Tales of Starfleet
The Not So clean Baker's Dozen
Parts 3 & 4
by Phillip Barlow
(p.barlow@ic.ac.uk)

The Not Quite So Clean Baker's Dozen - Part 3

Captain's Log: Stardate 55317.2: Our precarious situation gives me cause for serious thought...

Captain Kurt Lindemann sat at his desk contemplating the screen in front of him, which waited patiently for him to continue. That the situation was precarious was an understatement - indeed, a less optimistic officer might have described it as hopeless. As he considered this, he thought back over the past week and the events that had led to the current predicament. Six days previously, he had been called into Admiral Narsu's office on board the flagship; the Admiral, who Lindemann considered his mentor and patron rolled into one, gave him a new assignment.

"Now, Kurt my boy," the Admiral had said, "I have a priority assignment from Starfleet Command which I think would be perfect for you to get your teeth into, in preparation for flag rank. It seems that Task Force 83, led by Admiral Clarke aboard the Powerful, has disappeared. Starfleet wants me to send a group of ships to find them. So, choose three other ships, and go find Clarke." It had seemed reasonably routine at the time. In addition to his own vessel, the Ambassador class starship Bismarck, he had chosen the Bismarck's sister ship Tirpitz, and the Merced class frigates Scharnhorst and Gneisenau as escort, named his force Task Group 70.2, and set off. Two days later, the Dominion advanced three sectors, and Task Group 70.2 was cut off. Now, having spent the last four days in open space, the Task Group had found some cover in an asteroid field in the Omega Epsilon system, the problem now was, Lindemann didn't know what was going on outside - although the radiation surrounding the asteroids was dense enough to prevent sensors scanning in from outside, they also prevented the Bismarck's sensors from scanning out. This limited the courses of action open to him to either staying put, or charging out at high warp with phasers firing, and hope to hell the shields held long enough to get them back to the Federation lines. Although he had faith in the resilience of his ship, he knew that the Bismarck would not stand the kind of pounding the Jem'Hadar could deliver for long. So, he decided that his only realistic option was to stay put, in the hope that someone friendly would pass by to back him up.

The Spider was at warp 2; any faster and the warp field would certainly be detected. Archer sat in the captain's chair, watching the main screen intently, even though there was nothing to see but the streak of starlines.

"Captain," said Sorek, who was manning the science station, "I am detecting a significant energy field, directly ahead. There also appears to be a significant mass of different materials."

"Could they be Jem'Hadar?"

"No sir. The energy signature is wrong. In addition, there is no relative motion." In spite of the situation, Archer's interest was piqued.

"Slow to impulse. I want to take a look at this." Mason Red, manning the conn, complied, bringing the Spider out of warp. The first image on the screen caused a collective gasp from everyone on the bridge. It was a Federation starship, adrift, dead in space. "Sorek, can you identify that ship?"

"Yes Captain. The transponder identifies the vessel as the USS Vigilant, Merced class, currently attached to Task Force 83." Sorek looked at Archer. "Sir, I am receiving other transponder signals." Without being bidden, Sorek manipulated the screen to show two New Orleans class ships, an Excelsior and several Peregrine class fighters.

"Fighters can only mean one thing." said Archer. "There was a carrier here."

"Maybe it escaped." replied Mason Red.

"Unlikely. I am detecting residual polaron beam weapons fire." said Sorek. To Archer that meant only one thing:

"The Jem'Hadar."

"Yes sir. I am detecting further transponder signals - at least eight, possibly ten."

"Any life signs?"

"I have not as yet detected any life signs."

"I want positive identification of each transponder signal, and a visual check on each ship, to ascertain there are no survivors." Archer's face took on a hard expression. "Then I want a full crew meeting to discuss our options. Get to it."

Archer sat at the desk in the captain's ready room, looking at the text on the monitor screen - a list of ships; name, class, crew complement:

"Damn." said Archer quietly to himself. He knew then that he had to do something. He wasn't sure what, but he knew that he had to do something. The only thing was, what would the rest of the crew say? They had made the commitment to be a Starfleet crew to give them a better chance of getting home. They hadn't said anything about re-entering the war. 'Well,' he thought, 'if they disagree, I'll get them home, but then I'm coming back.' He glanced at the chronometer; it was time. Archer got up from the desk and walked onto the bridge, to find his 12 shipmates waiting for him.

"Sir, Mr Sorek told us what happened." said the Sarge, stepping forward. "We've discussed it among ourselves and come to a decision. We want to show the Dominion they can't get away with something like this."

"I'm glad you've said that chief; it means now that I don't have to ask you and risk you saying no."

"OK, so what do we do?"

"I don't know. I just know we've got to strike back."

"Agreed. But how?" asked the Sarge. Everyone looked around blankly at everyone else, until someone coughed. Everyone then looked at Mason Red.

"I think I might have an idea."

"Well Tamek, it's been five days and there's been no sign of this 'great revenge' that's going to come down on us all. I think it's about time you snapped out of this morose attitude and got back to winning the war." The odious Vorta had been spouting the same thing from his pasty face for the past three days; despite his melancholy, Tamek had felt his anger at Veris' constant presence growing. Finally, the Cardassian's patience snapped. Despite the two Jem'Hadar warriors flanking Veris, Tamek leapt out of his chair, grabbed the Vorta by the throat and pushed him against a bulkhead. Had it been a Founder, Tamek knew he would be dead by now. But, Tamek and the Jem'Hadar First, Juveti'kan, had developed a mutual respect for each other through their shared experiences in combat. He knew the loathing Juveti'kan and his soldiers had for the Vorta, and that none of the Jem'Hadar would come to his aid, particularly in a matter of personal honour.

"Cease your prattle Vorta, or we'll see how easy you find breathing after I crush your windpipe!" Almost as quickly as it had started, the attack stopped. Tamek released his grip and the Vorta fell to the ground, choking.

"Shoot him." Veris rasped at the Jem'Hadar. The two of them looked at each other, then at Tamek, then at the prone Vorta still rubbing at his throat.

"This is a matter of personal honour between you and the Cardassian." said the higher ranked of the two, who Tamek recognised as Third Redaki'kan. "We have no right to interfere."

"I order you to shoot him. If you don't, I'll withhold the White."

"An empty threat Vorta. If you withhold the White, we will go mad and kill you for it. And, if you are dead, the Founders will send another who will give us the White." At that, the bridge door opened, and another Jem'Hadar entered.

"What is going on here?" asked Juveti'kan.

"Your Jem'Hadar have disobeyed my orders." said Veris.

"I did not speak to you Vorta. Third Redaki'kan?"

"The Vorta ordered us to kill the Cardassian. To do so would mean involving ourselves in a matter of personal honour." The First nodded.

"You acted correctly." Juveti'kan turned to Tamek. "Gul Tamek, you have a grievance with the Vorta, in which he has acted inappropriately. Is your honour satisfied, or do you require his life?" Tamek smiled inwardly as the Vorta's eyes widened in alarm.

"No, I don't require his life. But I may take you up on that in the future." Although the Jem'Hadar remained expressionless, Tamek thought that somewhere, deep within his being, Juveti'kan was having a small chuckle.

"So be it. This matter is concluded. Escort the Vorta back to the command deck." The two Jem'Hadar picked up the Vorta and, almost physically lifting him off the deck, left the bridge. Then, with the merest incline of his head to Tamek, the Jem'Hadar First followed them out.

"You seem to be more cheerful after that sir." said Darick.

"Indeed I am my firend." replied Tamek. "I know now what I have to do. The Vorta must be punished. I must make his life forfeit." Tamek looked at Darick, who had a worried expression on his face. "But first, to business. Have we received anything from Central Command?" The two of them hunched over the command console as usual; Darick though couldn't help feeling there was something very wrong with his commander.

The Not Quite So Clean Baker's Dozen - Part 4

The Aurek Nebula was peaceful. Until it started to emerge. At first, it appeared to be the front edge of the saucer section of a Federation starship; that was until the second one began appearing. Anyone observing may have thought it was two ships in close formation. Then it became apparent that it was in fact one ship with two saucers, connected to the top and bottom of the secondary hull. Then, the huge secondary hull emerged, complete with four Sovereign type warp nacelles, two above and two below, with two shuttlebays astern, above and below a larger landing bay, which connected to the launch bays located between the saucers. Phaser strips were mounted in pairs along the length of the secondary hull and singly under each saucer and the drive section, while ball turret phasers were located fore and aft. Three pairs of torpedo launchers were mounted along each side of the upper saucer, with two pairs similarly mounted on the lower, and a pair each mounted fore and aft. Surmounting the whole, illuminated just in front of the main bridge module, was the ship's name and number; USS Galactica, NX-80977.

"Good job Mason." said Archer as he looked out of the shuttlecraft's main view port. "You certainly can't tell from this angle."

"Thank you sir. I was worried we might not have enough holoemitters to cover the entire ship. I even ended up having to take some from sickbay."

"Sickbay?" said Archer, looking alarmed.

"Don't worry sir. The LMH is still functional. He just can't walk very far. I've left emitters in the main biobed area and the office. He can be transmitted from one to the other." This seemed to pacify the captain.

"Alright Mason, let's get aboard." Mason activated the shuttle's engines and headed towards the behemoth. But, as it reached the ship's hull, it passed right through to reveal the Spider, covered from stem to stern in holoemitters. As Mason guided the shuttle into the Spider's landing bay, Archer spoke.

"Mason, where did you come up with the name?"

"Galactica sir? Well, it was the name of a vessel in an entertainment from the 20th century, about a group of humans travelling through space, escorted by a vast warship called the Galactica, which was both battleship and carrier. I thought it was appropriate, since our ship is both a battleship and a carrier." Archer nodded, but said nothing. At that point, the shuttle thudded onto the deck of the shuttlebay. Waiting to greet them was Sorek.

"Status Mr Sorek?" asked Archer as he stepped of the shuttle's ramp.

"The Chief has, thanks to some highly illogical cross-connecting of various systems, been able to maintain full power while the emitters are functioning. He assures me that we will be able to maintain our disguise while at warp, although I am sceptical. I have therefore written a computer protocol that deactivates the disguise when warp drive is engaged, and likewise deactivates it when we slow to impulse."

"Good idea Sorek. Have it programmed into the computer immediately." As Sorek had been speaking, the three had left the shuttlebay and taken a turbolift to the bridge. "Mr Torek," said Archer as they emerged, "send a signal to the nearest Starfleet subspace receiver, coded using the Omega 21 system. Signal reads 'prototype super-dreadnought USS Galactica trapped behind Dominion lines. Attempting to effect escape. Will try and cause as much mischief as possible. Captain John Archer, USS Galactica.' Send that along with the specs Mr Mason has come up with."

"Aye sir." Archer looked at everyone, as they looked at him. Each, even Sorek in his Vulcan way, had a look of determination on his face.

"If that's everything, then Mr Mason, if you please, lay in a course that takes us somewhere near the Dominion. Maximum warp."

"Aye sir."

"Engage."

Veris strode onto the bridge of the Jusor clutching a PADD and went straight up to Tamek.

"Have you seen this?" the Vorta asked, thrusting the PADD in Tamek's face.

"Seen what?" responded Tamek.

"A huge prototype Federation war vessel is trapped behind our lines. The communications section just intercepted a signal it sent. Imagine it Tamek, the glory that would be ours if we were to capture or destroy such a vessel." Veris stared into the distance, before looking at the Cardassian. "I've received orders from the Founder herself. We are to pursue this threat with all speed and eliminate it. Prepare to leave orbit." The Vorta turned and strode off the bridge, with Tamek looking after him. Darick went up to his commander.

"Who is he to give you orders on the bridge of your own ship sir?" Tamek turned to his aide, with a grin on his face.

"I don't think our Vorta friend will be in a position to give orders for very long Darick. You see I knew about the intercepted signal, and saw it for what it was. It's more than likely the Founder did as well, if that's where the orders come from."

"What do you mean sir?"

"Neither the Founder nor Weyoun, nor any of the Cardassians advising them, are simple minded enough to be taken in by a signal using a code we broke months ago." "So..."

"So, either the Founder is covering herself against the possibility of war crimes charges over the lifeboat massacre should we lose the war by handing the Federation Veris. Or, Veris is getting orders from somewhere else, and that somewhere doesn't realise this message is a trick. Either way, he won't find what he thinks he's going to find, and that will be his undoing. So, in the meantime, prepare to leave orbit."

"Herr Kapitan, Herr Kapitan."

"What is it Patsdorff?" said Lindemann.

"Sir, we've just received a signal from another Federation ship. It's not far from here either."

"What ship?" Lindemann asked. Patsdorff picked up the PADD he had been using and handed it to his captain. "USS Galactica. I've never heard of it. Is the signal genuine?"

"Yes sir. It came in on a Starfleet transponder frequency, using a Starfleet code." Lindemann regarded his subordinate. Although Patsdorff would not get this excited without reason, it seemed unlikely that anyone in this area knew the Bismarck and its Task Group was there. So, why was the message directed at them?

"Send a message to Captain Langsdorf on the Tirpitz. Ask him to transport over; I need to speak with him."

"So, you received the message also?" Lindemann looked across the desk at the commander of the Tirpitz.

"Ja, at the same time you did. It seems that the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau did also. It may be that whoever sent this message simply directed it at a Starfleet receiver." Lindemann considered what Langsdorf had said.

"So, what do you suggest?"

"Put it this way Kurt. I'm not ready to die yet, but I don't like skulking around in asteroid fields. If this is genuine, it may provide us with an opportunity to get home. If not, then we'll take some Jem'Hadar with us. Either way, let's get out of this hole."

"Alright Hans, you've convinced me. We'll leave the asteroid field and go find this Galactica." Langsdorf nodded and rose from his seat.

"I'll return to the Tirpitz and await your order." he said before turning and leaving the room. Lindemann sat back in his chair and began to think. He considered the parallels between the situation he found himself in and that of his ancestor, who had commanded the battleship from which the Bismarck took its name. He too found his ship in hostile territory, with a numerically superior enemy around him. But then, he didn't have the opportunity to meet up with a friend three times his size, which might just scare the enemy into thinking twice. That was something else; how could Starfleet have kept a ship the size of this Galactica a secret for so long? While it had many features, there were none he could see that were worthy of it being classified Top Secret. He examined the transmission again. As far as he could see, the Galactica was little more than a super-sized Akira class carrier, with a lot of weapons emplacements. Although he agreed with Langsdorf that this presented an opportunity, Lindemann still had misgivings. Nevertheless, action was what he had promised, and so action was called for.

"Lindemann to bridge."

"Patsdorff here sir."

"Send a signal to the rest of the group. We move out in one hour."

Using the intelligence that was periodically dumped into the Spider's main computer from the updated Federation database, plus the data from the ship's own sensors, Archer had been able to build up a reasonable picture of the current tactical situation. As far as he could see, there were at least three groups of Federation and Allied ships within range of the Spider's sensors, which admittedly were limited. One was at the extreme range limit; it was so far in fact that he could not determine which ships they were, although from the faint power emissions, he thought one could be a Sovereign. Another group of transmissions were coming from the wrecks they had just left. This left a third group, smaller than the others, which just seemed to be sitting in the area of the Omega Epsilon system. 'Well', thought Archer, 'what we're planning hopefully won't need extra muscle.' He turned his attention to the estimated Dominion positions. From what he could see, the Dominion had a force of Task Groups spread across the line from the Cralor system to the Abagood Expanse. But, tellingly, there were gaps of open space between each group, and little support behind. 'Now then,' he thought, 'this could be interesting. If we can create enough havoc behind the Dominion, then they may well divert ships from somewhere else, leaving the line exposed.' The only problem was, he didn't have a Defiant class ship equipped with a cloaking device, which would have been ideal for the kind of havoc he envisaged. Instead, he had an underpowered, under armed Deneva class freighter, with Type VII phasers and not enough torpedoes. He would need to improvise something using whatever there was on board. He accessed the ship's inventory; as he flicked through page after page of materials, nothing he saw cried out 'chaos and mayhem'. Except perhaps...

"You want me to do what?" Mason Kranz gaped at Archer.

"I want you to get as many tricorders as it takes, and program each one to overload at a pre-set signal - make it different for each. Then, put one tricorder in each container of relasite."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"Then what?"

"Chaos and mayhem my friend, chaos and mayhem."

"Captain," said Sorek, "I'm detecting a group of warp signatures on an intercept course at extreme range." 'Not now damn it.' thought Archer. Then he considered more carefully.

"Stand by to come out of warp. I guess now's as good a time as any to see if the disguise can fool anyone. Just in case it doesn't, ready weapons. Red alert."

"Weapons standing by sir."

"Holoemitters fully charged. I am also transmitting our false warp signature."

"Very well, slow to impulse." The instant Mason Red touched the control, slowing the ship to impulse speed, the transformation began. The Spider shimmered as it re-entered normal space, at once becoming the mighty super-dreadnought prototype with, additionally, a squadron of fighters as escort. Barely a minute later, the group of warp signatures caught up with the Spider/Galactica, and they too re-entered normal space. But, because of the massive power usage caused by the holoemitters, all but the ship's most short-range sensors were blacked out, which meant they were still in the dark as to who the new arrivals were.

"We're being hailed." said Torek.

"On screen." The screen, which showed only four dots ('so there are only four of them. That's something I suppose.' thought Archer) suddenly changed, to show the image of a thin faced, aristocratic looking human wearing the uniform of a Starfleet captain, sitting in the captain's chair of what appeared to be an Ambassador class starship.

"This is Captain Kurt Lindemann of the Federation starship Bismarck. We have come to join your flag."

To Be Continued ...