Teaser
The light of an orange star played over the Starship Aurora as the kilometer long starship moved away from the transport vessel that had been alongside it. On the starship's bridge, the vessel's commander was looking at the face of a freighter captain on the screen. "We were happy to help," Captain Robert Dale remarked. "Safe voyage, and make sure to signal the moment you even think you see more of those Breen privateers."
The screen shifted. To Robert's side, Commander Julia Andreys crossed her arms and grinned. "At this rate, there won't be any pirates left in this entire sector block."
"It helps get the Alliance established in this area of space," Robert pointed out. "Mister Locarno, is our course ready?"
Nick Locarno nodded at the helm. "Course set for our next patrol point. Warp power at your command."
Before he could give the order, Robert was interrupted by the figure beside Locarno. Commander Jarod looked up from the Ops station. "We have a signal coming in on the IU bands. It's Admiral Maran."
"I'll take it in the watch office." Robert stood from the command chair, Julia standing right beside him. "You've got the bridge, Julie."
"Yes sir." There was a slight smirk on her face, indicating her amusement with using the formal address.
Robert smirked back and headed to his watch office. It was furnished with pictures and mementoes from his past life. A large picture of the Dale family was at one wall, with commendations and awards he and his sister had won during his childhood. For all the pain it had caused him to lose them, he kept such as a link to the life he'd had before he made that fateful discovery on his family property just a few years ago in what was, now, a different lifetime. Robert self-consciously checked his duty uniform collar in the reflection of his monitor screen before accepting the incoming call. The bearded, grizzled face of the old Gersallian fleet commander appeared. "Captain Dale. I've been hearing good things out of New Horizon. You've even got the Cardassians thanking us for what you've done to secure the region."
Robert let out a small chuckle. "Yeah. They weren't too happy about that refugee ship though."
"The President has fielded that issue. This Maquis situation is a load of political dynamite, but you were right to protect the refugees. But that's not why I called." Maran shifted in his seat and put his hands in front of him. "We have a new mission for the Aurora and Koenig, Captain...."
On the bridge Julia was settled into the command chair, looking out over the bridge of the advanced starship and letting herself briefly think of everything that had passed in their lives in the previous three years. The deaths of Robert's family, finding the ancient alien Facility built by the alien Darglan, building the New Liberty Colony and linking interstellar societies together into what was now the Allied Systems...
There was the bad, though, and the bad that dwarfed everything else had been the loss of the Facility to an unexpected threat, the Daleks. They'd barely gotten away and had lost friends, even if they'd succeeded in destroying the Daleks and preventing them from getting the Darglan technology.
She looked over the bridge crew for the moment. It was the time in the day when they were altogether, before shift changes and other duties brought in less familiar faces. Aside from Locarno at the helm and Jarod, the savant "Pretender" from Universe A4P5, the rest of the bridge crew was made up of Thomas Barnes, another lifelong friend and engineer, and the Delgado sisters; the older and aggressive Angela at Tactical and the younger, geekier Caterina at Sensors. Friends new and old were to be found in other spots on the ship, people Julia had known for years or those she'd met in the work they'd started in the Facility.
Her musings were interrupted when Robert stepped out of the watch office. He showed no clear feeling one way or another, though he moved with a clear purpose. Julia wordlessly stood from the command chair to shift to her own again. "New orders?", Julia asked.
"Yes." Robert got into his seat. "Nick, change of plans. We're not making the rendezvous with the Cunningham and the Traysala after all."
"Ready to plot a new course for you, sir." Locarno, as always, seemed the most at ease with the bridge environment. "Destination?"
"Bajor system," Robert answered. "We're heading to Deep Space Nine."
The command crew of the Aurora was in the Bridge Conference Room off the main Bridge. The last to arrive was Scotty, having come up from Main Engineering, with Leo beating him by forty seconds from the Medbay. They found seats near the head of the table, with Robert flanked by Julia and their friend Zachary Carrey, commander of the Koenig. "I know how quickly rumor can get around on a ship, especially with our crew." Robert smiled thinly. "So I'm sure you're all aware of our change in orders."
"Deep Space Nine," Zack remarked. "I've always wanted to visit."
Caterina was almost bursting with enthusiasm. "The Multiverse's only known stable wormhole is there! I've been dying to get a look at it!"
"You'll get your chance, but I'm afraid this isn't just a port call." Robert tapped a key. "I'm sure everyone will recall Admiral Maran's brief about the Federation's disasterous first contact with the Dominion of the Gamma Quadrant."
"You mean when they blew a Galaxy-class cruiser to bits with just three attack ships." Angel crossed her arms. "Their weapons go through shields like they're not there."
"Yes. Starfleet has sent Commander Sisko into the Gamma Quadrant to try and make contact with them and see if we have any way of maintaining peace. But they're worried about counter-attacks through the wormhole, and so are the Bajorans."
"So that's where we come in." Julia put her hands together on the table. "The Aurora will be on hand to back up DS9."
"Exactly." Robert looked to Jarod, Scotty, and Barnes. "We've been given data on the Jem'Hadar ships the Odyssey and DS9's runabouts fought. Do you think you could go over them and find a counter to their shield-piercing guns?"
"Aye, sir," Scotty answered for the three.
"I'll help!," Caterina offered.
"You'll be busy, Cat," Robert said. "I want you directing all of our Darglan scanners at the wormhole. We need to learn all we can and see if our systems can glean more information."
Caterina nodded, smiling widely. She would have already been running such scans.
Unfortunately, Robert had to take the smile off her face. "I'll need options, Cat. We may need to close the wormhole."
As he feared, the smile disappeared and was replaced by a disappointed look. Her sister Angel was more understanding. "What will we be doing to make sure the Dominion isn't coming through?"
"I have orders on that too." Robert looked to Zack. "Zack, you're heading through."
"Wait... me?" Zack blinked. "You're getting to stay on DS9 and are leaving me with playing watchdog?"
"You wanted command of the Koenig, Zack, and that's what she's for," Robert pointed out. "We'll be sending a runabout through the wormhole every few hours to get your updates. If you need help, call. If they're too much, get your ass back through. And if you see an invasion fleet...."
"....come back through so you don't have to strand me on the other side of the galaxy," Zack grumbled.
Robert nodded and drew in a breath. The idea of leaving his friend stranded on the other side of the galaxy was not something he enjoyed contemplating. "We're due to arrive on DS9 in five hours. Let's get to it."
A couple of hours later Robert was mulling over paperwork in his watch office when the door chime went off. He mumbled, "Enter", and looked back to the digital paperwork. Julia stepped in and stood in front of the desk. "Do you remember what it was like when we didn't spend three hours a day, minimum, stuck in paperwork?"
"Mmhmm." Julia smirked. This was not a new rant.
"I remember when Beth introduced requisition orders back in the... old days." "The old days" being, of course, the first year working out of the Facility, and only a couple of years in the past. "I told her no way."
"And then she said she wouldn't turn over material from the stores until you did." Julia smiled widely. "She was just getting you ready for the real world there, you know."
"Yeah. I was hoping to find an excuse to bring her aboard." Robert sighed. "But she's settled onto New Liberty. I couldn't yank her away from that."
"We're not all cut out for adventuring through the stars." Julia's eyes fell a little. "Could we do it, Robby? Could we close the wormhole and leave Zack and Magda and the others trapped on the other side?"
Robert felt his throat go dry. "I... I don't know if I could," he admitted. "It's one thing if I'm the one being abandoned. To do it to one of you..."
"I know." She drew in a breath. "Well..." Seeking to change the subject, she switched tracks again. "Speaking of paperwork, our weekly systems review, and our readiness evaluation and...."
She couldn't help but giggle at the dark look she got from Robert as he accepted the datapad she was handing him.
Zack had his immediate effects slung over his shoulder for transfer back to the Koenig and was walking toward the airlock when he was intercepted by Barnes. "Sure you don't want company?", Barnes asked him. "I mean, between Jarod and Scotty this Dominion stuff can get handled...."
"I'll be fine, Tom," Zack remarked, smirking. "The Koenig crew has been coming together nicely. We'll handle whatever comes." He turned and saw the look on Barnes' face. "Tom?"
"Yeah, I know." The lanky engineer sighed and gave a shrug. "It's just..." He walked up, looking upset. "Don't you miss just... hanging out?"
Zack let out a laugh. "Yeah, yeah I do. I just think it's funny to hear that coming from you. I think Cat was the only one who outdid you in enthusiasm."
"Well, yeah, this stuff is exciting, but...." Barnes let it trail off. "Sometimes I just want to hang out again. Just the seven of us. Or just you and me, playing shooters and trash-talking."
"Yeah," Zack sighed wistfully, looking down at the deck as he thought of all the fun old times. He brought his head back up and gave Barnes a friendly pat to the shoulder. "Tell you what, I get back from this? We reserve one of the holodecks and hang out. Just like old times."
"Have a sim in mind?"
"Of course not," Zack laughed. "When have we ever had something like a plan for hangouts?"
"Only if Julie got involved," Barnes remembered.
"So, yeah, just get the reservation set up? We'll set something up when we get there." Zack nodded to him and checked the time. "I'd better get going. Look forward to seeing what we can come up with when I get back."
The space around Deep Space Nine was empty when the Aurora dropped out of warp. The ship pulled up toward the station and took a station-keeping spot well within support and transporter range. From the bridge Robert was quiet, allowing Julia to give the orders on establishing their position. He only reacted when the hail came in, standing as the screen shifted to show a balding human man in a Starfleet uniform, the second variant he'd seen with branch color on the shoulders instead of the main body. "This is Lieutenant Commander Michael Eddington, Starfleet Security and acting commander."
"Captain Robert Dale, Alliance Starship Aurora," Robert answered. "We're here to help secure the wormhole while Commander Sisko's mission is proceeding."
"Good to have you, Deep Space Nine is weakly armed." Eddington looked off screen for a moment. "I hope you understand if I'd prefer discussing our arrangements in person, and not over an open channel."
He nodded. "I'll beam over with a few of my officers shortly. Aurora out." When the holo-screen shifted to a view of the station, he looked over to Julia. "So, do you want to discuss who goes over or...?"
"Oh, no," she said, smirking. "I'm more than happy to stay and command the ship while you deal with the fun stuff."
"By 'fun' you, of course, mean 'boring'," Robert lamented. "Alright... I'm going to bring Meridina with me. Did we assign Lucy to anything...?"
"Nope. She's been busy doing the drudgery while you've got Jarod going over the Federation logs on the Dominion. I'm sure she'll be happy if you find her something else to do."
"Having an operations and tech officer along can't hurt, I imagine that with their jury-rigged Cardassian and Starfleet blend we might have some problems lining up the systems." Robert reached over and pressed the comm key for the multidevice unit on his wrist. "Commander Meridina, Lieutenant Lucero, report to Transporter 3."
"Don't have too much fun," Julia teased.
Zack was never one for protocol, and instead of using the formal small wardroom on the Koenig's top deck he simply assembled his officers on the bridge. Magda was the one he had known the longest; one of their first rescues from a raid on a FARC facility back in the good old days of the Facility, she'd been serving in various capacities on the group's ships until settling onto the Koenig following the loss of the Facility. Here she had the Operations Officer and Second Officer job.
Instead, for a First Officer, Zack had been given Lieutenant Creighton Apley, a Midwesterner like him but from the Sol System Republic in D3R1. He was Zack's opposite in many ways; professional, reserved, and almost stiff in his bearing, though with the occasional signs of warmth. He had a finely-combed head of sandy blond hair and brown eyes and a build that was sleek and athletic-looking.
Standing beside the two was Lieutenant Karen Derbely of D3R1's Free Colonies. The fact she wasn't scowling at Apley was a testament to the time they'd already spent on the ship. In fact, Zack thought she was a little bit more like Apley than he was; her light brown hair was kept in a bun at the back of her head and her demeanor usually reserved and quiet. The irritation in her blue eyes betrayed some impatience though; she wanted to get back to Engineering.
On a ship as lightly crewed as Koenig you typically only had about eight officers on the crew, maybe ten at most, and he usually rotated junior officers from the Aurora (or rather Magda and Jarod swapped them out as they saw fit). Of the others, he was only really familiar with Michael Ghali, the young Egyptian Copt from Zack's homeworld who was his ship's sole physician, and junior Lieutenant April Sherlily, Tactical Officer. Both were the shortest people at hand, while Ghali was also fairly thin while April was.... okay, Zack had to admit the honey-haired woman filled out her uniform rather well and that combined with Magda and Derbely he certainly had his share of distracting subordinates. He felt thankful for Apley and Ghali since otherwise he knew he'd be dealing with constant needling from Julia and Angel.
"You've all had time to see the orders," Zack said, trying to keep his mind on business. "Any questions?"
"We're the tripwire," Apley remarked. "And the scout."
"Yeah. Runabouts will be coming and going every few hours to get status updates. I want an emergency solution, though. Derbely, think we can get one of our long-range drones rigged with warp and navigation to get back through without us?"
"I'll look into it," Derbely promised.
"Good. As for everyone else... make sure the crew knows that this mission has no set ending. We could be out there a day, a week, or a month. I know the ship's facilities suck and there's not much to do in off hours, but hopefully we won't be out here for too long. Let's keep our heads together."
He was answered by nods. The officers dispersed to their stations. Apley was at the helm and Magda at Operations preparing for launch while they waited the few minutes for Derbely to get back to engineering and confirm the reactors were coming online. "Launch Control confirms we're ready."
"Detach all umbilicals. Seal the airlock." Zack waited patiently for them to do so.
"Yes sir." Magda quickly implemented the orders. "Launch bay door opening."
Toward the rear of the Aurora's "primary" hull, where the ship thinned in height and the beam tapered inward to the "drive" hull, the main launch bay door slid open effortlessly. The docking struts retracted and with ease the Koenig lifted up and back from the bay. Zack allowed himself a smile as his ship slipped free to fly on its own power once more. "Mister Apley... take us into the wormhole."
"Aye sir." Apley nodded.
The impulsor drives on Koenig came to life. The ship flew away from the Aurora and Deep Space Nine with increasing speed. Ahead of them was open space, nothing there.... and then the wormhole opened like a flower blossoming. The swirling blues and the inner gold had a natural look to them that the basic color of an interuniversal jump point typically lacked, and Zack enjoyed every moment of it. The gold mouth of the wormhole grew larger until it was replaced by swirling blues and golds on the inside. Nothing was said for the duration of the voyage, but when they emerged Apley was quick to report. "I've got our patrol pattern programmed already," he stated.
"Magda, cloak the ship. Ap, you can bring the warp drive online when ready."
Moments later, the Koenig shimmered out of sight as it leapt to warp.
Ops on DS9 was laid out in a way that slightly reminded Robert of the main Control Room back in the Facility, complete with the center table for the commander's "station", although smaller overall and with a transporter, turbolift, and commander's office attached. He was standing across from Eddington at that table, Lucy and Meridina flanking him. Eddington had just finished explaining the current condition of DS9's defenses, or rather lack of them. "What do you think, Lieutenant?" Robert made sure to avoid the familiarity he might use with his old friends in more private conditions on the Aurora.
"There's only so much we can do with the old Cardassian technology," Lucy answered. "And it looks like the current engineer has done a lot of work already with Starfleet technology, so if we do start working on it I'm afraid we'll just mess things up."
"The help I really need is in filling in for the command staff," Eddington explained. "Commander Sisko took everyone. And I just got here, I don't know half of what's going on with this station."
"I see." Robert looked between the two. "Lieutenant Commander Meridina, do you think you could help with station security?"
Meridina nodded respectfully. "I will do as needed to maintain peace and order here."
"Lieutenant?" Robert turned to face Lucy.
She nodded. "Sure, I can try to keep things running for Commander Eddington."
"If you can stand a watch here in Ops it'll give me a shift off," Eddington remarked, looking fairly tired. "Although as head of Starfleet Security I'm afraid I have to limit access to certain Starfleet materials. It shouldn't interfere with the operation of the station but if you find any blocks I'll be quick to deal with the issue."
"I completely understand."
"If that's all, then, I'd better get back to the Aurora," Robert said. "We're trying to determine if there's a way to deal with the Dominion shield-piercing technology."
"I'll send Chief O'Brien and Lieutenant Dax's notes on to your crew if it'll help," Eddington offered.
"That would be appreciated, Commander."
On the Aurora Science Lab 2 was the lab set aside for investigating matters of technology, energy, and power generation, and it was here that the brightest minds on the ship had met to go over the data on the Dominion weapons. Coffee was being provided in liberal quantities from the nearest replicators while, around a central holodisplay, Barnes and Scotty were examining footage of the Dominon energy beams striking the USS Odyssey. "It's nae goin' ta be easy," Scotty mumbled. "Wid ye look at the emissions? They cut through th' shields like they weren't even there. I've never seen a phased energy signature like that before."
"I've seen that in the Darglan files before."
"Aye. Polarons, Mister Barnes. Polarons. Nobody has used them like this before. This is very advanced engineering..."
"The problem is going to be setting shields to stop them without sacrificing protection against more conventional weapons," Jarod mused from his seat, checking data readings more directly. "The range any countermeasure is going to have to cover will be enormous."
"That's why..."
They were interrupted by the soft "whish" of the main door opening. Julia strode into the room, looking over them in one sweep of her head. "Okay everyone, I know you love to get your brains together to deal with a challenge, but it's approaching 2200 hours. It's time you called it an evening and came back to this tomorrow with fresh minds."
"Yes mom," Barnes muttered sarcastically.
"Someone has to keep you guys from going crazy from sleep deprivation," she pointed out sarcastically. "You can give me a report on what you've found so far in the morning."
The sound of the alert klaxon jolted Zack out of sleep. He slid out of the hard cot in his quarters and reached for his uniform jacket, wondering just what might be happening. Upon arriving at the bridge he found Apley on watch; his XO moved straight to the helm as he took his seat. "What do we have?"
"Jem'Hadar attack ships entered range and have begun active scans with anti-proton beams," Apley reported. Behind them Magda and Sherlily arrived, relieving the junior personnel who were watching their stations.
"Anti-proton beams...?" Zack looked at Magda. "They won't penetrate our cloak, will they? I distinctly remember Cat talking about how anti-anything does bad stuff to normal matter."
"I don't know, it might," Magda conceded.
"On the other hand, there are other ways to detect the general presence of cloaked ships," Apley pointed out. "They might be looking to confirm we're here."
"You have a suggestion, Ap?"
As always, Apley showed no response to Zack ignoring protocol and using first names or, in his case, a nickname. "We come to a stop and cut power. That would eliminate any telltale traces that might seep through our cloak."
"And leave us stationary and defenseless if the Jem'Hadar see us anyway," Sherlily pointed out.
Zack nodded, knowing both had good points. This was one of those hard decisions his new job put him in, the kind of decisions he preferred Robert and Julia making. All he wanted to do was fly the Koenig....
"What kind of systems are near here?", he finally asked.
"We've got a couple. If you're thinking of hiding I'm not sure it'll... wait." Magda looked back. "I've identified a system, 191 Lambda Seronis on the Federation charts, with a gas giant and asteroid field that give us some hiding spots. If the cloak is letting anything out, we have options for masking it."
"Good. Get us there, top speed."
Koenig was still invisible to sensors and the naked eye when she came out of warp close to the brown-red hued gas giant of 191 Lambda Seronis. Apley piloted the ship toward one of the poles and brought them to a stop. The indicators on Magda's station showed the Koenig's systems powering down to reduce their energy signature should it be leeching through the cloak somehow.
Moments later three Jem'Hadar vessels came out of warp, assuming a close search pattern. Zack breathed quietly as the indicators showed them getting closer, anti-proton beams lancing out again to try and probe the location of his ship. "If it looks like they spot us, make for the asteroids," he murmured to Apley.
"You don't think we can take them in a fight, sir?", Sherlily asked.
"Until the Brain Trust back on the Aurora can figure out the shield thing, I'm not going to risk it," Zack replied. "Just be ready to pull the trigger if we need it..."
The Jem'Hadar ships drew closer and closer. The holoscreen shifted to show them looming in on the Koenig. Red beams were quietly pulsing from the ships' emitters, the viewer translating the sensor input for the anti-proton beams for their benefit. Zack felt his heart pick up and tried to will it to quiet. The Darglan cloak was great stuff, it'd work...
Suddenly the red beams stopped. The Jem'Hadar ships twisted in space and went to warp, breaths of relief coming from Zack and his bridge crew as their forms elongated. Zack noticed his reflection in the surface of his control panel and the black bags forming on his eyes. So much for sleep with this adrenaline rush... "Magda, keep an eye out for more. Ap, put us back on our patrol route."
He was answered by a pair of "Aye, sir"s.
Robert woke up to the sound of his personal comm unit going off. He reached over from his bed and hit the reply button. "Dale here," he said softly, rubbing at his eyes.
One of the Gamma Shift officers, Lieutenant Daynara, spoke over the line. "A ship just came through the wormhole and docked with the station, Captain."
He sat up and rubbed at his forehead. "Make?"
"Karemma. They say they've brought someone who went on Sisko's mission into the Gamma Quadrant back. Commander Eddington has already been alerted and has asked you to join him."
"I'll be right there."
They chose to have the meeting in the security office. Meridina was seated in Constable Odo's usual seat, Commander Eddington and Robert flanking her. The figure in question gave a toothy smile at them and looked like he was used to the seat he was in.
"I hope you understand that I have to check up on my business, can we make this quick?", Quark asked.
"We need to know how Commander Sisko's mission is going," Eddington said. "And why you're back so soon."
"Our negotiations with the Karemma were a success," Quark answered. "They provided Commander Sisko with information on how to make contact with the Founders. As for my return... I've got a business to run and I didn't feel like charging into hostile space with Odo as my roommate."
"How was Sisko going to make contact with the Dominion's Founders?", Robert asked.
"The Karemma only have one contact with the Dominion, a subspace relay in the Callinon system." Quark shrugged and let out an awkward-sounding cackle. "That's all I can say, really. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go make sure my idiot brother didn't ruin my business."
Quark got up and almost reached the door when Meridina raised her head. "I should point out, sir, that you will need to pay a customs due on the cargo you brought over from the Karemma vessel. The Bajoran tariff laws are quite clear."
Robert noticed the bemused look on Eddington and the sudden irritation coming from Quark. "I remembered, I just wanted to settle back in first," Quark assured them.
"Of course," Meridina remarked, a thin and friendly smile on her face. "I simply thought it best to remind you should it slip your mind."
"Thank you very much," Quark said, a fake smile on his face and the insincerity oozing. He went straight for the door.
"Well, we're no better off than we were before," Eddington sighed. "We still have no idea of how the Commander's mission is going."
"For the time being we'll just have to stay alert." Robert folded his arms. "I'll get back to the Aurora and make sure our next probe relays the new information to the Koenig. Zack may be able to investigate this Callinon system if it's not too far from the wormhole."
"I'd feel better if I knew we had a way to close it," Eddington remarked. "Just in case."
"I've got people looking into it," Robert assured him.
Caterina was using her bridge watch well; while she kept an eye on sensors most of her attention was on using the Aurora's varied sensor systems to scan the Bajoran Wormhole. The Darglan systems on the Aurora had already given her insights into the wormhole's stability and function, but trying to get rid of it...
"I don't want to blow it up," Cat complained to herself.
"Blow what up?"
She looked behind her to see Locarno standing behind her. With Robert speaking with Admiral Maran and Julia riding herd on the other brainy types, Locarno was taking the morning bridge watch instead of manning the helm as usual. He didn't look the most comfortable with the work, something she supposed came from his past with Starfleet. "The wormhole," Cat replied. "Look at it! Look at the neutrino plumes and subspace waves and.... it's beautiful."
"And it's a bridge that could let a nasty race of soldiers invade the Alpha Quadrant," Locarno reminded her.
"Can't we... I dunno... mine it or something then?"
"Only if you know for sure how many ships are coming through."
"So maybe a force-shield ins.... no, well, maybe.... gotta talk to Tom about that."
Locarno let out a forlorn sigh. "Lieutenant, sometimes it's best to just focus on what you've been ordered to do."
"But what if I don't like what I've been ordered to do?"
"Then you do it anyway, or you realize you've got the wrong job and you resign."
All Cat could do in reply was sigh.
Whoever ran DS9's systems was a saint.
That, at least, was Lucy's view after she jolted her hand back, the shock still crackling through it. The habitat ring conduit still blinked in a way that showed it was defying her attempts to repair it. These Cardassians are lousy designers, was the next thought in her head, followed with admiration that someone had managed to mix the better Federation technology in and make the entire blasted mess work.
With her fingers still numb, Lucy reached over for her comm. "Lucero to Ops," she said, and at least the comm systems had successfully picked up her comm and the others from the Aurora crew helping out. "This conduit is completely out, everything I've tried has failed."
"That area is uninhabited, so don't worry too much about it," one of the station's engineers answered. She didn't know the Bajoran man's name yet. "A little odd that it went down like that though..."
"The Cardassians can't build for crap," Lucy muttered. "I'll head on to the crossover, one of my people is having trouble with the turbolift maintenance there."
"I read you."
Lucy rubbed her hand a little and slammed the conduit shut. After she did so she gave a quick glance around her. Something felt.... off. "Is somebody there?", she asked aloud. She heard no reply, but there was a... sense in her head, as if she might be in danger. Damned Cardassian station and its poor lighting.... Figuring the dark corridors were just making her jittery, Lucy pressed on in the other direction.
Admittedly, she did so with a bit of a spring in her step, as her hind-brain continued to scream at her to get away.
"....so we had another attempted break-in on the station's material stores." One of the Bajoran deputies was reading from a PADD while Meridina and her assistant chief of security listened quietly. Like Meridina, Lieutenant Parga Draynal was from N2S7; a male Dorei of teal complexion and purple spotting from the temperate rainforests of Jamara on Doreia, he was the professional service officer in contrast to Meridina being a swevyra'rase of Gersal. Meridina had as much a rapport with him as she could manage given his mental reserve, and she knew he was not keen at all on their commanding officers. He merely needs time to see their potential. Though Meridina was aware of other... considerations that she and her other superiors had toward the command crew of the Aurora. Would he understand the significance of their coming? Would he be able to believe in the Coming Dawn?
"Black market?", Parga asked the Bajoran.
"I doubt it, sir," the deputy answered. "I think we might have people looking to stockpile materials in case of a Dominion attack."
"They act out of fear," Meridina murmured. She could feel that emotion permeate the entire station with her senses, both her mental abilities and the life force powers she had use of. "We need to be as reassuring as possible, but to be safe, we shall double the guard. Lieutenant, see who we can get from our staff on the Aurora."
"Immediately sir."
Meridina watched both of them leave the security office and began to ponder.... just where was this feeling of portent coming from? Was it foreboding or was it the universe trying to tell her something through her connection to it? Regardless, she would have to be on guard.
The light of an orange star played over the Starship Aurora as the kilometer long starship moved away from the transport vessel that had been alongside it. On the starship's bridge, the vessel's commander was looking at the face of a freighter captain on the screen. "We were happy to help," Captain Robert Dale remarked. "Safe voyage, and make sure to signal the moment you even think you see more of those Breen privateers."
The screen shifted. To Robert's side, Commander Julia Andreys crossed her arms and grinned. "At this rate, there won't be any pirates left in this entire sector block."
"It helps get the Alliance established in this area of space," Robert pointed out. "Mister Locarno, is our course ready?"
Nick Locarno nodded at the helm. "Course set for our next patrol point. Warp power at your command."
Before he could give the order, Robert was interrupted by the figure beside Locarno. Commander Jarod looked up from the Ops station. "We have a signal coming in on the IU bands. It's Admiral Maran."
"I'll take it in the watch office." Robert stood from the command chair, Julia standing right beside him. "You've got the bridge, Julie."
"Yes sir." There was a slight smirk on her face, indicating her amusement with using the formal address.
Robert smirked back and headed to his watch office. It was furnished with pictures and mementoes from his past life. A large picture of the Dale family was at one wall, with commendations and awards he and his sister had won during his childhood. For all the pain it had caused him to lose them, he kept such as a link to the life he'd had before he made that fateful discovery on his family property just a few years ago in what was, now, a different lifetime. Robert self-consciously checked his duty uniform collar in the reflection of his monitor screen before accepting the incoming call. The bearded, grizzled face of the old Gersallian fleet commander appeared. "Captain Dale. I've been hearing good things out of New Horizon. You've even got the Cardassians thanking us for what you've done to secure the region."
Robert let out a small chuckle. "Yeah. They weren't too happy about that refugee ship though."
"The President has fielded that issue. This Maquis situation is a load of political dynamite, but you were right to protect the refugees. But that's not why I called." Maran shifted in his seat and put his hands in front of him. "We have a new mission for the Aurora and Koenig, Captain...."
On the bridge Julia was settled into the command chair, looking out over the bridge of the advanced starship and letting herself briefly think of everything that had passed in their lives in the previous three years. The deaths of Robert's family, finding the ancient alien Facility built by the alien Darglan, building the New Liberty Colony and linking interstellar societies together into what was now the Allied Systems...
There was the bad, though, and the bad that dwarfed everything else had been the loss of the Facility to an unexpected threat, the Daleks. They'd barely gotten away and had lost friends, even if they'd succeeded in destroying the Daleks and preventing them from getting the Darglan technology.
She looked over the bridge crew for the moment. It was the time in the day when they were altogether, before shift changes and other duties brought in less familiar faces. Aside from Locarno at the helm and Jarod, the savant "Pretender" from Universe A4P5, the rest of the bridge crew was made up of Thomas Barnes, another lifelong friend and engineer, and the Delgado sisters; the older and aggressive Angela at Tactical and the younger, geekier Caterina at Sensors. Friends new and old were to be found in other spots on the ship, people Julia had known for years or those she'd met in the work they'd started in the Facility.
Her musings were interrupted when Robert stepped out of the watch office. He showed no clear feeling one way or another, though he moved with a clear purpose. Julia wordlessly stood from the command chair to shift to her own again. "New orders?", Julia asked.
"Yes." Robert got into his seat. "Nick, change of plans. We're not making the rendezvous with the Cunningham and the Traysala after all."
"Ready to plot a new course for you, sir." Locarno, as always, seemed the most at ease with the bridge environment. "Destination?"
"Bajor system," Robert answered. "We're heading to Deep Space Nine."
Undiscovered Frontier
"On The Firing Line"
"On The Firing Line"
The command crew of the Aurora was in the Bridge Conference Room off the main Bridge. The last to arrive was Scotty, having come up from Main Engineering, with Leo beating him by forty seconds from the Medbay. They found seats near the head of the table, with Robert flanked by Julia and their friend Zachary Carrey, commander of the Koenig. "I know how quickly rumor can get around on a ship, especially with our crew." Robert smiled thinly. "So I'm sure you're all aware of our change in orders."
"Deep Space Nine," Zack remarked. "I've always wanted to visit."
Caterina was almost bursting with enthusiasm. "The Multiverse's only known stable wormhole is there! I've been dying to get a look at it!"
"You'll get your chance, but I'm afraid this isn't just a port call." Robert tapped a key. "I'm sure everyone will recall Admiral Maran's brief about the Federation's disasterous first contact with the Dominion of the Gamma Quadrant."
"You mean when they blew a Galaxy-class cruiser to bits with just three attack ships." Angel crossed her arms. "Their weapons go through shields like they're not there."
"Yes. Starfleet has sent Commander Sisko into the Gamma Quadrant to try and make contact with them and see if we have any way of maintaining peace. But they're worried about counter-attacks through the wormhole, and so are the Bajorans."
"So that's where we come in." Julia put her hands together on the table. "The Aurora will be on hand to back up DS9."
"Exactly." Robert looked to Jarod, Scotty, and Barnes. "We've been given data on the Jem'Hadar ships the Odyssey and DS9's runabouts fought. Do you think you could go over them and find a counter to their shield-piercing guns?"
"Aye, sir," Scotty answered for the three.
"I'll help!," Caterina offered.
"You'll be busy, Cat," Robert said. "I want you directing all of our Darglan scanners at the wormhole. We need to learn all we can and see if our systems can glean more information."
Caterina nodded, smiling widely. She would have already been running such scans.
Unfortunately, Robert had to take the smile off her face. "I'll need options, Cat. We may need to close the wormhole."
As he feared, the smile disappeared and was replaced by a disappointed look. Her sister Angel was more understanding. "What will we be doing to make sure the Dominion isn't coming through?"
"I have orders on that too." Robert looked to Zack. "Zack, you're heading through."
"Wait... me?" Zack blinked. "You're getting to stay on DS9 and are leaving me with playing watchdog?"
"You wanted command of the Koenig, Zack, and that's what she's for," Robert pointed out. "We'll be sending a runabout through the wormhole every few hours to get your updates. If you need help, call. If they're too much, get your ass back through. And if you see an invasion fleet...."
"....come back through so you don't have to strand me on the other side of the galaxy," Zack grumbled.
Robert nodded and drew in a breath. The idea of leaving his friend stranded on the other side of the galaxy was not something he enjoyed contemplating. "We're due to arrive on DS9 in five hours. Let's get to it."
A couple of hours later Robert was mulling over paperwork in his watch office when the door chime went off. He mumbled, "Enter", and looked back to the digital paperwork. Julia stepped in and stood in front of the desk. "Do you remember what it was like when we didn't spend three hours a day, minimum, stuck in paperwork?"
"Mmhmm." Julia smirked. This was not a new rant.
"I remember when Beth introduced requisition orders back in the... old days." "The old days" being, of course, the first year working out of the Facility, and only a couple of years in the past. "I told her no way."
"And then she said she wouldn't turn over material from the stores until you did." Julia smiled widely. "She was just getting you ready for the real world there, you know."
"Yeah. I was hoping to find an excuse to bring her aboard." Robert sighed. "But she's settled onto New Liberty. I couldn't yank her away from that."
"We're not all cut out for adventuring through the stars." Julia's eyes fell a little. "Could we do it, Robby? Could we close the wormhole and leave Zack and Magda and the others trapped on the other side?"
Robert felt his throat go dry. "I... I don't know if I could," he admitted. "It's one thing if I'm the one being abandoned. To do it to one of you..."
"I know." She drew in a breath. "Well..." Seeking to change the subject, she switched tracks again. "Speaking of paperwork, our weekly systems review, and our readiness evaluation and...."
She couldn't help but giggle at the dark look she got from Robert as he accepted the datapad she was handing him.
Zack had his immediate effects slung over his shoulder for transfer back to the Koenig and was walking toward the airlock when he was intercepted by Barnes. "Sure you don't want company?", Barnes asked him. "I mean, between Jarod and Scotty this Dominion stuff can get handled...."
"I'll be fine, Tom," Zack remarked, smirking. "The Koenig crew has been coming together nicely. We'll handle whatever comes." He turned and saw the look on Barnes' face. "Tom?"
"Yeah, I know." The lanky engineer sighed and gave a shrug. "It's just..." He walked up, looking upset. "Don't you miss just... hanging out?"
Zack let out a laugh. "Yeah, yeah I do. I just think it's funny to hear that coming from you. I think Cat was the only one who outdid you in enthusiasm."
"Well, yeah, this stuff is exciting, but...." Barnes let it trail off. "Sometimes I just want to hang out again. Just the seven of us. Or just you and me, playing shooters and trash-talking."
"Yeah," Zack sighed wistfully, looking down at the deck as he thought of all the fun old times. He brought his head back up and gave Barnes a friendly pat to the shoulder. "Tell you what, I get back from this? We reserve one of the holodecks and hang out. Just like old times."
"Have a sim in mind?"
"Of course not," Zack laughed. "When have we ever had something like a plan for hangouts?"
"Only if Julie got involved," Barnes remembered.
"So, yeah, just get the reservation set up? We'll set something up when we get there." Zack nodded to him and checked the time. "I'd better get going. Look forward to seeing what we can come up with when I get back."
The space around Deep Space Nine was empty when the Aurora dropped out of warp. The ship pulled up toward the station and took a station-keeping spot well within support and transporter range. From the bridge Robert was quiet, allowing Julia to give the orders on establishing their position. He only reacted when the hail came in, standing as the screen shifted to show a balding human man in a Starfleet uniform, the second variant he'd seen with branch color on the shoulders instead of the main body. "This is Lieutenant Commander Michael Eddington, Starfleet Security and acting commander."
"Captain Robert Dale, Alliance Starship Aurora," Robert answered. "We're here to help secure the wormhole while Commander Sisko's mission is proceeding."
"Good to have you, Deep Space Nine is weakly armed." Eddington looked off screen for a moment. "I hope you understand if I'd prefer discussing our arrangements in person, and not over an open channel."
He nodded. "I'll beam over with a few of my officers shortly. Aurora out." When the holo-screen shifted to a view of the station, he looked over to Julia. "So, do you want to discuss who goes over or...?"
"Oh, no," she said, smirking. "I'm more than happy to stay and command the ship while you deal with the fun stuff."
"By 'fun' you, of course, mean 'boring'," Robert lamented. "Alright... I'm going to bring Meridina with me. Did we assign Lucy to anything...?"
"Nope. She's been busy doing the drudgery while you've got Jarod going over the Federation logs on the Dominion. I'm sure she'll be happy if you find her something else to do."
"Having an operations and tech officer along can't hurt, I imagine that with their jury-rigged Cardassian and Starfleet blend we might have some problems lining up the systems." Robert reached over and pressed the comm key for the multidevice unit on his wrist. "Commander Meridina, Lieutenant Lucero, report to Transporter 3."
"Don't have too much fun," Julia teased.
Zack was never one for protocol, and instead of using the formal small wardroom on the Koenig's top deck he simply assembled his officers on the bridge. Magda was the one he had known the longest; one of their first rescues from a raid on a FARC facility back in the good old days of the Facility, she'd been serving in various capacities on the group's ships until settling onto the Koenig following the loss of the Facility. Here she had the Operations Officer and Second Officer job.
Instead, for a First Officer, Zack had been given Lieutenant Creighton Apley, a Midwesterner like him but from the Sol System Republic in D3R1. He was Zack's opposite in many ways; professional, reserved, and almost stiff in his bearing, though with the occasional signs of warmth. He had a finely-combed head of sandy blond hair and brown eyes and a build that was sleek and athletic-looking.
Standing beside the two was Lieutenant Karen Derbely of D3R1's Free Colonies. The fact she wasn't scowling at Apley was a testament to the time they'd already spent on the ship. In fact, Zack thought she was a little bit more like Apley than he was; her light brown hair was kept in a bun at the back of her head and her demeanor usually reserved and quiet. The irritation in her blue eyes betrayed some impatience though; she wanted to get back to Engineering.
On a ship as lightly crewed as Koenig you typically only had about eight officers on the crew, maybe ten at most, and he usually rotated junior officers from the Aurora (or rather Magda and Jarod swapped them out as they saw fit). Of the others, he was only really familiar with Michael Ghali, the young Egyptian Copt from Zack's homeworld who was his ship's sole physician, and junior Lieutenant April Sherlily, Tactical Officer. Both were the shortest people at hand, while Ghali was also fairly thin while April was.... okay, Zack had to admit the honey-haired woman filled out her uniform rather well and that combined with Magda and Derbely he certainly had his share of distracting subordinates. He felt thankful for Apley and Ghali since otherwise he knew he'd be dealing with constant needling from Julia and Angel.
"You've all had time to see the orders," Zack said, trying to keep his mind on business. "Any questions?"
"We're the tripwire," Apley remarked. "And the scout."
"Yeah. Runabouts will be coming and going every few hours to get status updates. I want an emergency solution, though. Derbely, think we can get one of our long-range drones rigged with warp and navigation to get back through without us?"
"I'll look into it," Derbely promised.
"Good. As for everyone else... make sure the crew knows that this mission has no set ending. We could be out there a day, a week, or a month. I know the ship's facilities suck and there's not much to do in off hours, but hopefully we won't be out here for too long. Let's keep our heads together."
He was answered by nods. The officers dispersed to their stations. Apley was at the helm and Magda at Operations preparing for launch while they waited the few minutes for Derbely to get back to engineering and confirm the reactors were coming online. "Launch Control confirms we're ready."
"Detach all umbilicals. Seal the airlock." Zack waited patiently for them to do so.
"Yes sir." Magda quickly implemented the orders. "Launch bay door opening."
Toward the rear of the Aurora's "primary" hull, where the ship thinned in height and the beam tapered inward to the "drive" hull, the main launch bay door slid open effortlessly. The docking struts retracted and with ease the Koenig lifted up and back from the bay. Zack allowed himself a smile as his ship slipped free to fly on its own power once more. "Mister Apley... take us into the wormhole."
"Aye sir." Apley nodded.
The impulsor drives on Koenig came to life. The ship flew away from the Aurora and Deep Space Nine with increasing speed. Ahead of them was open space, nothing there.... and then the wormhole opened like a flower blossoming. The swirling blues and the inner gold had a natural look to them that the basic color of an interuniversal jump point typically lacked, and Zack enjoyed every moment of it. The gold mouth of the wormhole grew larger until it was replaced by swirling blues and golds on the inside. Nothing was said for the duration of the voyage, but when they emerged Apley was quick to report. "I've got our patrol pattern programmed already," he stated.
"Magda, cloak the ship. Ap, you can bring the warp drive online when ready."
Moments later, the Koenig shimmered out of sight as it leapt to warp.
Ops on DS9 was laid out in a way that slightly reminded Robert of the main Control Room back in the Facility, complete with the center table for the commander's "station", although smaller overall and with a transporter, turbolift, and commander's office attached. He was standing across from Eddington at that table, Lucy and Meridina flanking him. Eddington had just finished explaining the current condition of DS9's defenses, or rather lack of them. "What do you think, Lieutenant?" Robert made sure to avoid the familiarity he might use with his old friends in more private conditions on the Aurora.
"There's only so much we can do with the old Cardassian technology," Lucy answered. "And it looks like the current engineer has done a lot of work already with Starfleet technology, so if we do start working on it I'm afraid we'll just mess things up."
"The help I really need is in filling in for the command staff," Eddington explained. "Commander Sisko took everyone. And I just got here, I don't know half of what's going on with this station."
"I see." Robert looked between the two. "Lieutenant Commander Meridina, do you think you could help with station security?"
Meridina nodded respectfully. "I will do as needed to maintain peace and order here."
"Lieutenant?" Robert turned to face Lucy.
She nodded. "Sure, I can try to keep things running for Commander Eddington."
"If you can stand a watch here in Ops it'll give me a shift off," Eddington remarked, looking fairly tired. "Although as head of Starfleet Security I'm afraid I have to limit access to certain Starfleet materials. It shouldn't interfere with the operation of the station but if you find any blocks I'll be quick to deal with the issue."
"I completely understand."
"If that's all, then, I'd better get back to the Aurora," Robert said. "We're trying to determine if there's a way to deal with the Dominion shield-piercing technology."
"I'll send Chief O'Brien and Lieutenant Dax's notes on to your crew if it'll help," Eddington offered.
"That would be appreciated, Commander."
On the Aurora Science Lab 2 was the lab set aside for investigating matters of technology, energy, and power generation, and it was here that the brightest minds on the ship had met to go over the data on the Dominion weapons. Coffee was being provided in liberal quantities from the nearest replicators while, around a central holodisplay, Barnes and Scotty were examining footage of the Dominon energy beams striking the USS Odyssey. "It's nae goin' ta be easy," Scotty mumbled. "Wid ye look at the emissions? They cut through th' shields like they weren't even there. I've never seen a phased energy signature like that before."
"I've seen that in the Darglan files before."
"Aye. Polarons, Mister Barnes. Polarons. Nobody has used them like this before. This is very advanced engineering..."
"The problem is going to be setting shields to stop them without sacrificing protection against more conventional weapons," Jarod mused from his seat, checking data readings more directly. "The range any countermeasure is going to have to cover will be enormous."
"That's why..."
They were interrupted by the soft "whish" of the main door opening. Julia strode into the room, looking over them in one sweep of her head. "Okay everyone, I know you love to get your brains together to deal with a challenge, but it's approaching 2200 hours. It's time you called it an evening and came back to this tomorrow with fresh minds."
"Yes mom," Barnes muttered sarcastically.
"Someone has to keep you guys from going crazy from sleep deprivation," she pointed out sarcastically. "You can give me a report on what you've found so far in the morning."
The sound of the alert klaxon jolted Zack out of sleep. He slid out of the hard cot in his quarters and reached for his uniform jacket, wondering just what might be happening. Upon arriving at the bridge he found Apley on watch; his XO moved straight to the helm as he took his seat. "What do we have?"
"Jem'Hadar attack ships entered range and have begun active scans with anti-proton beams," Apley reported. Behind them Magda and Sherlily arrived, relieving the junior personnel who were watching their stations.
"Anti-proton beams...?" Zack looked at Magda. "They won't penetrate our cloak, will they? I distinctly remember Cat talking about how anti-anything does bad stuff to normal matter."
"I don't know, it might," Magda conceded.
"On the other hand, there are other ways to detect the general presence of cloaked ships," Apley pointed out. "They might be looking to confirm we're here."
"You have a suggestion, Ap?"
As always, Apley showed no response to Zack ignoring protocol and using first names or, in his case, a nickname. "We come to a stop and cut power. That would eliminate any telltale traces that might seep through our cloak."
"And leave us stationary and defenseless if the Jem'Hadar see us anyway," Sherlily pointed out.
Zack nodded, knowing both had good points. This was one of those hard decisions his new job put him in, the kind of decisions he preferred Robert and Julia making. All he wanted to do was fly the Koenig....
"What kind of systems are near here?", he finally asked.
"We've got a couple. If you're thinking of hiding I'm not sure it'll... wait." Magda looked back. "I've identified a system, 191 Lambda Seronis on the Federation charts, with a gas giant and asteroid field that give us some hiding spots. If the cloak is letting anything out, we have options for masking it."
"Good. Get us there, top speed."
Koenig was still invisible to sensors and the naked eye when she came out of warp close to the brown-red hued gas giant of 191 Lambda Seronis. Apley piloted the ship toward one of the poles and brought them to a stop. The indicators on Magda's station showed the Koenig's systems powering down to reduce their energy signature should it be leeching through the cloak somehow.
Moments later three Jem'Hadar vessels came out of warp, assuming a close search pattern. Zack breathed quietly as the indicators showed them getting closer, anti-proton beams lancing out again to try and probe the location of his ship. "If it looks like they spot us, make for the asteroids," he murmured to Apley.
"You don't think we can take them in a fight, sir?", Sherlily asked.
"Until the Brain Trust back on the Aurora can figure out the shield thing, I'm not going to risk it," Zack replied. "Just be ready to pull the trigger if we need it..."
The Jem'Hadar ships drew closer and closer. The holoscreen shifted to show them looming in on the Koenig. Red beams were quietly pulsing from the ships' emitters, the viewer translating the sensor input for the anti-proton beams for their benefit. Zack felt his heart pick up and tried to will it to quiet. The Darglan cloak was great stuff, it'd work...
Suddenly the red beams stopped. The Jem'Hadar ships twisted in space and went to warp, breaths of relief coming from Zack and his bridge crew as their forms elongated. Zack noticed his reflection in the surface of his control panel and the black bags forming on his eyes. So much for sleep with this adrenaline rush... "Magda, keep an eye out for more. Ap, put us back on our patrol route."
He was answered by a pair of "Aye, sir"s.
Robert woke up to the sound of his personal comm unit going off. He reached over from his bed and hit the reply button. "Dale here," he said softly, rubbing at his eyes.
One of the Gamma Shift officers, Lieutenant Daynara, spoke over the line. "A ship just came through the wormhole and docked with the station, Captain."
He sat up and rubbed at his forehead. "Make?"
"Karemma. They say they've brought someone who went on Sisko's mission into the Gamma Quadrant back. Commander Eddington has already been alerted and has asked you to join him."
"I'll be right there."
They chose to have the meeting in the security office. Meridina was seated in Constable Odo's usual seat, Commander Eddington and Robert flanking her. The figure in question gave a toothy smile at them and looked like he was used to the seat he was in.
"I hope you understand that I have to check up on my business, can we make this quick?", Quark asked.
"We need to know how Commander Sisko's mission is going," Eddington said. "And why you're back so soon."
"Our negotiations with the Karemma were a success," Quark answered. "They provided Commander Sisko with information on how to make contact with the Founders. As for my return... I've got a business to run and I didn't feel like charging into hostile space with Odo as my roommate."
"How was Sisko going to make contact with the Dominion's Founders?", Robert asked.
"The Karemma only have one contact with the Dominion, a subspace relay in the Callinon system." Quark shrugged and let out an awkward-sounding cackle. "That's all I can say, really. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go make sure my idiot brother didn't ruin my business."
Quark got up and almost reached the door when Meridina raised her head. "I should point out, sir, that you will need to pay a customs due on the cargo you brought over from the Karemma vessel. The Bajoran tariff laws are quite clear."
Robert noticed the bemused look on Eddington and the sudden irritation coming from Quark. "I remembered, I just wanted to settle back in first," Quark assured them.
"Of course," Meridina remarked, a thin and friendly smile on her face. "I simply thought it best to remind you should it slip your mind."
"Thank you very much," Quark said, a fake smile on his face and the insincerity oozing. He went straight for the door.
"Well, we're no better off than we were before," Eddington sighed. "We still have no idea of how the Commander's mission is going."
"For the time being we'll just have to stay alert." Robert folded his arms. "I'll get back to the Aurora and make sure our next probe relays the new information to the Koenig. Zack may be able to investigate this Callinon system if it's not too far from the wormhole."
"I'd feel better if I knew we had a way to close it," Eddington remarked. "Just in case."
"I've got people looking into it," Robert assured him.
Caterina was using her bridge watch well; while she kept an eye on sensors most of her attention was on using the Aurora's varied sensor systems to scan the Bajoran Wormhole. The Darglan systems on the Aurora had already given her insights into the wormhole's stability and function, but trying to get rid of it...
"I don't want to blow it up," Cat complained to herself.
"Blow what up?"
She looked behind her to see Locarno standing behind her. With Robert speaking with Admiral Maran and Julia riding herd on the other brainy types, Locarno was taking the morning bridge watch instead of manning the helm as usual. He didn't look the most comfortable with the work, something she supposed came from his past with Starfleet. "The wormhole," Cat replied. "Look at it! Look at the neutrino plumes and subspace waves and.... it's beautiful."
"And it's a bridge that could let a nasty race of soldiers invade the Alpha Quadrant," Locarno reminded her.
"Can't we... I dunno... mine it or something then?"
"Only if you know for sure how many ships are coming through."
"So maybe a force-shield ins.... no, well, maybe.... gotta talk to Tom about that."
Locarno let out a forlorn sigh. "Lieutenant, sometimes it's best to just focus on what you've been ordered to do."
"But what if I don't like what I've been ordered to do?"
"Then you do it anyway, or you realize you've got the wrong job and you resign."
All Cat could do in reply was sigh.
Whoever ran DS9's systems was a saint.
That, at least, was Lucy's view after she jolted her hand back, the shock still crackling through it. The habitat ring conduit still blinked in a way that showed it was defying her attempts to repair it. These Cardassians are lousy designers, was the next thought in her head, followed with admiration that someone had managed to mix the better Federation technology in and make the entire blasted mess work.
With her fingers still numb, Lucy reached over for her comm. "Lucero to Ops," she said, and at least the comm systems had successfully picked up her comm and the others from the Aurora crew helping out. "This conduit is completely out, everything I've tried has failed."
"That area is uninhabited, so don't worry too much about it," one of the station's engineers answered. She didn't know the Bajoran man's name yet. "A little odd that it went down like that though..."
"The Cardassians can't build for crap," Lucy muttered. "I'll head on to the crossover, one of my people is having trouble with the turbolift maintenance there."
"I read you."
Lucy rubbed her hand a little and slammed the conduit shut. After she did so she gave a quick glance around her. Something felt.... off. "Is somebody there?", she asked aloud. She heard no reply, but there was a... sense in her head, as if she might be in danger. Damned Cardassian station and its poor lighting.... Figuring the dark corridors were just making her jittery, Lucy pressed on in the other direction.
Admittedly, she did so with a bit of a spring in her step, as her hind-brain continued to scream at her to get away.
"....so we had another attempted break-in on the station's material stores." One of the Bajoran deputies was reading from a PADD while Meridina and her assistant chief of security listened quietly. Like Meridina, Lieutenant Parga Draynal was from N2S7; a male Dorei of teal complexion and purple spotting from the temperate rainforests of Jamara on Doreia, he was the professional service officer in contrast to Meridina being a swevyra'rase of Gersal. Meridina had as much a rapport with him as she could manage given his mental reserve, and she knew he was not keen at all on their commanding officers. He merely needs time to see their potential. Though Meridina was aware of other... considerations that she and her other superiors had toward the command crew of the Aurora. Would he understand the significance of their coming? Would he be able to believe in the Coming Dawn?
"Black market?", Parga asked the Bajoran.
"I doubt it, sir," the deputy answered. "I think we might have people looking to stockpile materials in case of a Dominion attack."
"They act out of fear," Meridina murmured. She could feel that emotion permeate the entire station with her senses, both her mental abilities and the life force powers she had use of. "We need to be as reassuring as possible, but to be safe, we shall double the guard. Lieutenant, see who we can get from our staff on the Aurora."
"Immediately sir."
Meridina watched both of them leave the security office and began to ponder.... just where was this feeling of portent coming from? Was it foreboding or was it the universe trying to tell her something through her connection to it? Regardless, she would have to be on guard.