AMBUSHING THE AMBUSH

        The Voyager traveled along at warp speed. Ensign Zalt'n ran her blue slender fingers across the console in front of her, bringing the ship of warp. Janeway sipped at some coffee, while reviewing a PADD in her hand. Suddenly, collision warning klaxons and red alert klaxons began blaring, dousing the bridge in red. Janeway slammed her coffee cup onto the stand next to her chair, leaping to her feet. "Report!"
        Just as she shouted out, the answer became apparent on the viewscreen, as the whole crew watched a fleet of Cardassian warships fly by in front of the Voyager. The whole bridge tensed for an assault, before the calm voice of Tuvok broke the silence.
        "May I remind you that we are still in phase cloak mode. They did not detect our presence."
        Janeway calmed a little bit. She turned to Tuvok, asking, "What are we seeing?"
        "It appears to be the standard Cardassian attack squadron. Five Galor class warships and 3 wings of small craft fighters."
        "Any indications as to where they are headed?" Janeway asked.
        Tuvok performed some calculations on his tactical console, and responded, "It appears they are headed towards the Bolian system."
        Ensign Zalt'n's head snapped up with that revelation. Janeway sensed her anger. "Wait, Ensign. We can't rush into the situation without being fully aware of everything. Any reason why the Cardassians would be attacking the Bolian system, Tuvok?"
        "I suspect they are on the way to ambush the Federation convoy bringing supplies to Bolia."
        "I see, that matches their modius operandi of starving planets first, before mounting a full fledged assault to conquer the system. Options?"
        "Few. I recommend recording this and sending a coded warning signal."
        Ensign Zalt'n interrupted, "But Captain! We must do something!"
        "I know, Kun. The last I heard, Starfleet protection of convoys are spread thin. It's unlikely the convoy's escorts will be able to hold off this squadron."
        "But our warning may give them sufficient time to bulk up the escort," Tuvok interjected.
        "You know better than that. No... I have another suggestion."
        Tuvok gave an imperceptible sigh. Janeway knew Tuvok knew what she was about to propose.
        Janeway tapped her combadge, "Janeway to Paris. Report to Beta Bridge."
        "Yes, ma'am."
        "Tuvok, report to Delta Bridge."
        "Aye, sir." Tuvok signaled for a replacement tactical officer. The replacement officer, Ensign Mon'Krieff, arrived shortly. The young Andorian took up the space vacated by Tuvok. Janeway sat back down in her chair, running over her plan in her mind.
        A chime sounded followed by the sound of Paris's voice. "Paris reporting in to Beta Bridge." Tuvok reported in a few seconds later.
        Janeway turned to Ensign McKay, "Open a shipwide channel, please." When she was given the open signal, Janeway began. "This is the captain. All hands to Ship Separation battle stations. Engaging separation sequence in three minutes. Move!"
        The red alert lights were countered by the soft blue flashing of the ship separation warning lights. The computer's voice began counting down to separation.
        Janeway contacted Paris and Tuvok again. "Ok. My plan is to separate the ship, and insert each portion in spots on the fleet, phased. We will drop out of phase cloak long enough to fire a phaser burst at a ship. As for myself, I will release a spread of torpedoes as mines, as I fire upon the lead ship. I'm gambling on the surprise factor. Hopefully we will hit our targets bad enough, and cause some of the ships to retaliate, firing upon the mystery targets, but instead hitting another of their own ships. Tom, of course, will command Beta, and Tuvok will command Delta. I am going to remain on Alpha, and take the point. Tom, position yourself here in Grid 5, and Tuvok, Grid 9."
        Janeway continued outlining her battle plan, and setting a rendezvous point to reintegrate the ships. Paris and Tuvok acknowledged their orders. The countdown ended, and the ship rumbled as the Voyager split into three ships, Alpha, Beta, and Delta.
        The small Alpha ship's hull opened to reveal a small warp nacelle moving out in place on a hydraulic piston. Ensign Zalt'n guided Alpha to the forefront of the Cardassian squadron, while Beta and Delta glided up into the middle and rear section.
        Alpha slowed, and matched its motion to the fleet's motion. The small triangular segment positioned itself behind the lead ship. Janeway watched the larger schematic on the viewscreen showing the positions of Beta and Delta, amidst the Cardassian ships.
        She turned to Ensign Mon'Krieff. "Target the engines of the lead ship. Prepare Torpedo Bay One for the release of three torpedoes. Photon torpedoes, not quantum. And do not fire them, only release them."
        Mon'Krieff nodded his understanding. Janeway contacted Beta and Delta. Paris and Tuvok confirmed their readiness. "Allright. Get ready. On my mark. Three. Two. One. Mark."
        Alpha, Beta, and Delta shimmered into view for a split second. Alpha fired it's forward phasers at the rear of the lead Galor ship. The torpedo bay doors opened, releasing the torpedoes, one by one.
        At the same instant, Beta and Delta fired lancing beams of red phaser fire against their chosen targets. Then simultaneously all three shimmered out of view.
The lead ship's engines ruptured into a ball of flame, halting its motion. The next two ships fired at the same time at the phantom ship, but striking the lead ship instead, completely demolishing it. Then they hit the unnoticed torpedoes, which exploded in response, ripping holes in the tan hulls of the Cardassian warships. Several smaller crafts flying nearby in formation were unfortunate enough to caught in the explosions.
        Beta's target was hit amidships, throwing it off course, colliding with a nearby warship, which threw up its shields too late. Both ships were in each other's shield space, and already damaged by Alpha's torpedoes. The shield's forcefield sliced off a portion of the injured ship, causing a chain reaction, resulting in a large warp core explosion. The shockwave of the explosion destroyed all nearby fighter craft, and damaged the other warship enough for it to become dead in space.
        Delta's phaser strike was meticulously placed. Janeway knew Tuvok probably was going to be left with at least three warships in action. So she had him target the disruptor banks, waiting for his target to fire on Beta. When he saw that the disruptor banks were powering up to fire, Tuvok gave the fire orders. The phaser strike caused the disruptor to overload, energy building up out of control. The entire side of the Cardassian ship exploded outwards, sending shrapnel to its companion warship. Several fighter craft were caught between the two ships, and destroyed. The final warship was struck by a heavy hail of shrapnel, and rammed into the rear of the ship in front of it.
        The Alpha Bridge watched the results of their surprise strike. Zalt'n slammed her blue fist on her console in victory. Janeway whispered a silent "Yes!" to herself. She called out to Mon'Krieff behind her. "Report."
        "The lead ship has been completely destroyed. Warship 2 is completely crippled, no power at all. Three has been destroyed completely. Four is nearly crippled. Five is totally out of commission."
        "What of the attack fighters?"
        "There are none surviving. Wait! Four is now turning around... it is preparing to go to warp!" The crew watched the badly damaged ship limp along at impulse, plasma fires still burning on its hull. The warp engines glowed, as the ship started to jump to warp. Suddenly, the warp nacelles flared up brightly, and exploded. The warship tore itself apart.
        The bridge cheered. Janeway sat back down in her seat, sighing and smiling. Commander Paris's voice broke onto the bridge, "That was fantastic! Unbelievable! That move had to rank right up there with the Picard Maneuver and the Corbomite Maneuver! Hey, we should call this the Janeway Maneuver."
        "Thank you, Tom, for your thoughts."
        "No problem. That was just great. See you at the rendezvous point. Paris out."
        Tuvok's voice came on. "Quite unorthodox, Captain. But effective."
        Janeway smiled at his compliment. "What do you expect from a new class of ship? The use of orthodox tactical moves? Progress, Mr. Tuvok, progress."
        "Yes. The Janeway Maneuver certainly is progress of some sort."
        "Coming from anyone else but you, I'd think that was an insult. But I know better. Thank you, Tuvok."
        "You're welcome. Proceeding to the rendezvous point. Tuvok out."
        Janeway sat back, as the Alpha ship warped out, followed by Beta and Delta.

FATHER AND SON        

        The final plate was welded tight, by O'Brien's own gloved hand. The docking lights lit up, lining the docking pylon. A cheer rose from the crowd gathered on the Promenade. Confetti started falling from overhead caches. Sisko smiled, watching the celebration from an isolated section of the Circle.
        His misgivings over the appropriateness of a party for the completion of the docking pylon repairs melted away once he saw smiles return to formerly grim faces. Sisko raised a glass of syntheol champagne to take a sip. He saw Dax descend a flight of stairs.
        "Hello, Jadzia. Enjoying the party?" Sisko inquired of her. She smiled, and raised her own champagne flute in response.
        "Yes I am. Why are you here all by yourself? You should get involved. Mingle," she suggested. "The others have been wondering where you are."
        "Ah, I'm just... not sure I should."
        "Don't worry about it Benjamin. Worf is at OPS, monitoring everything. He has everything well in hand. If anything pops up, he'll contact you through that little thing on your chest." Jadzia tapped her finger on Sisko's chest.
        "Yes, of course you're right." He sighed and looked around at the chatter and dancing going on. "They seem to be happy, don't they?"
        Jadzia gazed about, and nodded, smiling. "Yes, they do. This is a good thing for them. Take their minds off the war for a bit. Off the blood, and the loss, and the violence.... " She sighed. "They need to smile. It would be a sad, sad thing if this war has made us to forget how to smile." Dax looked up at Sisko, then smiled broadly.
        Sisko smiled back in return. "See, I haven't forgotten."
        "Good! Now come with me. It'd do them good to see their C.O. with them. And do their C.O. good to be with them. C'mon!" Dax tugged at Sisko, pulling him up the stairs. Sisko had no choice but to follow.
        O'Brien had just entered the airlock, as Dax and Sisko joined the crowd. O'Brien entered the station after removing his suit. People surged around him, to shake his hand, or slap his back, shouting congratulations. Gonzalez was right behind O'Brien, shouting, "Hey, don't forget, I made the second to last weld!"
        O'Brien turned, shouting over his shoulder, "Yeah, that's gonna impress the ladies, I'm sure!"
        Bashir pushed his way through the crowd, making his way to O'Brien. He carried two flutes of champagne, handing them to O'Brien and Gonzalez. "Here you go!" he shouted.
        "Thanks!" O'Brien shouted back. "Where's Molly?"
        "I'll take you to her, she's over on other side. Better view of you from the window there. Come on." Bashir led O'Brien back into the crowd.
        O'Brien paused and turned to tell Gonzalez where he was going, but Gonzalez was engaged in a conversation with a pretty female Andorian. "You know, I did the second to last weld," he heard Gonzalez say.
        Bashir bumped into Sisko. "Sorry sir!"
        "It's ok! Enjoying yourself?"
        "Oh yeah. I'm taking Miles to see Molly. Excuse me."
        "Ok." Sisko moved to let Bashir by. As O'Brien passed him, Sisko slapped him on the back, "Good job!"
        "Thanks sir! Uh, actually, the bulk of the work was done by Gonzalez. You ought to go and tell that to him."
        "Will do Chief. Go and see Molly."
        Bashir saw Dax nearby, and shouted, "Jadzia! Save me a dance?"
        "Of course!" she shouted back.

        Worf stood at the main OPS console table, watching the spectacle from a security camera. He shook his head. Besides, it's not even a real party. They're not serving blood wine, he thought to himself. He turned his attention to monitoring the subspace channels.

        Molly's face lit up as she spied her father emerging from the crowd. O'Brien ran up to her and leaned down to hug her. "How're you doing baby?" he asked her.
        "I'm doing fine, Daddy. I watched you through the window."
        "Really? Did I do a good job?"
        Molly smiled, "Of course you did, Daddy."
        "Do you want to dance?" O'Brien asked.
        "How?" Molly looked down at her hoverchair, that she was confined to.
        "Easy!" O'Brien leaned down and opened a panel on the hoverchair's armrest. He typed in a few commands, which made the chair rise higher, so that Molly was at O'Brien's eye level. He took her hands, and spun Molly around gently, dancing with her. Molly beamed, giggling.
        "Are we having fun yet?" O'Brien asked.
        "Yes!" But then Molly became serious. "I wish Mommy was here to see this."
        "You know what, Molly? I think she is."
        Molly smiled again. "Let's dance for Mommy."
        O'Brien felt a twinge at his heart. He nodded, smiling. "Ok. For Mommy." And they started dancing again.

        Worf viewed the PADD in his hand, as he listened to the comm scans. A variety of voices filtered out to Worf's ears. "Computer, hold channel," Worf suddenly commanded. He tilted his head, listening to the voice being broadcast into subspace. He frowned and tapped his badge, "Worf to..."

        "...to Captain Sisko." Sisko tapped onto his badge, "Sisko here. What is it, Worf?"
        "Sir, I believe you should come to OPS."
        "What is it? Is there a problem? Are we under attack?"
        "Just come to OPS, sir."

        Sisko stepped off the lift and looked for Worf. "What is it that I needed to come up to OPS personally?"
        Worf turned around to meet Sisko's eyes. "Computer, onscreen," was the only response Worf gave. Sisko looked up to the main viewscreen to see a dark young man in a Starfleet uniform. Behind him was a gathering of Starfleet brass. They all stood by a bay of windows, which Sisko determined to be as the main observation deck on a Federation outpost. Sisko could make out several admirals and a few captains in the crowd.
        "This is Lieutenant Sisko reporting for Starfleet News Service. I'm here at Starfleet Outpost 2-5, covering the funeral of war-hero Admiral Benjamin Maxwell. Admiral Maxwell, as many of you know, was killed last week in the Cuellar system, when his flagship, the U.S.S. Phoenix, was ambushed by a squad of Cardassian warships..."
        Sisko watched his son up on the viewscreen. He smiled, happy to see Jake again after several months- even if it was only a news broadcast. He turned to Worf, "Thank you for getting me."
        "I was listening to the subspace channels, as required by protocol. When I heard his name, I was curious. I thought you would like to see this."
        "You're right. It's been a long time since I got to see Jake. Our shore leaves rarely coincide. The last time I spent time with him was....a year ago. It's funny, how our careers in Starfleet are so different. He travels all over Federation space, while I remain in one place."
        "You must be proud of him."
        "I am," Sisko replied. "Very proud. He's made a name for himself, away from my shadow. In his last message to me, he told me that he had finally made a reputation for himself. When I asked him how he knew this, he told me he overheard two people talking in the mess hall at a temporary Starfleet Headquarters. One person asked the other, 'Did you hear what Sisko did?' The other person asked, 'Which Sisko?' That told Jake that the days of being overshadowed by his father were over."
        "I see. Terran culture values independence from family. Traditional Klingon introductions always includes the father's name."
        "Terran culture doesn't necessarily emphasize independence. Often a fine balance has to be found. And it appears my son has found the balance."
        The two looked back up at the screen, watching the funeral procession. Jake had just finished covering Admiral Maxwell's personal history. The viewscreen cut to another camera, showing a black sleek torpedo casing, which held the remains of the admiral. A honor guard surrounded it, lowering it down to a torpedo bay conveyor belt. Sisko recognized the surroundings as the torpedo bays within a standard outpost facility. A funeral dirge played in the background.
        Sisko turned to Worf, "Where's O'Brien? I believe he used to serve with Maxwell." He tapped his badge, "Sisko to O'Brien."
        "O'Brien here."
        "I just wanted to inform you that Admiral Maxwell's funeral is being broadcast now."
        "Oh? Well... I'll catch the rebroadcast later. I want to spend this time with Molly."
        "Understood. Sisko out." Sisko looked up at the screen. The torpedo had disappeared from view, entering the torpedo tube. The view switched to an exterior camera, showing the black stars. A flash of orange streaked across the screen, Maxwell's remains being committed to the stars. The camera panned, following the orange streak, until it suddenly flared up in an unexpected orange explosion.
        Sisko looked at the screen in puzzlement. "What was that?" he asked Worf, when less than a heartbeat later, the answer became clear.
        The exterior camera showed the familiar tan hull of a Galor class warship moving towards the station. Several other warships were behind it. The Cardassian ships let loose with a hail of torpedoes and a barrage of orange disruptor fire. The viewscreen burst into static as the external camera was struck.
        "Jake!" Sisko whispered, as he realized Outpost 2-5 was under attack. Worf was already moving to sensors, trying to determine if he could pick up information at 2-5's location.
        The static cleared to show Jake leaning up against a wall in the dark. A cut was visible on his temple, bleeding lightly.
        "This is Lieutenant Jake Sisko! Starfleet Outpost 2-5 is under attack by at least 4 Cardassian Galor class ships! Apparently they felt that this gathering of Starfleet leaders was too ripe a target. Most systems appear to be out. Fortunately since this hover cam has an independent power and comm system, I can continue broadcasting. I repeat, Starfleet Outpost 2-5 is under attack. This is a distress call to whoever can receive this."
        Sisko sighed as he saw his son was still alive. He turned to Worf, "Are there any ships in the area that can respond?"
        Worf shook his head. "It appears that if there were, the Cardassians eliminated them."
        "Damn. We're the closest Starfleet presence to Outpost 2-5." Sisko strode to the lift. "Computer, emergency Defiant departure comm protocol, authorization Beta Epsilon 3."
        Sisko's command told the computer to automatically contact all Defiant crew personnel, and inform them that the Defiant was departing from the station in five minutes. The crew members then had to rush to the nearest lift, and go to their battle stations aboard the Defiant.
        The communications protocol was developed by O'Brien after the first Cardassian attack on Station Nine. Sisko also instituted emergency departure drills. "I'll be damned if the Defiant is destroyed while in dock. If it goes down, it'll go down fighting," Sisko told his crew at the end of the first drill.
        The crew was so well trained that by the time Sisko stepped onto the Defiant's bridge, Kira was there saying "All crew present and accounted for, Sir."
        "Good. Now go back onto the station, place it on yellow alert."
        "Why sir? It's my turn on the duty roster to command the Defiant."
        "I don't have time. Outpost 2-5 has just been hit by the Cardassians, and I wouldn't put it past them to strike at other targets at this time."
        "I see sir." Kira left without another word.
        Sisko turned to his helmsman, Jadzia Dax. "As soon as Kira is off the ship, I want us to go to warp factor 9, to Outpost 2-5."
        "I know. I already laid the course in," Dax replied, with a serious nod.
        The Defiant's comm speakers chimed, "Defiant, this is Chief Grady at Airlock 5. The colonel is off."
        Then the voice switched to Ensign Montoya's voice, "U.S.S. Defiant, you are clear to depart."
        "Thank you, ensign. Sisko out." Sisko clasped a hand onto Dax's shoulder. "Go."

        The Defiant backed slowly away from the airlock, then dipped her bow, tilting down, then moving down underneath the station. The ship continued on her downward course, until well far away enough from the station. Then she streaked into warp.

        Sisko sat in the captain's chair, watching the viewscreen. Ensign Eichorn, the comm officer, had brought up Jake's broadcast on the viewscreen. The view was tinged with static. Jake had explained the static was due to the hovcam's power supply, which was dropping. Jake had moved to a inner section of the outpost, and met several survivors along the way.
        "Once again, this is Lieutenant Jake Sisko, aboard Outpost 2-5, which has just been attacked by a squadron of Cardassian warships. Apparently they attacked due to the large number of officials attending the funeral for Admiral Benjamin Maxwell. As near as I can tell, the conference room from which the officials were watching the launch was hit in the first strike. The deck was breached. I highly doubt anyone survived in that section. Once again, I suspect Admiral Louvois, Admiral Cattaglia, and the rest have perished in the first wave of fire."
        Sisko asked Dax, "ETA?"
        "Fifteen minutes."
        Sisko sighed. He thumbed his armrest comm, "Bridge to engineering. Any possibility we can go to warp 9.5?"
        "Bridge, this is Ensign Gonzalez. I'm working on it. The best I can give you is 9.2. Remember once we drop out of warp at this speed, impulse is going to be affected."
        "Yes, I remember. Thank you, Gonzalez. Move up to 9.2. Sisko out." Sisko again turned to Dax, "ETA?"
        "Nine minutes, at warp 9.2," Dax replied.
        "Still too slow," Sisko sighed.
        "Don't worry, Benjamin. Jake can take care of himself."
        Sisko swiveled his chair around to look at Lieutenant Onada at sensors. "Inform me as soon as we get in sensor range."
        "Aye, sir," Onada replied.
        Sisko thumbed his chair's comm, "Bridge to Sickbay. Prepare for emergency transportation of survivors."
        "Sickbay here. We'll be ready."
        "Good. Bridge out."
        "Sir, we're within sensor range now," Onada spoke.
        "Good, report." Sisko leaned forward in his chair, pressing his fist against his tightened lips.
        "Sensors confirm that there are four Galor class ships. They all appear to suffer from varying degrees of damage. Possibly from the outpost's defensive perimeter, and the other ships docked at the outpost. Surface scans show that most decks on the outpost have been breached."
        "What of the Starfleet ships?"
        "It appears that most of the ships at the location are either destroyed or disabled. I can't tell, but it looks like there are three ships still operational, fighting with the Cardassians."
        "Can you tell if any other Starfleet ships are en route to the outpost?"
        "I'm sorry, sir. It appears we are the only ship responding."
        "Damn. Allright. Continue your sensor sweeps. Report anything new to me asap."
        "Aye, sir."
        Sisko looked back up at the screen, to Jake.         
        "I can feel the outpost being hit by weapons fire. Since we haven't been blown to bits yet, I have to assume some of the ships outside are fighting back. There's not much we can do but sit tight and wait for reinforcements." Jake wobbled as the outpost shook behind him. Static continued to creep over the viewscreen. Suddenly, the screen filled up completely with static.
        "Eichorn, report!"
        "We've lost the feed."
        "Why? Did the power go out? Or was the deck hit?"
        "Unable to ascertain, sir."
        Onada looked up, "Sir."
        "Yes, Onada?"
        "One of the Cardassian ships has just been disabled."
        "Good. Dax, ETA?"
        "Two minutes," Dax replied.
        "Sir, I've just lost the signal from the remaining Starfleet ships," Onada spoke. "Wait, two Cardassian ships just dropped out of warp."
        The viewscreen cleared up again. Jake stepped back into the view. "There was a power surge, the outpost was hit, and the hovcam was caught in an explosion. I'm fine. I--" An explosion flared up behind Jake. More explosions shook the outpost, and the hovcam stopped sending out a signal. But not before showing Jake falling to his death, impaled with shrapnel from an explosion.
        "The Cardassian reinforcements have just opened fire on the station," Onada shouted.
        Sisko slumped in his chair.
        "The outpost has been destroyed. The Cardassian ships are entering warp."
        Dax turned to Sisko. "We're here." She brought the ship out of warp, shuddering slightly with the transition from warp speed to impulse speed. The Defiant coasted up to the blackened remains of Outpost 2-5, skirting the drifting remains of the ships surrounding the outpost.
        "Do you want to pursue the Cardassians, Captain?" Dax asked. Sisko remained silent. "Sir, did you hear me? Sir?" Dax turned around to see Sisko staring at the viewscreen. She sighed, "Okay. I'm taking over command. Onada, do you have the Cardassian's heading and distance? Can we pursue?"
        "I'm afraid not, sir. They're too far ahead."
        Dax sighed. "Allright. Scan the outpost and ships. Any life signs? Any survivors?"
        Onada ran his fingers over his console. Somberly, he looked up. "No, sir. No life signs."
        "Allright. Eichorn, contact Station Nine. Tell them we're staying here a while to start cleanup procedures. Contact Starfleet HQ for assistance."
        "Aye, sir."
        Dax turned around to look at Sisko. She tapped her badge, "Bridge to Sickbay. Please send someone up to take Sisko to Sickbay."
        "What happened? Was the captain wounded?"
        Dax looked into the captain's unblinking eyes. "Yes, the captain was wounded."

ZEBRA

        The Voyager was en route to Kaebror 867, an unsurveyed solar system in deep Cardassian space. The solar system had twin pulsars rotating in the center. From deep range probes, the Federation could glimpse only a little of this system. So this was still unexplored space for Janeway's crew. The major distinguishing point of this system was their massive asteroid belt.
        Federation scientists had theorized that the twin pulsars were not originally pulsars but had undergone a massive astrochemical change to mutate into pulsars. This change would have produced shockwaves of a magnitude that had never been seen before. So any planets that may have been orbiting the twin stars would have been shattered, forming a large asteroid belt.
        Normally, starships would avoid a system such as Kaebror 867 due to the hazards of asteroid navigation. However, Captain Janeway had received orders to perform an quick inspection of the system. The Voyager's phase shifting ability came in very handy, allowing her to coast literally through the asteroid belt. Janeway's orders had indicated that the asteroid belt might be a Cardassian mining area, with tremendous potential for minerals and metals to use in shipbuilding yards. That combined with the interference of the twin pulsar stars and the natural cloak of asteroids might yield an excellent hiding place for the Cardassians.
        "Completed scans of sector 73 and 75. No sign of Cardassian emplacements, sir." The newly promoted Lieutenant Musashi ran his fingers over his console, directing the scanners towards new areas of space. "Now scanning sector 74 and 79."
        Captain Janeway leaned in her chair, sighing. On the viewscreen, she watched misshapen hunks of rocks roll along in space, crashing into other rocks, in a macabre dance. Janeway was in a strange state, half bored to death and half nervous. Her ship was gliding through these solid, massive asteroids, as a fish would swim through the water. If the phase shifting generator failed for one nanosecond, it would be instant death for the ship and her crew.
        "Very well, Lieutenant. Carry on." Janeway shifted in her seat. Commander Paris walked onto the bridge. Janeway spun her chair to face him. "Finally. I was thinking that you might have faked an injury to get out of your shift today," she said to him.
        "Well, I can't say the thought didn't occur to me... after the monotony of yesterday, and the day before... and well..." Paris shrugged.
        "Don't I know it." Janeway replied. "Mr. Paris, the bridge is yours, whether you want it or not." She stood up, and Paris reluctantly took the seat.
        "Yes, ma'am," he replied.
        Janeway made her way to the lift. She paused just before stepping into the lift, and half turned.
        "Sir, anomalous energy readings in sector 79!" Lt. Musashi called out.
        Paris leaned forward, "What sort of energy readings?"
        "It's hard to tell. Some of the asteroids in the area have ketrallium, and it's distorting the readings. Attempting to compensate for the distortion."
        Janeway was about to make an suggestion when Paris beat her to the punch. "Why don't you use the deflector dish to boost the power? After all we aren't using it right now, in phased mode."
        Janeway smiled, knowing Paris had the situation in hand. Still she remained on the bridge, and took a seat at an unoccupied science station.
        "Done, sir. I've removed 86% of the distortion."
        "Good. Do we have visual?"
        "Aye, sir, putting it through now."
        The viewscreen showed a massive asteroid slowly rotating. It was so huge, it had several asteroids orbiting it, as small moons. Paris realized he was looking at a planetoid, a former planet that once was part of the solar system. The asteroid belt was actually the former planet's sisters and brothers, torn apart by the pulsar stars. The planetoid itself reminded him of the Earth's moon, since so many craters pockmarked the planetoid's surface. Except for one smooth area, which seemed to be outlined by impact craters.
        Paris squinted at the viewscreen. "Musashi, can you overlay the energy readings onto the viewscreen?"
        "Doing it now."
        Now instead of a bare view of the planetoid's surface, small green spots clumped up onto the surface. A large green dot appeared to be in the center, with smaller green dots radiating outwards from it.
        "That's odd. It vaguely reminds me of the view of Mare Tranquilatis Lunar colony," Paris mused. His eyes widened, "Damn, that's a colony on the planet!" A magnified view of the planet yielded a view of a complex of buildings, interconnected with each other.
        Janeway had come to the same conclusion from her science station. She turned to Paris. "I've analyzed the energy frequencies and there's a 93.6% match to standard Cardassian energy generators. My guess is that we're seeing a Cardassian base, heavily protected by shields."
        As if to confirm Janeway's theory, a small rogue asteroid flew past the Voyager heading towards a node of the Cardassian base. Light orange light rippled across the buildings as the asteroid struck and was deflected by the shields. Paris turned to look at Janeway, nodding.
        "Musashi, can you detect what the purpose of this facility is?" Janeway asked.
Lieutenant Musashi looked at his readouts.
        "Hard to tell, sir. The shielding is interfering with sensors. However, I looked at the sensor logs from when the minor asteroid struck the shields. That caused a moment of clarity in sensor readings. The sensors detected high contents of retrograde symyllic waste products."
        "Symyllic? Send me the information to my station," Janeway furrowed her brows. She turned to face the consoles, as Paris got out of his seat to stand by her.
        "Do you have any idea what the readings could mean?" Paris cocked his head.         
        "Just a hunch." Janeway called out to Musashi. "Lieutenant, continue scanning the base. Perhaps more asteroids will strike the shields. If that happens, send me the readings." Musashi nodded, and turned his attention back to his console.
        The Voyager continued to hover near the base, watching and waiting. Asteroids swirled around and through the ship. Some struck the base, bouncing off the shields. Finally, Janeway got enough sensor readings to confirm her hunch. She called a team meeting in the war room.
        Lieutenant Musashi and Commander Paris sat near each other. Ensign McKay and the other senior officers sat at the table. As usual, engineering chief Vorik stood by himself. Commander Tuvok stood at the other end of the room. Janeway stood by the monitor, which had her readings displayed.
        "As you can see," Janeway pointed to the monitor, "trace elements of symyllic waste products among others were found in the sensor scans of the base. I had a hunch when I first heard Musashi mention symyllic products. I don't know how many of you know this, but symyllic waste products, as far as we know, only come from refining RNA viral materials. Based on this, we have to assume that this facility manufactures biogenetic weapons.
        "Fortunately, the war has not escalated to the point where we both are using biogenetic weapons, but it appears the Cardassians are preparing for this eventuality. So is Starfleet- but only in terms of defense. So far we have vaccines for most general types of DNA based biogenetic weapons, but not for RNA based weapons. So it is imperative that we destroy this facility before these weapons are sent out."
        Captain Janeway fell silent, watching the news sink in. Musashi spoke up, "There's still the problem of the shields. How can we destroy the shields? If we drop out of phase and cloak to fire our weapons, odds are that the ship would be destroyed by the asteroids before our weapons could overpower the base's shields."
        "I have been thinking about this for the last hour. Unless anyone has any good solutions, we will just have to take the risk of that." The room was silent. Janeway looked at the faces of her crew, seeing them rack their minds for an answer.
        Lt. Commander Vorik cleared his throat. He raised an slanted eyebrow, "I believe I may have a germ of an idea. I would like to take this time to return to Engineering to verify some facts."
        Janeway looked at him. She nodded, "Very well. We will reconvene here in an hour." Vorik nodded once in response, before turning and leaving the room. The rest started to stand up, silently talking among themselves. Janeway noticed Tuvok catching up with Vorik, stopping him to talk. Janeway felt a little better, seeing the two Vulcans talk rapidly. They went off onto the turbolift.
        An hour later, Janeway sat at the head of the table, watching everyone file back in. She could read disappointment on everyone's face as they walked in and sat down. Finally Vorik and Tuvok walked in. Janeway could not tell what they were thinking. They were keeping up the perfect Vulcan facade. Janeway asked her crew if they were able to come up with an better solution. No one volunteered one. She turned to Vorik. "Well, commander?"
        Vorik gestured to the display monitor, questioningly. Janeway nodded, permitting him to use it. The room watched Vorik as he keyed in to the computer. Several shield schematics appeared on the screen. He turned to address his crewmates.
        "I studied the scans of the base, and have come to the conclusion that the shields protecting the base are the derivative of an standard Cardassian deflector. As we all know, Cardassian shields are nearly identical to Starfleet shields, with minor frequency variations. Tuvok has confirmed my findings."
        Tuvok nodded once. Vorik turned back to the screen.
        "The second thing I wanted to bring to your attention was the effect of the phase generator. Nearly everyone has overlooked the interaction of deflector shields and the phase generator, because the deflector shields become redundant. I ran some simulations and found that by using the phase generator with deflectors on, we shift our shields out of phase."
        Janeway narrowed her eyes as she began to see Vorik's track of thought. Some of the others began to understand, while the others waited for further clarification. "Oh!" Paris blurted out. "We phase out our own shields?"
        "Correct, sir," Vorik said. "May I continue?"
        "Uhm, yes," Paris nodded. "By all means."
        "Now I believe we can use this fact to our advantage. Theoretically, we could use our phase generator and deflector dish together, to project the correct phase harmonics to shift another object out of phase. Namely the base's shields."
        Paris leaned, "But won't that phase out the base also?"
        "No. The base's shields will absorb the phase harmonics, effectively negating the shields. The base will be without shields."
        "And vulnerable to the asteroids..." Musashi smiled.
        "Extremely," Tuvok responded.
        Janeway sat up. "You do realize that this will take a lot of split second timing. We would have to wait for an asteroid on the correct vector to hit the base, then perform the phase projection. And we would have to drop our cloak in order to do all this. We would be visible to the base before it was destroyed."
        Vorik nodded. "I have full confidence that my fellow crew members can accomplish this."
        Janeway smiled at him. "Good. So do I. Let's get to work. Vorik, this is your baby. Coordinate the efforts. Let's go." The crew got up to their feet and rushed back to their stations.
        Instead of going down to Engineering, Vorik went to the specially designated Engineering section on the bridge. He would be in better contact with the other stations, in order to execute his plan.
        Calmly, Vorik brought up the phase generator operations on his screen, and had Musashi feed him the base's shield harmonics. Janeway sat in her captain's chair, watching her crew work. Paris sat at the secondary science station, watching the asteroids outside, tracking possible asteroids. The computer flagged three promising prospects that might be on the correct trajectories to strike at the base.
        "Vorik, I have three possibles for you! Code names Bravo, Charlie, and Zebra on the screen."
        Janeway and Musashi smiled at the unique nomenclature Paris gave to the asteroids. Vorik, however, was nonplussed. "Thank you, Commander. I see them. 'Bravo' choice is not on the appropriate vector. 'Charlie' will only strike at the periphery of the base. Zebra will strike the main node of the factory. Please continue tracking 'Zebra.' "        
        Paris shook his head, amazed at the high speed calculations Vorik had just made, not to mention the fact that he completely ignored the names. He glanced down at his console, which supported Vorik's calculations. "Allright, I got an ETI, estimated time of impact. It's traveling at 556 kps, will strike the base in approximately 4 minutes."
        "Three point oh 67 minutes," Vorik commented.
        "Uh, yes." Paris nodded.
        Janeway gripped her armrests, "Alright. Vorik, are you prepared?"
        "I have two more adjustments to make... Now I am prepared."
        "Good. Vorik, you may proceed."
        The bridge crew tensed, as the aft viewers showed the Zebra asteroid rolling as it sped towards the Voyager. Vorik called out to Tuvok, "As soon as the asteroid passes through us, you must drop the cloak, then I will fire upon the base's shields with our deflector."
        Tuvok nodded.
        The bridge fell silent again. The countdown continued. Finally the asteroid passed through the Voyager, about to impact upon the base's shields. Tuvok dropped the cloak, and the ship shimmered into view of the base. Vorik poured full power into the deflector dish, and the ship vibrated as Vorik attempted to phase out the base's shields.
        "Captain, I think the Cardies saw us! I managed to jam their communications at the last minute. I don't think anything got out!" Ensign McKay shouted over to Janeway. She nodded in acknowledgement and continued to watch the viewscreen.
        A thick column of bluish light shone out of the Voyager's deflector dish, shooting down to the Cardassian base. The light splashed against the shields, which flared orange. Janeway watched as the asteroid somersaulted down, and held her breath.
        The asteroid reached the shields, and passed through it, impacting onto the base. The viewscreen flared white as explosions erupted on the surface of the planetoid. Janeway could see the nodes of the base explode, one after another, as secondary explosions tore apart the Cardassian base.
        "Good job, Commander Vorik. Mission accomplished." Janeway turned to congratulate Vorik.
        Musashi spoke up, "Sir, the impact of the asteroid combined with the explosions on the surface have changed the planetoid's trajectory! We better get out of here, the whole place will turn into a giant billiards table! Asteroids are going to ricochet off each other!"
        "Allright. Get us out of the belt, fastest possible speed. Re-cloak us, Tuvok," Janeway commanded.
        "Vorik," Tuvok looked up, "the phase generator is fluctuating rapidly now. Phase integrity may drop off any moment now."
        Vorik looked at his screens. He replied, "You are correct. I am afraid my projection efforts threw some of the harmonics out of balance. I am attempting to compensate for it."
        "By the way, the cloak is being compromised," Tuvok stated.
        Janeway turned around in her seat, looking at the two Vulcans. Their calm was almost infuriating amid the chaos. She sighed, gripping her armrests tightly.
        "All the more reason to leave the asteroid belt," Janeway said.
        "Shouldn't we separate?" Paris suggested.
        "No," Janeway said. "We can't risk a power outage."
        In some of the combat testing simulations, Prometheus class ships tended to have power fluctuations during ship separation. The computer simulations had shown that if a Prometheus class ship was hit by weapons fire during separation, there was a high probability for a temporary power loss. Janeway wasn't about to see if asteroid collisions could also cause outages.
        Janeway looked at the comm officer. "McKay, are you sure the base didn't get off a distress signal before it went?"
        McKay turned to answer, "I think they may have gotten off the first few words of an automated distress signal before I jammed their communications. I don't think it'll be a problem."
        "Good. Musashi, any indications that the viruses produced by the factory might've been released?"
        Musashi reviewed his station then reported, "No, sir. The impact and the explosions caused high temperatures, high enough to incinerate any viruses present. My new scans indicate that the area is clean."
        "Good. Looks like we're out of the belt now. Ensign Zalt'n, prepare course for-"
        Janeway was interrupted by the red alert klaxon. "Report!" she shouted. Tuvok called out, "Galor class Cardassian warship dropping out of warp! Apparently they're investigating the fragmented distress signal!"
        "Cloak and phase generators failing, sir." Vorik commented.
        "Evasive maneuvers and go to warp asap!" Janeway shouted. "Fix the cloak and phase generators, now!"
        
        Aboard the Dakul, the First Prime monitored his scanners. His superior stood behind him, "Any progress on the distress call?"
        "No sir. I haven't been able to raise the Kaebror base yet. It's probably only interference with the asteroid belt. Wait sir! Detecting an anomaly several hundred meters from us!"
        "Well then, put it on the screen!"
        The two Cardassians saw a light grey ship shimmer into view. Suddenly, a volley of orange phaser fire flew out towards it. Several beams struck the mystery ship, before it faded out of sight again.
        The Prime was angry. "Who did that? Who fired without my orders?" The tactical gunner stood up, awaiting his punishment. "Shackle him! Take him below." the Prime commanded. He turned back down to his First Prime.
        "What did we just see?" he asked.
        The other Cardassian shrugged. "I don't know. There was heavy sensor interference, I cannot identify it."
        "Well, did we hit it, whatever it was?"
        "I think so, I'm detecting a small amount of debris at the point of impact...."

        "Cloak and Phase now stabilized, sir." Vorik reported back to Janeway. The bridge was dim, lit only with the glare of emergency lights and the red alert signal lights. The viewscreen was down. Janeway got back into her seat, and asked, "Are we in warp now?"        
        "Yes, sir. Warp one," she heard Zalt'n reply.
        "Good. Damage report." she asked.
        Paris glanced at his screen, "Several hull breaches. Repair crews have reported that they're all sealed up now. Force fields in place now. More information to come. The ship separator clamps are damaged. We cannot separate the bottom section. Engineering reports that both warp cores are slightly damaged." Tuvok confirmed Paris's assessment.
        "I would not advise going above warp 5," Vorik added, "otherwise the warp field might collapse. But for now, the warp cores are stable. As are the phase and cloak generators."
        Janeway's combadge chimed. She tapped it to hear, "Sick bay reporting in. We have a large group of casualties here, mostly burns and concussions. For the most part everyone's stable here."
        "Good to hear that, Doctor Zimmerman. Anything further?"
        "Yes, there's more injuries being reported in from all over the ship. I recommend a first aid team start searching out the ship. Though I wish I could duplicate myself and do it myself, I can't."
        Janeway smiled slightly. "Noted, I'll send one out asap."
        "Zimmerman out."
        Janeway turned to Musashi, "It appears we're going to have to put in for repairs. What's the closest friendly base?"
        Musashi consulted his computer. "Station Nine."
        "Of course," Janeway said with a slight smile. "Set course for there, warp 5." She stood up and headed towards her ready room. At the door, she turned to look at Paris. "Tom, I'll take further damage reports in my ready room."
        "Uh-" Paris began to say, as Janeway turned to see the door swoosh open to her ready room. She was greeted with the blackness of space. Half of her ready room had been destroyed by a lucky Cardassian shot. Only the emergency forcefield prevented her from being sucked out into the vacuum of space.
        "On second thought, I'll take the reports in the war room."