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LOG ENTRY SEVEN
DEEP SPACE NINE, JOINT BAJORAN-FEDERATION STATION
BAJOR SECTOR, FEDERATION TERRITORY
0700 HOURS SST
"Sir, isn't this
a little out of our jurisdiction?" Dax asked Admiral Jellico, as
she read through the PADD containing her latest patrol orders. She looked
at him as he sat behind Sisko's desk. The admiral's face was blank,
not revealing anything.
"Well, Lieutenant
Commander, the Brevat system is still being contested between the Cardassians
and the Federation. I feel a Federation starship presence would bolster
our claim that the Brevat system is a Federation system."
Dax shook her head lightly.
"But currently Starfleet lists the Brevat system as lying behind
Cardassian borders. I wasn't aware that Starfleet had begun incursions
into enemy space."
Jellico smiled a disingenuous
smile. He spoke to Dax as if explaining something ridiculously obvious.
"Didn't you hear what I said earlier? The Federation has a legitimate
claim to the system. The Starfleet listing is merely based on enemy
location. Quite simply, there's more Cardassian presence in the Brevat
system than Federation presence. But we can't ignore the rights of the
Federation citizens trapped there, just because Starfleet Command is
afraid to make any overly aggressive moves."
Jellico punctuated his
diatribe by hitting the desktop with his fist. "We can't just give
up, and relinquish territory just because we're afraid to be embroiled
in a full fledged shooting war. We can't just let the Cardassians and
the Dominion run willy-nilly over Federation claims. Somebody has to
stand up and tell the Cardassians and the Dominion, 'No! You cannot
ignore us! You cannot do this without consequences!' And I shall be
the one to do that."
Jellico sighed, and
looked at Dax. He smiled again. "It's not as if I'm telling you
to retake the Brevat system. I'm just merely telling you to add the
Brevat system to your patrol, starting tomorrow. We have to show some
backbone for Starfleet. Are there any more questions?"
Dax opened her mouth,
but instead closed it, shaking her head. "No sir."
Jellico leaned back
in his seat. "Good. You're dismissed."
"Yes, sir,"
Dax said flatly. She stood up and left the office. Kira ran up to her.
"Dax! It's been
a while. How about lunch?" Dax turned to face her good friend.
Kira took one look at Dax's face and frowned. "Whoa. You look down.
We definitely need to have lunch and talk."
Dax smiled faintly,
and nodded. Kira called in a replacement to take over her position and
took Dax to the Promenade. Instead of sitting at the replimat, they
decided to eat at one of Dax's favorite places, the Klingon Cafe. Not
many people ate there, mainly because not many people could stomach
Klingon cuisine. As it happened, that afternoon, the cafe was empty,
and the portly Klingon chef was washing his dishes.
Happy to see Dax there,
the chef quickly set about preparing Dax's usual order. He also saw
Major Kira with Dax, and remembering the mess from the first and last
time Kira ever ate a Klingon dish, the chef ordered a generic soup from
the mini-replicator.
Dax and Kira sat down
at a small round table. Kira sighed and looked at her Trill friend.
"So. Out with it," she said.
"Always right to
the point, huh?" Dax chuckled. She tapped her fingers on the table.
"I don't know exactly what's wrong. It's just something in my gut.
Other than my symbiont," Dax smiled. The smile quickly faded away.
She recounted the recent meeting with Jellico, and the one before that,
after the Carpathia came in from a severe fight with Cardassians,
two days ago.
The chef brought the
two women their meals, and returned to his kitchen. Kira nodded as she
listened to Dax. When she finished, Kira sighed. "You know, I think
I know what you're feeling. I've had the same sort of feeling. The morning
after Sisko left, Jellico called me in to ask for enemy flight patterns,
that sort of thing. And then he talked about how this place was a good
place to be in a war. Because we were close the front lines. There was
glory to be gotten here, he said. That didn't set right with me."
Dax nodded. "That's
exactly the sort of thing that's bothering me. He seems to be pushing
the Carpathia in more dangerous situations, hoping to provoke
some kind of great victory. Right now, he's been careful, not to give
any blatant fighting orders. I can't really disobey his orders with
just a gut feeling."
Kira's lips tightened
in a frown, and she nodded sympathetically. "I understand. I always
felt there was something off about him from day one. Best thing I can
tell you is to keep following his orders, until you find one that you
just can't in good conscience obey. I'm sure he'll give you an order
like that. I know men like Jellico. I've seen them in the Bajoran rebellion,
on both sides of the fighting. There's always men who need to be seen
as great leaders, winning fights, building a glorious reputation. Gul
Dukat's one of them. Jellico's probably one of them too."
Kira leaned over to
pat Dax's hand. "Jadzia, just be careful."
Dax nodded. "Thank
you. I feel better now, having this off my chest now. Don't worry, Nerys,
I'll be allright. I can take care of myself."
Kira smiled. "I
know that. Come on. Let's eat. I have to get back on duty in twenty
minutes."
"Me too,"
Dax said. She scooped up a handful of vegetables with her hand and started
eating.
USS SOVEREIGN, FEDERATION STARSHIP
APPIANOS SYSTEM, ROMULAN SPACE
0300 HOURS SST
The Sovereign
maneuvered into the orbit of the fifth planet of the Appianos system,
using it to shield the ship's presence from the Pharos base. In the
main shuttlebay, at the rear of the saucer section, the Pollux Squadron
was assembled. Two runabouts were prepped and ready for launch. Both
runabouts were equipped with extra medical equipment, as well as extra
micro-torpedoes in case Ironsides's men had to fight their way out.
The Pollux Squadron
would be divided up into five men per runabout. Ruiz was piloting the
U.S.S. Amazon, which would carry Ironsides, Jacoby, Bashir, Thane
and Raven. The other runabout, the U.S.S. Rhine, would carry
Jannsen, Bogarde, MacAuley, Donahue and Odo, with Worf at the helm.
The Amazon would take the lead, since Ruiz was the better pilot.
At the moment, Bashir
was in the Rhine, overseeing the final medical check with MacAuley.
"Ok, looks like everything is taken care of in here," Bashir
told MacAuley. The Master Sergeant nodded, checking off his PADD list
as he surveyed the open storage cabinets.
"Yes, it seems
to be so, Doctor." MacAuley looked up to the other man. "I
think between the two of us, we can take care of anything that may happen."
Bashir sighed and nodded. Both of them started closing and securing
the cabinets and compartments.
MacAuley looked at the
younger man. "You haven't been in much combat situations in the
fields, huh?"
"Actually, not
really," Bashir admitted.
"Yeah. You have
the look of a virgin. But not that bad. I can tell you've seen some
action."
Bashir grinned uneasily.
"Yeah, I have. On the Defiant and also on DS Nine.
Especially during the attempted Klingon takeover. I think I'm prepared
to handle whatever I might see."
MacAuley shook his head
solemnly. "No you're not. Let me paint you a picture. Have you
been in places hit by a plague? A virus or disease?"
Bashir nodded as his
mind's eye replayed his memories. MacAuley continued, "I thought
so. Combine that with some of the worse battle injuries you might see.
It won't be exactly like that, but that may help you steel yourself.
Trust me. I've gone in and out POW camps many times, with Ironsides
and other COs. Even was a POW myself for almost a year."
Bashir blinked, and
heaved a sigh. The runabout side hatchway opened and Ruiz walked in
with Worf. They headed up to the cockpit, discussing the flight plan.
Bashir smiled and waved to her, but she continued on without acknowledging
him. His smile faded, replaced with slight confusion.
MacAuley closed the
last storage compartment, and walked up to Bashir's side. He put his
hand on the doctor's shoulders. "You like her?"
Bashir grinned embarrassedly.
"Uh yeah, I do."
"You do know that
she's...?"
Bashir nodded. "Yeah.
I found that out last night."
MacAuley shrugged. "Sometimes
knowing that doesn't stop the feelings of attachment. Right?"
"Yeah," Bashir
nodded in agreement, his ears warming up from a blush.
"Well, get over
it."
"Huh?" Bashir
turned to MacAuley.
"We're about to
go out in a few minutes. All of us may die. Some of us may die. Or just
one of us. You can't afford any emotional attachments now. Put her out
of your mind. She already put you out of hers. No matter what she may
have said last night, 'I like you as a friend' et cetera-- she doesn't
like you today. She doesn't care about you, only about the mission.
So, put it out of your mind."
Bashir frowned, and
nodded reluctantly. "Allright. I'll try." He realized that
he had a lot to learn about this line of work. Suddenly, he wondered
how many people MacAuley had seen die before his eyes. He wondered the
same about Ruiz. He slowly walked to the hatchway to leave. MacAuley
accompanied him, and held the door open. Bashir stepped down to the
shuttlebay deck.
"Hey!" MacAuley
called out. "I'm sorry you were surprised by it. The others, they
love watching guys hit on her and seeing them get shot down."
Bashir shrugged.
"At least it happened
in private."
"At least."
MacAuley leaned against
the frame of the open hatchway. "Keep your chin up! See you on
the ground." He saluted Bashir.
Bashir returned the
salute, chuckling awkwardly. Then he turned and headed to his own transport,
the Amazon. He entered the runabout and went up to the cockpit.
Private Jacoby was already seated at the comm station, opening up a
encrypted comlink to the Rhine, so that the two teams could maintain
constant contact. Raven was seated in one of the rear seats, polishing
his sword. Bashir smiled at Raven.
"Nice sword,"
he nodded.
Raven smiled faintly.
"The Wrath of the Prophets," he said.
"Hmm?" Bashir
blinked questioningly.
"That's her name,"
Raven said, lifting up the sword.
"Oh." Bashir
nodded thoughtfully, and found a seat further away from Raven. He leaned
against the station, chewing on his lower lip, thinking about what MacAuley
had told him.
After a moment or two,
Raven sighed and stood up. He walked over to Bashir. "Doctor, you're
depressing me. Your thoughts are like a blackhole, threatening to suck
me in. Put her out of your mind. Put death and danger out of your mind.
Focus instead on the most beautiful sight you've seen."
Bashir looked at Raven
in surprise, then remembered that the white haired man was half Betazoid.
He sighed and nodded. He closed his eyes, and thought of the first time
he saw Earth from space.
Raven smiled, nodding.
"That's better. Use that as a center. Your mind's genetically engineered.
You should have better mental discipline than that."
Bashir narrowed his
eyes at Raven, wondering how he learned about Bashir's genetic secret.
But he remembered that Raven was telepathic, as well as a member of
a intelligence gathering group.
"Allright, Raven.
Thank you."
"No problem,"
Raven smiled. "You need to be alert and unburdened. Besides, no
one likes a downer."
Bashir smiled, nodding.
Raven walked back to his seat and resumed polishing. In front of Bashir,
Jacoby was talking to Jannsen on the Rhine. Footsteps sounded
out behind Bashir, and he saw Ruiz walk into the cockpit. She nodded
at Bashir, and went to sit in the helmsman's chair.
Bashir sighed and shook
his head, amazed at her professionalism. The doctor looked over at Raven.
Raven looked up from his sword, and looked at Bashir. He smiled and
shook his head slightly. Bashir got the message.
Well, he thought
to himself, if she's focused on her work, I should be too. Bashir
stood up and went into the aft section, to ensure that everything was
prepared for the POWs. Walking down the main corridor, the doctor saw
Major Ironsides and Corporal Thane stepping up into the runabout. Bashir
continued on to the rear.
Ironsides entered the
Amazon first, and Thane stepped up behind him. The two made their
way to the cockpit. Thane sat next to Ruiz, and Ironsides elected to
stand behind Ruiz. The major looked at Jacoby.
"Private, is the
comlink established and secure?"
"Yes, sir,"
Jacoby replied.
"Good. Get me Jannsen
on the horn," Ironsides said, stepping over to Jacoby's station.
"Jannsen here,"
a voice spoke through the system. Ironsides leaned on the station.
"Lieutenant, is
everyone aboard the Rhine?"
"Yes, sir. Everyone's
present, and ready for launch."
Ironsides looked over
at Ruiz. "Ruiz, are you ready to go?"
Ruiz nodded confidently.
"Yes, sir."
Ironsides looked down
at the comm station. "Everyone's ready here too, Jannsen. I'll
contact the captain. Prepare to follow our lead."
"Yes, sir,"
Jannsen said. Ironsides stood up and tapped his combadge.
"Ironsides to Sisko.
We're ready to go."
Sisko pressed on the
comm panel on his command chair. "Sisko here. Acknowledged. We'll
give the drop signal soon. Sisko out."
The captain looked at
his helmsman, Lieutenant boKal. The lieutenant was going to have to
perform a split-second warp jump. The plan was for the Sovereign
to warp over to the Pharos moon, drop to impulse for three seconds while
skirting the upper atmosphere, then warp back to their previous location
to confuse any early detection systems that may be in place on the base.
Such a move was only possible due to the Sovereign's powerful
inertial damper system.
In those three seconds
of impulse flight, the two runabouts would leave the shuttlebay, and
using only thrusters and inertia, they'd fly down into the atmosphere
of the moon to the preset landing coordinates. Using impulse engines
would show up on sensors.
"Helm," Sisko
said, "Engage." The viewscreen showed warp streaked stars
then suddenly coalesced into a view of the moon. "Go, go!"
Sisko said into the comm system. Then just as quickly as the Sovereign
arrived, the ship retreated back to the safety of the fifth planet.
Tobias looked up at
Sisko. "Shuttlebay reports that the Rhine and the Amazon successfully
departed."
"Good. Try to keep
an eye on them, passive sensors only," Sisko declared.
The Amazon shook
as Ruiz guided the runabout through the atmosphere. Directly behind
them was the Rhine, under Worf's control. The cockpit windows
reddened with the heat of atmosphere entry. But the hotter the hull
became, the cooler Ruiz became.
She expertly guided
both runabouts through the cloud cover. Ironsides watched as the clouds
faded to show a view of a large green and purple forest. His eyes scanned
the horizon until he saw the clearing that Thane had seen in the Stellar
Cartography Lab. He turned to look at his men. Nodding, he signaled
to them to prepare for quick disembarkation. Bashir had already entered
the cockpit, carrying a phaser rifle. A field medkit hung from his shoulder
on a strap. Raven stood up, and sheathed his sword.
Ironsides tapped Jacoby,
motioning for him to move up with Raven and Bashir. Jacoby nodded, and
went to arm himself. Ironsides sat in Jacoby's seat.
Thane was seated next
to Ruiz, pointing out the clearing. Ruiz nodded silently, and banked
the runabout over to the location. The Rhine glided up alongside
the Amazon. Both runabouts dropped down to the grassy clearing,
firing full thrusters. They eased up towards the treeline, trying to
land as close to the trees as possible. The grass beneath them tore
up under the force of the thrusters. Then with a heavy thud, the Amazon
landed. The Rhine followed suit.
"Fall out! Go,
go!" Ironsides shouted, to his men and to the crew in the Rhine.
Jacoby shoved the hatchway door open, and they ran out. Thane ran out
to join the others, while Ruiz shut down the runabout. She got up and
ran out, grabbing a phaser rifle. Ironsides followed her.
Outside of the runabout,
Jacoby and Raven were already pulling camouflage netting over the Amazon.
Bogarde and Donahue were doing the same for the Rhine. The netting
covered up the runabout with green colored cloth, matching the treetops.
That would fool a visual flyover. But for sensors, the netting contained
wiring and sensor emitters that gave off various readings. For rocky
terrain, the netting gave off a mineral deposit reading. For wooded
terrain, the netting gave off small biological readings. The false readings
would satisfy any casual scans of the area.
Now both runabouts were
covered with camouflage netting. Ironsides reviewed his men. Everyone
was armed with a phaser rifle and a hand phaser, with the exception
of Raven and Odo. Raven preferred only his sword, and Odo preferred
no weapons at all. MacAuley and Bashir were outfitted with medkits,
and everyone else had a small field first aid kit. Beyond that, everyone
was equipped with the instruments of their various specialties. Donahue
was equipped with assorted bomb tools and detonators, while Jacoby was
carrying a subspace comm kit on his back. Thane held up a tricorder
to scan the area and get a heading.
Ironsides looked at
the young corporal. Thane saw him, and nodded. Ironsides took a deep
breath, and hefted his rifle. "Allright men! Into the woods now!
Thane, you and Odo go up ahead. Everyone else, follow me!" Thane
and Odo entered the forest, and Ironsides set off after them, looking
back at his men. "Let's go."
USS CARPATHIA
BREVAT SYSTEM, CONTESTED SPACE
0400 HOURS SST
"Let's go,"
Dax said, as she glanced at her bridge crew. The Carpathia just
finished the first leg of their patrol, with no incident. The next system
they were about to warp into was the Brevat system. Dax still harbored
some misgivings, but like a good captain, she reserved them to herself
while exuding confidence to her crew.
The stars on the viewscreen
streaked as the Carpathia warped into the Brevat system, passing
the fourteenth and outermost planetoid. "Yellow Alert," Dax
commanded. The computer display panels that lined the bridge walls flashed
yellow bars, informing the crew to remain on the alert.
"Ensign Goldberg,
any sign of enemy ships?" asked Dax. The young man at the tactical
station did a quick system check, and shook his head.
"No, sir. No sign
of Cardassian or Jem'Hadar ships in the system." Dax sighed inwardly.
"However, I'm reading several Jem'Hadar warp signatures in the
inner system. They're not here, but they were."
Lieutenant Hompa broke
in, "Heading?" Dax looked at her first officer, slightly put
off at her intrusion. Her question was valid, though. Dax looked up
at Goldberg expectantly.
After a moment of consulting
with the computer, the ensign looked at the two women. "They center
around the third planetoid, Brevat III. I'm reading some Jem'Hadar signatures
on the surface."
"A base?"
Dax wondered aloud. "The last intelligence reports didn't say that
the Jem'Hadar had a base here. Mostly they just take supplies by force
from the colonies that are scattered throughout the system." She
pressed her fingers to her mouth, pondering. She looked at Goldberg.
"Do you have a list of the friendly colonies here?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good get me in
touch with one of them. Perhaps they can tell us something about this
new development. And while you're at it, keep scanning the location,
but don't let them know we're here."
"Yes, sir,"
Goldberg replied.
Within a minute, Dax
was talking to Magistrate Buchold on the viewscreen. He was a human
Federation citizen. Dax estimated his age at around 50 Earth years,
despite the deep wrinkles on his forehead. She could tell that those
were worry-lines. Hardly surprising since he was in charge of a colony
that suddenly found itself behind enemy lines.
The magistrate still
exuded strength in face of adversity. He smiled, obviously glad to see
a Starfleet officer instead of a craggy faced Jem'Hadar soldier. "Captain,
I was surprised to be contacted by a Starfleet ship. Last I heard, we
were off limits."
"Well, that's not
exactly the correct definition, but I'm not really here to quibble on
semantics," Dax said. "First of all, how are you doing? How
is your colony doing?"
Buchold sighed. "We're
getting by barely. Almost every week, the Jem'Hadar come here and raid
our supplies, leaving us with just enough to live on. I think the Dominion
is trying to maintain some semblance of civility towards the Federation
since the war's only begun. But I have this sinking feeling that if
this war drags on, they may give it up and begin killing us all off,
especially the Maquis. I suspect the Cardassians will ask the Dominion
to do that."
The magistrate rubbed
the bridge of his nose. "But at least it's only the Jem'Hadar who
come here, not the Cardassians. We have some Bajoran settlers here,
and the Dominion treats them just as equally as they treat humans."
Buchold chuckled wryly. "Which is not saying much. I assume since
you contacted us, you had something you needed?"
Dax nodded. "You're
correct, Magistrate. I know you're pretty far away from Brevat III,
since your colony's on Brevat IX, but I was wondering if you were aware
of Jem'Hadar activity on that planetoid?"
"Brevat III, huh?"
the magistrate mused. His eyes fixed on a point off the screen as he
thought. He stroked his chin, thinking. "Actually, now that you
mention it, we have been seeing more Jem'Hadar activity in the inner
system for the past month or so. We've tried to keep our eye on that
area, but it's hard because of our orbital patterns. In addition to
that, the first time the Jem'Hadar came, they destroyed anything that
could be used to spy on them. All telescopes, all sensors, everything.
We managed to repair one planetary sensor system in secret, as well
as this comm unit we're talking on.
"Anyway, we've
been seeing a lot of Jem'Hadar ships traveling to the inner planets.
I didn't know it was Brevat III until you said it just now. Beyond that,
we know nothing much else." Buchold spread his hands out, shrugging
helplessly. "I'm sorry we can't tell you more. And I doubt any
other colony can tell you more."
"I understand,"
Dax said sympathetically. "Thank you for your help. I'll be sure
to relay to Starfleet of your situation. Perhaps they might be able
to make a supply drop for you."
Buchold smiled sadly,
knowing as well as Dax did that what she said might never happen. "Thank
you, Captain. I appreciate the effort. I hope you find the answers to
your questions. We better get off this channel before the Jem'Hadar
detect us using a comm system. Good bye." Buchold reached over
and pressed a control, which caused the viewscreen to go black momentarily
then be replaced by a view of Brevat XIV.
Dax sighed, and stared
ahead for a moment. Then she turned to look at Ensign Goldberg. "Well,
what can you tell me about this uh, base?"
Goldberg shrugged. "Can't
tell much. It seems to be a medium to large sized base, in about the
early stages of construction."
Dax frowned at him.
"Is that all? Can you tell if it's a communications base? Or a
Ketracel White facility? Or just a munitions dump?"
"Sorry, sir,"
Goldberg said.
Dax turned around to
face front. "Well, let's try to get some visual. Helm, ahead, at
one quarter impulse. Try to shield us from the base."
"Aye, sir."
After an half hour of slow maneuvering, the Carpathia eased into an
orbit around Brevat V, the fifth planetoid. On the screen was an extremely
magnified view of Brevat III's surface. Dax could see lights from the
surface, since that side of the planet was in nighttime.
"Sir, a Jem'Hadar
ship is coming out of warp!" Goldberg blurted out.
"Damn, shut down
all non-essential systems!" Dax shouted out. The lights on the
bridge dimmed and the engine's familiar whine moved down to a barely
audible murmur. The viewscreen was off, so Dax had to rely on what she
was told.
"The ship's going
down to the surface to Brevat III. They haven't seen us yet. I think
the ship's landed."
After a few minutes
of tense breathing, Dax told the bridge to start up the ship again.
Fortunately, no more ships arrived. "Allright," Dax declared,
"We have enough data. Helm, move us back to a safe distance."
As the Carpathia turned about, Dax looked back up at Goldberg.
"Can you replay the sensor information you gathered?"
"Aye, sir."
"Put it on the
screen." The viewscreen was filled with images of a large scale
construction project. A large metal framework was already erected. Metal
skin covered part of the base, while some portions were still laid bare.
She could make out some Jem'Hadar warships on the ground, as well as
some Cardassian frigates. A half hour of examining the sensor data yielded
no new answers to Dax. She had no idea what that base might turn out
to be.
Well, it's not going
to be my responsibility, Dax thought to herself. She'd be turning
it over to Starfleet Intelligence. She asked the helmsman, "Are
we in Brevat XIV's orbit now?"
"Yes, sir."
"Allright. Get
me Admiral Jellico."
"...and that is
we've found out. Shall I forward a copy of the data to Starbase 375
for them to pass on to Intel?" Dax asked as she concluded her debriefing
to Jellico. The admiral rubbed his chin thoughtfully on the viewscreen
of the Carpathia's bridge.
"No. I'll do that
myself. Have you detected more enemy ships traveling through the system?"
"No, sir. Not since
the last Jem'Hadar ship that landed on the surface. We've analyzed the
data that the magistrate gave us on the weekly raids, and it seems we've
come at a downcycle. It's really guessimating at this point. I've put
it all in the data file."
"I see," Jellico
nodded. "Well, that makes it easier to make my decision. I want
you to take the Carpathia in and destroy the base. This is the
perfect opportunity for us to strike back at the Dominion and make them
sit up and take notice."
"But, sir..."
Dax fumbled. She didn't expect Jellico to say this. "Sir, it's
really pointless to destroy the base. It's not even a base yet, just
some construction going on. The impact would be minimal. I would think
it'd be better to wait until we know what the base is supposed to be."
"Are you questioning
my orders? In front of the bridge crew? Are you?" Jellico's face
flushed light red.
"No. No sir. I
was merely pointing out another option. I'm not sure that the Carpathia
is suitable for this mission. There may be some early warning or defense
systems in place."
"Why? Like you
said, it's only in early stages of construction. They probably don't
even have any defenses in place. That's why I want to strike now, because
we can. Because you are there now."
"Still, Starbase
375 is closer and has more ships that can carry out this mission.
I'm also concerned of a possible backlash against the Federation colonies
still here in the system. I already told you that the Dominion has been
treating them lightly but that could change after this."
"Lieutenant Commander
Dax," Jellico seethed. "Will you, or will you not carry out
my orders?"
Dax looked at the viewscreen
for a few heartbeats. "No. I think that this is an ill-advised
course of action. My recommendation is to continue surveillance of this
construction site."
"I don't care about
your recommendation. I have had enough of your sly assaults on my decisions,
and your veiled disrespect of me. Now your true colors are revealed.
Now it seems that you will not carry out my orders, I must order you
to be placed under arrest and put in the brig for insubordination. Lieutenant
Hompa, I am now promoting you as the commanding officer of the Carpathia.
Will you carry out my orders?"
Hompa swelled with pride,
and crisply said, "Aye, sir!" She turned to Ensign Goldberg.
"Ensign, have security place Dax under arrest and escort her to
the brig."
Dax slowly shook her
head in disappointment and resignation. She stood up and walked to the
turbolift. Ensign Goldberg contacted the brig and had a security officer
come to the bridge. He looked over at Dax, as if to apologize and say
that he was in over his head here. Dax smiled slightly, and nodded,
hoping to reassure the young man. Goldberg attempted to smile in return
but failed. He turned his eyes away from her, back to his station.
Jellico was talking
to Hompa about what he wanted her to do but Dax had stopped listening.
The turbolift door opened to reveal a security officer. She stepped
into the turbolift. The turbolift went directly to the brig, not stopping
for anyone. The door opened, and Dax walked out into the security office.
She continued on to the brig. She could feel the eyes of the security
officers on her, wondering what happened on the bridge.
Upon entering the brig,
Dax paused by the brig console, and plucked her combadge off her uniform
front and set it on the central monitoring station. She picked out an
empty cell and stepped into it, taking a seat on the sleeping bench.
Her escort stepped up to the brig console, and activated the restraining
forcefield. His features were stony and impenetrable. Dax drew a deep
breath, and put her head in her hands.
Dax laid back on the
bench. She was not sure, but she thought a half hour had passed since
her arrest. She looked up at the ceiling of her cell, finished with
mentally counting off the EPS conduits that ran behind the ceiling panels.
A slight vibration made her sit up with a start. She guessed that they
must have arrived at Brevat III. Hopefully Admiral Jellico was right
in his estimation that the base wouldn't have any defense systems.
Immediately after the
vibration, she heard Hompa's voice call out, "Red Alert! All hands
to battle stations!" She strained her ears, willing herself to
hear what was going on outside of the ship. More vibrations came, each
one becoming more violent than the previous one. Dax held onto the bench,
riding out the shudders. The security guard held onto the main brig
console as well. Now Dax could hear explosions. If she could hear them
deep in the brig, then the explosions weren't enemy ships. It was the
Carpathia herself.
The Carpathia
shuddered violently. Dax fell to the floor, and she crawled to the corner
of the cell, bracing herself against the walls. Sparks spat out of the
far side of the brig, and the security guard rushed to put out the fires
and reroute power. More rumblings shook the ship, and Dax held out her
hands to steady herself against the wall. And another loud explosion
roared.
LOG ENTRY EIGHT
ROMULAN BASE, CODE NAME: PHAROS
APPIANOS SYSTEM, ROMULAN SPACE
0400 HOURS SST (1400 HOURS LOCAL TIME)
Ironsides crawled up
next to Thane. They were lying flat on their bellies. Odo was already
at the base. He had morphed into a field rodent and ran across the field,
entering their perimeter.
Thane handed Ironsides
a pair of electronic binoculars, so he could look at the south wall
of the Romulan base.
The major could easily
see the barracks where the team had agreed to infiltrate the base. Several
Romulan guards patrolled the perimeter. Ironsides glanced over at Thane.
"Have you seen a gap where we can sneak by the guards?"
Thane nodded. "We've
been watching and timing the guards. There is a fifteen second gap where
we can sprint across the field to the base."
"Fifteen seconds?
That the best you can tell?"
"Yes, sir,"
Thane replied. Ironsides looked again through the binoculars, looking
at the insertion point.
"How about the
POWs? Have you located them yet?" Ironsides asked.
"Negative, sir.
There's some kind of sensor scrambling field. It makes sense. A large
group of non Romulan lifesigns would be a huge signal that there's prisoners
here. Best I can tell is that there's a large mass of lifeforms near
the center of the base. Could be the POWs. Or just a big Romulan Bar
Mitzvah."
Ironsides let out a
short sigh. "Ok." He rolled onto his back, looking down at
the rest of the men hidden in the treeline. He waved his hands, motioning
for them to crawl up to their location. He rolled back over onto his
belly. "Corporal, you're responsible for the go order. Pick a time,
and we'll go on that."
Thane nodded, and looked
down at his wrist chronometer and paper notes, which had the guard walkby
times. He mumbled to himself, making mental calculations. "Ok.
The next opening is in five minutes, 1627 hours. Pass it along."
Ironsides nodded and leaned over to whisper to Jannsen who was lying
next to him.
At the appointed moment,
the covert operations team sprinted quickly across the field. They hit
the outer wall, and Bogarde stood near the corner. He glanced at his
wrist chrono then stood up, huddled against the wall. The Romulan guard
turned the corner, and saw Ironsides's men. He opened his mouth to shout
out a warning, but Bogarde's large black hand covered his mouth.
Bogarde grabbed the
guard by his head, hugging it against his broad chest. Then with a deft
move, Bogarde twisted the guard's head around. A splintering crack sounded
out, informing Bogarde that he had broken the guard's neck. He let the
Romulan drop to the grass by his feet. Bogarde dusted his hands off,
and kneeled down with the others.
"Okay," Ironsides
whispered. "Let's do it by the book. We'll go into the courtyard.
Jannsen, take the Rhine team to the left barracks. I'll lead
the Amazon team to the right. Odo should neutralize any threats
there. We'll meet up in the center. We go in three minutes."
Odo slowly let go of
the Romulan guard's mouth. His hand morphed back to a solid hand. He
had just deprived the guard of oxygen long enough for the guard to go
unconscious. He made sure his Romulan disguise was still properly maintained,
checking his face and ears. Occasionally, his mental discipline might
slip, but not at this time. Odo looked around the dimly lit hallway.
The barracks were empty as they predicted, but not this empty. There
was only one guard at the post.
It triggered a silent
warning in Odo's mind. It was quiet, too quiet, Odo felt. It smacked
of a trap to him. He told himself that he had better go out to prevent
Ironsides's men from entering the courtyard. He quickly walked through
the hallway, to the courtyard entrance.
He was too late. He
could see Ironsides and the others walking into the courtyard. Odo quickly
dropped his disguise, waving his arms.
Ironsides saw a Romulan
step out of the door. He started to take aim, but the Romulan shifted
into Odo's tan outfit. Odo began waving his arms. "Huh?" Ironsides
muttered. He inched his way towards Odo, when green disruptor fire tore
into the grass at his feet.
"A trap!"
Ironsides yelled out. He backpedaled, slamming up against the courtyard
walls, as he raised his rifle up to fire in the direction of the Romulan
weapons. He saw Romulans lined up on the top of the walls, aiming weapons
at them.
The group massed together,
and flattened against the walls, shooting at their Romulan attackers.
Ironsides ended up near Thane. He was alternating between shooting his
phaser rifle and taking tricorder readings.
"Can you find another
way in?" Ironsides shouted to Thane.
Thane shook his head.
"Not sure! But I've got something else. When we entered the base,
the sensor interference weakened. I'm reading another large mass of
lifesigns, and I think some of them are Terran!"
"Good! Where?"
Ironsides asked.
"300 meters below
the surface, right here, under the courtyard grass! There's a large
open space underground we could use to get to the lifesign readings."
"Donahue, get your
ass over here!" Ironsides shouted out. The group rotated as the
others laid down cover fire and tried to pick off the Romulan snipers.
Donahue stood by Ironsides.
"Yeah?"
"Do you got anything
that can blow a hole in the grass about 300 meters deep?"
"Huh, no,"
Donahue half chuckled. "I may be a little unstable but not crazy
enough to carry anything that powerful on me. No, you'd need a phaser
drill or more to do that."
"Damn. Allright.
Thane, are you sure about these readings?"
"I've double checked
and triple checked. The POWs are near here."
Ironsides gritted his
teeth. He nodded. "Allright. Where's Jacoby? Jacoby!"
"Here, sir!"
the private shouted out amid the noise of weapons fire.
"Jacoby, get on
the horn with the Sovereign. Tell them to come here, and fire
a narrow beam phaser 40 meters from our location! We need a 300 meter
deep hole!"
"Huh?" Jacoby
asked. "Ok!" He dropped down to his knees, and used the comm
unit he was carrying to contact the Sovereign.
USS SOVEREIGN, FEDERATION STARSHIP
APPIANOS SYSTEM, ROMULAN SPACE
0425 HOURS SST
"Sir, I'm receiving
a transmission from Pollux Squadron," Xioar said.
"What? They're
supposed to maintain subspace silence until the pickup. Put it through,"
Sisko said.
Jacoby's voice came
through the comm system. "Pollux to Castor," he said, using
the Sovereign's code name. "Request narrow beam phaser fire
40 meters from our location. Need 300 meters deep hole. Now!"
"Castor to Pollux,
acknowledged. Castor out." Sisko looked at Xioar. "Well, let's
give them some lightning from the gods," Sisko said. "boKal,
move in range. Xioar, fire as soon as possible."
boKal set the Sovereign
into a micro warp jump. This time, the Sovereign remained instead of
warping out again. Hovering over the moon, the Sovereign opened
fire with a red beam of phaser energy.
Ironsides felt it before
everyone else did. Perhaps it was from long combat experience or just
a sixth sense he had. "Down! Huddle up!" Ironsides waved to
his men. The group stopped firing at the Romulans, and ducked down.
The sky above them lit up reddish orange. Then a beam struck down from
the heavens, striking against the center of the courtyard.
The Romulans stopped
firing too, covering up from the unexpected phaser fire. The ground
rumbled and shook as the energy beam vaporized layer after layer of
dirt and soil. The sharp scent of ozone filled up the air. As quickly
as the phaser beam came, it faded away.
Ironsides uncovered
his head and looked around. The phaser whine still rang out in his ears,
but it faded, giving away to the overpowering silence. "Allright!
Get your ropes out! Tie 'em up together, we need two ropes, both 400
meters of length!"
Jannsen, Bogarde, and
Donahue pulled out their ropes, quickly tying them together. Ironsides
ran to the edge of the hole, and pounded in an anchor stake. Jannsen
ran up next to him, tying in the first rope. Worf ran up next to Ironsides
and pounded another stake in. Jacoby ran up and tied up the second rope.
The Romulans, now sure
that no more phaser fire would rip through the skies, resumed firing
at the intruders. Jacoby and Jannsen tossed down the ropes down the
long burnt shaft, as the others took up positions to provide cover fire.
Jacoby and Jannsen attached the ropes to their belts and started rappelling
down the hole. Ironsides drew a bead on a Romulan and fired his rifle,
taking down his target. Another Romulan nearby started firing a disruptor
rifle at him, and Ironsides rolled over to his side, and raised is weapon
to counter fire.
The Romulan next to
the guard firing at Ironsides raised his rifle and brought it down on
the firing guard. The attacker went down, as Ironsides looked on in
confusion. The Romulan morphed into Odo, clearing his confusion up.
Odo moved down the row, catching the row of Romulans unaware, his arms
morphed into large billy clubs. In a short time, the east wall stopped
firing at Ironsides and his men.
Ironsides turned around
to check on the status of his group. Half of the group were already
down the phasermade hole, leaving Ironsides, Jannsen, Bogarde, Worf
and Odo still aboveground. Ironsides looked back up at Odo, cupping
his hands around his mouth. "Odo! Get down here!"
Odo nodded, and jumped
over the wall, transforming into a winged creature. He flew down to
the crater, and dived into it. More reinforcements were pouring onto
the wall tops, and the green rain of disruptor fire intensified. "Go!
Go!" Ironsides shouted to his men. Jannsen hooked herself up to
a rope and Ironsides hooked himself up to the other rope, leaving Worf
and Bogarde above.
Worf staggered back
from another disruptor hit. If it hadn't been for his flak jacket, he'd
be dead several times already. Bogarde's flak jacket was also taking
a beating. Worf looked over at his comrade and saw smoke wafting off
Bogarde's chest. Worf looked back up at the guards firing at them. There
were more of them, too much for them both to hold off.
"Bogarde! We must
go now!" Worf called over to Bogarde. The black man nodded his
agreement, and slung his rifle over his shoulder and hooked himself
to the rope, then swung down the hole. Worf followed suit on the other
rope. A disruptor blast sizzled near Worf's boot, and he jerked away,
diving down the hole. He grabbed onto the rope tightly, and spun down
around into an upright position. He pushed his boots against the blackened
sides of the hole, rappelling down. Soon he passed Bogarde on the other
rope.
The Romulans continued
firing as the Klingon and human went down the hole. A disruptor blast
struck one of the ropes, cutting it. The rope slid down the hole.
Bogarde let out a surprised
yelp as the rope he was sliding down suddenly loosened. He twisted around,
trying to maneuver his body to absorb the impact of a high fall.
Worf looked up as he
heard Bogarde cry out. He saw the large man plummeting downwards. Worf
pushed hard against the wall, swinging outwards underneath Bogarde.
He reached out his hand, and grasped for Bogarde.
Bogarde also reached
out with his hands, scrambling for any sort of handhold. His hand hit
Worf's arm, and he clenched. Worf yelled out in pain as he held onto
Bogarde. His arm nearly wrenched out of its socket. Still, the Klingon
held onto Bogarde. The sergeant was able to get ahold of the rope. He
shifted his weight to the rope, hooking himself to it.
Once Worf saw that Bogarde
was safe, he let go, wincing slightly. "Thanks," Bogarde said.
Worf only grunted in reply. After a short drop, they joined the rest
of the team assembled below.
Bogarde looked around
the site. He saw two charred skeletons, grasping what seemed to be the
slagged remains of disruptors. He figured they were guards caught in
the phaser beam only moments ago. He looked at Ironsides, awaiting further
orders.
Ironsides was peering
down the dark tunnels, waiting for Thane to finish his tricorder scans.
The young corporal walked back to Ironsides. "Sir, the sensor interference
is completely gone here. We're about 100 meters away from the POWs,
down that way." Thane indicated the direction by pointing his tricorder
out. Ironsides nodded.
Ironsides asked Thane,
"How many--" Suddenly Thane drew his phaser up and fired past
Ironsides's head. A yell echoed out through the tunnel. Ironsides turned
to see a Romulan guard go down with a sizzling hole in the center of
his chest. Unruffled, the major turned back around to Thane. "How
many lifesigns are you reading?"
"About forty lifesigns.
Some of them are borderline, near death," Thane answered. Ironsides
frowned at the remark, but he nodded. The major expected this anyway.
Thane continued, "The lifesigns are scattered in groups throughout
these tunnels. We could hunt by lifesigns but it would be better to
get a layout of these tunnels. That'd make things go quicker."
"Agreed, but we
don't have the time to fumble around for a map of the base." Ironsides
said. He turned to the others. "Allright, listen up! Corporal Thane
has found our POWs. He'll download the locations to your tricorders.
We'll stick with Rhine group and Amazon group. Both groups
will split up, and hunt for the POWs based on lifesigns readings. Raven,
you have an edge. You can use your telepathic skills too." Raven
nodded.
The major continued
on. "Now, if any of you happen across a computer console that can
give you a map for this base, well hot damn for you. Copy it, and use
it. But time is of essence here. They already know we are here, so don't
waste time looking for a map. When you find the POWs, slap a combadge
on them, and activate the runabout transporters. I want Jacoby to transport
back with the first prisoner found to keep a handle on things in the
runabouts. Billy and I will keep an eye out for the laboratory installments,
if there are any here." Everyone nodded. "Allright! Jannsen,
take the Rhine group out now. Go!"
Lieutenant Jannsen nodded,
and waved for her men to follow her. They ran down the dark hallway.
Ironsides looked at the rest. "Amazon group, follow me!"
He started off running into the darkness with his men behind him.
USS SOVEREIGN, FEDERATION STARSHIP
GEOSYNCHROUS ORBIT AROUND PHAROS, ROMULAN SPACE
0430 HOURS SST
"Target depth reached,"
Xioar said. "Ceasing fire now." The Naist deactivated the
phasers of the Sovereign. Sisko leaned forward, sitting earnestly.
Commander Tobias was equally as alert. In fact, everybody on the bridge
was at high alert. This wasn't part of the plan, a phaser drilled hole.
Now the Sovereign was in view, vulnerable.
"Allright,"
Sisko acknowledged Xioar's report. "Let's stay here for a little
while, in case Ironsides's men need further assistance. Then we'll go
back into our hiding location."
"Aye, sir,"
boKal said. The helmsman kept his fingers poised over the ship's flight
controls, ready for anything.
"Sir, the base
is sending out a signal. I think they're requesting ships to come to
their aid," said Xioar.
"Jam it,"
Sisko barked.
"Sir," Tobias
leaned back to say to Sisko. "That'd give away the fact that there's
a Federation starship in Romulan space, if Romulan ships were nearby."
"Don't care,"
Sisko said. "The longer it takes for assistance to arrive, the
better chance the Pollux Squadron can do their job and get out alive."
Sisko looked at his first officer. "I know this isn't part of the
plan, but we might as well do it. In for a penny, in for a pound,"
he said. Commander Tobias nodded, smiling faintly.
"Jamming their
communications now," Xioar declared. Sisko's mouth tightened as
he kept his eyes on the moon below the ship.
"Any Romulan ships
arriving?" the captain asked.
Xioar glanced down at
his console, his mouth compressing into a thin line. After several tense
heartbeats, he looked over at the captain, shaking his head.
Sisko sighed. "Allright.
Continue the jamming until we leave. Lieutenant boKal, prepare to jump
to warp on my command."
"Aye, sir,"
boKal replied. He glanced over his controls, calling up the microjump
sub-routine. Something caught his eye. boKal called the computer's attention
to it. After a quick scan, boKal turned around to look at Sisko.
"Sir, I'm reading
a spatial anomaly in a lower orbit of the moon. It's coming around from
the other side of the moon."
Sisko turned to the
tactical officer. "Xioar?"
Xioar nodded, "I'm
reading it too. It looks similar to a decloak of a Romulan Warbird,
but I'm not reading a warp signature."
Sisko narrowed his eyes.
This was a surprise and he didn't need one at this moment. "Can
we put it on screen?"
Xioar nodded. "Aye,
sir. The anomaly will be passing the curve of the moon in several seconds.
Putting it on the screen now, sir." Xioar looked up towards the
bridge's viewscreen.
Sisko's eyes went to
the screen. The curve of the moon that the Pharos base was stationed
on slowly turned. At first, Sisko couldn't see anything out of the ordinary,
until a star then two stars started rippling. The distortion intensified
until the stars and black space faded to reveal a starbase. Sisko was
about to call out 'Red Alert' when he realized they were already at
Red Alert status, ever since they dropped off Ironsides's men.
"Standard mobile
Romulan starbase, capable of housing two medium class Warbirds. First
time I've seen one cloaked before," Xioar reported.
The starbase was gracefully
arched in a green triangular shape that vaguely reminded Sisko of a
pyramid of Earth's ancient Egypt. Still, no matter how beautiful it
might seem to be, it was still a danger. "Weapons capabilities?"
Sisko asked.
"Minimal. Three
disruptor banks, and two torpedo tubes," Xioar said. That made
sense to Sisko. That kind of starbase would rely on the strength of
the Warbirds it housed.
"Can you read any
Warbirds inside it?"
"No, sir. But I'm
reading something else. Wait!" Xioar paused, looking at the screen.
Sisko saw it the same time Xioar saw it. One of the sides of the starbase
slowly opened up, revealing green darkness within. Then tiny points
of green and white lights came into view. Sisko tensed up, prepared
for a confrontation with a Romulan Warbird.
He wasn't prepared for
this.
The ship left the interior
of the mobile starbase. Instead of the standard green curved bow of
a Romulan Warbird, Sisko and the rest of the Sovereign's bridge
crew saw the sleek oval shape of a Federation starship saucer. Soon,
the rest of the ship came into view, revealing an Ambassador
class Federation starship. It wasn't quite Federation anymore. One warp
nacelle was replaced with a green Romulan produced warp nacelle. Greenish
metal lined some curves of the ship, indicating Federation technology
replaced by Romulan technology.
Black scour marks streaked
the grey hull, indicating heavy battle damage. That made it more understandable
that Romulan technology was incorporated in the starship. The standard
blue hued navigational deflector was gutted out, in its place was a
Romulan one that glowed dark green.
However, the most shocking
part of the ship's appearance wasn't revealed until it came nearer to
the Sovereign. The viewscreen zoomed in onto the hull of the
starship. Though marred with battle damage, and replacement Romulan
metal, two details were still readable, the registry number and ship
name. "NCC-1701-C...U.S.S. Enterprise."
ROMULAN BASE, CODE NAME: PHAROS
APPIANOS SYSTEM, ROMULAN SPACE
0455 HOURS SST
"Don't worry. You'll
be allright," MacAuley said, as he affixed a combadge onto the
withered man next to him. The POW had long scraggly hair, and the tattered
remnants of his maroon uniform. His face borne deep wrinkles. Wrinkles
MacAuley knew that didn't only come from age but from extreme hardship.
The prisoner's hands were dirty as was everything else on him. His fingernails
were greenish blue with a fungal growth.
"We'll help you,
ok? We'll transport you to a shuttlecraft not far from here. Once there,
you'll meet other prisoners like yourself. Ok?" MacAuley nodded.
The prisoner didn't respond. MacAuley sighed and tapped the combadge
which activated the single program of transporting whoever was wearing
it directly to a runabout. The prisoner vanished in a swirl of blue
light. MacAuley turned around and called out to Jannsen.
"L.T., last prisoner's
gone!" he said. Jannsen nodded and waved to Worf and Bogarde who
were guarding the cellroom entrance. They nodded back and moved out
into the hallways, scanning for the nearest grouping of lifesigns as
well as keeping an eye peeled for guards. Jannsen looked over at Donahue
who was waving a tricorder over the dead prisoners.
"Donahue, are you
finished with getting the dead bodies' DNA?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then move out!"
she barked. Donahue nodded and hurried out of the cell doorway, stepping
over the dead prisoners. MacAuley did the same in the cell across the
room. He hurried up to the lieutenant.
Jannsen tapped her combadge.
"Rhine to Amazon. Seven packages sent. One spoiled
enroute. Several more spoiled before receipt."
"Amazon
here," Ironsides answered. "Understood. Keep shopping."
He tapped his combadge, sighing. Seven prisoners transported, but one
died. And there were more dead prisoners before the Rhine team reached
them.
He mentally tallied
the total. With their eleven prisoners, now the total was 16 aboard
the runabouts. He hoped Jacoby would be able to keep up with the load.
Ironsides stood up from his hiding position, and hurried over to Thane
and Raven who were crouched near a fork in the tunnel. "Thane,
you got somewhere for us to go to?"
"Yes, sir. Down
there, then to the right," Thane answered.
Ironsides turned around
and looked at Bashir and Ruiz. He nodded and pointed to the fork. Using
signs, he told them that Raven and Thane would go up ahead first. They
nodded and gripped their rifles. Ironsides turned around and nodded
to Raven and Thane.
They stood up and walked
down the hallway. Raven turned the corner, heading to the right. Thane
followed right behind him, continually checking his tricorder, while
gripping his phaser. Several lights at the end of the tunnel told them
they found another cell room. Thane moved ahead to check the room out
when Raven held out his arm, making him stop.
The tall man held a
finger to his lips, and held up two fingers. Thane nodded and held back.
Raven crept up to the doorway to the cellroom, holding his sword at
the ready. Quickly, Raven leapt through the doorway. He swung his sword
around to the right which buried itself into the throat of a Romulan
guard. The other one raised up his disruptor rifle. Raven kicked with
his boot at the dead guard to push it off his blade, then spun around.
The bloodied blade buried itself into the Romulan's stomach. The guard
doubled over in pain. Raven jerked the sword up, cleaving his way through
the neck of the soldier as he was bent over.
Raven straightened up
from his fighting stance. He slid the sword on the Romulan's uniform,
wiping the green blood off. He turned to look at Thane, giving the all
clear signal. Thane turned to look at Ironsides who was hanging back
at a safe distance. The corporal waved in Ironsides and the others.
The group rushed into the cellroom.
Ironsides and Ruiz shot
at the cell forcefield controls, bringing down the barriers. Bashir
rushed in, scanning the prisoners with his medical tricorder. He gagged
at the smell, but squelched his distaste down. The doctor looked up
at Ironsides and gave the all clear to transport this group of prisoners.
Thane and Raven stood
at the cellroom entrance, guarding the room. Ironsides and Ruiz rushed
into the cellroom, putting combadges on the prisoners while trying to
reassure the prisoners that they weren't going to be harmed. Bashir
rushed to the other cell, scanning the prisoners in there. The tricorder
beeped faintly, giving out energetic sounds for some, and flatline sounds
for others. "Two dead in here," Bashir called out. He pulled
the bodies over, so that Ironsides or Ruiz wouldn't transport them by
mistake.
It was easy to mistake
a living prisoner for a dead one, since some of them were so wasted
away that they barely breathed or moved. Once again, Bashir had to steel
himself against the nausea and horror. "It's allright," he
whispered soothingly to a skeletal woman. "You're going to be safe
now. We'll take you home."
"Thank God,"
she wheezed. "So long....always knew you would come...but it's
been so long... waited such a long time..."
"No more waiting,"
Bashir smiled. He pressed on a combadge and activated it. She dissolved
away from her prison. He looked up to see Ruiz doing the same with other
prisoners. After the last one dematerialized, Bashir stood up. "Major,
all clear."
"Allright,"
Ironsides nodded. He turned to Thane. "Have you got the next location?"
"Yes, sir,"
Thane answered. "It's about 75 meters away."
"Well then, lead
on," Ironsides replied. Thane nodded crisply, and headed out into
the dark tunnels. Raven walked briskly next to him.
Bogarde and Worf crept
up to a fork in the tunnel ahead. Worf pressed his body against the
tunnel wall while Bogarde did the same. Bogarde unsheathed his knife,
and held it out past the wall's corner. Using the reflective metal on
the blade, Bogarde saw a Romulan guard on the right, just by the corner.
Bogarde looked over
at Worf, holding up his index finger. Then he tapped his finger towards
his chest. Worf nodded and held his rifle at the ready. Bogarde turned
around so that he faced the wall. His arm quickly snaked out around
the corner, grabbing the guard by his head. Bogarde spun around, slamming
his back against the wall.
His arm encircled the
guard's head, preventing a yell. Bogarde was so tall that the top of
the guard's head brushed against Bogarde's chin. The sergeant raised
his knife and drew it across the guard's exposed neck. Green blood spurted
forth, soaking the guard's uniform front. The Romulan's arms went limp,
and Bogarde let go of the guard. The Romulan collapsed into a heap.
Bogarde drew the blade across his chest, wiping off the blood, as he
smiled at Worf.
His smile turned to
a frown when he heard a voice come from the Romulan's uniform, "Vaed'rae!
Urru t' th'ann-as." Bogarde looked at Worf, shrugging.
Worf whispered to Bogarde,
"I think he's asking the guard to go to the prisoners."
The same Romulan voice
called out, "Ssuej-d'ifv? Ssuej-d'ifv? Vaed'rae!"
"Let me guess.
They're asking for acknowledgment?" Bogarde suggested.
Worf nodded. "I
cannot answer. My accent will not fool them."
"Damn. Wish Jacoby
was here to talk to them. Uhh..." Bogarde kneeled down to the dead
Romulan, looking for the combadge on the uniform. There was an audible
click on the comlink, signaling a closed link. "I think we're too
late," Bogarde looked up at Worf. The Klingon leaned around the
corner to look down the hallway. He saw a door open up with several
Romulans spilling out.
Worf kneeled and fired
his rifle at them, knocking a guard down. Bogarde spun around, sheathing
his knife, and bringing his rifle up to fire. Red and green energy flew
back and forth. Soon, the green disruptor fire ended. Bogarde and Worf
looked around the corner. All of the guards were taken out. Worf looked
down the other direction. It was bare. Worf looked back at Jannsen.
"All clear."
Jannsen nodded. She
looked over at MacAuley. "Mac? Do you have them?"
MacAuley nodded. "I
think we need to take the right tunnel." Worf and Bogarde started
down in the direction that MacAuley pointed out. Jannsen and the others
followed them.
The Rhine group
continued down the dark tunnel, taking out the Romulan sentries on duty.
After several twists and turns, and one dead end, the Rhine group
made it near the remaining POW lifesign readings. There were three Romulans
guarding the cellroom entrance, more than the others. Two were standing
at the sides of the doorway, while the third roamed the hallway.
Jannsen surveyed the
scene. She moved away from the corner, and sat with her back against
the wall. Using signs, she motioned for Worf and Bogarde to aim at the
two stationary guards. She would take the moving guard. They were to
fire her rifles after she took out the roving guard. Jannsen looked
at the two men, making sure they understood.
They repeated her commands
back, indicating that they understood. She smiled grimly, and looked
around the corner. She kneeled into a firing position, and aimed at
her target. Bogarde and Worf stood behind her, aiming at their assigned
targets.
Jannsen's guard moved
in the scope of her phaser rifle. She moved the rifle to keep a targeting
lock. She put her finger on the firing stud, and began to press.
"Hey!"
Jannsen heard someone
call out down the other side of the hallway. Who would do that?
she wondered, as she saw the guards turn away from them towards the
voice.
In her scope, she saw
a red phaser beam strike the temple of the roving guard. A split second
later, the other two guards went down with phaser wounds to their heads.
Jannsen looked around in confusion. She moved the scope over to where
the beams came from.
A man walked into view.
"And that's why they call me Hot Hand Thane," he smirked.
Jannsen sighed, and
stood up. "It's the Amazon group," she told her men.
Bogarde and Worf lowered their rifles and they walked out to meet their
comrades.
Ironsides walked up
to Thane, and shoved him against the wall. "Don't ever do that
again," he hissed at the corporal, his face next to Thane's face.
"There's no hot-dogging on my team, understood?"
Thane nodded. "Yes."
"Yes what?"
Ironsides said.
"Yes, sir,"
Thane said. Ironsides moved away from Thane, frowning. He saw Jannsen
walk over to him.
"Ah, Lieutenant.
Looks like this is the last group of POWs."
"Yes, sir. I wonder
why they posted more guards here."
Ironsides shrugged.
"Doesn't matter now. Let's get in there, and beam them out."
Jannsen nodded, and they raised their rifles up, standing near the door.
Worf and Bogarde kicked the door open, and ran in with their rifles
up. Jannsen and Ironsides rushed in after them.
Several Romulan guards
started firing at them. Ironsides and the others huddled against the
walls, firing back, but to no avail. There were at least five or more
guards in there, pinning the three marines and Worf down. A Romulan
walked up to them.
Ironsides was about
to shoot him when he realized the Romulan wasn't holding a weapon. At
the last second, the major changed his aim, firing past the oncoming
guard.
The lone Romulan held
out his left hand. It enlarged, and he grabbed a nearby guard. The Romulan
swung the guard around, throwing him against a wall. This made the other
guards pause in confusion. Ironsides used Odo's diversion to rush into
the room, his rifle blazing.
The major took down
one other Romulan, as Odo morphed back into his usual form. His hand
shrunk down to normal size, and his right arm stretched out and solidified
into a large club. Odo spun around, hitting the guard behind him. The
guard flew back and crashed into the wall, his skull banging loudly.
The guard went down, unconscious.
Ironsides rolled over
onto his back, taking out the remaining guard. He stood up and brushed
his black uniform off. "There you are, Odo. Nice job."
"Thank you, Major."
"What happened
to you after you went down the shaft?" Ironsides asked, as the
others filed into the cellroom.
"Well, after I
flew down the shaft, I transformed into a rodent, and crawled alongside
the tunnel walls, scouting around. I noticed a group of guards transporting
some prisoners, and I disguised myself as a Romulan, and joined the
guard escort. I figured if they were moving prisoners now, I should
stay with them in case the prisoners were transported off base. They
weren't, as you can see."
"Good thinking,
Odo," Ironsides nodded. He turned around to watch his men take
care of the POWs in the room. He noticed Thane at the wall, looking
at a computer panel. The major walked up next to Thane.
"What is it, Corporal?"
"It's a main computer
console. I'm looking at the map now, sir."
"Ah. Have we gotten
to all of the cells?"
"Looks like it,
sir."
"So, what's the
verdict? Is this base some kind of R&D, or did the boys in Intel
just have their heads up their asses this time?"
"Not sure, sir,"
Thane smiled. He turned serious. "There's a large room, as big
as a cargo bay. I'm reading a large computer core there too. The kind
used in research and development bases. We should go and check it out
sir. It's nearby."
"Good idea."
"Major!" Bashir
called out. Ironsides turned around and saw the doctor kneeling next
to a prisoner. Ironsides walked over to Bashir.
"What is it, doctor?"
Bashir looked at the
prisoner. "Tell the major what you asked me," he said.
The prisoner was relatively
young, only about 45 or 50 years old, compared to the other prisoners.
He must have been an ensign when he was taken. He had scarring, the
kind that could only have come from torture.
"Sir.. Ensign Zachary
Piller, junior engineer. Serial number...I forget. It's been so long..."
The prisoner drew in another breath. "Sir, are you here to destroy
their research?"
"What research,
Ensign?" Ironsides asked.
"I'm so sorry.
I had to help them, they hurt me so bad. Made me work for them"
"Understood, Ensign.
Now, what research are you talking about?"
The prisoner sighed.
"They were working on how to incorporate Federation technology
with Romulan technology. Things like cloaked photon torpedoes. Phased
disruptors- a meld of Romulan and Federation weapons. Terrible weapons.
They're only in testing phase as far as I know. They took some us up
there, in space...forced us to show them Federation technology...No
use to resist, but Castillo...he did. And now he's gone."
The prisoner leaned
up and took hold of the front of Ironsides's uniform. "Please,
you must keep them from making their weapons!"
Thane walked up to the
cell, looking at Ironsides. "There you go, sir."
Ironsides sighed and
nodded. "Allright," he said as he stood up. He talked to the
others. "We've taken care of the priority mission. Now, as I said
earlier, we also have a secondary mission. Ruiz, MacAuley, and Bashir,
you guys return to the runabouts and take care of the prisoners. Ruiz,
prep the runabouts for departure. We may have to leave in a real big
hurry. The others, come with me."
MacAuley nodded, and
tapped a combadge on a prisoner. The POW dissolved into blue light.
MacAuley tapped his own combadge, following the prisoner. Ruiz nodded
and prepared to leave, when a prisoner near her stood up and fired a
hidden disruptor. The beam struck her back, and she went down with a
groan.
The false prisoner fired
his disruptor again, hitting other prisoners, as the marines dived for
cover. Thane fired his phaser, hitting the prisoner. He went down with
a groan. His hair fell off, revealing pointed ears. Obviously a spy
placed with the prisoners to listen in to their conversations.
Bashir rushed over to
Ruiz. "Are you allright?" he yelled. Blood seeped through
her flak jacket. Bashir waved his tricorder over her. She grunted and
hit the tricorder away.
"Forget about me.
Look, the Romulan hit the ensign. Take care of him."
Bashir looked over to
Ensign Piller, who was bleeding from a disruptor blast to his stomach.
He looked back at Ruiz, looking at her readings. "You're bleeding
badly internally. Your right lung was burned."
"Damn it, Bashir!"
she yelled. "I'm expendable, the prisoners are not! Take care of
the prisoners first!" Bashir looked at the prisoner and back at
Ruiz, wrestling with his feelings. This internal struggle took place
in a millisecond but seemed an eternity. After a heartbeat, he rushed
back to the prisoner. With an agonizing groan, she tapped her combadge
for transport, leaving behind a puddle of blood.
Bashir worked on the
ensign, patching up the stomach wound. But the ensign was in too weakened
a condition that he didn't survive. Bashir looked up at Ironsides, shaking
his head. "He's gone."
"How about Ruiz?
Will she make it?" Ironsides asked, concern etched in his face.
Bashir shrugged. "I
don't know. That kind of wound, not many people survive it. If she had
let me treat her now, I could have raised her survival odds higher."
"She's a good soldier.
She knows the priorities here, Doctor. And she knows the risks. Are
you finished checking the prisoners?"
"Yes, sir. There
are three dead prisoners, not including Ensign Piller."
"Allright. Start
transporting them, and go back with the last one," Ironsides commanded.
He reached in his flak jacket, and tossed Bashir the rest of his combadges.
Thane did the same. Bashir gathered the extra combadges up, and started
transporting the others. Worf and Bogarde remained at the doors, guarding
them. Donahue was on DNA gathering duty, as he had been doing with the
other cellrooms.
Bashir dissolved in
a transporter beam, and Ironsides went back the computer display panel.
"Thane, show me where we have to go." Thane walked up to the
panel and pointed out the research lab. Ironsides nodded, and walked
out of the cell room. The rest followed him, weapons hot and ready.
SECTION ONE |
SECTION TWO | SECTION THREE
| SECTION FOUR
RETURN TO ARCHIVES
|
