more and more public until she had given up and refurbished it as a work room for all sorts of small projects. 

With no small relish, Maguire approached her most recent project which was the captured Cardassian device that had disabled the Cayuga, several months ago. It was based on technology vaguely similar to the Breen energy-dampening weapons and she wanted to make sure that it couldn’t be used against them again. She had just gotten her hands onto when she felt the ship jump to warp.

“Senior Staff, report to the Situation Room,” Pozach ordered from the overhead intercom. The chief engineer sighed and pulled her greasy hands from the machine.

“That’s the problem with Cardassian technology,” she muttered, wiping her hands on her pants and detaching the tool packs strapped to her belt. “So dirty.” 

She entered the Situation Room and took her customary seat to Pozach’s left and next to Pasko. 

“We’ve received a distress signal from the Noghhor system,” the Captain said, beginning the briefing. “They’ve declared a medical emergency and apparently an epidemic of narcotics have flooded their urban centers.” 

“Narcotics?,” Pasko asked her. “Related to some sort of religious act?” 

Riker snorted at this. “Religious acts, I’m sure. Most likely people looking for blissful oblivion.” 

“It’s not surprising, Mister Riker,” Doctor Moru said. “There have been studies showing that as the standard of living drops, the population is more likely to use drugs to simulate feelings of well-being.” 

Pasko frowned. “I don’t get it.” 

Pozach’s gaze flickered over him. “You’ve never lived outside the Federation.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The away team beamed down into hell. 

Once the Emergency Room of a hospital, the room had lost all of its orderly sterility to the delirious, moaning Cardassians that lay huddled on beds, on the floor, or against the walls. 

“Doctor Moru!,” Crewman Taylor shouted from across the room. The Bolian and Wiebach looked over to see her and Crewman Fuller struggling to restrain a thrashing Cardassian. 

“Hold him down,” Moru told Wiebach. He elbowed the two crewmen aside and gripped the Cardassian by his ankles while they took him by his wrists. The Cardassian fought them but they held fast. “Tranquilizer.” Moru held out his hand and Fuller snapped a hypospray into the palm of his hand. With a single hiss of the hypo against his neck, the Cardassian relaxed into an exhausted sleep. 

“Work with the Cardassian medics and make sure that all of the addicts are sedated,” the physician ordered. 

“We’ll need to beam down more inaprovaline,” Taylor told him. “The Cardies have run out and we can’t replicate more.” 

“Roslyn,” the Bolian reproached her. Taylor looked away and made a show of examining her tricorder. “Talk to Lieutenant Commander Riker. Tell him to arrange for the delivery of as much inaprovaline as they can replicate up there.” He scanned the room and picked out a single Cardassian. Wiebach followed him as the doctor crossed over to the man and tapped him on the shoulder. 

“Busy. Shoo, go away,” the man told them. 

“I’m not sure you’d appreciate that. I’m Doctor Moru of the Cayuga.,” 

The Cardassian turned with a start and took in the Bolian’s uniform. “So you are. I’m Doctor Jessek. I didn’t realize that they’d actually sent the distress signal.” 

“Why wouldn’t they?,” asked Wiebach. 

“Politics, naturally. This… plague… had been ravishing Noghhor for nearly five weeks and only now has the governor requested the aid that I’ve been demanding.” He sighed with exhaustion. “We’re a proud people but sometimes, we’re too proud for our own good.” 

“What’s the nature of the narcotic?,” asked Moru. 

“It’s commonly called ‘sek’, a liquid injected into the circulatory system. It has a very long euphoric period before it’s immediately followed by violent withdrawal symptoms.” Jessek wiped the sweat from his brow. “It’s fatal, eventually, but most of the addicts manage to get more somehow and it starts all over again.” 

“How many addicts are there?,” Wiebach asked him. 

Jessek threw up his hands. “No idea. We only see them when they’re this far gone.” 

Moru moved over to the nearest patient. “We’ll develop a counteragent for the narcotic as quickly as we can until them,” — he nodded at the addicts — ,” we should make sure that they’re as comfortable as possible.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Once before, Jeanne Pozach had seen such desolation and hopelessness before. Ven’shalliy IV was a world where the affluent were comfortable and everyone else suffered crippling deprivation. It hadn’t been a place for a young woman to live and she wasn’t sure how she had managed to live there the year after she had left Intooine. 

Riker looked like he was almost at home. 

“Here,” she said, crouching next to a Cardassian man who was leaning against a wall and shivering, despite the heat. She plucked her combadge off and unzipped her jacket, offering it to him. “This will keep you warm.” The man snatched it from her and she continued speaking,” We’re working on a compound that will lessen the effects of withdrawal. We’re going to distribute it as soon as possible.” 

“I don’t want a cure,” mumbled the man. “I want more sek.” 

Pozach frowned at him. “It’s killing you.” 

“Better than livin’ like this,” the Cardassian muttered, stumbling to his feet. 

“You know that he’s only going to pawn that jacket for more sek,” Riker said absently as the man left. 

Pozach affixed her combadge to her red duty shirt. “Once we find a way to negate the withdrawal symptoms, the government will be able to use social programs to help the addicts get off the narcotic on their own.” 

“Or,” he said thoughtfully,” once the consequences of the act are removed, it will become even more popular.” He spread his arms out, encompassing the other addicts who were huddling against buildings or where they fell. “After everything that I’ve seen of the Cardassians, it’s only natural to want to feel good, Captain. Who are we to regulate that? The tooth fairy?” 

Pozach began to sputter back at him but her combadge interrupted her before she could form coherent words. “Cayuga to Captain Pozach,” zh’Tali’s voice said, punctuated by the periodic wail of the Red Alert siren. “A threat vessel has entered the system and is moving into orbit. Return to the Cayuga immediately.” 

“Continue lending out aid,” the Captain told Riker coldly. To her combadge, she said,” Energize.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The Bridge doors parted open and Captain Pozach stopped short at the sight of the ship on the forward viewscreen. 

“A Romulan D’deridex class warbird decloaked just inside of our sensor range before it proceeded into orbit,” zh’Tali said, standing up from the command chair. “Their weapons and shields are offline. They have been hailing us for the last minute and a half.” 

“Put them through,” Pozach ordered, feeling behind her for her command chair, unable to tear her eyes away from the predatory vessel before her. Ensign Servain nodded from Ops and the viewscree shifted to the Bridge of the Warbird.

“Ah, Captain,” the Romulan said with a captivating smile,” I am Subcommander Varan of the Imperial warbird Havraha.” 

“Jeanne Pozach, USS Cayuga,” Pozach said quickly, forcing a smile of her own to her face. “You’re quite a bit far from the Romulan protectorate worlds, Subcommander. May I ask you what your business is here?” 

“We are responding to a distress signal that we received from Noghhor.” The Romulan officer spread his hands imploringly. “We wish to impart aid.” 

“Well, as you can see, we’re here a-and we have the situation well in hand.” She bit her lip, rebuking herself for the stutter.

“I’m afraid that you don’t understand,” Varan said and Pozach felt zh’Tali stiffen up in preparation of a threat. “We’ve already experienced this sort of widespread narcotic use on the Cardassian world under our protection and we have developed a counteragent that deadens the effects.” 

“Oh, is that so?,” the Cayuga’s captain asked him, relaxing a little. “I’m grateful for your expertise, Subcommander, and I apologize for my standoffish tone.” 

The Romulan smiled back at her. “No harm was done, Captain. We’ll begin beaming down medical teams immediately.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

She could have taken her dinner in her quarters but Pozach chose the Mess Hall instead. The view was far more impressive and she enjoyed the presence of other people around her. She was engrossed into a newly-replicated copy of Lennon’s Skywriting by Word of Mouth when Wiebach slid into the seat next to her. 

Pozach looked up, noticing an extremely displeased-looking zh’Tali standing behind him. “Mister Wiebach,” she greeted him, smothering her irritation at the interruption,” what can I do for you?” 

“I’ve just returned from the surface and I wanted to share my impressions of the situation with you.” At her encouraging nod, he continued with his report,” It’s a shame, really, with all of those people stripped of their free will by addiction. An entire planet forced to become dependent on outside help…” He smiled coyly. “Fortunately for us all, the Romulans are willing to help.” 

Something in his tone chilled Pozach. “Everyone gains something by accepting the Romulans’ aid.” 

“I’m sure that the people of Iota Hydri and Zeta Volantis would agree, because years ago, they had similar difficulties.” 

Pozach frowned at this information while she tried to remember her star charts. “Hydri and Volantis are Romulan-controlled worlds. It’s only natural that they would want to help their own citizens.” 

“But were they Romulan worlds before the narcotics appeared?” 

The question hung in the air and Pozach’s eyes widened. “Mister Wiebach,” she said,” you certainly have a wide range of eccentric knowledge.” 

“I just keep my ears open.” 

Pozach stood up from her table. “Excuse me. I believe that i have some research to attend to.” 

Wiebach watched her leave and glanced up at zh’Tali. “Well?” 

“You gave up too much,” was the Andorian’s reply. “Now she will begin to wonder if you are more than you claim to be. That will bring down the inquiry that I thought that you had hoped to avoid.” 

“Captain Pozach will do the right thing and the consequences can be dealt with later. Unless you’d like to see this planet fall under the Romulans’ tender mercies as well?” 

zh’Tali frowned and left the Mess Hall after her captain. They entered the turbolift together and the captain requested her quarters. “This Mister Wiebach is an interesting man,” she commented to her. The Andorian grunted noncommittally and she continued,” I want you to assemble an away team, Commander. Find the suppliers of this ‘sek’ and bring them up here” The turbolift doors parted open and she stepped out. “Prove his suspicions wrong.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The door didn’t shatter exactly but it made an awful racket when it went crashing to the ground. Commander zh’Tali and Wiebach stepped inside, eyeing the junkies as they scrambled away from them and the light. 

“My comrade tells me that I’m too quick to resort to violence to solve my problems,” zh’Tali said, letting her voice carry. “As such, I will ask questions before I am forced to resort to said violence.” 

Wiebach kicked at a piece of rubbish and leaned against the wall. “That’s her way of saying that she’s trying to be nice.” 

zh’Tali picked out a man and squatted down next to him. “Where did you get your supply of sek?” 

“A man named Jadesh,” the Cardassian whispered out. “Why do you care? No one cares.” 

“I have my orders,” zh’Tali said dispassionately and left 

“Was that hard for you?,” Wiebach asked her as they re-emerged into the sunlight. 

She spared him a look. “They were no threat. A simple exchange provided us with what we required.” 

“So where to now?,” he asked her, picking at a piece of debris caught on his tunic. 

“Criminals,” the zhen said,” are a superstitious and cowardly lot. We will find this Jadesh and through him, work our way up the supply chain.” 

Hours passed by them, and halfway around the world, they stood knee-deep in muck and sewage, watching without interest as a Cardassian crawled away, clutching his stomach. 

“That was disappointing,” Wiebach commented.

zh’Tali stepped past him and dead-lifted the Cardassian to his feet. “I had hoped,” she growled,” that when we finally traced the supply of sek to its highest point, we would find some sort of factory. However, instead i see nothing but a coward who tells me that he is responsible for distributing the entire supply to this world… and that he simply ‘found’ it?” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Subcommander, won’t you come in?” 

Varan stepped into the Ready Room and smiled at Captain Pozach and Commander zh’Tali. “I must say that this speaks well of the relations between the Star Empire and the Federation.” He sat down in a chair across from the captain. “I was worried that after the mutual threat of the Dominion had dissipated, our people might… drift apart.” 

“I’m curious, Subcommander. My crew has been working to find the production facilities for this narcotic down on Noghhor, and so far, they’ve been unsuccessful. Have you had any success with stopping the flow of the narcotic on your worlds?” 

“Usually once a civilized element is introduced does the illicit behavior taper off on its own.” 

“As it did on Hydri and Volantis?,” she asked him. “Because, you see, I searched for precedents in the Federation and I discovered — to my complete astonishment — that his situation had occurred on no fewer than a dozen worlds near the Romulan Star Empire.” 

Varan frowned at her. “Captain, we are a compassionate people. Your insinuations wound me.” 

From his right side, zh’Tali said lowly,” Not yet.” She rose up from the small couch and circled him. “I helped liberate Betazed, Romulan. I know all about your Reman … pets. Do not speak to me of your ‘compassion’.” 

“I’ve spoken with my superiors at Starfleet Command and I’ve been ordered to thank you for your gracious assistance,” Pozach continued. “The starship Starsong will be arriving in-system within eighteen hours from now to take over from you.” 

Varan stood swiftly. “It disturbs me that you so readily slap away a helping hand on the basis of unsubstantiated doubt, Captain.” 

“Not so much doubt as deep-seated suspicion, Subcommander,” she assured him. “The door’s behind you.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

It was well into the ship’s night when Aimee Maguire returned to Sickbay. She slipped past Doctor Winston and her nurses who were playing cards in Doctor Moru’s office and to the relative privacy of the small operating theater. She watched the door close behind her and let out a sigh of relief. 

“Computer,” she asked,” activate the Emergency Medical Holographic program.” 

“Please state the nature of the … ,” the hologram said. “Oh, it’s you again.” 

“Yeah, me again.” Maguire glanced down at her PADD and said,” Computer, run holographic program Dixon.” The scowling demeanor of the holographic doctor dissolved and reformed into the smiling visage of Sam Dixon. “Begin playback, first message.” 

“Hi, Aimee! The Gihlan’s been underway for an hour now and I miss you already. She’s a great old lady. She feels rustic and –” 

“Advance to the third message,” the engineer said and the image paused before it began again. 

“Aimee, Captain Pozach told me that you ran off. I tried to get the captain here to turn around or to give me a shuttle or something but he wouldn’t hear of — “

“Advance to the seventeenth message.” 

“I’m sorry that I scared you if I came on too strong. If you think that it’s too early to be thinking about marriage, I understand that and I won’t mention it again.” 

Aimee reached out to the hologram but stopped herself. “Computer,” she whispered,” end program.” 

The End… 

09 – ‘Four People from Khymer’

Star Trek: Cayuga

09 – ‘Four People from Khymer’

By Jack Elmlinger

It was too early in the morning. 

Naala pulled at the sheets of her parents’ bed again. Her father groaned with fatigue and reached down to pick her up. “Daddy,” she said with the seriousness of a three-year old.

Her father rubbed the ridges around his eyes. “Yes, Naala?” 

“There’s a monster in the backyard.” 

“There’s a monster in the backyard.” 

“There’s no such thing as monsters,” her father told her. Her gaze didn’t waver and he sighed. “Come on and show me. Don’t wake up your mother.” 

Naala led him into the kitchen and pointed out the window. “There.” 

Wiping the sleep from his eyes, her father leaned on the windowsill and gazed outward. Then he slowly stepped back. The creature was as tall as a Cardassian. Hard plates were embedded into its brown-and-green skin. Each of its fingers were easily as long as a humanoid forearm. None of this was as disturbing as the six blood-red eyes staring out from its face. 

“Is it a Gem’adar?,” Naala asked him. 

“Never say that name,” her father snapped at her before he shook his head. “No, it’s not a Jem’hadar.” 

His daughter frowned at him. “What is it, then?” 

“I don’t know.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“‘Cause I’m as free as a bird — oh, damn it.” 

Jeanne Pozach resettled the guitar on her hip and strummed through the riff again. Still not satisfied with the sound, she tightened the strings. The door suddenly chimed and she glanced up from her music. 

“Enter,” she said. 

The door slid open and Commander zh’Tali strode in and came to attention before her. 

“Captain, I apologize for interrupting you during your off-duty hours.” 

“At ease, Commander. What brings you here?” 

“Lieutenant Maguire is missing.” 

Pozach placed the guitar across her lap. “What?” 

“During the twelve hundred rounds of Starbase Three-Five-Nine’s hospital, it was discovered that her bed was unoccupied. Station security ran a sweep and they were unable to locate her. I was informed myself, twenty minutes ago.” 

Pozach stood up, laying her guitar down on her couch. “Did she come here?” 

“No. her codes weren’t used to access the ship.” zh’Tali held out a PADD towards her. “Upon further investigation, I found out that she had booked passage on a Rigelian relief freighter bound for Cardassia Prime. They launched from the starbase, an hour ago.” 

 

“Have we received any orders yet to resume our cargo runs?” 

zh’Tali shrugged at her question. “No. A number of ships from the Seventh Fleet have been reassigned to deliver relief aid to the Cardassians. Our return to duty has been delayed.” 

“All right, recall all of our personnel from the Starbase. Have a course plotted for the freighter. Rigelian ships are fast but we’re quite a bit out from Cardassia. We should be able to intercept them.” 

zh’Tali took her orders as a dismissal and departed from the Captain’s cabin. Jeanne sat back down on her couch and strummed a few cords. “Aimee,” she asked the room plaintively,” what have you done now?” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The monster wasn’t alone. 

While her father left his family to go fetch the authorities, Naala watched three more creatures appear in flashes of light. New plants also appeared out of nowhere and spread, strangling the life out of the trees. By the time that her father returned with a few members of the local militia, the air was thick and tinged with green particles. The soldiers took aim with their disruptor rifles and they gagged on the strange oxygen, falling back, overwhelmed. 

Naala’s mother took her and they fled the house that afternoon. Before she left, the small Cardassian girl saw small, hopping lizards flit through the living room. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“This is so like her!,” Sean Pasko exclaimed with disgust. “Something bad happens to her and she runs away. I know she did.” 

Across the table from the pilot, Thomas Riker looked up in surprise. “I’m sorry?,” he asked him. 

“It’s the same thing that she did with Captain Pozach. It’s like all she knows how to do is run.” 

Riker frowned at his admission. He had only been aboard the Cayuga for little more than a day and already there was excitement. Although if half of what he heard about her was as true as what he read in the ship’s logs, then this Maguire was the type of person who enjoyed making a scene. 

“Captain Pozach sent a message to a Lieutenant Dixon aboard the Gihlan,” he told Pasko. “Are he and Maguire related somehow?” 

“She’s just like my sister!,” Pasko cried, obliviously. “I’m always having to chase after her.” 

“All senior staff, report to the Situation.” Riker glanced up at the ceiling and he pushed himself up to his feet. 

Pasko shook his head and glanced over, noticing Riker for the first time. “Do you know where the Situation Room is?,” he asked the new guy. “It would be embarrassing for our new Operations Officer to get lost. Come on.” He gathered his plates up onto a tray, adding,” I suppose we’ve caught up with that Rigelian freigher. I’m going to kill her.” 

They stepped into the corridor and Riker could feel the subtle vibration of high warp through the deckplates. To Pasko, it felt like the ship was changing direction, but only slightly. 

The doors to the Bridge parted open and Pasko led Riker into the Situation Room. Lieutenant Hobbes, Lieutenant Ntannu, Assistant Chief Engineer Zehna, and Commander zh’Tali were already seated around the conference table. Captain Pozach was standing behind her chair and she beckoned them to their seats, impatiently. 

“How long until we intercept the freighter?,” Pasko asked her. 

“We’ve received new orders from Admiral sh’Diaar,” was the Captain’s answer. “A distress signal has been received from Iannar III. They’re reporting that they’ve been invaded by unknown forces. The USS Patsayev is on-scene and we’ve been tapped to assist them.” She turned her chair around and sat down. “Mister Hobbes has the details.” 

Brandon Hobbes stood up, with uncertainty from his chair and activated the wall monitor panel. A planetary globe appeared and it was covered in small red circles that were largely concentrated in the southernmost continent. “This is Iannar III as it was illustrated by the Patsayev’s sensor scans. As of fifty minutes ago, there were over two hundred and thirty… portals for the lack of a better word.” 

“How do they work?,” asked Zehna Nako, Lieutenant Maguire’s assistant chief engineer. 

Hobbes’ mouth opened and he shrugged at the question. “Unknown,” he said. “They’re almost like … puckers in the fabric of reality.” 

“Like wormholes?,” zh’Tali asked him. 

“No,” the science officer said, shaking his head. “The scan returns are nothing like those from the Bajoran or Barzan wormholes. Or even what we know about the Iconian gateways for that matter.” 

He pressed an indicator on the side of the screen and the globe was replaced by a Cardassian video feed. 

“The portals are short in duration, just for a few seconds and they usually deposit one or two lifeforms.” The feed showed a wide grassy plain. There was a burst of light and a massive beast appeared. It had legs as thick as tree stumps. “The portals have deposited a variety of flora as well as some of these plants emitted toxic fumes.” He glanced down at the PADD in his hand. “With the alien fauna killing off the native fauna and the gases polluting the atmosphere, Iannar III will soon be rendered inhospitable. It will be the end of the world as they know it.” 

“That’s great,” Pasko snapped,” and I feel for these folk, I really do, but what about Aimee?” 

zh’Tali glanced at him from across the table. “Lieutenant Maguire has chosen her own course of action, Mister Pasko. We have a mission and we cannot divert from it for the sake of one wayward woman..” 

With his face turning red, Pasko began to rise up from his seat. “You unfeeling — “

“Sean, sit down,” Pozach said icily and she silenced zh’Tali with a glare. “She’s right, Sean. The invasion of Iannar take priority.” She typed a command into the command panel on the table and the screen turned into a map of Cardassian space with the Federation to the right of it. The Cayuga’s position was indicated by a Starfleet delta symbol just over the border. The solar system Iannar appeared to be near it. 

“Sean, how long will it take for us to get to Iannar at maximum warp?” 

Pasko stared at the screen and he spoke softly. “We can maintain Warp Nine-point-Three for the next twelve hours. After that, we’ll have to cruise at Warp Eight.” He shot a look at the temporary chief engineer. “Assuming that Zehna can keep the engines together, we should be there in about fifty-four hours.” 

“Good,” the Captain said, ignoring the venom in the helmsman’s voice. “When we get there, our orders are to evacuate all of the civilians from the affected areas. After that, we need to put an end to this invasion by shutting down the portals.” 

“Evacuation will be difficult with the proximity of the larger cluster of portals, Captain. Their reality-warping effect makes using the transporter impossible,” Hobbes explained to her,” but the Patseyev reports that they’re already in the process of completing the most critical of the evacuations.” 

Pozach nodded at all of them. “All right then, we’ve all got our jobs. Let’s go do them.” 

All of the senior officers but Hobbes and Riker filed out of the room. They stared at each other and once the doors swooshed shut again, Riker spoke. 

“Hello, Brandon.” 

“Hello, Thomas.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Sickbay was empty and Zimthar Moru liked it that way. A full sickbay meant sick people but an empty one meant that he could sit back in his office, relax with his feet propped up on the edge of his desk, and read a paper on the evolutionary consistency among non-dual gendered species like the Andorians, the J’Naii, the Hermats, and the Jarada. He had just gotten to the chapter on gendered social interactions when Captain Pozach walked through the door. 

She didn’t look good at all. Despite the late hour, she was still wearing her duty uniform, although the jacket was hanging open. She crossed the tiled floor to sit down heavily on a biobed. “I can’t sleep, Doc,” she moaned.

Moru walked from his office and glanced at the readouts on the display over the bed “How long has this been going on?,” the Bolian physician asked her. 

“About a day.” 

“Since we got our orders,” he said, sitting on the edge of the biobed beside her. 

“And we had to abandon Aimee,” Pozach finished, grimacing. “I’m worried about her.” 

Moru thought for a moment. “It occurs to me, Captain, that I haven’t taken any leave since before the Dominion War.” 

“That’s wonderful for you, Doc,” she said with a tone of defeat creeping into her voice. “Wait a minute, didn’t you just have leave on Earth?” 

The Bolian shrugged at her question and he raised his voice a little to better illustrate his point. “Were I to take leave, I was thinking that I might want to spend it on Cardassia Prime. See the sights of something. There might even be a friend that I might want to look up.” 

The captain looked back at him. “You’d better take the Garibaldi. Talk to Mister Pasko about when you can launch.” 

“Certainly,” he said, helping her to her feet. “I’d best go get ready.” 

Jeanne placed her hand on his shoulder, making him pause. “Thank you.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Entering the Iannar system now,” Pasko reported. 

“Sensors have detected an Excelsior class starship, the USS Patseyev, in high orbit,” zh’Tali said, pressed her earpiece closer in her ear. “Captain Talmadge is hailing us.” 

“On screen,” Pozach said, settling down into her command chair. 

The starship on the main screen disappeared and a wide Bridge appeared with an older man sitting in an off-set command chair. “Hello there,” he said pleasantly in a British accent. 

Pozach smiled at the other captain. “Hello, I’m Jeanne Pozach of the Cayuga and we’re ready to assist you.” 

“Excellent,” Talmadge said, examining a panel on his chair’s armrest before he continued,” We’ve mostly evacuated the areas closest to the portals but there’s still a large cluster of them on the southern continent that’s been giving our transporter fits. We’ve been using our shuttlecraft to move civilians away from the affected areas and into Shendo, the city, four hundred kilometers to the east of the hot spot.” 

“We can begin beaming down relief teams into Shendo immediately. I’ll join them myself. My First Officer, Commander zh’Tali will be leading an away team into the portal-thick area to help with the evacuation.” 

Talmadge’s lips curved into a charming smile. “I’m very much obliged for your help. Thanks, Jeannie.” 

The viewscreen switched back to the curve of Iannar III and the Patseyev farther ahead of them in orbit. The bridge was silent as all eyes moved to look at Captain Pozach.

“… Jeannie?!”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The fact that the shuttle Garibaldi wasn’t available for the mission irritated zh’Tali but she accepted it as fact and moved on. She strode across the shuttl day and observed her chosen away team. Lieutenant Ntannu and Crewman Leung were helping Crewman Taylor pack the medical supplies into the shuttle Ivanova while Collier and Halah-Uen were preparing supplies for the second run. Pasko was completing his pre-flight check when she stepped inside the shuttlecraft’s rear hatch and waited for him to notice her. 

“Commander!,” he yelped in surprise. “I didn’t see you there in that very… black… uniform.” 

zh’Tali sat down on the bench behind him and she began checking her equipment. “This is a combat operation,” she asked him,” isn’t it?” 

“Well, potentially,” he admitted to her. 

“This is a combat uniform,” she said, sheathing the kar’takin across her back. 

“Right,” he continued nervously. 

Ntannu, Taylor, and Leung filed in through the back of the shuttle and began settling into their seats. The pilot retracted the hatch and kicked into the antigravity system, floating the shuttle off of the deck.

“Okay, is everyone ready?” 

He waited for an answer but the ebony-clad figure of zh’Tali seemed to discourage any form of banter. Pasko sighed, his hands moving across his console. 

“Well, here we go.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Pozach materialized into what could be politely called organized chaos. The government building that she and her team had beamed into was filled to capacity with Cardassians of all genders and ages. They were unified by the tangible wall of sound that they threw at the stage where a Tellarite wearing Command red stood. 

“No, this isn’t a weapon of the Federation! Nor is this an invasion of any way orchestrated by the Dominion! This is ridiculous! What are you, a bunch of idiots or something?!,” the Tellarite yelled at his audience in response to the questions aimed at him by the roar of the crowd. 

“The Union wouldn’t have allowed these aliens to gain a foothold on our world!,” a Cardassian woman yelled back at him. 

“What is Starfleet doing to repulse these invaders?!,” a man beside her demanded to know. 

The Tellarite tried to answer both of them but the din of the crowd’s dissent overpowered his voice. Pozach grabbed Lieutenant Hobbes’ arm and pulled him close enough for him to hear her. 

“Get the medical team over to the infirmary here before you hook up with the Patseyev’s science officer. Try to help them out. Go.” The science acknowledged her orders and gesturing to the medical officers, motioning for them to follow him out of the room. 

Pozach inhaled and exhaled a breath before she traced along the edge of the room before she reached the stage. With a little clamoring, she pulled herself up onto it and walked over to the Tellarite officer. He saw her first, her uniform, and then the four pips on her collar before he stepped aside to let her take his place.

“Who are you?!,” a voice demanded from the crowd. 

Pozach stepped up to the edge of the stage and she waited as more and more of the Cardassians noticed her. Curious at her silence, the crowd quieted down from a dull roar to a disgruntled rumble. 

“I’m Jeanne Pozach,” she said, calmly falling into a rhythm that reminded her of her time serving as an Starfleet attache to the Federation Council in Paris,” Captain of the Federation starship Cayuga.” The crowd began to rouse itself and she continued before any more questions could be asked of her. “As we speak, my ship is beaming down medical officers for your wounded and security officers to stave off this invasion.” 

The crowd rumbled and a single Cardassian man stepped forward. “Captain,” he said genially,” please understand the position of my people. A year and a half ago, we were occupied by the Dominion and now our infrastructure is destroyed. Now we’re forced from our homes by these new aliens. You’ll understand why we are enraged.” 

Pozach considered him, asking,” Who are you, sir?” 

The Cardassian stood up a bit straighter “My name is Anam Rusek, and I am the elected leader of this world.” 

Crouching downward on her knees, she extended her hand out to him. “Join me?” Rusek took her hand and she pulled him up onto the stage. Still shaking his hand, she looked back to the crowd. “My crew is doing everything that they can to disable these portals.” 

Aware of the image of amiability that she was trying to create, Rusek asked her,” Do I have your word on that as a Starfleet officer?” 

“No,” was her reply,” you have my word on it as a fellow sentient being.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

With his passengers emptied from the Ivanova, Pasko gave them a quick thumbs-up before he launched back up into the sky, on a course back to the Cayuga. Thirty feet away from where he had landed, Cardassians were huddled into a Type-Six shuttle from the Patseyev which rose up into the sky and disappeared. Taylor dashed off to the field hospital, stepping quickly between the wounded Cardassians lying in the mud. 

zh’Tali sighted a Lieutenant hunched over a communications unit and led her security officers over towards him. He glanced up and smiled at her. “Are you from the Cayuga? Martinez, Patseyev’s Security Chief.” 

zh’Tali accepted his hand, shaking it briefly and he continued speaking,” The biggest cluster of portals appeared in the urban area of Geeton. Right now, I have twenty three-man squads that are going door-to-door, evacuating the buildings. The number of hostiles is increasing rapidly and a lot of the personnel out there aren’t even from Security.” 

“Where are we needed?,” the Andorian asked him. 

Lieutenant Martinez picked a PADD up and handed it to her. “There’s a squad that should be coming north along the main street. I bet that they wouldn’t mind some backup, Commander.” 

zh’Tali gave the PADD a cursory glance before she reached back behind her head and pulled down a mask that was the same black as her uniform. “Let’s go.” 

Ntannu and Leung fell in behind her. They moved across a long field, walking until they couldn’t see the evacuation camp behind them any longer. 

“Why is the ground so damp>,” Leung asked, looking up at the sky. “It looks like it hasn’t rained in days.” 

Ntannu started talking to his fellow security officer. “The atmosphere is thickening,” the Ktarian guessed. “It’s some kind of side-effect — “

“Silence,” zh’Tali hissed at them. She knelt down, her fingers adjusting the lenses in the eyes of her mask. The security officers followed her gaze.

“What the hell is that?,” demanded Leung, squinted ahead of them. 

“Some kind of flying reptile,” the Commander said,” with claws and a tearing beak. It appears to be hostile.” She stood up and continued marching. 

The away team entered the city, swiftly trading the one-story building at the outskirts for the buildings that were much taller. zh’Tali realized that the silence was wearing on the security officers. “We’re being stalked,” she told them in a level tone,” but don’t be afraid. I believe that we can defeat them easily.” Satisfied at her effort to ease their anxiety, she turned her attention back to the road in front of them. 

Leung passed a sidelong glance to Ntannu. 

zh’Tali gazed at one of the buildings where there were inconsistencies in the play of light and dark. Inconsistencies that were moving. She kicked in her lenses again and frowned. 

“Commander?,” asked the Ktarian security chief behind her. 

“There is a creature on the building. Its body is vertical with two limbs on the dorsal surface and two on the ventral size. Each of its limbs has claws that allow it to dig into the wall.” She paused for a moment in her report and added,” And it had noticed us.” 

“You mean that?!,” Leung shouted, sighting his phaser rifle at the creature as it leapt over to the building above them. 

“Fire,” the zhen ordered. Orange-red energy beams stabbed out of their weapons, striking the creature and the wall around it. The wall-crawler screeched as the three beams struck it, before it let go of the building. It fell twenty meters and slammed down into the ground, shattering its carapace. 

Ntannu pushed the creature with the butt of his rifle. “Is it dead?” 

zh’Tali fired into its head and said,” Yes.” 

A scream wrenched their attention farther down the desolate street. zh’Tali bolted down the street and towards the sound, the other officers trailing behind her. Out of the gloom, a woman ran towards them. She tripped and tumbled to the ground.

Before she could lift herself back up, the Andorian hoisted her back up to her feet. “Ntannu, Leung,” she said,” secure this area and defend this woman. I will attempt to locate other survivors.” 

There was another cry. It was more of a bellow than a scream. The commander set off after it at a run. She moved around a corner and slammed into a ground of Cardassians that was running the other way. “Run!,” one of them screamed. “It’s coming!” 

Irritated by their fear, zh’Tali swatted them aside and looked down the cross-street at ‘it’. Standing up at just over eleven feet, the humanoid creature’s indigo skin gleamed like polished armor. Its head was disproportionately small, dwarfed by the spiked hump rising up from its back. In its left hand, it held up a shield that looked like it had once been the shell of a mammoth tortoise. Clutched in its right hand was a Human male. 

The creature roared again and threw the Human down at zh’Tali’s feet. Dazed, he looked up with his eyes wandering over her combat-suited form before they settled onto the handle of the kar’takin strapped to her back. 

“Oh,” he said,” hey, Davi.” 

zh’Tali slid the mask off of her face. “Wiebach.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Shuttlecraft 21099-2 Ivanova, looking for a spot to land,” Pasko said, scanning the field for a clear patch to land on. 

This was his fourth return to the planet’s surface and it seemed like there were more Cardassians milling around the landing zone than before. A hundred meters away, a Type-Nine shuttle dropped down through the cloud cover, rotated on its axis, and settled down easily into a spot that Pasko wouldn’t have tried for if he was piloting a bicycle. He checked his scanners and opened a channel on his communications gear. 

“Nice landing, Callaway.” 

“Thank you,” answered a woman’s pleasantly surprised voice. 

Pasko picked a spot to land and coasted down on his antigravity system. As he opened the rear hatch, he smiled at the voice. “It’s a pretty tough run, what with the crowded landing field and all.” 

“Oh, I don’t think it’s that bad,” replied the other pilot. “I’ve been at this for three days. It could be a lot worse.” Pasko heard a tiny beep in the background. “I have to go now,” she continued. “Goodbye.” 

Pasko turned away and smiled broadly at the Cardassians crowded before him. “Welcome aboard the Ivanova, express flight from Geeton to Shendo. I’m Sean Pasko and I’ll be your pilot today.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Its armor is effective against Cardassian disruptors and Starfleet phasers up to Level Fourteen,” Wiebach said as zh’Tali helped him up to his feet. 

“Any thoughts?,” she asked him as they separated, edging forward to circle the creature. 

Wiebach casually reached down and plucked a Klingon mek’leth up out of the ground. “I think that the creature’s brain is in that spiked bulge on its back. Do you see where the exoskeletal plates join?” 

The creature turned towards zh’Tali at first and then towards Wiebach before snorting. It slammed its shield down at the spot where Wiebach was standing. Both of them leapt away and the Andorian managed to grab the creature’s shoulder while Wiebach swung onto its arm. It shook them free but Wiebach managed to shove his mek’leth into the plates’ seams before tumbling down to the ground. 

zh’Tali clambered up the creature’s side but its massive hand grabbed her before she could strike. It threw her casually at a nearby wall but she flexed her knees, rebounding against the wall and slamming the flat of her kar’takin against the hilt of the mek’leth that was jammed further in. The creature’s eyes fluttered and it pitched forward, dead. 

“What are you doing here, Nathan?,” zh’Tali asked him. 

Wiebach tugged his weapon from the creature’s braincase. “Helping the helpless. I had to keep busy, didn’t I?” 

zh’Tali glanced back in the direction of her security team. “Come with me. You’ll be safer in Shendo with the refugees.” 

Wiebach gave her an amused chuckle and began to walk. “You think that these things are a threat to me?” 

The commander shook her head and set the pace. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The Cardassians have been given rooms in the city and the government building was empty except for a few Starfleet officers that included Captain Pozach and Governor Rusek. 

“I must thank you again, Captain,” Rusek told her. “I know that your Federation must be strained greatly, especially with the Klingon and Romulan Empires so resistant to become involved in the Reconstruction.” 

“I thought that the Romulans had given resources to over a dozen worlds including Cardassia Prime?” 

“There is always a price when the Romulans offer you aid.” 

Pozach had paused to construct a somewhat non-committal reply when her combadge chirped for attention. “Steven to Jeannie.” 

“Excuse me,” she said, taking a half-step backwards and tapping her combadge. “Pozach here. Go ahead, Captain.” 

“Patseyev’s sensors have managed to locate the point of origin for the portals,” Captain Talmadge reported to her. “It’s a system that’s a dozen lightyears out, and unmapped by the Federation. It doesn’t even appear to be on any of the Cardassian star charts that we have on record.” 

Pozach frowned while she tried to work out speeds and times in her head. She failed. “I’ll have the Cayuga head out, immediately,” she said, regardless of the dangers involved. 

“Good,” added the other captain,” because at the rate that these portals are appearing is increasingly exponentially. Within twenty-four hours, there could be as many as seven million sentient aliens on Iannar, plus countless other lifeforms.” 

 “We’ll hurry,” Pozach said and deactivated her combadge. She turned towards Rusek and said,” I’m afraid I’ll have to take my leave of you.” 

“Actually, I wondered if I might come along with you.” 

“That’s somewhat unusual.” 

“I would very much like to see the world that these invaders come from. Of course, this is subject to your approval, Captain.” 

She pondered this over in her head before she nodded her assent. “Pozach to Cayuga. Two to beam up.” 

The auditorium dissolved around them, resolving them into appearing in the Cayuga’s transporter room. “Pozach to Fuller. Please report to the transporter room and escort Mister Rusek to guest quarters.” She turned back towards the Cardassian. “I would take you myself, but I have to get us underway.” 

Pozach rode the turbolift up four decks to the Bridge, running out of the life after the doors swooshed open. Riker glanced back from the command chair and stood up. As she sat down, she gave orders to Aerru at the helm. 

“Set a course for the star system at the coordinates provided to us by the Patseyev. Mister Riker, contact Commander zh’Tali and the away team. Inform them that we’re heading out of orbit and that they’re to report to Commander Grudak of the Patseyev.” 

“Aye, sir,” the operations officer said, fumbling to get the transceiver into his ear. 

Pozach took a steadying breath before saying,” Helm, take us out. Maximum warp.” 

Lieutenant Brandon Hobbes wasn’t used to seeing other officers with blue departmental colors. So the science team from the Patseyev stuck out to him. A woman with Lieutenant Commander’s pips motioned him over to her. She sat cross-legged on the ground with a beetle that was the size of a house cat on her lap. Its single compound eye observed him for a moment before it went back to gnawing on a stick that the woman held in front of its beak. 

“Would you like to play with Alfie?,” she asked him. 

Hobbes blanched at her request. “W-what is it?” 

“He’s a beetle. He’s been telling us lots of interesting things about where he’s from.” 

Hobbes sat down beside her, watching the insect carefully. “Like what?,” he asked her, examining it with his tricorder. 

“Commander Malstrom found out that he’s been artificially adapted to this environment,” an Ensign explained to him. “Most of the creatures that we’ve been able to observe have been forced to restrict their activities to the regions of contaminated atmosphere.” 

Malstrom stroked Alfie’s shell and Hobbes was taken by her subtly violet eyes. “We’ve been trying to figure out this task in this invasion.” 

The Cayuga’s science officer hesitantly touched the massive insect. “No significant claws,” he said,” and I’m not reading any poison sacs or adaptive camouflage.” 

“It could be a scout since it can breathe the atmosphere here,” suggested one of the other science officers. 

“I doubt it, Silthin,” Malstrom said apologetically. 

“It’s too big and it has no depth perception.” 

“He,” Malstrom said mildly, correcting Hobbes. 

“Could I see a list of all of the lifeforms that you’ve observed so far?” 

“Well, sure. Silthin, link up with his tricorder.” 

Hobbes nodded his thanks to the Suliban officer and he began skimming through the data. “You’ve found four separate humanoid species?,” he asked with surprise. 

The Patseyev’s chief science officer nodded at him. “The security teams did. They’re rarely seen outside of the areas with contaminated atmosphere. We think that they’re the intelligence responsible for this invasion.” 

“Over the six hundred species of insects recorded,” Hobbes read off of his tricorder screen. “Thirty-seven types of amphibians. Fifty-three lizard species. Twelve mammals and more than two hundred types of plants.” 

“Worst invasion ever,” Silthin mumbled. 

Malstrom looked up at Hobbes. “He’s right. This isn’t an army…” 

“It’s an ecosystem.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The Cayuga slowed rapidly at the edge of the system, coasting in at high impulse speeds. Captain Pozach took in the scene before her. The star and three planets would have been picturesque if not for the situation on Iannar III that had brought them here.

“Mister Riker, find the source of the portals. Scan the system for hostile ships.” 

“Sensors are reading the energy signature of the portals,” Riker reported. “A lot of them are coming from the upper atmosphere of that gas giant.” He glanced up at the captain. “No spacecraft of any kind.” 

“Any sign that we’ve been detected?,” she asked the ops officer and he shook his head. “Take us into orbit.” 

The gas giant grew larger on the viewscreen. As the image became clearer, the captain leaned forward in her chair. “That’s a moon,” she said underneath her breath. “It’s in such a low orbit that it’s inside the atmosphere.” 

“Too low,” Riker reported. “The moon isn’t maintaining its orbit and it’s falling into the gas giant.” There was a pause and he continued his report,” It’s also where the portals are coming from.” 

“Haill them.” 

Riker entered a few commands into his board before shaking his head. “It’s no use. There isn’t anybody receiving down there.” 

Pozach sat back in her chair. “We have to establish contact. Mister Riker, ready a security team and call Zehna to the Bridge to assume command. You and I are beaming down there.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Pozach’s first impression of the planet was that it was too foggy. She squinted through the faceplate of her environmental suit, abruptly realizing that she stood three meters from a massive beast. Its limbs were stunted and covered in luminous tattoos and its head was fused onto its torso. A line of creatures of all varieties stretched away from it while the larger animals were being herded by four distinct humanoid species. At the head of the line was the glowing form of another massive creature connected to the first by tendrils of energy. 

“Captain,” Riker said from beside her as he consulted his tricorder,” that thing is projecting the portals. If we can shut it down, we can stop the invasion.” 

There was a sund, almost like barking when the aliens spotted them. The orderly line disintegrated as the humanoids scattered. 

Pozach’s eyes flitted across the retreating mob. “This isn’t right,” she murmured, turning towards Riker. “Look at them. If they’re soldiers, then where are their weapons?” 

“And why are they bringing children?” She followed his gaze to a humanoid hiding behind two others twice its size. 

Motioning for the nervous security officers to stay where they stood, the captain stepped forward. “I’m Captain Jeanne Pozach of the Federation starship Cayuga,” she said, pausing for a moment before continuing,” I would like to speak to your ruling council.” 

One of the humanoids let out a series of barks, snorts, and brays. 

“Take me to your leader?,” she asked, venturing a guess. 

Another humanoid stepped forward uneasily and began to chitter. “The Universal Translator needs more of their syntax to provide a baseline for their language,” Riker said,” but it seems friendly enough.” 

Slowly, words of understanding began to funnel through their combadges. “… do not mean harm/injury/damage. We do not wish strife/conflict/discord.” 

Pozach approached it slowly and sat down cross-legged on the ground. “I don’t want to hurt you,” she said, hearing her words being repeated in a series of barks and squawks. “We’re here on the behalf of Iannar whose planet that your people are occupying.” 

The alien’s eyes widened and it sat down on its knees across from her. “Please understand/comprehend/sympathize. We seek escape/exodus/sanctuary. This world is untenable/dangerous/unwelcoming.” 

“You mean the orbital degradation?,” Riker asked him. The alien blinked at his, its head wavering from side to side. “Did it get hot?” 

“Yes, hot. For many generations and the v’g’eel saw that it would not become better.” 

“V’g’eel?” 

Riker shook his head. “Translator didn’t get it.” 

“The v’g’eel has worked for many eclipses to find an escape. They crafted/bred/designed the s’rogiie to allow us transit to sanctuary.” 

“Well,” Pozach said, glancing around,” are you the leader of these people?” 

“As far as any of us lead,” it said, sitting up a bit straighter,” I am designated Dacl-tarin.” 

The captain took that statement as an affirmative and stood up, offering the creature her hand. “I would like you to come with me back to my ship and discuss your exodus with the leader of Iannar. Perhaps you and he can work out an arrangement.” 

Dacl-tarin flexed his legs and stood. “I will do as you ask.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Doctor Moru’s plants had been removed from the observation deck and it had been flooded with a gaseous mixture similar to the moon’s atmosphere. When Captain Pozach walked in with a pair of breather masks, she found Anam Rusek waiting for her with Ensign Halah-Uen.

“Captain,” the Cardassian governor said,” am I to understand that one of the invaders is aboard your ship, right now?” 

“Through those doors,” she confirmed, handing him a mask. “I only ask that you keep an open mind, Governor.” 

The doors swooshed open and they stepped through the light force field that retained the foreign atmosphere. Across the hazy room, Dacl-tarin sat at the opposite end of the table while Pozach sat down at its center.

“Governor Rusek, this is Dacl-tarin,” she began with the introductions. “Dacl-tarin, this man leads the people of the world that you are evacuating to.” 

“I regret, lament, apologize,” the alien said. “Our exodus was blind, misguided/desperate.” 

Rusek looked unimpressed so the Captain explained the situation to him. “Their world is a lost cause. It has fallen deep into the gas giant’s gravity well and there’s nothing that we can do about it. They need a new place to live.” 

Before Rusek could respond, she turned to Dacl-tarin. 

“And now with that said, I should say that Iannar III does belong to the Cardassians and the Cardassians can hardly be expected to give up their world, but I think that I have a mutually beneficial solution.” 

She turned back to Rusek. “There are massive tracts of land on your northern continent that are untouched.” She turned again to Dacl-tarin. “Much of the Cardassian Union was damaged in a recent war. Your people clearly possess advanced biotechnology that could greatly aid them with their Reconstruction.” 

Dacl-tarin squawked happily. “We would gladly tithe/lease/trade for a home.” 

Rusek still looked unconvinced. 

“Think of it, Rusek,” Pozach told him. “Many worlds of the Union have regained their self-sufficiency but none of them are able to aid those that haven’t. How impressed, how grateful would the provisional government on Cardassia Prime be if their shipments of food supplies came from Iannar?” 

The Cardassian’s eyes brightened slightly. “But the planet cannot be terraformed in part. How are we to co-exist?” 

“The v’g’eel will work to reverse the effects of the s’rogiie,” Dacl-tarin said,” and we will develop the bodies of the Sr’khymer’arni so that we might live on your world.” 

Pozach sat back and watched Rusek and Dacl-tarin slowly began to warm up to one another. Two hours later, the Cardassian leader communicated the plan for the integration of the Sr’khymer’arni to Iannar and she sighed in relief. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Lieutenant Pasko knew that he was in the habit of going to the Mess Hall after a successful mission. Ordinarily falling into ruts irritated him but as ruts went, this one was fairly pleasant. 

A number of the Sr’khymer’arni stood around the lounge, conversing and socializing as best as they could. Riker had explained that ‘Sr’khymer’arni meant ‘The Four People of Khymer’. There were four distinct species with the six-eyed Gai who had long fingers and embedded exoskeletons, the tall, thin Paici with pale blue skin and split jaws, the Seiri with eyeless skulls and complicated tattoos, and the massive blue Jisimi on who, the pilot noted, that Commander zh’Tali was keeping an extremely close eye on. The only unifying traits of the four species were bipedality and a large pointed hump rising up from between their shoulder blades. 

Pasko walked over to zh’Tali’s table. “Hello, Commander.” 

She glanced up at him and then over to the man sitting beside her. “Lieutenant,” the zhen said,” sit down.” 

“Please,” the other man added as he reached across the table and offered his hand to Pasko. “I’m Nathan Wiebach.” 

“Sean Pasko.” Wiebach’s grip was surprisingly firm and the pilot flexed his fingers upon release. He motioned between Wiebach and zh’Tali. “Are you two friends?” 

zh’Tali scowled deeply but Wiebach smiled. “Comrades during the war,” he said,” who fought in the 383rd together.” He looked across the room and spotted Captain Pozach. “Though I’m afraid that the stories will have to wait. I’d like to speak with your captain.” 

Pasko watched the man walk away. “Good friends?,” he asked the Andorian who just frowned at him. 

“Captain,” Wiebach said, by way of greeting. 

Pozach excused herself from the Paici that she was speaking with. “Hello. We picked you up on Iannar, right?” 

“Yes, I’m Nathan Wiebach.” He offered her his hand and made a conscious effort not to squeeze her hand too tight. “I’ve been working on Iannar III for a year now but with the Sr’khymer’arni adding their assistance to the Cardassians, I don’t think that I’ll be needed here anymore.” 

“Well, we’d be happy to drop you off anywhere along our relief supply route.” 

“Actually, I was hoping if I could stay aboard.” Surprise crossed the captain’s face and Wiebach pressed on quickly. “I know quite a bit about this region. I’d like to continue helping out the Cardassians and the Cayuga seems to be the best place to do it from.” 

Pozach smiled at him. “I’d be delighted to have another set of helping hands, Mister Wiebach. Welcome aboard.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Her quarters were dark when she entered them and she didn;t bother to activate the lights. zh’Tali dropped her jacket on the desk and scowled as her hand brushed across something that she hadn’t left there. It was a packing container that was the size of a large PADD and identical to any other PADD in use throughout the Federation. 

She took the package into the bedroom and opened it carefully. Inside of it lay folded fabric and a paper note with her name on it. Holding the note up to the faint light of the stars, she read, I wanted to give you a little variety in your wardrobe. With love, Thana. 

zh’Tali stared at it for a moment before she laid the dress down on the bed. She left the room and returned, a moment later, with her kar’takin. Reverently, she wrapped the weapon in the dress and placed it on her dresser. Satisfied, she prepared to sleep. 

The End…

08 – ‘Passing Ships’

Star Trek: Cayuga

08 – ‘Passing Ships’

By Jack Elmlinger

Being thrown into the Brig was a pain in the ass; no matter how many times everyone apologized to you afterwards. Captain Pozach scowled as her console rejected her access codes for the third time before she twisted around in his chair to face the stars. The Cayuga’s starboard rear section stretched out before her and beyond it, the almost antiquated hull of Starbase Three-Five-Nine.

Beside her, the door chimes rang for her attention. She touched the bruise on her cheek before turning around in her chair to address the door. “Enter.” The doors pulled themselves apart and Weynik stepped inside. 

“Captain,” she said, rising from her chair,” I hadn’t heard that you were aboard.” 

“Yes, I asked your transporter chief to let me surprise you.” The Roylan shifted his weight from one foot to the other, grimacing. “Can we talk?” 

“I have a dozen officers to see off on their trip back to Starfleet Academy and I want to welcome their replacements as well as a new operations officer aboard personally.” She gestured with a hand to one of the chairs opposite her deck. “Please, speak quickly.” 

She knew that she was being brusque and she knew it because she was also tired of being apologized to and of being told that the thousands of Cardassian deaths had been for no reason. She had heard enough of that when they had released her from the Starbase’s Brig.

Weynik reached down and plucked a guitar pick up off the floor. Pozach raised an eyebrow at it. “You play guitar?,” he asked her before dismissing the question with a wave of his hand. “Never mind.” He cleared his throat and added,” Captain, I was wondering if you would marry me.” 

Pozach leaned over her desk to take the pick from his hand. “You and I have worked together before. I wouldn’t call us friends. I certainly don’t appreciate you, asking me to marry you.” 

“I didn’t mean — You met Wintamba while we were dealing with the black marketeers.” 

“Captain of the Atlantis,” she replied. “A telepathic Roylan.” 

Weynik nodded. “She and I agreed that after the war, we would get married. If we both made it out alive.” 

“Why?,” Pozach asked him, flipping the pick over in her hand.

“Why? Well, she’s intelligent and — ,” Weynik began to say but Pozach shook her head. 

“No, Captain. Why me?” Sitting back in her chair, the junior captain allowed her irritation to flash through her eyes. “You’ve made it quite clear that you don’t respect me or even like me.” 

Anger clouded Weynik’s face and he opened his mouth to argue his point. “No,” he said, at length. “No, I deserved that. Before — I had decided that you weren’t the kind of person who should be in command of a starship.” 

“The person I am hasn’t changed,” she snapped back at him. 

“I understand that, but my … view of you has. Your actions in the Norgo system — you stood up for what Starfleet is supposed to be, and that’s something that a lot of us wouldn’t have done.” 

Pozach felt her ears warm up. “I only did what I felt that I had to do.” 

“I know,” Weynik said,” and for that, you have my respect.” 

They sat in silence for a moment before Pozach said,” I only met her once but Captain Wintamba seemed to be a delightful woman. You’re a lucky man.” She pursed her lips thoughtfully. “I guess I need to learn about Roylan weddings if I’m going to do this properly.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The dim lights made the Starbase’s hospital seem smaller than it was as if the shadows had become solid. “Can I see her?,” Sam Dixon asked, reaching into his pocket to reassure himself that the ring was there. 

The doctor led him into the recovery room where its sole occupant was lying in bed, her golden hair scattered around her head. At the top of the bed, a LCARS display beeped in time with her pulse. 

Sam sat down beside Aimee and took her hand. “We tracked down Keitsev’s transport,” he told her. “The coordinates that he set into the transporter system were twenty thousand kilometers below the Cayuga. Since we didn’t find a cold body out there, we think that he beamed onto a cloaked ship that had been keeping pace with us.” 

Aimee said nothing. 

“There’s a part in the Starbase lounge,” continued the security officer,” for Polcheny, Sayvok, and the rest of us. I was going to go down later and put in an appearance.” Aimee continued to stare at the ceiling and he sighed. “Come on, Aimee. The doctors fixed the bleeding and the concussion.” 

“I’m sorry,” the engineer whispered back at him,” if getting the shit kicked out of me has made me any less than cheerful.” 

Sam stood up, one hand reaching into his pocket. “I’ve got to go now.” He leaned over and kissed her lightly on the forehead,” but listen, when I get back from the Academy… will you marry me?” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Do you always wear that uniform, Davi?” 

Commander zh’Tali looked up from her plate in surprise before she glanced down at the black and gray over red that covered her body. “Well… yes. It is comfortable and I have few other clothes.” 

Across the table from her, Thanadysehn sh’Diaar laughed, her long white hair shaking around her shoulders. “Of course, I’ve forgotten how focused that you are.” The Admiral’s small quarters seemed to fill with her mirth. 

zh’Tali raised an eyebrow. “I am what I was trained to be.” 

“I think you’re more than that. After all, you were trained to combat the Borg. Yet you still fought in the Dominion War.” 

zh’Tali nodded at her. “It’s not the war that I prepared for, no.” She considered her food. “My zhavey would have been proud of you, Thana.” 

“Don’t start that.” 

“I’m serious,” the zhen snapped at her. “You’re an Admiral in Starfleet with … endearing bondmates.” 

“As if she’d be disappointed in you,” sh’Diaar countered. “You’re the First Officer of a starship. You’re doing what she and your charan always wanted you to do.” 

“What I do, Thana, is kill. No matter what position you assign me to, no matter how you dress it up, what I do is kill. Neither of our parents or our bondmates would be proud of that.” 

“You do other things,” the admiral insisted. zh’Tali frowned at her, confused, and her bondmate laughed outright. “Davi, you’re that little girl who slept with a stuffed ko’lar bear under your arms until you turned thirteen. You’re the teenager who turned bright red when Aedevalyn th’Rhys asked you out on a date.” 

“I’m also the woman who has dedicated the last eleven years of her life to vengeance,” Davi said, putting down her silverware. “One of my officers … the traitor… came to me, a few days before the incident with the Fafnir. He asked me to teach him, to fill him with stories about the glory of war.” She shook her head. “I am no one to be proud of, Thana.” 

sh’Diaar stood up and in zh’Tali’s view, she did a very odd thing. She stepped around the table and wrapped her arms around her bondmate, kissing her on the lips. “Don’t tell me,” she whispered into her ear,” who I should be proud of, dearest. 

zh’Tali relaxed… if only for a little while. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

They walked around the last corner in the corridor and entered the transporter room. Alice dropped her bags on the floor. “Well,” she said,” here we are.” 

Sean adjusted the strap of Alice’s duffle bag which was slung over her shoulder. “The most lasting memory that I have of the Academy is getting beat up during combat training by a big feline guy from Cait,” he confided in her. 

“That sounds like fun,” she said with enthusiasm. “I hope that I get to try that too.” 

“Actually, I’d prefer that you avoid it.” His fond smile slid away from his face. “How long until the Gihlan reaches Earth?” 

Alice leaned against the corridor bulkhead and tried to look casual while she did the math in her head. “Well, Earth is about forty light years from. A Constellation class starship can cruise at high warp indefinitely so… at Warp Eight, fourteen days.” She smiled nervously and shifted closer to the wall so that a gaggle of crew members could pass by them. “Then it’s back to class.” 

“The once and future cadet,” Sean said, forcing another smile. 

Alice stepped up closer to Sean. “Listen, Sean, I just wanted you to know that I’m going to miss… talking with you.” She swallowed, her eyes darting left and right. “Um… a lot.” 

Sean reached out, tentatively and took her hand. “Tell you what. Every day that you’re gone, I’ll write you a letter.” 

Alice bit her lower lip and grinned through her teeth. “And I’ll write to you!

He grinned back at her. “I’d like that a lot.” 

The End…

07 – ‘Patriotic Chorus, Part Two’

Star Trek: Cayuga

‘Patriotic Chorus, Part Two’

By Jack Elmlinger

Davi zh’Tali took some solace in the fact that the crew had been largely unmolested by Starfleet. They had been given quarters on Starbase Three-Five-Nine and each of them had been called in for their own interpretation of events. She knew that Lieutenants Pasko and Maguire had been detained for the longest time yet and she expected her own interrogation to last longer still. 

“I heard that the Seventh Fleet took out a Cardassian staging ground in the Ashivar system,” her escort said, glibly, watching the Andorian zhen for a reaction. “They captured several warships.” 

zh’Tali ignored his attempts to unnerve her and instead, she focused instead on the Cayuga. The Saber class starship orbited the starbase but only engineering and repair teams were allowed aboard. Even they were under close supervision by Starfleet. The Fafnir’s assault had cripplied the ship, destroying the shield generators and piercing through the hull. Six members of her crew had been murdered because of the gambit that Captain Daimousen had played. 

“Good thing that we caught the Cardies when we did,” he added. “Next thing you know, they’ll be trying to breed their own spoonhead Jem’hadar.” 

“Lieutenant,” she said curtly,” permission to continue denied.” 

The escort keyed open the door before them and motioned zh’Tali inside. “Admiral sh’Diaar, presenting Commander zh’Tali,” he said as if he doubted that she would be a commander for much longer. 

The Andorian shen sitting behind the deck glanced up and said simply,” Leave us” zh’Tali watched the door slide shut before standing at attention before the Admiral’s desk. 

“You can sit,” sh’Diaar said and the zhen bent down to perch herself on one of the utilitarian chairs facing the desk, her eyes staring at a point beyond her head. A small smile appeared on the Admiral’s face before she leaned across the desk. “Hello, Davi.” 

zh’Tali nodded. “Admiral.” sh’Diaar let out an exasperated sigh and the commander shifted in her seat. “… bondmate.” 

“I was hoping for ‘Thanadyshen’ or even ‘Thana’ but ‘bondmate’ is a start, I suppose.” sh’Diaar rose, circling around the table and sitting down next to zh’Tali, taking her hand into her own. “How are you, Davi? I haven’t heard from you since before the war.” 

“I thought you’ve been keeping tabs on me,” zh’Tali noted. “I assume that my transfer to the Cayuga was not a coincidence.” 

sh’Diaar blushed at her. “I do try to look out for my bondmate.” 

“A misguided effort, though… well-intentioned,” zh’Tali said with a sigh before she asked,” How are our other bondmates? Thren and Nerue?” 

“Threnadrik is well. He’s been working long hours at Utopia Planitia, overseeing construction on his new ship, the Kumari, and helping to dig out parts of San Francisco that the engineers haven’t been able to get to yet,” zh’Tali’s bondmate said, her smile deepening. Neruetanehn’s with him on Mars. He’s finished teaching for the year so I’m sure that he’s running around Olympus Mons like a mad child.” 

zh’Tali nodded severely, her milder attitude fading. “Ad — Thana. What’s to become of my ship?” 

Thanadyshen sh’Diaar flinched at the coldness in her voice. “The Cayuga’s being repaired before she returns to Cardassian space under your command to continue the search for the Cardassian militants. You’ll be paired up with the Warrior since they’ve just returned from their analysis of the Buckingham debris.” She watched her bondmate carefully. “You’re surprised.” 

“I expected there to be court-martials for myself and the rest of the Bridge crew,” was the commander’s blunt response. “There are to be no consequences for our actions against the Fafnir in the Norgo system?” 

“Not… for you. Your captain, Jeanne Pozach, will be remaining here, awaiting her court-martial.” 

zh’Tali shook her head. “That is unacceptable.” 

“You don’t get a say in the decision here, Davi,” sh’Diaar said sharply. “Admiral Falconer needs someone to hold responsible for the attack of one Federation starship against another. Pozach stepped right into it. She is the Captain and the actions of her ship and her crew are her responsibility.” 

“The Admiral is wrong,” she told her. “Thana, this combat, this unofficial war is wrong. I believe that Starfleet is lashing out from blind prejudice and hatred.” 

sh’Diaar’s surprise showed in her eyes. “Bondmate, Starfleet is made up of citizens from all over the Federation. We’ve moved past anything as petty as… racism.” 

“Oh?,” zh’Tali asked her, picking up a framed photo from off of the desk. She glanced at it before she turned it towards sh’Diaar. It showed her and several other admirals at a social mixer, smiling and holding their drinks up in salute. All of them were Andorians. “I would have never guessed.” 

“Davi…” 

zh’Tali stood up from her seat. “Thank you, Admiral. I need to prepare my ship and crew for departure.” 

sh’Diaar watched the door slide shut behind her. “That went better than I expected,” she said with a sigh. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Starbases, Doctor Moru had been taught, were colossal outposts that were capable of housing thousands of people with space to spare. They were technological wonders that made even the magnificence of starships pale in comparison. They were the pinnacle of Starfleet. 

Starbase Three-Five-Nine reminded the Bolian of the Cayuga since it was cramped. 

The Starbase that had been the headquarters of the allied effort against the Dominion was a small space station. There was no Promenade and no Trill bistro. Much like the Cayuga, there were confined corridors and bare bulkheads. 

Moru shouldered his way past another crewman and keyed over the quarters that he had been assigned to. They were approximately the same size as his room aboard the Cayuga. Except here, he had to share them with Hobbes. 

The room was dark and the science officer was curled up on his bed. Moru activated his computer and quieted the audio. “Computer,” he whispered into the audio pickup,” search the Federation communications net for any messages directed to Zimthar Moru, USS Cayuga. Display them.” 

The screen was motionless for a moment before the seal of the United Federation of Planets appeared before him. It was quickly replaced by a face that the doctor both anticipated and dreaded. 

“Zimthar,” Professor Craggar Moru said, scowling at him,” new of the Cayuga’s… engagement… has reached the FNS nets here on Earth.” The younger Moru sat down heavily on his bed. “As a member of the Cayuga crew, you fired on Federation citizens.” The older Moru’s voice dropped dangerously. “‘Disappointment’ doesn’t begin to encompass what I feel for you, right now.” 

The image disappeared from the screen and Zimthar flopped down onto his side. “I guess some things don’t change,” he muttered to himself. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Breakers seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, and twenty are showing clear,” Aimee Maguire read off of the PADD forced next to her face by the confines of the Jefferies tube. “Total power loss to resistance: zero-point-zero-zero… ah, forget it. Three to the negative eighth power percent. Good.” She elbowed her way back into the open where Aaron Connelly was recording her findings into the main status display.. 

Maguire leaned against the bulkhead, tapping at the pins that held her hair in place and eyeing the foreign engineers who were examining her warp core. Connelly followed her gaze and said,” It’s like they don’t trust us to make our own repairs.” 

“Or they just don’t trust us,” she snapped back at him. “If the fleet didn’t need all of the help that it can get, tracking down these Cardassian terrorists, then the Cayuga wouldn’t be going anywhere for a very, very, long time.” 

One of the foreign engineers from the Starbase approached them. “Excuse me, Lieutenant,” he said. “We’ve completed our checks and we’re certifying that the Cayuga is ready for departure.” 

“So glad that you agree,” the Chief Engineer said, making dismissive gestures towards the door. “Shoo.” 

The foreign engineers filed out of the engine room but the man who had spoken to her paused by the door. “Just… try to make sure that your Captain remembers who the bad guys are, all right?” 

Maguire smiled sweetly and waved to the man as he left. “Aaron?,” she muttered through clenched teeth. “Remember that one night when I feel out of bed and hit my head?” 

Connelly blushed faintly at the memory. “Yeah?” 

“Remember all of those really nasty bad words that I used?” 

“Yeah!” 

Maguire pulled her hair pins out and tapped them against her thigh. “I’m thinking them all over again.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Federation detention cells had always struck Commander zh’Tali as disingenuous. They were utterly inescapable after they were equipped with force fields, transport inhibitors, and reinforced wall-plating. Great pains had been made to disguise all of that. The walls were as blank and emotionless as Pozach’s face was. 

“The bunk is a bit short,” she said dully,” but it’s okay as long as I curl my knees when I sleep.” 

The bed mattered very little to the Andorian. “The Cayuga is set to ship out tomorrow with her normal crew. We’ve been paired up with the Warrior to continue searching.” Her eyes focused on the spot of black and blue that marred Pozach’s brown skin. 

“I’m surprised that they’re letting you back out into space,” Pozach said, pacing in front of the invisible force field that separated them. 

“Admiral sh’Diaar is in charge of both this Starbase and the coordinate of Cardassian aid. As such, we fell into her jurisdiction and not Admiral Falconer’s. She appears… sympathetic,” zh’Tali said, shrugging at this news. “Also Starfleet is increasingly determined to find those responsible for the attack on the Buckingham. They require all available vessels to continue the search.” 

“Do they have any more leads?,” the prisoner asked her, perching down on the edge of her bunk. 

“Nothing conclusive at the moment. Twelve Cardassian military vessels have been impounded or destroyed. Over four hundred Cardassian civilians have been imprisoned for questioning and none of them have provided us with a credible lead.” 

Pozach leaned back against the wall of her cell and closed her eyes. “How many Cardassians have been killed in the last two weeks?” 

“Including those in the Fafnir’s attack,” zh’Tali paused,” thirty-five hundred, but that is a conservative estimate.” 

Jeanne opened her eyes and turned to face her First Officer. “Davi, listen to me. Work with the task force and find out who’s responsible.” zh’Tali began to object but she stopped her with a gesture. “End this… end it before anyone else gets killed.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Lieutenant Pasko watched Starbase Three-Five-Nine recede into the darkness of space. “We shouldn’t be leaving her there,” the pilot said softly. 

Sitting in the command chair, zh’Tali stirred at this pronouncement.. “Captain Pozach’s orders were explicit.” 

“I don’t care what she ordered,” Maguire scowled from the engineering station. “Most of the time, she can’t keep her own priorities straight.” 

“So she should be orchestrating a jailbreak?,” Pasko asked her, his attention turned away from the main viewscreen. 

Maguire winked at his suggestion. “Yes, exactly.” 

“Commander,” Lieutenant Keitsev interrupted them from the Ops position,” the Warrior has matched speed and course for the Dibinku system. Captain Ghran wishes to speak with you, face-to-face, and he’s asking when that might be.” 

“Immediately. Have him led to the Captain’s Ready Room — “ zh’Tali hesitated before saying,” To the Situation Room.” 

She summoned Lieutenant Hobbes to the Bridge to assume command before she strode into the Situation Room. The doors slid shut behind her and she carefully approached the head of the table. Slowly, she sat down and turned in her chair to watch the stars. Twenty minutes later, Dixon escorted two figures into the room and the Andorian finally moved to face them. 

“Commander zh’Tali,” Captain Ghran growled in his patented Tellarite manner,” if the situation wasn’t so frakked up, I would say that it pleases me to see you. Of course, I stopped gagging at the sight of Andorians since I served aboard the Gladiator.” 

zh’Tali held back her resentment at his statement. She stood up from her chair, bowing her head slightly to the Warrior’s captain. “Welcome aboard the Cayuga.” 

Ghran nodded and motioned to the other officer accompanying him. “This is Lieutenant Zaahr, my tactical officer,” he said, nodding at the Gorn officer beside him. 

“A pleasure,” the Andorian said blankly. “Please sit. I assume that you aren’t here to insure that the Cayuga won’t have any further … incidents?” 

“Actually, no. Ryan Daimousen is a bastard who can kiss my hairy ass,” the Tellarite explained with a faint grin. I’ll let Mister Zaahr explain.” 

The Tellarite took a seat but Zaahr remained standing. After clearing his throat, the reptilian said,” After the Buckingham was destroyed, we were called in to see if any Dominion weapons technology was used.” 

“I read the overview of your report,” zh’Tali said,” and you found no traces of phased polaron weapons?” 

Zaahr glanced at her, blowing air out of his nostrils. “That’s true. Instead, we found extensive damage from Cardassian spiral-wave disruptors. We also found trace signatures from Starfleet quantum torpedoes.” 

“Perhaps, they were torpedoes from the Buckingham’s own ordinance payload?” 

“The traces that we found, Commander, weren’t on any of the interior hull pieces. They were on all of the outer hull fragments. The weapons didn’t detonate with the destruction of the ship.” 

“Why wasn’t this information reported to the Admiral?” 

“It was,” Zaahr told her. “Admiral Falconer told us that our information was ‘inconclusive’.” 

zh’Tali shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Is it possible that the Cardassian militants captured those weapons?” 

“It’s possible but unlikely,” countered the Warrior’s tactical officer. “The security surrounding such ordinance is far from light and there have been no reports of theft.” 

zh’Tali said nothing and the Gorn officer pressed on. “Only a Federation starship would carry quantum torpedoes and quantum torpedoes were used in the destruction of the Buckingham.” 

Captain Ghran leaned forward in his seat, his brow lowered down into a frown. “Commander zh’Tali,” he growled, taking over from his officer,” the Buckingham was destroyed by a Starfleet vessel.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The doors to the Situation Room swooshed open and Commander zh’Tali stalked her way out onto the Bridge. “Summon Connelly and Polcheny,” she snapped at the Bridge crew. “Maguire and Pasko, join me in the Ready Room.” She turned back towards Captain Ghran and Lieutenant Zaahr. “We’ll keep you apprised once we learn about anything new,” she added before she unceremoniously ushered them off of the Bridge. 

In the Ready Room, she directed Pasko and Maguire to sit down before she said,” I want to know the exact location and activity of every Starfleet vessel in Cardassian space for the week surrounding the destruction of the Buckingham. Neither of you may leave this room until you have compiled the information and noted any abnormalities.” 

With that said and done, she left them and behind her, the door clicked into the locked position. 

“What the f—” 

“Don’t bother,” Pasko interrupted her. “I suspect that whatever we find is going to be important.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Much later in the day, the door chimes rang and Brandon Hobbes entered the Ready Room, carrying a tray of food with him. “Hello,” he said quietly. “Ensign Polcheny asked me to bring this in for you. She thought that you might be hungry.” 

“How thoughtful,” Aimee said dryly. 

“Thanks, Brandon.” The science officer placed the food on the desk and as he turned to leave, Pasko stopped him. “Would you like to eat with us?” 

“I-I wouldn’t want to interrupt.” 

Maguire reclined in Pozach’s chair. “I don’t mind.” 

Hobbes sat down carefully next to Pasko. “I’ll just read my paper.” 

“What is it?,” Sean asked him as his attention returned to his own PADD. 

“It’s about the unique properties of neutrinos in the Bajoran wormhole, written by Lieutenant Sekara Leyn,” Hobbes replied absently. 

“It sounds like a snooze,” snorted Maguire. 

Hobbes began to answer but the pilot cut him off. “Maybe you two should start a correspondence,” he told her. “I mean, you seem to have the same taste in women.” 

“Oh?,” asked the chief engineer. 

Pasko nodded enthusiastically. “Yep, and you’re going to need her help after that last screw-up.” He deepened his voice theatrically. “I had the biggest crush on Jamie and Little Alice took one look at me and her heart stopped.” 

Maguire groaned,” Oh… oh, hell.” 

Hobbes glanced up and gestured vaguely between them. “You two aren’t in a … in a relationship?” 

Pasko snorted at him and Maguire groaned again. “Oh, hell, no.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Did you know that she keeps breath mints in here?” 

Pasko looked up at Maguire and scowled. “Aimee, for the love of… Stop rooting through Jeanne’s desk!” 

“A guitar pick?,” Maguire wondered aloud, holding it up to the light. 

“This is impossible!,” Pasko shouted, dropping his PADD to the floor. “I’ve checked through every sensor and communications log of one hundred and seventeen starships in the Seventh Fleet, as well as those of the Starsong, Atlantis, Warrior, and nearly two hundred Federation civilian relief craft.” He gestured helpless to Maguire. “There is not a ship out of place!” 

Maguire sighed and resisted the urge to heft the crystal lying on the desk. “So zh’Tali will never let us out of here. There are worse places to live.” 

Pasko stood up and began pacing around the room. Aimee stood up and circled around the desk to stop him. “Joe, you’re exhausted. Take a seat and rest already.” She glanced around the room. “Here,” she continued, handing him a PADD. “Hobbes left his paper on Bajoran whosie-whatsits. That’ll put you to sleep.” 

She settled down on the floor and began reviewing ship positions on her PADD again. Her fingers were just about to touch her hair pins when Sean’s yelp of surprise almost made her want to stab herself with them. 

“That’s it,” he whispered. 

“It can’t be that good,” Maguire groused at him, rubbing her scalp. 

“No, look!” He held up the PADD that Lieutenant Hobbes had left behind. “This paper went out over subspace to a lot of people, including Hobbes. Like Professor Lenara Kahn on Trill, Lieutenant Austin on the Starsong, Lieutenant Commander Chen on the Atlantis, and Lieutenant Commander Matthew Pell of the starship Gladiator, but it says here that the transmission wasn’t actually received by the Gladiator.” 

Maguire shrugged at this. “So? It wouldn’t be the first time that a starship’s communications array went down. Maybe they were making repairs?” 

“Bring up the Gladiator’s communications records,” Pasko said. The engineer did and he snatched the PADD out of her hands. “Look at that. All of their routine outgoing messages were sent.” 

“Like I said, maybe their receiver was damaged.” 

“By what?! And if it were, they would have noted it in their outgoings so that their incoming transmissions could be sent. They didn’t.” 

“So what, Sean?” 

“Think about it. When a starship receives a transmission, the sender gets confirmation of it. It includes the time and the location that the transmission was received.” He glanced down at Hobbes’ PADD. “And Leyn’s paper went out, four hours before the Buckingham was destroyed.” 

Maguire pursed her lips thoughtfully. “That really makes me want to know where they were at the time.” 

“Yes,” Pasko said, agreeing with her,” and I think that zh’Tali would like to know that as well.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“USS Gladiator, NCC-45592, Ambassador class heavy cruiser,” Commander zh’Tali said, gesturing to the display screen behind her. “Originally built as a second-generation Ambassador, she had been refit twice. Her first refit was in 2370 to accommodate the Federation’s ecologically-sound warp drive and her second refit was in early 2373 with improved weapons capability in anticipation of the Dominion War.” The Andorian zhen altered the diagram to show details of the weapons system. “The Gladiator received upgrades similar to those test-bedded on the Lakota, such as upgraded shielding, heavier phaser banks, ablative armor and, of course,” — zh’Tali paused dramatically — ,” quantum torpedoes.” 

The air in the Warrior’s briefing room crackled dangerously as she finished her assessment. On one side of the table sat Pasko, Maguire, and Ntannu. Sitting opposite of them was the Miranda class starship’s command staff. 

Captain Ghran cleared his throat to address the Cayuga’’s First Officer. “Are you frakking crazy?!,” the Tellarite asked her. “You presume to attack the Gladiator?” 

“We can take them, sir,” Pasko snapped back at the higher-ranking officer. “That tub is nearly forty years old and I don’t care how many refits that she’s had. The Cayuga may be newer and faster than both the Gladiator and the Warrior but together, we could beat her.” 

Zaahr shook his reptilian head. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that, Lieutenant. About three years ago, the Lakota engaged the Defiant on the edge of the Sol System. They did some fairly severe damage to her, and the Defiant is tougher than either of our ships.” 

“Sean,” Maguire said from beside him,” if they tag us with even one of those quantum torpedoes, we’d be looking at a serious hull breach. Like a large portion of the ship would be missing.” 

“I can stay out of their torpedo range,” the pilot said confidently. “Cayuga’s got maneuverability on her side.” 

“The Warrior doesn’t,” Lieutenant Jason Marino, the Warrior’s helm officer said, interrupting him. “The losses that we would take would be heinous.” 

“Question,” asked Commander Siobhan MacGregor, Ghran’s  First Officer, before Pasko could respond to his fellow pilot,” why?” 

“Why what?,” Pasko asked him, defensively. 

“Why would the crew of the Gladiator destroy the Buckingham? Why would they kill two hundred and fifty-three of their fellow officers? MacGregor gestured emptily at this question. “That’s the part of this situation that I… just don’t get.” 

The officers from both ships looked at one another uncomfortably with the silence stretching until zh’Tali cleared her throat to gain their attention. Behind her was a Starfleet personnel personnel file. The picture in the upper right-hand corner showing a smiling woman with graying red hair. 

“Captain Allison Cheney,” she shared with them. “Born on Proxima Five in 2334 and graduated from Starfleet Academy in 2356. In early 2364, she married her fellow officer, Eric Cheney, and eight months later, she requested a transfer to Hamirik, near Cardassian space, to begin a family. Her commission was reactivated and she fought in the first Cardassian conflict until 2366. Hamirik fell into the region established as the Demilitarized Zone after the conflict. Cheney then accepted promotion to Captain and command of the Gladiator.” 

zh’Tali paused for a breath before she continued, slower and quieter. “When the Dominion War broke out, the Gladiator was assigned to the Seventh Fleet. As an opening move, the Dominion attacked and conquered almost all of the Federation’s colonies in the former Demilitarized Zone. Starfleet’s efforts to evacuate the colonies was often too late. Cheney’s son, David and her brother were killed by the Jem’hadar on Hamirik. Two years later, her husband, Commander Eric Cheny was killed when the USS Cortez was destroyed while on patrol near Azaeron.” 

“Damn,” Pasko muttered underneath his breath. 

“So,” Ntannu pondered, saying something for the first time,” she’s just gone around the bend? Maybe she thought that the captain of the Buckingham was somehow responsible for his ship not being able to get to Hamirik?” 

“It’s probably more complicated than that,” remarked Ghran. 

“The Buckingham was attacked with Cardassian weapons, presumably installed on the Gladiator,” Zaahr said,” but the Buckingham fought back. Maybe they got too close to causing some damage that would have been a little hard to explain away to Starfleet Command.” 

“Cheney hit the Buckingham with quantum torpedoes,” Pasko concluded. 

“Why not just hit them with the quantum torpedoes in the first place?,” MacGregor asked. “What did they gain by using weaker weapons?” 

zh’Tali cleared her throat again and the room fell silent. “They have gained exactly what they intended to,” she said with cold malice,” with not simply the destruction of the Buckingham but with the destruction in such a way that the Cardassians were blamed for the attack.” She brought up an image of the debris from the Buckingham on the screen behind her. 

“At the cost of the lives of two hundred and fifty-three Starfleet officers, Captain Cheney has provoked a renewal of conflict between the Federation and what little remains of the Cardassian Union. Just to satisfy her own lust for vengeance, she had blackened the name of Starfleet and we will stop her.” 

“Which brings me back to my original frakking question if you were paying attention, Snowflake,” Captain Ghran barked at her. “What in the name of Sanity do you intend to do?” 

zh’Tali smiled at the Tellarite captain. “I am going to beam over to her ship and ask her to stand down, allowing her ship to be taken to Starbase Three-Nine-Five by security teams from the Warrior and the Cayuga. I am sure that she wouldn’t object.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The soft lines of the Gladiator’s Bridge had always appealed to Allison Cheney. The anachronistic styling of the consoles, some forty-years out-of-date, simultaneously soothed and delighted her. She raised her eyes to the viewscreen as the two starships approached hers, the red glow of their warp nacelles reflecting off of their dark hulls. Where her ship and the Warrior had beautiful curves, the Saber class starship had angles that threatened to cut anyone that wandered too close to her. Cheney made sure that the sharpness of his ship remained hidden. 

“The Cayuga is ready for transport,” Commander Mardak said, inhaling a puff of methane from his breather. “Allison, I don’t think that this is a good idea.” 

Cheney nodded thoughtfully at him. “You’re right, of course,” she told the Benzite,” but look at that ship, the Cayuga. Two weeks ago, she attacked the USS Fafnir. If they get too close to us, we can destroy them and claim self-defense.” She glanced over at the young Human sitting at the Ops station, ignoring the fearful look in her eyes. “Ensign, tell Commander zh’Tali that she’s welcome to come aboard any time.” 

A single pillar of silver-blue energy formed at the center of the Bridge. After the transporter effect had faded from view, Cheney stood from her command chair and extended her hand to the white-haired Andorian who had appeared before her. 

“Hello,” the zhen said with a smile. “I’m Davi zh’Tali.” 

“Delighted to meet you. Is this a visit of business or pleasure?” 

“Oh, a little of both, I suspect. Business first, though,” the commander said, tilting her head to one side. “Did you order the destruction of the USS Buckingham?” 

Cheney’s pleasant smile faded away and the temperature on the Bridge seemed to drop. “Yes.” 

“Thank you for your honesty, Captain,” zh’Tali said sincerely. “You are under arrest. You will return with me to the Cayuga. Your ship and crew will be taken into Starfleet custody.” 

Shaking her head, Cheney turned around and returned to her spot in her command chair. “I’m sorry, Commander, but I can’t allow that.” She motioned to the tactical officer with a nod of her head. “Lieutenant Mardak, target the drive and communications systems of the Cayuga and the Warrior. Then… destroy them.” Then she addressed the Ensign at Ops. “Summon a security team to the Bridge to escort the commander to the Brig.” 

The Ensign’s quaking fingers reached for her combadge and that was when zh’Tali acted. She grabbed the ensign’s head and slammed it against her console until both blood and enamel flew wildly across the room. The helm officer next to her gasped and leaped up from his chair to try to tackle her. Without any warning, the Andorian grabbed his wrist and broke it, pivoting and throwing him into the Ops officer, crushing both of them against a nearby bulkhead. 

Two ensigns rushed across the Bridge to stand between her and their captain. The Andorian zhen speared her hand into the first man’s mouth, jerking down sharply to dislocate his jaw before plucking off his combadge and tossing it at the second ensign’s feet, tripping her to the ground. She took a moment to kick at the ensign’s head before dodging a phaser blast fired by the tactical officer. Hitting the deck, she rolled and launched the combadge at him, hitting his temple. The impact caused him to fall like David and Goliath.

zh’Tali stood up and turned slowly towards Mardak and Cheney. “You are under arrest,” she repeated before she lashed out at them. She ripped the Benzite’s methane breather from his chest before she punched him in the stomach. “And you will come with me.” Gagging on blue blood, Mardak sagged to the floor and zh’Tali backhanded Cheney so that she might follow. 

The Cayuga’s First Officer tapped her combadge. “zh’Tali to Warrior. Begin transporting over the boarding parties and a medical trauma team to the Bridge.” 

Humanoids appeared around her in a haze of transporter energy. A physician dispersed her nurses towards the wounded and Lieutenant Zaahr directed his officers to take places at the command consoles. The Gorn surveyed the carnage and muttered to himself,” By the Great Egg…” 

zh’Tali spared him a sanguine glance. “Your deity is not with us.” She tapped her combadge again. “zh’Tali to Cayuga. Energize.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

It had taken them a little more than half an hour to assume control over the Gladiator since the crew had largely surrendered without any conflict. Zaahr’s teams found the rest of the ship’s command staff and several other people heavily sedated in a cargo bay. Lieutenant Maguire uncovered support struts for a weapons emplacement on the hull. Power conduits from Main Engineering lead up to it and they had been altered to match Cardassian power specifications. Captain Ghran reported all of this new evidence to Admiral Falconer and the ‘investigation’ was put on hold until the Gladiator’s role in the destruction of the Buckingham was clarified by the Starfleet Criminal Investigative Service. 

Now that the three starships were racing at warp for Starbase Three-Nine-Five, Captain Cheney sat in the Cayuga’s Brig, tracing the edges of her bunk. Like the ship, its angles were harsh like the future that she saw filled with sharp lines of courtrooms and penal colonies for the rest of her life. 

Cheney saw something else; the rounded curves of an alternative. 

Already dim to simulate nighttime, the lights in the brig blacked out completely. The hum of the force field died and she stood at the doors leading to the corridor outside opened.” 

“Hello.” 

“Hello,” replied Lieutenant Keitsev. 

“Are you here to end this?” 

The hands that stretched out towards her and around her throat were curved flesh over rigid bone. They bore down on her until she felt the hard lines of her life blend away into nothingness.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The Mess Hall was filled with happy, partying, inebriated officers and crew members. 

“We won!,” Alice Polcheny cried out, draping herself across Sean and Aimee. “Th’ good guys saved th’ day!” 

“That’s it,” Aimee told her. “No more daiquiris for you… ever.” 

Alice looked panicked for a moment but she quickly forgot. “We’re getting Cap’n Po — the lady back, right?” 

Sean nodded and Alice settled herself on him. “Now that Starfleet knows who really destroyed the Buckingham, they’ve got a new focus,” he told her. “I almost feel bad for the Gladiator’s officers.” 

“I do feel bad after what zh’Tali did to them,” Aimee said, shaking her head. “Some of them are still in Sickbay, unconscious.” 

“But they’re alive.” 

“Sean,” Alice asked him, tugging on his sleeve,” where’s Vasily? He should be here, having fun.” 

“I’ll go get him,” Aimee told them. “I need to go drag Sam out of here, anyways.” She left the Mess Hall before Alice could slur a thank you her way, pushing her way through the crowd. She broke through to the outer corridor and turned a corner down towards the crew quarters. 

“Hey! Keitsev!,” she called out as she saw a familiar silhouette duck into the deserted transport room. She followed him and found Keitsev poised over the control console, entering in coordinates. “Are you going somewhere? Come on! Polcheny’s smashed and she misses your company.” She glanced at the panel and frowned. “Hey, you’re really going somewhere. Keitsev, what’s going on?” 

Keitsev hesitated for a moment before he struck her. Her hair pins snapped, flying against the wall. His victim raised her hands in defense but he muscled his way past them before he struck her again… and again. Her head hit the floor and she heard the soft chime of the transporter. Then she didn’t hear very much at all after that as darkness overcame her. 

The End…

06 – ‘Patriotic Chorus, Part One’

Star Trek: Cayuga

‘Patriotic Chorus – Part One’

By Jack Elmlinger

“See in the skies, flutt’ring before us

What the bright bird of peace is bringing!”

-Stephen Oliver, ‘Patriotic Chorus’

“I’m sick. I’m just so sick of it.” Aimee threw all but her last card onto the table. “Yahtzee.” 

Sean eyed his companion wearily. “Uno, Aimee. We’re playing Uno.” He checked her cards and he was forced to admit that she had won. “Sick of what?” 

“Sam!,” she spat back at him. She flopped back onto Sean’s bed and traced the seams in the bulkhead beside it. “He’s so… him!” 

Pasko glanced at the clock on the nightstand and he considered reminding Aimee that it was close to 0:300 hours in the morning. He suspected that she wouldn’t hear him. Instead, he slumped back on the floor and waited for the engineer to explain herself. 

“It’s his quirks, you know?,” she said, sitting up abruptly. “He’s got all of these endearments for me. Like honey-pie, snookums, and pookie. It’s weird! Why can’t he just call me Aimee?” 

“Maybe he thinks that having his own nickname for you makes his connection to you special.” 

“I mean, look at the man,” she continued with her tirade. “Sure he’s nice and strong, but he isn’t that bright.” A sad expression covered her face. “Do I really want to be washing his underwear for the rest of my life? He has some really big underwear.” She held out her hands to indicate the distance. 

“Wait — when did we start talking about life-long commitment?” 

“Exactly!” 

“Did you do this with Pozach too?,” Sean asked her. 

“What?” 

“When you decided that you were done with her, did you do this? Sit back and list everything that you didn’t like about her?” 

Aimee sniffed at him. “I don’t think that’s fair. I haven’t ditched him.” Her tone became haughty. “I’m only trying to candidly examine the possibilities of our relationship.” 

Sean shrugged at this statement, unimpressed with it. “This just seemed… familiar.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“You want me to do what?,” Vasily Keitsev asked incredulously. 

Alice Polcheny ducked her face down against the table and groaned. “Can you, please, be a little quieter, Vasily?,” she whispered. “I’m being quiet. Why do you think I’m being quiet?” 

“You’re afraid that someone else might hear your ridiculous idea?” 

Polcheny waved her hands frantically. “Yes!,” she hissed at him, her eyes darting around the Mess Hall. Keitsev gasped as she grabbed his ears and dragged him down to her face. “Listen, I like Sean.” 

“He’s a sweetie,” he agreed. “Could you, ah… ?” 

Polcheny continued,” And it would make me happy if I could get to know him a little better.” 

Keitsev tried to squirm free but her grip was too strong. “You could just talk to him — urk.” 

“I’ve tried talking to him but it always turns into a discussion about work,” she said plaintively. “I want to talk to him socially.” 

“How old are you?,” Keitsev demanded to know, breaking away from her. 

She blinked at his question. “Twenty-two. Why?” 

“Because you’re acting like a schoolgirl, Alice!” Keitsev threw up his hands in anger. “If you want to talk to the man or date him or have his babies or whatever, you have to go do it yourself. I’m not setting you two up on a date!” 

Keitsev stood up from the table and left. Polcheny sulked for a few minutes before a smile grew on her face and she bolted from the Mess Hall. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“We have a problem,” Doctor Moru said. 

Captain Pozach looked up from her PADD in surprise. “A plaque of Tribbles got loose aboard the ship?,” she asked, mildly. “I could use a pet.” 

“Sayvok’s starting writing again,” the Bolian doctor groaned at her,” and he’s got Ensign Polcheny helping him.” 

Pozach dropped her PADD down on her desk and sat back in her chair. “I thought that he had gotten that out of his system when he wrote that opera in the style of a Klingon love ballad?” 

Moru slumped down in the chair opposite from the captain. “I’ve never heard a Klingon sing before. That was impressive but…” 

“It was the throwing things that got me.” 

“Jeanne, it took three hours to clean up afterwards.” Moru sighed and added. “And you haven’t heard the best part.” 

“It gets better?,” she asked timidly. 

“Apparently, he’s taken up the style of a late-twentieth Terran rock show.” 

Jeanne spun around in her chair and let out a long groan. “Oh, no! No, no, no…” She stopped and stared, dumbfounded out of the window. “I never should have lent him my Queen albums!” 

Moru smiled at this revelation. “I’m sure that the crew will thank you.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Davi zh’Tali was slowly coming to appreciate the necessity of command and perhaps even her role in it. She wasn’t coming to appreciate the paperwork though. Sometimes it felt like the forms and regulations were designed solely to keep her trapped in her quarters. 

The door chime sounded. “Enter,” she said, hiding both her irritation and her gratitude. 

Lieutenant Keitsev marched inside, standing at strict attention. “Sir. On your time, I wish to speak with you, sir.” 

zh’Tali felt a tug on her lip but she stifled it. “Very well. Speak.” 

The chair that he had expected to be there wasn’t offered since the zhen kept none on the opposite side of her desk. “Sir, as you know, I’m due to begin my supplementary Academy classes.” 

zh’Tali called up his service record on her monitor. “Because you are a product of the accelerated program utilized by the Academy during the war.” 

“Yes, sir. Despite my current rank of Lieutenant, my commission isn’t complete until I finish my last year at the Academy or the equivalent courses elsewhere.” 

zh’Tali noticed that he hadn’t shifted his eyes from some point over her short white hair and she felt herself gain a modicum of respect for him. “You and a dozen other members of the crew.” She glanced at him. “What’s your point, Lieutenant?” 

Somehow Keitsev stood straighter. “Sir, I would be honored if you would procter my proxy classes in Tactical History, sir.” 

“Why?” The word flew past her lips before she could stop it. The question remained there and it surprised him into moving. 

“I…” He shook his head and returned to attention. “Because you are the senior-most officer with the necessary experience, and if our requirements can’t be fulfilled with lessons from you, then a great many of us will have to return to Earth. “He gathered his strength and continued with his explanation,” and… because it would be a great honor to be taught by someone such as yourself.” 

“Lieutenant,” the commander said, coldly, her eyes and antennae staring flatly at him,” I am immune to flattery.” 

Keitsev’s attention broke entirely. “Sir! No flattery intended. Uh, I don’t mean to falsely inflate your ego… “ He raised his chin after taking a breath. “Only that you are undoubtedly one of the greatest heroes of the Dominion War, sir. That you are–” 

“Stop,” she snarled at him. 

Startled, Keitsev lapsed into silence. The Andorian woman slowly stood up and circled around her desk to stare into the side of his face. She waited and watched sweat form on his brow. “You wish,” she said slowly,” to emulate me.” 

“Ah…,” Keitsev swallowed. “Yes. Yes, sir.” 

zh’Tali leaned in closer to him. “You wish for me to teach you the art of killing and the glory of war.” 

“… sir,” he choked out. 

Abruptly, the commander turned away and returned to her seat behind her desk. “Request denied. Please inform the others with similar … aspirations… that their requests are preemptively denied.” She pulled up a file on her monitor screen, ready to return to her paperwork. “Furthermore, you will return to Earth for your classes where you will be taught that war is not something to be celebrated.” Her ice-blue eyes pierced through Keitsev. “Dismissed. Now.” 

On later reflection, Keitsev realized that not stumbling over his own feet on the way out was the best part of his conference with the First Officer. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Thank you for your attendance,” Sayvok said. “It is my sincere hope that all of you will appreciate the production.” 

Captain Pozach rose from her chair and cleared her throat. “It was certainly… it was quite the effort, Sayvok.” 

The crew left their seats, either in search of food or to flee the scene of the crime against modern theater entirely. 

“Personally, I like the,” — Pasko paused to search for a word –,” the flow. It was very natural. I’ve never segue from ‘Tommy’ to ‘Fame’ in such a … unique manner.” 

Polcheny beamed at him. “I helped with that part. Sayvok wasn’t even going to use ‘Fame’ but I convinced him.” 

“Lucky us,” Maguire said, lightly. 

“I saw ‘Fame’ during my first year at the Academy,” Polcheny continued speaking. “I went with a group of friends and the music just blew my mind!” 

Pasko nodded. “I remember going to musicals at the Academy. Back then, I had the biggest crush on Jamie Kent.” 

“Grk,” Polcheny choked out with wide eyes on Lieutenant Maguire. 

“Jamie Kent,” he continued, not noticing her discomfort. “She had the most expressive eyes and the prettiest smile.” He sighed at the memory. “But she got together with Sekara Leyn and I heard that they’re pretty happy now.” 

“Too bad,” Alice said, relaxing a little as her heart started back up again.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Captain Pozach could tell that there was something wrong when zh’Tali stiffened at her station. From across the Bridge at the engineer’s station, Lieutenant Maguire glanced over at the flicker of motion. The captain rotated her chair and waited while the zhen frowned at her display. 

“We’ve received from the Wildcat, flagship of the Seventh Fleet,” Commander zh’Tali announced from the Ops console. “We have been ordered to make our best speed and join the fleet at Starbase Three-Five-Nine to prepare for combat operations.” 

The Bridge was silent for a moment before Pozach asked,” Excuse me?” 

“The orders are confirmed.” 

“All right,” the Captain said. “Sean, set a course for Starbase Three-Five-Nine, and get us there at Warp Eight.” 

Pasko shook his head as he plotted the course for the Starbase. “Who is there left to fight?,” he asked. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“My money is on the Klingons,” Sam Dixon said. “I heard that they weren’t too satisfied with what they got in the Treaty of Bajor.” He nodded confidently. “Assembling the Seventh Fleet is probably just a show of force by the Federation to make them back down.” 

“It’s the Jem’Hadar.” Aimee Maguire’s words silenced the table and she glanced around uncomfortably. “That’s got to be it, doesn’t it? Why else would Starfleet have assembled an entire combat fleet? The Dominion is coming back through the wormhole and –” 

“Aimee, shut up,” Aaron Connelly said, interrupting her. “The Dominion War is over. There’s got to be some other reason.” 

Polcheny glanced around worriedly. “What if –” 

“‘If’, Alice, the Dominion is back, then we’ll fight them again.” 

“And we’ll die,” Maguire told them. “Remember how I got my job as Chief Engineer? Because everyone else was dead!” 

“Snookums!,” Dixon hissed at her. 

“Look,” Polcheny said simply. The other people at their table followed her gaze to the window and a hush fell over the Mess Hall. Like sharks, the gleaming hulls of a hundred starships hung in space. 

“You know,” Connelly said,” the last time that we saw the Seventh Fleet, I was much happier about it.” 

“Or maybe it’s the Breen,” Maguire whispered, still guessing at who their enemy could be. “Starfleet didn’t make much of an effort to disarm them and the Romulans say that you should never turn your back on one. If the Romulans think that they’re untrustworthy…” 

The Chief Engineer’s topic gave Keitsev pause. “You know that nobody’s ever seen one of them outside of its encounter suit. We don’t even know what they like on the inside” 

“Maybe they’re angels!,” Ensign Polcheny exclaimed with forced enthusiasm. She looked around uncertainty from her companions’ harsh looks and then down at the tabletop. “Sorry.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Lieutenant Maguire dashed into the Situation Room, trying to look casual and failing utterly. Seated around the table were Commander zh’Tali, Doctor Moru, Science Officer Hobbes, Lieutenant Pasko, and Lieutenant Ntannu, the Ktarian security chief. Captain Pozach sat at the head of the table and behind her stood a dour-looking man with the rank pips of a Captain on his maroon collar. Embarrassed, the chief engineer sat down quickly. 

Pozach’s gaze swam over her officers before she spoke to them, “There have been a lot of rumors and idle speculation flying around this ship since news of the fleet assembly was made public. I have received word from Admiral Falconer aboard the Wildcat that the threat that we’re facing is not the Dominion.” 

Moru, Hobbes, Pasko, Ntannu, and Maguire deflated slightly at the news while zh’Tali remained impassive. 

“I’m more than a little relieved myself,” Pozach admitted to her officers. “We won’t be facing the Jem’hadar. Not today, and hopefully not ever again.” She lowered her eyes briefly before she continued,” I’d like to introduce you all to Captain Daimousen of the starship Fafnir.” 

Daimousen nodded his thanks to her and announced,” This briefing is being given to every command staff in the Seventh Fleet. At zero-three hundred hours yesterday, while on patrol near Morok, the USS Albatross picked up an automated distress signal from the USS Buckingham.” He gazed levelly at each of the Cayuga’s officers. “By the time that Albatross arrived at the scene, the Buckingham had been destroyed. There were no survivors.” 

“My God,” Pasko whispered underneath his breath. 

Daimousen continued with his summation. “The Warrior was called in to take detailed scans of the wreckage and one thing is clear. The Buckingham’s attackers… were Cardassian.” 

“Not to contradict the fine crew of the Warrior, Captain Daimousen,” Moru said,” but we’ve seen the state of the Cardassian people, first hand. There’s no will left to fight in them.” 

“I understand your concern, Doctor, but the evidence is fairly conclusive,” Daimousen replied. “Throughout that day, eight Cardassian vessels which we theoretically believe to be cargo ships, were in the area that the Buckingham was destroyed. We consider each of them to be suspect.” 

“Which is where we come in,” Pozach added to the conversation. “Admiral Falconer doesn’t want any of our ships to be searching out there alone. So we’ve been paired up with the Fafnir in the hunt.” 

“Eight ships in the whole of Cardassian space?,” Ntannu asked her. “They’ve had plenty of time. They could be anywhere by now.” 

“Which is why the entirety of the Seventh Fleet is here now,” explained the Fafnir’s commanding officer. “That many ships spread out on the hunt will make our job that much more easier.” 

“Now they realize it,” Pasko muttered underneath his breath.

Pozach shot him a look before she cleared her throat. “We’ll be underway within two hours. Aimee, I’ll want the sensors to be at top efficiency. Sean, and Commander zh’Tali, I want both of you to work through tactical simulations of how to disable and capture whatever type of vessel that the Cardassians could be using. Mister Ntannu, I want your people in Security ready to secure the vessel and subdue the crew. Got it?” There were nods of acknowledgement from all around the table. “Good. Go.” 

As everyone filed out of the Situation Room. Doctor Moru took a moment to look at Pozach with a scowl on his face. “Doctor,” she said to the Bolian,” I certainly hope that your services won’t be required.” 

“I hope so too, Jeanne. I hope so too.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Lieutenant Pasko drummed his fingers on the helm console and eyed the viewscreen warily. “It’s been a while since I’ve had to fly in formation.” 

“What’s our time?,” Pozach asked from behind him. 

zh’Tali checked her board. “We will intercept the Rokar in seven minutes, Captain. The Fafnir has hailed Gul Ocett and ordered her to stand down.” 

Pozach stood up from the captain’s chair and walked around the helm console to get a closer look at the Galor class warship. “Commander,” she said, with her back to zh’Tali,” I want you to beam over to the Fafnir and join the conversation with Gul Ocett. You’ve spoken with her before. Sean, accompany her.” 

zh’Tali nodded sharply at her. She turned on her heel to leave the Bridge with Pasko hurrying up to catch her.

“Fafnir reports that Gul Ocett had beamed aboard and that they’re ready for you, Commander,” Petty Officer Mbanu told the First Officer as she and Pasko entered the transporter room. They stepped onto the transporter platform and their surroundings disappeared into silver-blue molecules. Once they could see again, they stood in a room much like the one that they had left aboard the Cayuga. 

A man with Commander’s pips on his maroon collar smiled at them and held out a hand. “Welcome aboard the Fafnir. I’m Commander Lassiter.” 

zh’Tali stepped off of the platform and shook his hand. “Captain wishes for us to assist you with interrogating Gul Ocett.” 

“Ah,” Lassiter said, beginning to feel his fingers chill from a lack of circulation. “Well, Captain Pozach must run a tight ship.” The first officer extracted his hand from the zhen’s grip and rubbing his fingers against his hip, led them out of the transporter room. “We’ve got the Cardassian in the conference room. Follow me.” 

The first thing that Pasko noticed aboard the Fafnir was the corridors. They were wider than the Cayuga’s and the ceilings seemed a tiny bit higher too. Even the turbolifts were bigger.

Lassiter brought them to the Bridge and stopped them outside the conference room. “Of course, we’ll respect Captain Pozach’s wishes,” he told them,” but Captain Daimousen has been adamant about conducting the interrogation himself. It would be a poor idea to interrupt him.” 

“We are only here to aid and observe,” zh’Tali told him. He nodded at her statement and opened the door. 

“I want your crew manifest. I want your inventory, and I want your logs for the last two weeks,” Daimousen said, towering over Gul Ocett who was seated. “And I want an explanation about why your government ordered the destruction of the Buckingham!” 

Ocett’s eyes slid to her left and she let out a sigh. “You want quite a bit, Captain.” 

“And I get what I want,” he added with a sneer. 

Pasko and zh’Tali seated themselves at the conference table silently. Ocett noticed the Andorian zhen and turned to face her. “Well, isn’t this delightful? You’re the charming captain from that little vessel, aren’t you?” 

“First Officer,” the Andorian corrected her, her voice even. “Though I am interested in the answers that you might give us to Captain Daimousen’s questions.” 

Ocett leaned forward in her face with her own face, a study in annoyance. “As you seem so fond of listening to repetition, I shall say it again. I cannot tell you why my government ordered for this ship of yours to be destroyed because it did not. The Cardassian people have neither the capability, not the willingness to go to war again.” 

Noticing a smudge on her ebony armor, she wiped at it distractedly. 

“Although if the captain and the crew of this ‘Buckingham’ were as engaging individuals as you are, I could see how one might wish to have them killed.” 

Pasko stiffened with repressed anger but Daimousen showed less restraint, leaving Ocett to touch the spot of blood over her right eye. She raised her chin and suggested,” Or perhaps they provoked their own deaths.” 

Daimousen’s next blow knocked Ocett off her chair and to the ground. He wanted until she had struggled to her knees before he kicked her in the face. “Funny that you should say that,” he growled at her. 

“Commander?,” Pasko asked his superior officer. 

zh’Tali sat in stony silence, her arms folded across her chest. 

Pasko stood up from his seat. “Captain Daimousen, I think — “

“Shut up, Lieutenant!,” Daimousen snarled at him. He reached down and grasped at Ocett’s hair, pulling her head back up. “I’m going to let you go, just this once because I’m a nice person.” 

“I can tell,” the Cardassian woman whispered hoarsely. 

Daimousen dropped the Cardassian to the ground. “If I hear — or I think that I’ll hear — that you or any member of your species had anything to do with the loss of the Buckingham, then death will be your only mercy when I get done with you.” 

Lassiter came forward, dragging Ocett to her feet and pulling her from the room. 

“What the hell was that?!,” Pasko demanded to know. Daimousen glared across the table at him and the helmsman held his gaze, waiting for an answer. 

“Interrogating the prisoner,” zh’Tali replied simply. Ignoring the lieutenant’s angry sputtering, she turned towards Daimousen. “Do you have any other leads?” 

“Not at the moment,” he said, rubbing his knuckles idly,” but it’s only a matter of time. Cardassians are brash and stupid. Sooner or later, one of them will start bragging. Then it’ll be all over.” 

Daimousen dismissed the Andorian and Pasko. Commander Lassiter returned to escort them back to the Fafnir’s transporter room. The pilot was muttering things like,” I cannot believe…” and “What happened to…” even as they dematerialized. 

“Perhaps, Mister Pasko, if you explained your opinion in a structured manner, I would be able to understand and empathize.” zh’Tali decided that he would never realize just how difficult those words were for her to say or how appealing the idea of beating him into submission was. 

“Commander,” he began finally,” were you and I in the same room over there?” 

“Of course.” 

“He was assaulting a prisoner! Starfleet has procedures detailing the handling and interrogating of prisoners. They say that torture is not allowed We don’t treat people like that!” His face was turning beet-red and zh’Tali was battling her temper. 

She took a steadying breath and spoke with forced calm. “Lieutenant, you seem to have developed this idea that all Cardassians are soft-eyed, pitiable creatures who are in need of our care and defense.

“However, you should bear in mind that these are the same people, the same government, that sactioned the creation of metagenic weapons, and particupated in a program to capture, torture, and terrorize citizens of the Federation. They have committed massacres against civilians on worlds like Setlik II, Bajor, and many, many others. All of these have been done without a formal declaration of war. Would you like me to list their atrocities during the Dominion War?” 

Pasko shook his head. “Those actions don’t make every Cardassian guilty.” 

“Of course not, but it does make them a suspect. If Gul Ocett has information regarding the  terrorists, then we need to have it now before they strike again. And yes, it is… wrong… of us to violate our own protocols. In my judgement, it was a necessary action to ensure the safety of our fellow Starfleet officers.” 

“So the ends justify the means?” 

“Mister Pasko,” zh’Tali said slowly,” this is the principle upon which I have sacrificed my life continuously for.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Yahtzee.” 

“Now you’re just doing it on purpose.” 

Aimee just smirked at Sean’s statement. 

“So she just let Daimousen beat up the Cardassian?,” she asked him, standing up and stretching her arms while her hand brushed the crucifix mounted opposite his bed. Sean checked the cards before she trampled them. 

“Yeah, and she didn’t seem to be… to overly disturbed.” 

Aimee shrugged at his response. “I’ve been saying that the woman is a psychopath. It’s the sort of thing that happens when you think that violence is the answer to everything. Especially for an Andorian…” 

“It’s just disturbing. I talked to Captain Pozach about it.” 

Aimee glanced over irritably at him. “Is she going to do anything about it?” Sean looked up at her with surprise and she spoke quickly to cover up the venom in her voice. “Nobody can control zh’Tali because she’s insane.” 

“Why are you so angry? Is this about Captain Pozach?” 

Aimee looked at him. “Sean, this was never about Captain Pozach.” 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“The Fafnir is hailing us. They’ve received orders from the Wildcat to investigate rumors of unknown vessels entering the Norgo system,” zh’Tali said from her place at Ops. Pasko turned in his chair, irritated at the sound of her voice. 

“Mister Pasko,” Pozach told him,” match the Fafnir’s course and speed.” 

“Coming out of warp… now.” 

zh’Tali’s fingers moved across her board. “There is a colony on Norgo IX, a Class-P world. The atmosphere is inhospitable to humanoid life. Eighty percent of the surface is covered in frozen oceans — “

From across the Bridge, Maguire yelped in surprise. “It’s… it must be very cold down there.” 

zh’Tali shook her head and continued with her report,” The colony is located inside of an enclosed environment, supporting over three thousand Cardassians.” Her board beeped with a new development. “Fafnir has hailed the colony.” 

“Patch us in,” Pozach said, leaning forward in her chair. 

Overhead, the voice of Captain Daimousen snarled,” — order you to give up the terrorists. If you do not comply, we will be forced to take action.” 

“I assure you, Captain, that we don’t harbor any criminals here.” The speaker sounded old and tired. “We hardly have enough resources for ourselves, let alone for any offworlders.” 

Daimousen’s voice grew colder as Pozach shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Cardassian… I offer you one last chance to come clean.” 

“We do not — “

“Of course not. Tactical, target the colony’s life-support systems and fire.” 

“Daimousen!,” Pozach yelled at him, leaping forward from her chair. zh’Tali’s mouth opened in shock but that was quickly replaced by rage. On the main viewscreen, a quantum torpedo fell down on the planet and even from space, geysers of gaseous ammonia were visible from the impact point. “Captain, you cannot fire on civilians! Stand down!” 

“Pozach,” Daimousen said, slowly, his voice filled with anger and malice,” I don’t really care if you’re too pathetic to do what needs to be done, but don’t condemn me for not being as weak.” The channel between the ships was cut off afterwards.

zh’Tali said quietly,” Fafnir is continuing to fire on the surface.” 

Pozach leaned over Pasko’s shoulder. “Sean,” she said, gathering up her strength,” I want you to disable the Fafnir’s weapons array and disable it.” 

“Are you out of your mind?!,” Maguire demanded from behind her. “We can’t fire on another Federation starship!” 

From the Ops position, zh’Tali sought out the captain’s gaze. Her eyes were angry and she spoke in a hushed voice,” Stop them.” 

“Jeanne,” the pilot said, breaking protocol between them,” this is a hell of a time to grow a backbone about fighting. That’s an Akira class starship and we’re outgunned, big time by her.” He looked up at the view of the Fafnir still firing on the planet. “Let’s get on with it,” he whispered to himself.

“Sound General Quarters,” the Captain said, turning back to sit down in her command chair. “Red Alert. All hands to Battle Stations. This is not a drill.” 

“Attempting to match our weapons to Fafnir’s shield modulations,” the Andorian first officer said,” and sending out a distress signal on all frequencies.” 

“I’m targeting the launchers between their nacelles,” Pasko said, his hands busy moving over his panel,” and I’m plotting an attack pattern that will keep us out of the majority of their phasers.” 

Maguire checked over the ship’s status on the situation board. “All decks are secured and Connelly reports that Engineering is ready.” 

Pozach took a heavy sigh before saying,” Mister Pasko… fire.” 

The Fafnir’s shields flared as the Cayuga swept in close, hammering away at her torpedo launchers. With the first pass finished, the pilot pulled the ship around tight and returned towards the other ship’s launchers. 

“Incoming hail from the Fafnir,” zh’Tali reported. 

The viewer shifted from a winding of stars to Daimousen’s furious visage. What the hell is wrong with you, Pozach?!” 

“Stand down from your attack on the colony, Captain, and I’ll be delighted to discuss it with you,” the Cayuga’s captain said with a humor that she didn’t feel. 

The channel cut off and the Cayuga shook violently. Maguire gasped and she began to make her report but she was interrupted by a sudden lurch in the ship’s artificial gravity. “Engineering’s been hit, Captain! We’re losing power from all across the ship!” 

“Any response to our distress signal?” 

“Plenty,” zh’Tali replied,” from the Seventh Fleet.” 

“I can’t get through their shields!,” Pasko yelled. 

“Our forward shields have collapsed,” the Andorian reported. “Fafnir has captured us in a tractor beam. I’m reading transport signatures all over the ship — “

Six pillars of silver-blue energy appeared around the Bridge and materialized into security officers. zh’Tali tensed at their sudden appearance but the captain motioned for her to sit still. Commander Lassiter, the Fafnir’s First Officer, trained his weapon on Jeanne with a hard look on his face. 

“Captain Jeanne Pozach,” he said,” by the order of Captain Ryan Daimousen, I place you under arrest.” 

To be continued…