Outer Zone by Peter Wildash TEASER VEKARIA, GOVERNMENT WORLD OF THE UNITED SYSTEMS OF QOVAKIA, THE OUTER ZONE. The planet's green-blue daytime, flecked with dark storm clouds, shone silently foreboding in the star-spangled blackness of space. Positioned beside it, smaller and silvery bright, the crescent of its heavenly counterpart in the Vekarian system. Beyond, as an almighty backdrop, the enormous density of the Milky Way galaxy. No-one had thought a place like Qovakia existed, wedged as it was between the border of the vast Tholian territory and the emptiness of intergalactic vacuum beyond. Qovakia - the edge of the galaxy itself, some 10 years' worth of uncharted expanse spilling out around the base of a spiral arm which arced out and around the Tholian empire for many light years and the Alpha Quadrant for even more. As Dean of Stellar Cartography at Starfleet Academy had begun to describe it to her most recent students, if the Milky Way galaxy were a squashed orange, Qovakia would be the skin running along part of the circumference, with a spiral arm erupting out of its mid point. Upon its discovery, Starfleet had been the first to give the region a name, calling it the Outer Zone. EARTH DATE: DECEMBER 22ND The Starfleet runabout Hudson made short work of travelling the distance between Vekaria and its moon. A low gravity piece of dead rock with negligible atmosphere, the moon hadn't merited a name for a long time after Vekaria's sentient inhabitants first noticed it rise into the night sky. It had simply been referred to in the same way as other developing M-class worlds with only one satellite: la lun, or the local equivalent. As civilisations formed on Vekaria, their understanding of the heavens grew, and soon Vekarians reached for the stars themselves - among the first to do so in this region. For the past century and a half, therefore, the moon had earned itself a name: Helub, the ancient Vekarian word for Trade. Historically speaking, Helub was the code-name of the first project on the moon two centuries ago - an edifice designed to attract other races with a beacon calling out to the stars currently beyond their reach, inviting a peaceful exchange of goods and information. The name stuck and had been used ever since to describe the Space Port that quickly built up around it and now engulfed two thirds of the surface. Helub had become the biggest free Space Port in all Qovakia; the Vekarian system, although situated close to the border of Tholian annexes, fell bang in the middle of preferred shipping routes within the allied territories. That border had, of course, recently moved. The Hudson descended toward the moon's surface, but veered away from the main concentration of the port and headed out toward the area where the surface was still relatively untouched. The runabout reduced speed and dived low to avoid approach and departure lanes overhead. She flew on thrusters at five metres, hugging the terrain, swerving from time to time to avoid jagged struts of rock and the occasional carcass of an over exerted spacecraft. On board, two humanoids stared intently through the forward window. Seated gracefully at the conn station was a handsome human male, classically chiselled and in his mid thirties. Choosing to wear glasses to improve his faintly weak eyesight rather than take medication gave him a studious, almost eccentric look combined with his smart Starfleet uniform. His squinting eyes were intent upon the horizon, only occasionally checking instrumentation for guidance. Beside him stood Re Lorken, a proud, sixty something native Vekarian and high ranking Qovakian official swathed in purple and blue robes pinned together with the familiar blue, gold and red badge of Qovakian office. She looked down at the younger man flying the runabout. He was calmer than earlier, she noted, and paused to drink in the silky fineness of his sandy-yellow hair and equally light colour of his brows and eyelashes. Most Vekarians had dark hair, though sometimes tonally coloured. The blonde officer had appeared intense and awkward when she first encountered him, but here she realised he was a focussed man with a physical beauty unlike most of the others of his kind. Though a studious, reserved type, she guessed, and wondered briefly at the possibilities of such a man's past. Re Lorken began to wonder about their trip. She felt tense and unprepared for the task ahead. There she had been earlier this morning, quietly observing the traditional Qovakian pomp of the induction proceedings to the Trade Conference with Visitor Representatives in the upper gallery of the Qovakian Senate in Vekaria's capitol. The main Senate floor below was crammed wall to wall with thousands of delegates and officials slowly shifting from limb to limb. Her aide had made a ruffling entrance during a quiet part of the commencement speech, causing some head-turns in the gallery, and rushed mouse-like towards Re Lorken with "a very urgent request from one of the Visitors". She had felt a brief moment of annoyance, mostly as it had been the first time in ages she had been able to sit without having to think about government business, just enjoying one of the privileges of high office witnessing such a resplendent and momentous occasion in Qovakian history. But looking into the contorted face of her nervous aide, the feeling, she reminded herself, was based on selfishness, and quickly dispelled. 'Visitors' had become the term adopted by Qovakians for the newcomers exiting the recently discovered ex-Tholian wormhole. 'Had it really only been three weeks since the discovery?' Re Lorken asked herself. It had felt like a lifetime. An all-frequency signal from Qovakian's violently isolationist Tholian neighbours had announced that a major catastrophe among their people had taken place, and there would consequently be an immediate retraction of the Tholian borders on all sides. According to subsequent Qovakian intelligence gathered over the ensuing days, it turned out the Tholians had suffered a massive epidemic of some kind, and left with a much reduced fleet, had tactically withdrawn to a more manageable area, laying down a new border. What had previously been Tholian was now free space for about twenty cubic light years on all sides. Within two days of the announcement, beyond Vekarian's old border, amid a field of asteroids in the new inclusion zone, eager scientists had stumbled across a stable wormhole leading to who knew where. But before the Qovakian government could advise how to proceed, several ships representing the Ferengi, the Federation and the Bajorans passed through to the Qovakian side to come face to face with the alert-ready scientists. Thankfully their intentions were peaceful, as the Vekarians found these aliens to be slightly superior in weaponry. Since then, it had been non-stop, with hundreds of transports crossing through the 'free' wormhole from both sides each week. Re Lorken and her many colleagues in the Qovakian government convened an urgent meeting to bring the 'polite invasion' to order. Still picking up the pieces from half a century of bitter occupation by a fierce military race, the Visitors' arrival could not have come at a better time, though the sheer volume of numbers arriving seemed daunting. The Qovakian officials quickly made plans to turn a potentially damaging situation around. They decided to allow all parties from the Other Side to join them at the negotiation table to bid for trade franchises, no matter who they were. They also were to agree on migration policy, and most importantly to establish agreements to utilise the more powerful military might of the Visitors' technologies in order to secure peace and stability for the future. The final battles of the rebellion had left Qovakia virtually defenceless, with few fighters left to ward off any major threat. Resources and manpower stretched, their fleet was a long way from being replenished. The Qovakian leaders also made the monitoring of Visitor activity a priority. Access to certain records were restricted, as was contact between Visitor representatives and Qovakian citizens. Fearful of a misguided judgement, they sought to manage the Visitors' understanding of the occupation and in particular events leading to the rebellion's conclusion. The price of victory had been high, and if the Visitors learned the truth too quickly, it was feared they would pull out from negotiations. But already the unplanned and extensive contact by general spacefarers with others amid the vast port of Helub had led to rumour and supposition about what had taken place. Thankfully, at such a stage of diplomatic negotiation, the Visitors were obliged to believe the official version of history, though in reality the Qovakian government knew it would only be a matter of time before the entire truth was revealed. Re Lorken knew the truth, but was sworn to secrecy on the pretence it would be better in the long term. She was not convinced, but amazingly so far had not heard of any Visitor representative questioning the rumours spreading amongst the civilians. Just one of over seven hundred Qovakian liaison officers assigned to Federation and non-Federation worlds and organisations from the Other Side, Re Lorken was known for her negotiating abilities in the Protocols Ministry of Qovakia. Her credentials among fellow Vekarians as a pacifist and her extensive role as spokesperson for her people to the enemy's military forces for most of her life led to her appointment as Government liaison specifically assigned to assist the Starfleet organisation. It was deemed her knowledge of dealing with a large alien military organisation would come in useful in this respect. However, on this occasion the relationship was pleasant. The Starfleet people seemed efficient enough to her, with high principles and strong codes of behaviour, though she failed to understand the conflicting range of humanity and science studies being carried out on primarily military ships. Not to mention the presence of families - something akin to the military race that had ruled Qovakia so completely, Re Lorken thought. Despite misgivings, she considered herself lucky - her close friend and associate No Burrah had been assigned to the Ferengi, and former college room-mate Kezup Me Nehaha to the Klingons, both of whom had related terrible stories of misunderstanding and confrontation with their guests - and they weren't alone. Though from what Re Lorken had seen, she secretly wished she had been assigned to the Romulans. They seemed charming. At the Trade Conference, Re Lorken's aide had led her rapidly into the corridor where two Starfleet men appeared to be arguing. She stopped for a moment to give them time to finish, taking the opportunity to remind her reportee to use the correct terms to differentiate between each of the Visitors. Judging by the way that most of them behaved, the Visitors held stereotypical misconceptions about each other that could lead to disagreement or even conflict. Some were even rumoured to be at war, she had heard, although at this stage she wasn't party to the political intelligence gathering taking place by the Qovakian secret service. Gesturing her aide away, Re Lorken walked over to the clipped, but just indiscernible exchange taking place between the two Starfleet personnel. She instantly identified one of the men as Yeoman Lirik, the terse diplomatic aide to the Federation delegates attending the Trade Conference, and he didn't seem to be happy with this other bespectacled man. As he gestured his frustration, Re Lorken could see the slight shimmer from the energy of the active environmental shield about Lirik's body. Leonard kept his distance, but wasn't shying away from saying his piece to the diplomat. As Re Lorken approached, Lirik withdrew with a polite smile and nod and the other man almost frantically introduced himself as Lieutenant Commander Leonard, Deputy Chief Engineer aboard the USS Draco. As Leonard walked Re Lorken hurriedly towards the docking bays, he explained that while on shore leave here, he had been reading through the Vekarian database of alien contact - non-classified records had been made available to all Visitors as a gesture of fraternity and candour by the Qovakian government. Leonard had come across references to several spacecraft, apparently in storage on the moon, and having engineering features concurrent with Federation technology. They were not named, but contained a catalogue number and brief technical spec - which, judging from the limited detail, came only from a visual survey of the exterior. Up until the discovery of the wormhole, the journey to Qovakia from the Alpha Quadrant directly across Tholian territory would have involved travelling 15,000 light years - and then only at the narrowest point. But of course the Tholians, being strict isolationists, would have destroyed anyone making such an attempt, so to go around the perimeter from the Federation to Qovakia would have taken at least 35 years. As the Lt Commander explained to Re Lorken, he was more than a little enthusiastic to be the first to take a look and determine if the vessels were indeed from back home. Leonard had bitten his bottom lip constantly as Re Lorken contacted the Vekarian Security Minister to gain approval for the journey to the storage facility on the moon. Suprisingly to her, it had been granted, although further instructions were to be issued to Re Lorken on departure. Reading the single order which had been personally scribbled by the Security Minister herself disturbed Re Lorken greatly, but she had smiled to Leonard as they entered the runabout Hudson that, she noted, had been used by Lirik to ferry the delegates to and from Vekaria. As he carried out pre-flight checks - mostly resetting customised defaults entered in by the annoying Yeoman - Re Lorken was intently listening to Leonard's frantic suppositions and sighing inwardly. She would rather have listened to the initiation ceremony. But as her instructions were to be as fully co-operative with Starfleet as possible, here she stood on the deck of the runabout heading for a little known and rarely visited bunker installation on the 'dead' side of the moon. "We should be very close now, Lieutenant Commander Leonard" Re Lorken referred to the map she carried, provided via matter transfer beam at lightening speed by the Helub Security Office. Leonard smiled, "Just Ottmar will do, Minister." "Then you should call me Re Lorken," she smiled in gentle reply. The Hudson's internal systems chirped an endorsement of Re Lorken's orienteering skill as they banked around a particularly large mount of rock and encountered a huge but lifeless construction of curvaceous proportions and high, sloping walls leading to a many-domed roof. Moon dust banks lapped unmoving against the sides of the building, and several window spaces were black and beckoning. The facility appeared to stretch back several kilometres. Leonard brought the runabout to a full stop and whistled; "You know in the Alpha Quadrant, this storage complex would dwarf many of our Starbases." Re Lorken smiled in accordance to diplomatic etiquette, though she had no idea what the man was talking about. Leonard sensed this, but before he could explain she changed the subject; "Your accent is unfamiliar to me, what is it?" "It's German," the man smiled again, and this time turned to her, flashing his too-white teeth and light blue eyes. Leonard found that when he smiled, most people tended to relax, even though he felt self conscious doing it. "You are Human, though?" Re Lorken was on diplomatic autopilot, her real attention had turned to the muted grey complex before her. She had never seen it up close before, but then being so short staffed and under-resourced since the 'success' of the rebellion, and dealing with the remaining occupation force, Vekarians had had little time to go exploring. Still, Re Lorken had just been informed of its purpose and it sent a chill down her spine to think she would be going inside. "Yes, I am Human and I am German. Germany, my nation of origin, is situated in Europe, an area on the continent of Asia," Leonard had dipped into condescending info-mode again, something his roommate Winston Winston had jibed him about through his entire time at the Academy: 'You swallowed a Vulcan, Lenny?' he used to laugh. "Ah, Earth. Yes. The Starfleet Command Headquarters are there, as is the Starfleet Academy," Re Lorken was pleased to talk about something she had memorised. "We need to find a land vehicle entrance because the main space doors have been sealed. I have the necessary codes to gain entry." Re Lorken scanned intently with her eyes. "Then you haven't been here before?" Leonard had assumed that a Minister representing Qovakia, especially one who had lived all her life on Vekaria, would be familiar with all facilities in and around the moon. "Oh no, this place has not been visited since Elequin Foradni, shortly after the rebellion's victory," Re Lorken reached for the ornate case which had been be beamed aboard by the Security corps shortly after departure, and removed a set of old films inscribed with coded language. "That was over four years ago," Leonard had picked up a little about Vekarian time measurements during his stay in the cosy comfort of a renowned Helub hotel. He guided the runabout slowly along the base of the building, adjusting sensors to hunt for a land vehicle entrance; "I can't believe all this has remained so untouched, so unexplored, for so long." Leonard couldn't quite make out this older woman; on the one hand she seemed uneasy with the situation, but on the other, she kept staring at him in the oddest way. In fact, the look she gave reminded him of his only (and aged spinster) aunt, Gertha. While he was a Starfleet Academy trainee, she had managed to transport into his parents' apartment in Cologne just about every time he had gone home to visit. She would always pinch his cheeks too hard and kiss him fully on the mouth, making him blush. Having made his parents giggle by her actions she would further embarrass him by enquiring after who he was kissing or how his love-making was coming along or talking about her own eventful life and past lovers. Aunt Gerty loved to put people on edge. As he thought this the voice of his Bronxian Academy roommate, Winston Winston popped into his head again; "What IS it with these older chicks?" Leonard had heard this phrase repeated over an entire day following the Senior Alumni Academy Ball during their final year in San Francisco together. He and Winston had managed to avoid the campus- wide pranks carried out by the retired female officers during the night, but they were nevertheless duly impressed by the outrageous and daring feats of the veterans. The saying had stuck and to their endless amusement was always used in communications between the two when talking about higher ranking female colleagues. Re Lorken had been talking while Leonard drifted: "Since then it has taken the Qovakian people all their time and all their resources to bring a sense of normality back into our lives. Leonard could feel that Re Lorken was not talking pat diplomatic speech now. He kicked himself for letting the voice of Winston Winston get in the way again - he was just one of those guys you couldn't get out of your head. Re Lorken was lost in thought, "There was so much to be done, so much to rebuild." "I didn't find much information about what happened during the occupation in the Qovakian databases," Leonard quizzed her, adjusting the sensors to account for the interference being given off by the strange composition of the palatial structure before them. Re Lorken gained composure slightly at this, "It's still being compiled - not enough resources and more important priorities, frankly. Our own records of the occupation itself are limited, of course. Mostly it's personal accounts. It's not something I want to remember, myself, much less read about." Re Lorken was using emotion to try and prevent Leonard from questioning further, but she suspected he would continue anyway. One thing she had learned about Starfleet types: they had an unquenchable desire for truth. "The race who had been in power??" Leonard prompted. "The K'Tani," Re Lorken hacked the name out in clear contempt. "What happened to them? If they had ruled so many light years of space, controlled so many planets and races, they must have been very powerful. It must have been a bloody war to get rid of them." Leonard was pushing her. He reminded himself that, for a society living under a cold-blooded regime for so long, there was surprisingly little evidence aside from weapons damage and newly constructed buildings that an occupying force had ever been there. "The K'Tani eventually spread themselves too thin. A rebellion force had chipped away at them for decades. In the end, they were overthrown by a ? combined effort of force. Most K'Tani died in battle at Merova aboard their vast fleet of battleships and stations. Only a handful survived and fled to the far quarters or beyond. Those captured were sterilised and interned for processing," Re Lorken waited for his predictable human reaction. "Sterilised??" Leonard turned to her in surprise. "The K'Tani had genetically improved their reproductive process to the point of having a short incubation period of only two weeks from conception to birth. That was how they attained control in the first place, by breeding in vast numbers and spreading throughout Qovakia." Re Lorken noticed Leonard's puzzlement. "I grew up on Vekaria. I'm one of the few who remember how it was before they came, and I'm proud to say I saw they day they were removed from power. I had been prominent among my people as an aggressive spokesperson. I was among the group who formed the interim government when we regained power. Sterilisation was the first thing we did to all those captured." Leonard regarded the Vekarian differently now. He reminded himself of his first year training in security at the Academy - Lieutenant Tuvok had repeatedly pitted seemingly unbelievable characters against his class during holotraining. All had appeared harmless, yet all had been at best untrustworthy, and at worst deadly. Yet such radical measures against the K'Tani were understandable after a lifetime of oppression, he thought. "We wanted to do worse, but refused to stoop to their level," Re Lorken continued. "Some K'Tani faced trial, but most were imprisoned on Cell Ships in the Moriban Nebula. They were a military race from top to bottom, you see, everyone performing a role, playing their part. Just following orders. It seemed as if there was no individual or single group who took responsibility. " "But there must have been a leader or a figurehead? Someone who issued the orders?" Leonard was beginning to pick up a faint reading and shunted the runabout forward to take a look. Re Lorken shook her head, "They were too highly organised, split into Divisions, Sectors, Quadrants, Regiments ? Platoons and Units. Each of them only knew their immediate superiors and surrounding colleagues. There never seemed mention of any one very high up in authority. You see, understanding their military hierarchy is to understand their entire society, as they are one in the same. Everyone plays a part from the youngest to the oldest; it's their way of life. To this day we still don't fully much about their society. Just its purpose," Re Lorken paused for dramatic effect, "to invade and assimilate." Leonard skipped a heartbeat, "Like the Borg." "The who?" Re Lorken could see the glimmer of fear in his piercing eyes. Leonard gave her a half smile; "Trust me, you're better off not knowing." The engineer made several fine-tune adjustments to the sensors. "If the K'Tani were so powerful, so great in number, how were they ever overthrown-?" but Leonard was cut short by Re Lorken's dramatic cry. "There!" she shouted. "I see an entrance. Configure an infrared beam to the following coded shapes and signal configuration." Re Lorken handed Leonard a plastic sheet of ornate designs, each having an apparently numerical equivalent. Leonard placed the sheet onto the runabout scanner and entered his computations into the beam controls, "Computer, scan the cell and apply code references to an infrared beam to the following signal configuration." "Ready." The computer voice said. "Begin transmission," Leonard watched his controls affirm the transmission, but nothing immediately happened. He was about to re-send when a square section of the wall in front slid upwards. Leonard swept the dark hole with sensors and studied the readings carefully. Moon dust billowed slightly as the entrance lifted. Using the directional sensors, he could make out a ten metre conduit leading to an inner pressure door, just big enough for the runabout to enter. Leonard skilfully guided the Hudson in. Re Lorken sat down in the co-pilot seat, pulling the ornate case onto her lap. She placed a decorative headband over her blue-purple permed hair and discretely checked her wrist-mounted sensor bracelet to check the device on her head was recording efficiently then glanced at Leonard. The Lieutenant Commander appeared to have thought nothing of her actions; presumably not aware of the disguised security devices she carried with her, she noted silently. Re Lorken reached a hand over to the communication panel, surprising Leonard. She paused at his reaction. "May I use your communicator?" "Of course, Minister," Leonard was wondering whether she had been briefed on the layout of Starfleet controls or whether she had logically surmised the panel configuration. "This is Minister Re Lorken aboard the Starfleet runabout Hudson," she licked her lips and waited. A soft voice replied, "This is Security Minister At Arin, go ahead." "We are now entering Storage Facility Orlega one, expected duration?" she turned to Leonard, brows raised. "About four hours?" Leonard suggested. Re Lorken blinked impassively. "Expected duration thirty minutes." "Acknowledged, Runabout Hudson, thirty minutes from mark." Leonard could feel his face flushing at the blatant put-down and wondered at the extra precaution of timing their visit. Re Lorken smiled again, "I have a busy schedule to keep, Commander." As the Hudson came to a halt inside the small conduit, Leonard activated the external lights. The wall panel to the rear automatically closed off the exit behind them and almost immediately the pressure door in front of them split apart. The conduit continued on for a short distance in front of them, then dropped away to either side, phasing out onto the floor of a significantly larger internal space, much like a mega sized hanger. By the lights of the runabout, which didn't have much effect, Leonard could make out a very large, far off black object hanging in mid air beyond the widening gap before them. Was it some sort of starship? Leonard asked himself. As the doors disappeared further into their housings, the black shape in the distance got larger and larger. Leonard began to see it was indeed the outer hull of an object before him; he identified portholes, the outline of hull panels beneath a strange, pitch-like surface. There were also more conventional windows, and a lot of them on the upper decks. It was strangely built, a conglomerate of designs, and Leonard wanted to see more. Manoeuvring thrusters only, Leonard guided the runabout out of the conduit into the open space. There was more than just one ship here - many more, all suspended some distance off the hangar floor. Pilot lights winked on high up in the roof as the runabout skimmed slowly across the floor causing Re Lorken to gasp. The dim light cast many shadows off the hangar's many contents. "We must have tripped some sort of automatic power-up sequence," Leonard guessed. The hangar reminded Leonard of one of the holoprograms Winston Winston used to play repeatedly in off-time. It was the one based on the 20th century futuristic genre celluloid entertainment film called Alien. This hanger was probably bigger than the inside of the alien vessel in that film, but equally felt like massive caverns carved out of fossilised material of ornate design which twisted off in other directions hundreds of metres distant. Here there were not thousands of eggs, but thousands of vessels suspended in the vacuum of the hangar. They were of many designs and in various states of disrepair. Many gave indiscernible or wild readings as the runabout sensors were bounced around off the alien hulls. At least he had detected no signs of alien life, he thought. The biggest object in view seemed to be this black, glistening hull in front of them that swept off beyond their vision to either side and upwards some thirty decks - it was massive; long and almost cylindrical in shape. Using conventional viewer enhancers, Leonard traced along the hull, noticing some of its more recent fate - large pockmarks and the odd breach which had been covered up with what looked like makeshift panelling. The damage must have been uncomfortable for the crew at the time. There was similar patching where equipment had been removed, but rear-positioned warp nacelle housing on this side was closed and seemed intact, at least. This old bird had certainly been through the wars, Leonard thought. High above the aft to his right, Leonard could make out the uppermost level of a turret, presumably housed on her top deck which, taking into account the logic behind the design, should have been flat. Then it had dawned on him. He couldn't believe it, but having a passion for famous and infamous spacecraft of the past, Leonard knew exactly what she was. Aside from this strange black coating which had at first thrown him, the length and shape was unmistakable. "This is a Federation ship, Re Lorken," Leonard was excited but astounded. He punched up the onboard Starfleet database. "The SS Fantasy, formerly a luxury passenger liner ? succession of owners ? last listed as the property of the Genoise Proprietary, a legitimate business funded by the Orion Syndicate. Her final position was logged in Federation territory, near to New Fabrinia making deliveries of various goods to the historical preservation and exchange depot on Verigan 6. It never arrived, listed as lost without trace." "Fascinating," the Minister was clearly bemused. Leonard took another general look about the hanger walls again; there was something not quite right. "Am I mistaken, or is the architecture here different to that which I have seen around Helub and on Vekaria?" Leonard noticed the efficient power supply lines and uniform yet organic design. "No," Re Lorken stood and gave a slow visual scan of the surroundings, "you are not mistaken. This was built by the K'Tani." Leonard had begun to think as much by Re Lorken's actions and words. He supposed that being here was no worse than being aboard Deep Space 9 after the Cardassians had left. Re Lorken picked up an archive report and read from it. "After we had secured Helub for safe habitation following the final defeat of the K'Tani at Merova, Qovakian security carried out a rapid and extensive reconnaissance of all facilities. This one was visited twice, once to ensure its safety, and another to carry out an inventory check. It was deemed low priority in the general scheme of things to be done, and in fact?" Re Lorken checked the files again, "?is not due for a thorough examination for another seven months, by your chronology. " Leonard didn't quite understand this, Re Lorken noted; "We've been very busy." The runabout squeaked a warning causing them both to jump. Leonard checked the flashing readout on his sensor and tactical panels. "A forcefield is forming above us, underneath the spacecraft stored here. It's covering the entire complex. Now an atmosphere and gravity envelope underneath," Leonard compensated his flight controls accordingly, "another automated system. It seems that from ground level to ten metres there are habitable conditions. Above it's still zero g and vacuum, perfect for storing spacefare. Now that's fascinating." Leonard steered the runabout along the floor of the cavernous hanger until he came to one of several groins protruding from the inner most walls. He located a doorway, presumably leading to control and administration rooms and, he hoped, engineering rooms. He lowered the runabout and cut engines, then following standard procedure, opened a hailing frequency to the temporary Starfleet Command Headquarters in the spaceport. "Commander Leonard to Starfleet Headquarters, may I speak with Commodore Jackson?" Static replied. Leonard ran an analysis. "Strange. The structure is causing unusual communications interference." Re Lorken nodded, "The K'Tani experimented with a variety of new materials to shield themselves from sensors without the use of energy fields. Some of their constructions could cause sensor interference or reflect communications." "The K'Tani were powerful AND hard to find? I'm beginning to be amazed at their defeat," Leonard made some mental comparisons to the Romulans - theirs was a military culture, too. He called a Yellow Alert in his head. "I want to take a look around, care to join me?" Re Lorken froze in her seat. "I don't think it would be safe, Leonard. Surely a visual survey will suffice?" "You'll be fine," Leonard clipped a phaser and tricorder to his belt. "You said yourself this place was cleared as secure and has been empty for years. Besides, " Leonard offered a hand, "I will need your help in analysing what I find." Reluctantly Re Lorken took his large, strong-fingered hand. It was her duty to go anyhow, so she had no choice. Leonard and his tricorder were as one when the runabout outer door retracted. Stepping out into the oxygen rich atmosphere made Re Lorken reel slightly. "Oh, my!" Leonard steadied her, then reached back inside the runabout grabbing a small medical kit. He retrieved a hypo and selected the appropriate solution cartridge. "Here," he injected himself then Re Lorken, "this should help compensate for the high oxygen atmosphere." "Thank you, Ottmar," the Minister was putting a brave face on the situation, Leonard could tell. Standing underneath the multifarious vehicles, the hangar seemed even vaster now. The multi-recessed roof must have been at least three hundred metres high. Leonard walked to the hatch, scanning all the time and running routine analysis in his head, but Re Lorken did not follow him. Something else had grabbed her attention. Nearing the access, Leonard turned, sweeping his tricorder in a 360 degree arc. Readings were still indeterminate, though he could eyeball cable connections and some gangways attached to some of the vessels, including the SS Fantasy. Re Lorken had stopped some distance away, staring at something. Leonard decided to leave her alone, thinking this could be a difficult moment for her. He paced over to beneath the Fantasy, looking up at her enormous bulk safely parked above. He noted the many bay doors along the port and starboard underside. These would have accommodated passenger vehicles during its many voyages, Leonard recalled. The tar-like surface was not part of its original design, however. In its day, the liner was a gleaming white, like a spacebound albino whale of gargantuan proportions. If anything, the surface had been applied later, and appeared to have similar properties to the hangar walls, though the tricorder readings were unclear. He would have to wait for a closer analysis. Turning around, he saw Re Lorken had not moved. Tricorder still running, he jogged over to where she stood, head hung low. As he slowed, he saw something sticking out of the ground in front of her - a large piece of colorful cloth, charred and ripped at the edges had been staked to the thick metal floor by a long, elegant, ornately carved spear. It was the strangest site. The cloth reminded Leonard of a flag design, though the curves, lines and ellipses that made up the design were unfamiliar. The spear appeared older, carved with strange creatures, and apparently made out of wood. The scene before them was symbolic to say the least. "What is it?" Leonard saw that Re Lorken had removed her headband and dropped it to the floor. She looked distraught. "It is the K'Tani flag of Invasion. It hangs wherever they claim ownership." Leonard scanned the objects with his tricorder. "I know this flag may look old, Minister, but if these readings are correct the flag was manufactured less than a month ago." Re Lorken didn't react. Instinctively, Leonard drew his phaser and scanned once more for lifeforms. He continued his analysis; "The spear is much older, perhaps several hundred years I'd say. Amazing, although the spear is made of a sufficiently hard metal, there are traces of humanoid tissue imbedded in part of the surface at an angle concurrent with the trajectory of impact." He translated in plain language; "It's as if the spear was thrust into two inches of solid metal floor by a human hand." Re Lorken was beginning to look worried, but remained silent. Leonard was trying to work it out. "Minister, is the spear K'Tani as well?" Re Lorken shuddered. "No," she murmured, "it is a Challenge Stick, a symbol of retribution used by the Ore." *** ACT 1 SECTOR KAPPA NINE NINE SIX OF FREE TERRITORY, FORMERLY THOLIAN SPACE IN THE ALPHA QUADRANT EARTH DATE: DECEMBER 22, 16:00 hours A larger than average Ferengi Pod, bronze-burnished and dripping with tacky add-ons, pumped a steady warp two through the new Free Territory bordering Tholian space. In its tiny lower deck, amid an oil and orange hued excuse of a cabin, a thirty something Starfleet officer slept as a slender, bony hand reached through the open hatch and extracted his personal holdall. The name badge stamped onto the holdall read 'Christian, S.L.I., Commander', though there were scratch marks over the last word. In the low bunk, the officer shifted slightly, pulling the threadbare rug across his back, his stupor restless but deep. Inside Christian's mind, he dreamt of the fateful celebration that had taken place only a month ago. He hadn't been there in person, though had intended to be - an incident with the Cardassians saw to that. Because of this, he had missed his parents' celebratory 8000th performance, suitably acted out upon the infamous stage of the Theatre Imperial in Jeuneaux, capitol of the New Paris Colony of Napoleon, where the two had first met. On the grand and cavernous mock-Broadway style stage, the post-performance party was swinging, with pulsing party lights and music, but Christian was puzzled as to why he was here. He reminded himself this was only a dream, and felt sick at the thought of what was to come. He wanted to leave, to wake up, but he couldn't. As he thought of escape, Counsellor Skorran appeared beside him. The Deltan's very appearance was soothing, but his words were firm: "Don't resist your dreams, Commander, they are your unconscious path to peace." He'd said as much to Christian back aboard the USS Venture. But the words didn't help him then or now. He was perspiring, heart racing, his parents were nowhere to be seen and he felt the urgent need to find them. There were Starfleet top brass mingling about the stage area, along with several Federation dignitaries visiting the colony, actors, dancers and crew, some of whom Christian had known since he was a boy accompanying his parents' troupe on their tours. As he pushed through the crowd he overheard snippets of conversation complementing his parents' performance: "Their choice to perform The Taming of The Shrew on their Anniversary was quite aptly an 'omage to their wildly turbulent courtship." "With two such ? elderly actors playing the leading roles, it gave the play a whole new edge, don't you think?" "Have you seen the Christians' Anthony and Cleopatra? It's truly primal." "Do you remember that time they did 'The Shrew on Vulcan? Talk about over their heads." Pushing through a clump of alien musicians, chattering and clucking to each other, Christian finally found his parents, holding hands as usual and politely holding court. They were delighted to see him: "Son, you made it. We thought you were stuck on your ship, light years away." "How's my favourite Executive Officer? Not got himself a Woman or a Ship yet, I see?" Christian laughed, his parents were very fond of him, and he missed them when he was away for too long. Ordinarily he would have thought of a witty response, but again reminded himself that this was only a dream, and he was but an observer. Suddenly, behind his parents, a blue-white flash of electrical discharge was accompanied by a scream and scuffling. The crowd parted quickly, and Christian saw a steel blue Medusan casket laying broken on the charred wooden boards of the stage, energy crackling about its main systems and a very obvious gash in its casing. His parents stood motionless, staring at the now twinkling casket as the crowds, shielding their eyes, fled into the wings in blind panic. Silently, a figure dressed in black from head to toe came out of the stage floor in front of Christian, blocking his view. Before he could respond, or move the strange character out of the way, the faceless figure seized him by the shoulders and dragged him off the stage and into the auditorium. His parents began to scream, but didn't move. Christian couldn't stop his legs from moving back, and his mouth was an open vacuum of empty sound as he got further away from his parents standing alone on the stage. The Medusan entity began to seep from its casket, bright, sparkling with such intensity that the colour and light filled the entire house. Christian's parents were now silent, rooted to the spot, unable to resist looking at the hideous energy creature. He tried to call out to them, but could only shed a single tear. His mother fell convulsing to the floor, and it was only her action that caused his father to wrench himself away, covering his eyes and swaying over his wife - driven mad by the Medusan effect. Christian struggled against the shrouded figure, but the grip was unbreakable. He turned away from his father and looked into his assailant's black visage. As he stared into the figure's infinite face, still trying to wrestle free, tiny sparkles of Medusan energy appeared from within, crackling where his eyes should have been. Christian found the energy eyes irresistible, almost beautiful. But they did not affect him, as they should have. It seemed with this character the Medusan energy had no effect on him, almost as if the figure did not wish him harmed. Realising that his own mind wouldn't be taken, that he would not be joining his parents in their fate, Christian could only flop into the faceless figure's chest and sob at his loss. Christian slowly came into consciousness, his clothes soggy from sweat and tears rolling down his cheeks. It had been another vicious nightmare. Counsellor Skorran had said they would continue to flourish until he had truly put the whole experience behind him, but that would take time. Counsellors were always so smugly accurate in their diagnosis, but living it, Christian felt, was another matter entirely. Christian had tried hard to come to terms with the reality of what had happened to his parents, but he freely admitted to Skorran that he held much anger toward the Medusan delegation for their part in the 'accident'. He felt his loss could not be more unjustified. A badly maintained power regulator had caused a malfunction in the anti-grav of the casket. Coupled with the particular angle in which the casket fell, the faulty component had caused the power overload and the resulting explosion which ruptured the casket and released the unwitting alien. His parents hadn't realised what had occurred until it was too late and they were mesmerised by energy form of the Medusan. Christian's mother had died almost immediately. Metaphorically stated by the New Paris pathologist in his clearly apathetic coroner's log, her brain had been "fried to a crisp." That was yet more pain to add to his already gut-wrenching bereavement. Seeing security logs from the overhead sensors in the ceiling of the theatre's auditorium had helped Christian to acknowledge their deaths, but somehow, with them being on the stage like that, it had just seemed like another performance to him. The realisation that it had been real, the pain, the horror of it all, had come to him later, one night, when he had wondered the corridors of the Venture naked, asleep, and crying out for his parents. Embarrassment to add to his suffering. The thoughts continued to upset him when alone in bed at night. Immediately after the incident, Christian's father had been transferred to the orbiting USS Intrepid where the Vulcan team of medics, said to be the best in the field of mental illness among Starfleet's medical personnel, spent three long days making their diagnosis. The Medusan entity, Korlan, had been safely retrieved from the theatre by automatons, and was reported devastated by the incident. Messages of condolence from Korlan via Medusan representatives on the Federation Council to Christian had later been returned unviewed. He had also filed an official complaint against the Medusan delegation and the technicians on the New Paris Colony responsible for maintaining their equipment. In truth, they were unsatisfying attempts at retribution on Christian's part. All he got in return were official reports as to what happened, and apologies from the parties involved with an indictment that such an incident would not happen again. Empty promises for his grief. Although Christian, still aboard the Venture, had been informed of the incident and reviewed all the reports, the Cardassians continued to delay his flight to his father's aid. In his absence, the crew of the Intrepid continued to try and reach some part of his father's mind, even travelling to the permanent facility orbiting Medusa, where a seemingly ancient blind human telepath gave a more detailed assessment of his father's condition. The verdict: he was beyond disjointed - aware, but not able to communicate. There was nothing she in her infinite experience or anyone else could do. By the time Christian finally made a rendezvous with the Intrepid on its return to the New Paris Colony, his father was comfortable, but held in restraints. Doctor K'Pa, CMO aboard the Intrepid, described his father's condition as being like standing on one side of a vast lake, only vaguely aware of what was on the other side, but unable to see it clearly, much less get there. In between were many veils of consciousness, each with their own imagery, causing his perceptions to be distorted. Physically speaking, his father was fully functional, could even perform certain reflex tasks to seeming perfection, but mentally he just wasn't all together. On K'Pa's recommendation, a short leave of absence (for his own state of mind as much as anything) took Christian and his father to the planet Elba II. Christian was at first reluctant to put his father among criminally insane life forms from around the galaxy, but when he realised the secure facility holding the criminals was on the other side of the planet, he felt happier. Nine thousand kilometres away from the underground fortress, on the sheer face of a spectacular mountain with magnificent views, a huge care facility and research establishment had been constructed as a home for the mentally ill. It was somewhere for treatment, care and in some cases even cure. The nurses and doctors were excellent, many from the Starfleet Medical Corps, and having spent nearly two weeks on extended leave there, Christian felt comfortable leaving his father in their hands, and ready to return to active duty. His father's nurses promised to keep Christian informed on a weekly basis wherever possible and Christian found that reassuring. During the last afternoon he spent on Elba II with his father, Christian received shocking new orders. Instead of returning to the USS Venture as Executive Officer, a post he had been in for only six months, he was to be transferred via Starbase 27 and the USS Enterprise to a command position aboard the Firefly, a science vessel currently assigned to the newly discovered Outer Zone. Out of the blue, he had made Captain. He cried as he told his father the good news, but all the old man could do was drool and manage a half smile. Before he left, Christian promised his father he would do his parents proud, and that he would return to visit him at the earliest opportunity. The journey to Starbase 27 on the Runabout Solent had felt long and uneventful, giving Christian time to read up on the data gathered so far on Qovakia. As he waited on Starbase 27 for onward passage, Christian made several communiqués to his friends and to his father. Aboard the USS Enterprise, Christian had only the briefest of meetings with Captain Picard, who congratulated him with a warm handshake and immediately proceeded to talk about Christian's unusual childhood and his own love of Shakespeare. Clearly Picard had fleetingly read Christian's resume and picked a subject to ease the flow of the meeting he was obliged to have with another of equal rank. Christian wished he had chosen another subject. The conversation for some reason, perhaps because of the unusual setting, had brought Christian embarrassingly close to tears, reminding him of his parents, and he suspected Picard had realised a faux pas as he cut the meeting short. Counsellor Troi had dropped by his quarters repeatedly after that day to drag him away to a variety of events. Spending time with her was okay, but he preferred his women a little less ? emotional. But Christian did have some quality time with La Forge one evening. Geordi had been his junior at the Engineering school by three years and was an equal in the field of warp theory. Christian had made the transfer from engineering to command just four years ago, and found himself missing his old engine rooms when hearing about La Forge's adventures. Back in the humming, and spicy smelling cabin, Christian rubbed his face and carefully rose to a crouch. Stepping through the hatch into the closet-sized access corridor, he almost hit his head on the multifarious amounts of curious and mostly tasteless memorabilia strung up on the ceiling. Trophies and souvenirs of the owner's travels, no doubt. Something didn't feel right; he turned and looked through the hatch, noticing his holdall was missing. 'That damned Ferengi?' he thought. Christian inwardly cursed for the umpteenth time in 48 hours. Not more than a day ago he was lying in the comfort of his resplendent temporary quarters aboard the Enterprise, reading up the specs on the small, but amazing Firefly science vessel and downloading the personnel files of his interesting new crew to his personal padd. Then an urgent priority reassignment of the Enterprise left Christian dumped onto the Starfleet Communications Relay at Epsilon XIV, transported there hurriedly and unceremoniously at near-warp. The Relay served a dual purpose, its subsidiary function being a regional base for Starfleet and local patrol vessels. It was light years from anywhere and weird looking. The communications array formed the largest part in the form of two hexagonal 'wings' attached to a central column tapered at either end. At one apex was a large, donut shaped module containing storage silos and secure holding cells and at the other, a clump of cube shaped modules containing administration and operations centres, accommodation and support services sections and, slung underneath, a refuelling and external repairs turret. It was basic to say the least, and its personnel the isolationist, rugged types you tended to find opting for this remote kind of posting. Relay Commander Troppa didn't like Christian and didn't hide her feelings about it. She seemed against him from the moment he fell off the transporter, posting him the smallest and oldest of quarters next to the constantly whirring and 'plopping' reprocessing plant and being uncooperative concerning his onward passage to the Outer Zone. Perhaps it was that he had been granted a command at a relatively young age. Perhaps she didn't like humans, or Americans ? or men. Christian didn't much care, and pestered her office repeatedly for news concerning his transport. Three long days later, in the middle of the night, Troppa had awoken him saying she had managed to arrange his onward passage and would he meet her in the shuttle bay for immediate departure. Christian didn't stop to wash or put on underclothes, he pulled his uniform and boots on roughly and grabbed his holdall - he had refused the temptation to unpack, and took pleasure in hitting the shuttle deck less than two minutes after the Commander's message. Looking at his onward carriage, he couldn't believe his eyes. An oversized Ferengi Pod, clearly double decked, sat pointing towards space. The shuttle bay doors were housed, revealing the nebula beyond, a passive forcefield holding the bay atmosphere in place. The Commander was almost smiling as a security officer exited the turbolift and led a rough looking character, handcuffed, and still half asleep towards them. Christian saw that the offender had Ferengi parentage, though he looked more human than he did Ferengi; a tall man, with long, fine hair covering what head bumps might be there, and small lobes that swept into the man's temples without forming heavy ridges. His nose had faint markings where there would have normally been scaling, and he had almost piercing green eyes. Then the smell hit Christian, a heady aroma of stale alcohol, which matched this man's unkempt hair, unshaven face (this half Ferengi even had the makings of a beard - was that chest hair Christian could see?) and well worn customised leather apparel. A man could not look more renegade if he tried, Christian thought. As the security officer unbound the yawning, unfocussed man, the Commander had made a short speech: "This is Rebbik, a ? 'trader' ? and pilot for hire in these parts. We brought him in on minor smuggling charges yesterday. You are in a hurry to reach the Outer Zone and I really can't be bothered with the paperwork for this felon, so I've decided to waiver his penalties on the condition that he ferry you through the Tholian wormhole to Qovakia." She turned on her heel to leave. "In this?! But it could take days?" Christian almost pleaded. The Commander paused only to smile slightly wider, "Two days, I reckon. But don't worry, Commander, you'll be quite safe. Bored, but quite safe." With that she had bounded out accompanied by her stooges. Christian flushed red. He had forgotten to put his extra pip on his uniform, leaving himself wide open to a departing jibe from Troppa. He turned to the strange man who grinned stupidly and offered his hand. Christian rolled his eyes, ignoring the offer of acquaintance and walked toward the pod's entrance, noticing the customisation Rebbik had made to his ? ship. Rebbik was obviously very proud of his vessel, Christian thought, as for two hours after departure he constantly hammered on about all the close scrapes he had been in. Christian admitted to himself the man did seem to be a competent pilot, and certainly used his skill as a technician and engineer to customise what would have been a standard issued vessel into something slightly better. Yet his constant bragging, most of which was probably exaggerated, and the scratching and belching forced Christian below; this was going to be a very long journey. As Christian climbed the short ladder rungs toward the upper deck, he could hear Rebbik sniggering and coughing as he watched and listened to Christian's log entries from his personal padd. "Do you Mind?" Lunging into the cockpit area, Christian snatched the padd off the young man and kicked his legs off the vacant co-pilot seat. He noticed Rebbik had got most of the way through a bottle of Saurian brandy and was frowning in inebriated annoyance. "Hey, what you kick me for?" Rebbik was drunk all right, Christian thought. "You," Christian fought for the words, knowing the man would only understand something basic in his state, "are ? in Big trouble." Rebbik paused, then his face contorted into almost painful hysterics, ones that wouldn't stop for a minute or two. "Oh, jeez?" Christian murmured to himself and cast his eyes in defeat. But there was no relief there from the pictures of naked couples in a variety of poses plastered there. He closed his eyes in controlled disgust, seemingly making Rebbik ha and haw even more. Rebbik continued to splutter and choke for breath, before shaking his head and quietening down, "Man, you make me laugh. Oh, dear?" As Rebbik wiped a tear, Christian frowned at the readings he had begun analysing on the pod's flight control panel. He hit a few buttons for confirmation, causing Rebbik to become annoyed. "You idiot!" Christian couldn't believe it; "We're light years off course and ? oh my God, we're in Tholian territory!" "No, no no," Rebbik smiled again, shaking his head, "you mean we're in free territory that USED to be Tholian space." "No, I mean you're the worst pilot I've ever had the misfortune of meeting." Rebbik needed no further prompting as his eyes checked the readouts. Spurting out a particularly descriptive curse he was a crazed man over the flight controls, flipping the pod on its side as he turned it around and headed back toward free space at maximum warp. A warning chirp worried Christian. "What?" "Ah," Rebbik's hands were lightening fast with the familiarity of his ship's systems, but still the man found the courage to play down the situation, "just a couple of Tholian patrol vessels closing on us. Nothing to worry about." "Oh, great," Christian slumped back in his seat, folding his arms. He waited a couple of heartbeats, a seeming eternity as Rebbik floored the accelerator and kept the ship steady on course. The warning signal chirped again. And again. And again. Christian couldn't take it any longer; "Time to free space?" "Ah? just two minutes?" Rebbik tapped a couple of buttons, "and before you ask, they'll be within firing range in about one and a half." Although his voice seemed clear and controlled, Christian could see the man had begun to perspire. Christian had been in a similar situation twice before himself, once aboard the Shuttlecraft Panama in battle simulations around Saturn's rings, and once aboard a Lethean scoutship in the neutral zone. In both cases the ships were in dire situations and in both cases his actions to either take control or assist the pilots in their work had done nothing more than interrupt their concentration and cause more problems and tension. Christian had vowed not to interfere a third time. Christian sat on his hands as his tension rose, and couldn't help make a suggestion. "Open a channel to them," he said. Rebbik scoffed; "You know they wont' listen." "Just do it!" Christian was tensing up and took a deep breath to relax. "We should at least try, stall for time." Rebbik hit the autotransmit but it wasn't acknowledged. "Think about it, we're running away from them well inside their borders! I don't think stalling for time is an option." Though that gave Rebbik an idea. Christian had sat forward now, hands gripping the console but resisting the temptation to operate controls, mulling over their limited options. "They're trying to lock weapons," Christian reported. Rebbik was still calm, which seemed more than a little strange to Christian; "I'm going to try something." As the half-Ferengi brought several redundant systems on-line, Christian watched, trying to follow his actions to work out what he intended to do. It seemed Rebbik was setting the structural integrity field for a big overload, and the engines to reinitialise at emergency speed after stalling. "Ah? is that such a good idea?" Christian knew that when performing such a dangerous manoeuvre in anything less than a starship it was touch and go whether the inertial dampners would come on-line before the vessel jumped to warp. Rebbik ignored his question and activated the rear viewer on the panel below Christian; "Tell me when they fire their torpedoes." Christian looked at the man beside him in disbelief, then at the viewer in front of him as the images of the arrow head shaped ships closed in. He was conscious of swallowing hard. Suddenly there was a flash from each vessel. "Torpedoes away!" Christian shouted. "Hang on!" Rebbik throttled back and spun the Pod into a tight reverse corkscrew, cutting engines. The ship gave a deafening groan and systems popped and sparked all around them. Both missiles overshot their target and exploded into two balls of energy webbing a few hundred metres in front of them. The Pod's systems flickered back on line. The Tholians had to swerve quickly to avoid collision with the Pod, giving Rebbik time to jump to warp. In less than a minute, and in one piece, they were out of range and in free space. When they were safely over the border and sure of no pursuers, Rebbik slowed the pod to a halt. "Don't tell me, I know. That was really stupid." "Actually," Christian was still aware of the man's inebriation, even if he was more alert now, "that was an act of war. We're damned lucky we weren't blown into space dust." "I suppose you are going to report me for this?" Rebbik seemed pathetic to Christian in this state. Christian laughed at the man's incredulity. "What do you think?" Christian held back his anger, despite the urge to pop him one. But he knew damn well that he couldn't report Rebbik for the incursion without facing a reprimand of his own. As far as Starfleet regulations went, simply by being on board he would be considered an accessory to the incident. Then again, he thought, he didn't have to let Rebbik know that. Finally he felt it was time to take charge. "I'm laying in a revised course for the wormhole. Taking in our minor detour, we should be there in ?" Christian slumped, "? about sixteen hours." Christian reached across the tense man entering instructions into the pilot's console and realised for the first time that Rebbik was probably only a few years younger than himself. "Why don't you go below and sober up." Rebbik didn't answer. He stood and ducked back through the hatch toward the galley and head in the rear. He stopped on the other side of the hatch to say, "For what it's worth, I'm? ah?, I'm sorry, Captain." Christian suddenly realised he still hadn't put his extra pip onto his uniform. Rebbik must have discovered he had been promoted through reading his padd and he thought it odd that this character would be apologising - much less give recognition to his official rank. 'Must be the Human in him,' thought Christian, 'that or the Saurian brandy, of course.' *** STORAGE FACILITY ORLEGA ONE, HELUB, 16:30 hours "Re Lorken, did you hear me? I said who are the Ore?" Leonard wasn't sure who Re Lorken was most afraid of, the K'Tani or these Ore people. The Minister just shook her head. "We should leave," she picked up her headband and turned toward the runabout. Leonard tried to prise the spear out of the floor to take it and the flag back with him for further analysis, but it was wedged tight. He heard Re Lorken gasp and turned to see she had stopped dead in her tracks only a few paces away. Beyond the spot where she stood, the hangar floor was empty as far as he could see. The runabout had gone. *** ACT 2 STORAGE FACILITY ORLEGA ONE, HELUB, 16:31 hours A brief moment of disbelief later, Leonard was using his tricorder to find out what happened. Interference made his analysis impossible. He tapped his comm badge instead; "Leonard to Runabout Hudson." Static replied, and he snapped his tricorder shut in frustration. Moving to her side, he could see Re Lorken was shaking. He looked all around and above, trying to eyeball the runabout or some movement within the hangar, but there was nothing. "Where the hell is she?" Leonard was more puzzled than afraid. Re Lorken turned her head as if listening. Leonard followed her eyeline but couldn't see anything. "What do you see?" he asked. Re Lorken faced him, it seemed she had composed herself once more. "A transport conduit under this complex should provide safe passage back to Helub." Leonard pouted his lower lip, wondering how she knew this, but she anticipated his reaction. "I saw it on the plans." Leonard was still searching the endless shadows of the hangar. "But the runabout couldn't have just disappeared ? unless there's a temporal anomaly of some kind in here." He recalibrated the tricorder with new enthusiasm. Re Lorken raised an eyebrow. "No, I don't think it's anything as far fetched as that." She was right. There were no identifiable temporal anomalies here. "Are you keeping something from me, Minister?" Leonard felt uncomfortable. "Do you know what happened to the runabout?" Re Lorken stepped close to him. "I don't believe the old transports will be operational, Ottmar, so we had best leave immediately. On foot we should get to the outer perimeter of the Space Port by dinner time." She walked toward the doorway leading to the complex beyond. Leonard took a final look around, then at the spear and flag, and decided to stand his ground. "No, I'm not going until you give me some straight answers." But Re Lorken was indifferent, calling over her shoulder "As you wish." She opened the door and entered the complex, leaving Leonard behind. *** USS FIREFLY, QOVAKIA SPACE, 19:00 hours In the dim light of the evening shift, the bridge crew silently carried out their duties. The doors to the turbolift hissed open to reveal a sweaty middle aged woman dressed neck to boot in quilted, figure hugging midnight blue. Duty Officer Lieutenant Sarilev jolted everyone to attention; "Captain on the bridge." "Good evening, ladies," Commander Vancek exited the turbolift and walked down to the command chair. Sarilev stepped aside and made for the vacant science stations to the rear of the bridge as Vancek watched her go; "And that's Acting Captain, Lieutenant." "Whatever?" the whispered jibe to her old friend made Vancek snigger. The Commander flopped down into the command chair. It had been a particularly demanding game of Ferisi Squares on the holodeck, but she felt truly alive. The female officers on the bridge turned and smiled at their cheerful Acting Captain. "I take it you won, Sir?" Ensign Shirley Braxton smiled from her conn station. "And then some!" Vancek quipped, wallowing in self-adulation. "Captain," Lieutenant Sarilev, now serious, called over from science station four, "long range sensors are detecting magnetic storms erupting throughout the quadrant." "On screen," Vancek didn't want to walk all the way over to the readout panel; she was too comfortable where she sat. The starfield on the main display changed to a three dimensional representation of the quadrant - this new class of science vessel utilised holographic stellar cartography technology on the bridge itself. The map displayed the new Tholian border sweeping across the background. Just in front of it was the grey area of neutral space containing the wormhole. In the foreground, the nine grid squares showed the clusters of stars that made up Qovakia's union. Empty grid spaces on the borders represented the as yet uncharted sectors of the Outer Zone. Small, fizzling graphic effects began to appear all over the map in and around Qovakia. There must have been at least a hundred storms. "There are so many ? are they a natural phenomenon?" Vancek asked. Sarilev cross-referenced readings with the Qovakian database recently downloaded to the Firefly's computer core. "They are not uncommon in the area surrounding a wormhole or other spatial disturbance where electromagnetic activity is high - and they are high in Qovakia. But I've never seen so many appearing at once. That's odd," Sarilev tapped at her controls twice. "The Qovakian database contains references to magnetic storms, but no detail." "Display the storms nearest to our position," Vancek ordered, sitting forward with her elbows on her knees. The viewer surged forward into the Qovakia sectors, showing the thousands of various type stars there. The image continued to zoom in until it reached the desired magnitude showing the former border of Tholian space close up. The Firefly was traversing it - one of the first requests from the Qovakians had been Starfleet's assistance in making a thorough reconnaissance of the new free space. The Firefly had therefore been mapping and gathering data for the past three days while awaiting its new commanding officer. The map showed the small Starfleet insignia, ship's name and registry representing the Firefly's position, slowing moving at sub-light speed from left to right across the screen. There were no nearby planets or stars - the nearest phenomenon was the asteroid field near the mouth of the wormhole. A storm had erupted in their direct path on the outskirts of the asteroid field. Another was one of several in the expanse between the wormhole and the closest neighbouring systems to Vekaria. The wormhole storm was the closest, Vancek guessed, though still several hours away at maximum warp. "Inform Starfleet Headquarters we are continuing on course toward the magnetic storm nearest to the wormhole for a closer analysis," Vancek said. "Aye, Sir," Ensign Crosby, communications specialist grabbed Vancek's speech part from the live log for relay and opened a channel to Starfleet. Suppressing a yawn, Vancek walked over to Ensign Braxton. "Lay in a course for the storm, Shirley, Warp 4." Braxton had grown accustomed to the Commander's non-regulation familiarity. It made the intimacy of such a small ship more bearable. "Course laid in, sir. Estimated time of arrival ? three hours, fifty one minutes." Crosby shifted in her seat. The storms had begun to cause slight interference to subspace communications. She recalibrated the signal and finally got through. On pinging with the Headquarters based on Helub, a stream of communications flooded back down the comm line. "Captain, I'm receiving an update on the fleet's space chatter for the last few hours." Vancek heaved herself up the few steps toward the turbolift with a slight groan. Lieutenant Commander Stryker had really taken it out of her. "Relay all non-classified communiqués to the senior officers, I'm off for a shower." On the way to her quarters, Vancek slumped dog-tired against the walls of the turbolift and wondered what it would be like to have the only man amongst a command team of women sitting in the centre seat from tomorrow. Having come aboard as First Officer herself, Vancek's immediate promotion to Acting Captain had been a pleasant surprise and the experience more than a little enjoyable. She had built up an immediate rapport with the rest of the crew, but hoped she hadn't overstepped the mark in terms of familiarity with her senior officers. "Krishnamurti to Vancek," the relayed commlink from one of the science heads jolted her eyes wide. "Vancek here. What is it, Lieutenant?" "Sarilev tells me we're about to investigate one of many unusual magnetic storms that have just appeared around Qovakia," her voice conveyed more than a little concern. "You better check Starfleet space chatter. You'll see the Craybourne reported one such storm appearing in their vicinity almost an hour ago - HQ hasn't been able to raise them since." Vancek recalled that the Craybourne was a Steamrunner class vessel, crewed by the team that was so successful aboard the USS Preston until it was trashed in the conflict with the Borg almost a year ago. She had been friends with Bretton and Leung, the surviving tactical and operations officers, and knew them both to be cautious, mature officers. "Computer, halt!" Vancek put hands on hips and thought for a moment. "Krishy, call all senior officers to the briefing room immediately." "Aye, sir." In the comfort of her small quarters, Krishnamurti turned back to her divining board and slapped a hand over her mouth in horror. Inside the small turbolift, Vancek had re-routed her journey back to the bridge. Before the doors had fully opened, she called out to Sarilev "Lieutenant, call the crew to duty stations and sound yellow alert." *** DESIGNATED VISITOR AREA 13, HELUB SPACE PORT, 20:30 hours Beneath Helub's Old Fortress, basically a square two kilometres and twenty five levels designated as Visitor Area 13, the Space Port of Helub spilled out for thousands of kilometres and hundreds of levels still deeper. Here, a thriving civilisation had existed for generations - through both peacetime and military occupation. Most Vekarians now lived and worked on the spaceport - a mere 2 million still lived their daily lives in the natural air of the lush planet below. In the bowels of the space station, within the deep rock of the moon, the cavernous docking areas were interlinked like a multi-spoked wheel by enormous conduits that ran for thousands of kilometres. Huge, man-made tunnels, they were capable of allowing up to four lanes of heavy cruiser traffic at any one time if necessary - though they mostly carried internal transports as goods and people were shifted from one area of the port to another as interstellar transactions took place. Off the main conduits, the labyrinthine transit tunnels spilled off to smaller marinas and private berths, and even narrower transport tubes, some with passive force fields containing pressurised jetties and dry docks for easy humanoid access. Wedged between the mostly transient areas of the spaceward edifices crammed together on the surface and the transportation and docking levels far below, a slab averaging around four hundred levels contained the main living and administrative facilities of Helub. It was a multi-megalopolis split into many and varying districts of industry, corporate headquarters, accommodation zones, parks, shopping facilities and an inordinate number of leisure and entertainment areas. In one such pleasure area, within a small bar off an off ramp from a subway leading to the local inner ring corridor (colloquially referred to by the arriving Terrans as 'the Mall'), some fortunate Starfleet officers had managed to sniff out the conducive atmosphere of a taverna-like establishment. The bar, in fact, was sited directly across the corridor from one of hundreds of maintenance access shafts that latticed their way through the structure of the port. This particular one backed onto the multileveled Fortress assigned to the Federation and Starfleet above. The shaft had provided unofficial but easy access for off-duty staff to slip straight out of the back door of Starfleet HQ and into the intimate bar across the way. Lieutenant O'Hara sat with her fellow officers in one of the window booths, watching Qovakian citizens go by, and took another swig of the strange purple liquid. She gave Lieutenant Mellors a sideways glance and sniffed at the drink again. "Are you sure this is just fruit juice?" she screwed up her nose and gave it back to Lieutenant Gravant. "That's what the guy said," Mellors smiled, and drained the remaining ale from his own glass. The burly security Lieutenants Jackson and Japell smiled and followed suit. "It most definitely is more than just fruit juice," Gravant shook her head in conclusion, but continued to drink it all the same. Gravant was O'Hara's charge for the evening. O'Hara hated going out without a female companion by her side, mostly because her previous antics had created much whispering at the Academy and she didn't want the false reputation to follow her to the Outer Zone. So junior Lt Gravant had become the unwitting sidekick for tonight. She clearly wasn't much of a drinker, and O'Hara wondered if she would last the course of the evening. "Your round, I believe, Nurse," Jackson swept the empty glasses toward her. O'Hara wouldn't miss the opportunity for another dig at the handsome man. "You are SO the son of your mother, aren't you?" The others giggled and Jackson mock-smiled back at her. "Don't knock my mother, Lieutenant, you may regret it." O'Hara turned to Japell and Mellors, mouth agape in pretend astonishment, but she wasn't on form tonight and couldn't think of a suitable return. Gravant suddenly roared with laughter, a little too loud, urging O'Hara quickly toward the bar. As she stood waiting to be served, she noticed through the entrance to her left that a shrouded figure was hanging around the maintenance doorway to the Fortress, just across the way. O'Hara couldn't see what race or nationality, but she could make out it was a young woman by the general stance and shape. As she thought of mentioning it to her security colleagues, a scuffle broke out in the bar to her right. It was over by the time she saw the unlikely perpetrators - traveller types with well-worn faces and expressions of hardship and woe. They quickly gathered their belongings and stormed out of the bar. The bartender caught O'Hara's eye, "What'll it be, miss?" "Two ales? no, make that three ales and another, what was it, Darkiller Berry Punch?" O'Hara noticed the bar where the scuffle had occurred seemed huddled in intent discussion. The bartender was smiling, watching Gravant flailing her arms about as she relayed an amusing story to the three amused men. O'Hara gritted her teeth, but the bartender nodded toward her table. "Don't worry, I'll add a shot of Disahol to her drink. The more she sups, the more sober she'll become." "Thanks," O'Hara was amazed that the bartender had a supply of the drug. As he added it to the purple liquid, the barkeeper thumbed upwards. "Your Commodore up there personally told me to keep this bottle on hand for any of you Starfleet types who start getting the worse for ware." O'Hara didn't know whether to be insulted or amused by the direct action of the commanding officer of the Starfleet base above. "Did she now." As the golden liquid was poured into the long cylindrical glasses, O'Hara glanced over to the now louder discussion going on among the locals. "What's going on?" The bartender shook his head. "The things people get upset about?" One glass was frothy-full. "What?" O'Hara urged. "Oh, just some rumour. Well, not just any old rumour, it's a rumour I've heard many times, actually. But people have begun to talk a lot about it, recently. Perhaps it's because of the new era we're entering with you people from the Alpha Quadrant," he smiled broadly at her as another glass of ale slopped down beside the first. O'Hara found this form of manual service quaint, but unpredictable. Give her a replicator-assisted service every time. "What? What rumour?" O'Hara was verging on pissed. "That the K'Tani are coming back," the bartender said it matter-of-factly, but clearly didn't believe it himself. "The people who were overthrown from power a few years ago?" O'Hara asked. Like all Starfleet personnel arriving on Vekaria, she had received a scant briefing on the people and culture of Qovakia and its main points in history. Qovakians had been likened to the Bajorans in their state of affairs just after the Cardassians withdrew, but their personalities were more a combination of 21st Century frontier Terran and 9th Dynasty Ferengi. Historical studies had never been O'Hara's strong point, and the facts had become blurred. "Overthrown?" the barkeep slopped the last glass down. "Well, you could put it like that, I suppose." "Why would they be so convinced the K'Tani were coming back?" O'Hara handed over a few notes (too many, but the bartender pretended not to notice). "Because a few days ago their Armada was spotted, out in the far quarters," the bartender said. "Don't ask me by who, because no-one seems to know. No one ever seems to know. I think it's the merchants on Melndis spreading these rumours, myself. Ever since the K'Tani left Helub, our rivals' trade has plummeted." The bartender raised a hand to an almost hoarse Vekarian sluice cleaner who had been hollering for his attention for the last minute or so. "Will there be anything else?" "No, thank you," O'Hara thought for a moment, then remembered overhearing that Melndis was a free port which had been less affected by the K'Tani occupation and was now trying to tempt traders back by wild offers of hospitality. They had even suggested building Starfleet a regional HQ there, which sounded to O'Hara like a good offer considering the cramped space and crazy lifestyle on Helub. As O'Hara walked back to the table, she glanced through the glass wall to the maintenance door. The figure had gone, so she put the incident down to her own suspicious nature. O'Hara sat down and handed the drinks around, guiding the freshly filled antidote drink safely to the lips of a violently hiccuping Gravant. As the boys opposite chuckled amongst themselves, she caught Jackson's eye, noticing it carried that look again. *** STARFLEET HEADQUARTERS, LEVEL 27, STORAGE ROOM 223, 20:55 hours The Starfleet engineer snapped his toolbox shut, scratched his crotch, broke wind and began the long climb up the ladder to the complex above. He muttered to himself his options for the evening as he disappeared through the hole in the ceiling, failing to notice the figure hiding behind a clump of pipes in the corner of the storage room below. Hedrik breathed a heavy sigh and wiped the perspiration from her brow. A full fifteen minutes that idiot had taken to repair a faulty circuit, she thought. Flipping back her hood with gloved hands, she flexed her tensed muscles and stepped cautiously into the dim light of the storage room, glancing up to the maintenance ladder. There was no sight or sound of the now off-duty worker. Most of the room in which she stood was occupied by a caged area, only about five metres square and twice as many high, but within it was the means for making a lot of money. Hedrik walked around the sides of the storage cage, noting the clearly labelled Starfleet contents and adding up the expected values of each in her head as she did. She was a breathtakingly beautiful woman. Her face smooth and well- proportioned, green skin forming high cheekbones, strong chin and full mouth. Her dark hair was tinged green rather than red, and tied back in a tight bun. Hedrik was in her mid-twenties, though her emerald eyes belied the seeming innocence of age and beauty. This was a person who had endured more experiences than a woman of her age should have. But as a native Orion female, her life was already laid out before her when still within her mother's womb. The only difference was, Hedrik didn't ever buy into it. Many times in her relatively short childhood Hedrik had nearly escaped the clutches of the Orion Syndicate member who owned her. (The syndicate still marketed its women efficiently and ruthlessly, albeit illegally and unknown to most.) As she got older, Hedrik had even managed to stay away for longer periods - almost a year on one occasion, but each time the Syndicate had managed to catch up with her, and return her to the Orion moon which was her home and her prison. She was sure that were it not for her natural beauty, she would have been terminated as faulty, unreliable ? uncooperative goods. When Starfleet moved into Deep Space 9, Hedrik saw the Gamma Quadrant as her salvation. In her mid-teens, she hadn't tried to escape for some time, waiting for the right moment. This, she thought, would surely be it. An easily persuaded passing Moropan trader provided safe passage as far as DS3, but unfortunately for Hedrik, trouble between the Federation and the Orions had flared up. DS9 was now out of bounds for her. So she had begun to live her life moving frequently from place to place, earning just enough money to pay people for their silence or their protection, and constantly looking over her shoulder. Aside from the more traditional form of employment for an Orion female, there were few options available to Hedrik, as she had no proper schooling to fall back on. Though against a life of crime in principle, she knew that because of her heritage, and many a race's misconceptions about Orions, there was little option left to her. As she made her way around the known galaxy, she picked up many useful tricks and tips that hardened her to the solitude of preservation on the run. Hedrik's tearful moments were always followed by the determination to one day make things better for herself, move as far away from the industry of personal service as possible. Day after night she read and studied all the technical manuals she could lay her hands on. Eventually, she managed to convince a salvage ship to employ her as a maintenance worker. Aboard that patchwork ship, among a crew of only twenty, she befriended a much-maligned roly-poly old Bolian man. He was like a father to her, and in return for her company and friendship, he taught her all he knew about his particular field of expertise: transporter technology. Hedrik was a gifted student and natural engineer. Within a year she could strip and reassemble a transporter unit, and perform as complex a procedure as any Starfleet chief. It was only fitting that she took over his role when the old man curled up one night and died. But with him gone, life aboard the wrecker seemed hollow, especially with the constant and unwelcome advances of the newer crew who had come aboard. So Hedrik jumped ship at the next opportunity, and took once more to a life of crime, this time utilising her knowledge of transporter technology wherever she could. It served her well for a time. However, an unfortunate altercation with the USS Enterprise above Ventax II left her frighteningly close to being returned to Orion. Thankfully an exceptional Starfleet counsel took pity on her situation and saved her green skin, but, penniless and worried about the Syndicate finding her, she returned to a life of petty crime on the run. Transporter systems were a breeze for her to tamper with by now. From planet to station to ship to planet, Hedrik used all her talent and cunning to steal non-critical goods for re-sale on the black market. She never went for the big steal, or adopted the opportunistic approach like many in the field of thieving. Stealth was her middle name, and she knew that to stay free took a lot of planning and a good deal more strength of character when it came to resisting temptation. She never cut corners, and she never put herself in unnecessary jeopardy. So far, she had managed to save nearly twenty thousand bars of gold pressed latinum in a reliable savings account. It wasn't quite enough to safely retire on, but sometimes at night Hedrik wondered whether she was merely putting off the inevitable, avoiding settling down for fear of being tracked down by her owners, or losing her edge. So she kept on going. Coming to the Outer Zone had seemed like a necessary risk in terms of being so far away from her life savings. But this region of space had the advantage of not only being as far away from the Orion Syndicate as she could get, but also being a mostly peaceful society, having lived for many years under a ruthless tyranny. That spirit of post-occupation friendship and goodwill was now ripe for the picking. Hedrik, satisfied that this latest job would be worth the money, took out her small flat pouch of tools and set about making a thorough scan of the cage and its security system. Her recce complete, Hedrik swathed herself once more, deciding to return in the morning, just after the first security sweep. Luckily for her, a few hours earlier Hedrik had overheard a security officer discussing personnel deployment for the next day, and how there had been a jump in the amount of traffic requesting departure slots for the next day, so assumed less security personnel would be on duty. Already there had been scenes of pandemonium in several travel agencies because many Qovakians had decided at the same time to try and get immediate passage off world. Either everyone had suddenly decided to take a holiday, Hedrik thought, or something was seriously up. Having covered a good deal more of the space port than most Visitors in the past few weeks, Hedrik had been aware of the increasing speculation about the return of the militia who had ruled Qovakia until recently. But upon seeing the dozens of powerful Starfleet ships and even more warships from other Alpha Quadrant states pouring in and out of the port, Hedrik was convinced that nothing less than a combined effort by the Borg and the Dominion would stand a hope in hell's chance of succeeding in a coupe here. Through the crawlway space and into an air duct leading to the main access shaft that descended to the off-ramp entrance, Hedrik had to briefly hold her heart as a group of Starfleet officers wended their way back into the Fortress above. Pressing flat against the dark recess, she watched through the grill as two security officers followed by a moaning science officer and two bad- tempered medics clambered their way up the thin-runged ladder. From what she could hear, it seemed the CMO assigned to Starfleet Headquarters had recalled all off-duty medical staff for an emergency briefing. Hedrik waited until it was safe, then pushed the grill open being careful to replace it and cleanse it before deftly dropping to the floor below. The coast clear, the Orion woman skilfully exited the doorway and blended into the gathering crowds flowing past and up into the main corridor beyond. Before she knew where she was, Hedrik was instantly swept into a heaving mass of people crushing slowly in one direction. There were thousands, many shouting and screaming, most laden with personal belongings, shoving this way and that. It took a few bruises and much physical strength on Hedrik's part just to wrench herself free of the squashing streams of people and grab on to the relative safety of a wall support. She couldn't believe her lack of luck. The situation was clearly getting worse, and might even jeopardise her plans for tomorrow. Carefully she made her way back to the lower level and into the taverna where she sat opposite the doorway and considered her options. *** ACT 3 DOL BATTAKI INTERSTELLAR HOTEL, VEKARIA, 22:30 hours Lirik sat on the edge of his bed staring into mid-distance waiting for the communication to come in. He glanced at the clock; it had been a full seventy minutes since the Vekarian authorities had gone to look for the missing dignitary, and Lirik was broiling at their shambolic attentiveness. The hotel suite comm panel housed within the marble side table cheerfully trilled, and Lirik hit the receive button a little too hard. "Yes?" "Officer La Barami here, Mister Lirik. Your Ambassador Narli is not within the hotel complex or any of the government buildings, I'm afraid," the male voice reported, placidly. "So ? do you know where he went, exactly?" Lirik dropped his head into his hands. "Er ? we're not sure, sir. My men have checked passenger logs of ships leaving Vekaria, but he wasn't listed as being aboard any of them, so he must still be within the city limits somewhere." The security officer had decided that the Ambassador was probably out enjoying himself, and didn't understand the Yeoman's over-concern. "Okay." Lirik resigned himself to getting no further with the police; Narli had slipped away successfully yet again. "Just let me know when he shows up, will you?" "We will, sir." There was an uncomfortable pause, then: "I wonder, could you give me a description again?" Lirik swallowed hard, not bothering to complain that not only had a full description been given hours earlier, but also a full set of picture files. It would be simpler to just repeat the description and get the hell off the line. "He's about one metre ninety, with bright blue skin, white hair and a couple of antennae sticking out of his head." There was silence at the end of the comm line for a few seconds. "Antennae..?" the voice almost whispered. "Yes, antennae ? you do know what antennae means, don't you?" Lirik was bemused; perhaps the universal translator had overlooked some nouns in its programming. "Yes? I do." The officer said quietly. "We will inform you if he turns up." Lirik flopped back onto the bed. He was warm, and if it weren't for the atmospheric controls he would feel moist from the turbulent weather beyond the glass wall of his apartment. He could feel in his gut the marked change in electromagnetic density of the air outside - there were more storms coming. Wherever Narli was in the city, it was not the sort of night to be outside. That's if he was still on Vekaria, he could easily have conned his way off- planet bypassing the passenger lists, the Yeoman thought. Eyes closed, Lirik ran through the seemingly endless possibilities of where the Ambassador could have got to on this occasion. He knew the Ambassador quite well. Before his transfer to the Diplomatic corps, Lirik had worked for Starfleet Intelligence where he had met him on several missions - and not always on the same side. Lirik knew that Andorian agents never really left the Secret Service and that in his new role as Ambassador for Trade, Narli had become better placed to gather more sensitive information than he could as a regular operative. Narli had become one of those oddities of cold war. Outwardly, the Ambassador was a generous and authoritative figure. Polite, gregarious and warm, he'd charmed his way through many negotiations where other Andorians had let their violent nature interfere and he had become well liked among diplomatic circles. In that respect, Narli was not a typical Andorian. He had certainly become used to the resplendent lifestyle of the upper echelons of society, and the freedom of self expression it brought, though he hadn't gained the weight that most did from the exotic diet of alien banquets. Still, there was a deep and strong sense of nationalism in his soul, a pride in his people's culture and beliefs. Lirik had seen with his own eyes that Narli would willingly die for his people, and in that respect he was a classic, dangerous example of Andorian socialisation at work. Glimpsing the darker side of his compatriot had made Lirik wary of the older man. His only cure for this reaction was his own strength of will to try and understand. As with most engaged in Starfleet or similar organisations, too often one's own morals and beliefs were challenged, and a strong conviction in self and in the Federation and its principles was often required to get through conflicting situations. Some used their beliefs as a weapon, or even as a shield, but Lirik liked to question himself, so tried to view it merely as a choice. Since Lirik had been appointed special representative of the Federation Council several years previous, he had assumed the role of personal confident, pilot, cultural aide, security officer and shoulder of support. In the official sense, he could be best described as a kind of chief whip, rounding up stray delegates, keeping them all in line and ensuring that everyone knew what was going on. Most importantly of all, he had to ensure that the Federation Council's interests were not forgotten. Shortly after arriving in the Outer Zone Narli had disappeared for several hours on three consecutive days, presumably information gathering or making secret negotiations behind closed doors. This latest escapade, the night before the main debate was due to begin, left Lirik feeling irked. He instantly had a change of heart - Narli knew the score and here he was overstepping the line again. This was one time too many and it was time to make it official. Lirik hit his Starfleet commbadge. "Yeoman Lirik to Commodore Jackson." It was late, but he didn't doubt she would be available for him. As an aide to the leading body of the Federation and Starfleet, Lirik was granted a good deal of ? understanding. There was a delay as Lirik's voice message was picked up by the local net, forwarded up to Starfleet HQ on Helub, verified by automatic voice authorisation protocols and re-routed to Jackson's location. "Yeoman Lirik to Commodore Jackson." Within her plush ebony, fur and smoked glass penthouse quarters atop one of the turrets of the Visitor complex on Helub, Jackson pulled her robe tighter over her still damp, curvaceous body, even though it was only a voice message coming through. The crimson silk enveloped her dark skin seductively, her quaffed hair sparkling like millions of minute stars in a black firmament. There was no doubt that for a woman of her fifty-something years, she was still very attractive, though perhaps not quite in the shape Starfleet Academy Fitness Instructors would approve of as a role model of a command veteran. Jackson ran her hands quickly through her damp hair and detached herself from the passionate escape of the novel she was reading. Her family sized quarters had come fitted with running water, and to have a proper bath instead of a sonic shower in what were essentially field quarters was a luxury she wasn't about to waste. "Jackson here," swinging her legs off the sofa she scooped her Starfleet issue slippers back on and put her book and her warm drink down on the glass coffee table which was borne on the back of a pewter-like replica of a many-headed Vekarian mythical beast. "If it's about your runabout, Yeoman, I'm afraid I haven't had time to check on its whereabouts. Lt Commander Leonard is a good pilot, I'm sure he'll look after it." Jackson actually couldn't remember much about Leonard. He had intercepted her earlier that morning and bullied her into using a little known Starfleet regulation to requisition the Starfleet-registered ship on permanent loan to the Diplomatic Corps. Still, as Commodore she allowed herself a certain amount of poetic licence when caught on the hop by this efficient but over- zealous diplomat. The last few weeks had been crazy for her. Lirik's role as a liaison with the Federation's High Council had set him apart from most of the diplomatic corps members who performed personal assistant functions to individual Federation delegates. Dealing with him had the speedy, efficient, by-the-book procedure she rarely found in these days, yet it was probably his knowledge of Starfleet protocols and how to manipulate procedure to his own end which made dealing with him so easy. It was no wonder that Lirik had been so maddened by Leonard when the engineer played the diplomat at his own game. Most of the Federation delegates had their own teams of assistants and lackeys to help them. What made Lirik so unique was that he was assigned to the top Ambassadors and Representatives of the Federation to address anything which the High Council deemed important, and as such had the personal ear of the Commodore and her team. Still, at this late hour she couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed by this latest in a long line of hourly interruptions. Jackson's day had begun in the early hours because of a fight within the Federation complex between civilians and Vekarian police, and right now a misplaced runabout was the least of her concerns. After a head-pounding 18 hour day, this was her statutory 30 minutes of quality time before retiring to bed, and she wasn't prepared to be delayed any longer than necessary. "N=ccccz=no-o?," the quality of the transmission began to deteriorate and Jackson heard the almost silent bleeps as automatic compensators cleared up most of the interference, "it's not about that? though I would appreciate its return by morning, Commodore. Do you know where he took it?" Lirik adopted the friendly-formal approach rather than pull rank as a diplomat. He found he stayed on the better side of people that way. "Not offhand, though I'm sure Vekarian authorities would have logged his flight plan. I'll get onto it first thing. Now, what was your call about?" Jackson turned her head as the turbolift doors behind opened and her son stepped out and waved, a little over-enthusiastically, she thought. She returned the wave with a knowing smile while listening to Lirik. "Andorian Ambassador Narli has gone missing again," Lirik braced himself for the Commodore's reaction. "Great," the Commodore clutched her hair in frustration. "That's the third thing Vekarian security have screwed up today. I'll inform Starfleet security up here, tell them to keep an eye out for him." "Thank you, Sir. Will you be coming to the opening ceremony of the trade conference tomorrow?" The static on the channel was getting worse, despite the computer's best efforts. "No, no, I won't have time," Jackson was kissed on the cheek by her son, which was also a little unusual. The Commodore wondered what news he was about to convey after her call. "Inform my office if the Ambassador shows up." "Aye Sir," Lirik signed off for the night and checked the time again. Not that late, so he granted himself an hour's pleasure and practically leapt into the sonic shower. In the darkness of her quarters, the Commodore depressed her commbadge and informed the Duty Officer in HQ Operations to get security straight onto a trace for the Ambassador. When she was finished, Jackson leant back on the sofa, folded her arms and put her feet up on the table, wiggling her toes and watching her son tuck into a bowl of steaming Gagh and Eggplant Stew - since his exchange to a Klingon Outpost months ago, he had developed some nasty food preferences. "So-" she said in a maternal tone, but was cut off by his too-quick reaction. "So? What do you mean, 'So'?" he scoffed. A gagh dangled out of his mouth and dribbled down his chin. "Well, you've either had a reprimand ? or you've fallen in love," Jackson said, smiling. "I bet I know which. Let me guess who?" The Lieutenant hated his mother's uncanny intuition, and sulkily tucked back into his stew. "Lieutenant Chappell?" She was fishing, he thought, but it was only a decoy. "No, Lieutenant O'Hara." "Ha!" he half protested, but continued to eat. "Don't try to deny it, I've seen the way you look at her." Her son stopped in shock, then carried on chewing while dangling a fork at her menacingly. When he finally swallowed, he said "Have you been following me on security cameras again?" She laughed at his almost convincing naivety, and decided to head for bed. Cradling her book she walked with her drink over to where her big son sat stuffing his face. She kissed him on the head. "It's okay. She seems like a nice girl to me." He looked up and smiled at his mother, who was clearly thinking up a negative to go with the positive, but could only manage "A bit of a handful, but I guess you've always liked a challenge. Just promise me you'll take it easy." The Lieutenant grinned, saying "Trust me, she's not that great a challenge." The Commodore raised her brows and headed for her room, turning back to him as the doors opened. "No doubt I'll be up early again tomorrow, so I won't see you probably. Take care at the docks tomorrow, it's getting a little rough down there with all these rumours flying about." "I will, mom, don't worry," the bowl was scraped clean. "Night." "Night, son. Love you." She disappeared behind the closing doors, and he waited for her traditional reappearance nag. True to form a few seconds later she popped her head out, "And don't forget to write to your brother." "No, mom, I won't." She disappeared once more and there was silence. Jackson jnr recycled the bowl and fork through the replicator and paced past his mother's door. It seemed quiet enough, and he walked over to the turbolift. Pressing the door button it swished open and he whisper-called up into its roof. "She's gone to bed, you can come down now." O'Hara dropped silently from the ceiling, despite her height and full figure. She looked at the burly security guard and smiled. Jackson took her hand, and the two tiptoed toward his room just as the main commlink in the room twilled loudly and said, "Operations to Commodore Jackson." The Lieutenants' door closed behind them just as the Commodore appeared from her own room, now in her matching two-piece crimson silk bedclothes. Looking around at the empty room she marched over to the main screen. "What is it, Commander?" The face of a middle-aged Troyian woman appeared, subtle blue-green beads framed her face, only a hint at her people's evocative culture. "Forgive the disturbance, Commodore, but we're receiving a hail for you from Admiral Street." "A bit late for her, isn't it?" Jackson quipped. "Pipe it through, will you, Inaami?" "Presently, Commodore," the Troyian looked over her shoulder and moved closer to the viewer, "We've also got a rather disturbed Lieutenant Commander here demanding to speak with you. Leonard, of the Starship Draco." "Oh, good God," Jackson had had more than enough of this saga today, "tell him I'll see him in the morning, but get him to make an appointment this time. Oh, and tell him to get the diplomatic assistant's runabout back to Vekaria." "Aye, Sir. I'm putting the Admiral through now." The on screen image cut to that of an elderly, but keen-eyed Admiral sitting in the centre seat of the USS Ajax, in orbit above Vekaria. There were strands of static flashing across the screen - some kind of spacial disturbance, Jackson guessed. The Admiral, a Bahamian in her eighties, moved her arms and head with the grace of an elegant young woman. In her time, she had been one of the best among the fleet's captains, and her daring deeds aboard the Ajax-B were popular, though not recommended, reading at the Academy. It was clearly in her honour that she had been given the Ajax-D as the temporary Fleet command ship in the Outer Zone. "Good evening Admiral, forgive my attire," to date, Jackson had not been on the friendliest of terms with Street - they were at opposite ends of the Starfleet spectrum. Street, a spinster, married to her job with a soldier's heart and a captain's soul; Jackson, a family woman with two grown sons, a dedicated worker and skilled administrator. In an earlier time, the two may have been best pals, but in a crisis-ridden Third Contact situation such as this, they were both strung out and shouldering for their own particular area's needs. Street for the ships of the fleet in the Outer Zone and their activities, Jackson for the Federation citizens, Ambassadors and other representatives in the sector. Jackson's base served as a base for Starfleet's activities in the region, as well as a clearinghouse for all the paperwork and associated activities. Still, the two veterans had to keep the lines off communication open, even if it was only due to strict protocol at their level of work. "No problem. You should know that I'm launching all vessels in dock, Commodore. I don't know if you've heard, but we've got one heck of a magnetic storm brewing up here, and it's just one of many throughout Qovakia." The old lady stood and walked sure-footedly over to the science stations to the rear of the bridge where Captain Ubu was assisting his crew in trying to make their technology work in the increasingly interference-ridden space. "I wondered what the communications interference was. Does the local storm pose any threat to Vekaria or Helub?" Jackson's priorities were many; not least of which was safety of all Federation and Starfleet people within the spaceport. Already she had been forced to personally deal with a number of criminal proceedings concerning Federation citizens - both victims and perpetrators. "No," the Admiral was playing down concern, "but the storms are affecting subspace communications and warp capability. We've already lost contact with nine of our own ships, and our Alpha Quadrant neighbours are not faring any better. I want all our ships launched and on yellow alert, just in case." "Should we go to Yellow Alert down here?" Jackson was no soldier; she admitted that freely and always sought the guidance of those more experienced in such matters. As a mostly administrative base commander, Yellow Alert was not something she had much experience of, though she remembered her drills well from the time she began her career as an assistant personnel officer aboard the accident-prone USS Clarion. "I don't think that's necessary at this moment. I hear rumours of a possible K'Tani invasion are causing you enough problems as it is. You wouldn't want a mass panic on your hands," the Admiral smiled, referring to the lost tempers and crowd gatherings around the port departure terminals. They had begun swelling in number as soon as the rumours of a possible invasion were turned into news stories with confusing data of 'strange goings on' in the depths of space. As yet, however, there was no evidence of this. Qovakians, Jackson had determined, although shrewd were almost religiously superstitious. Decades of occupation had made them submissive and paranoid - even cowardly some would say - but Jackson saw the strength of character they had when faced with many, some more powerful, races descending upon them. Her arrival on Helub, some eight days after First Contact, was a whirlwind of events that seemed to keep going until just a few days ago. Before the cargo ships and passenger-carrying vessels arrived, the native Vekarians had been overwhelmingly generous and welcoming. It was only when wave after wave of ships carrying thousands of fortune and adventure seekers began to arrive and the administrative nightmare of coping with such a huge, needy influx set in that she and her colleagues saw the other side to their warm personalities. Getting hold of reliable information had been the worst problem. Jackson had gone for days on end without being able to speak to a Qovakian in authority when Helub had a growing accommodationless population made up of the opportunists pouring in through the wormhole. One of the last details to be dealt with in the Third Contact situation in the Outer Zone was provision of medical facilities and access to the Qovakian medical database. In fact, it had seemed that with even such important data as this the Qovakian government was cautious about giving too much away. So it had been that a makeshift hospital had been adapted into the upper decks of one of the oldest parts of Helub only a few days ago. Medical staff were working flat out with engineers to make the place sterile and workable, while at the same time dealing with a host of medical ailments from the tens of thousands of civilians from the Alpha Quadrant. The latest problem had been an outbreak of a particularly nasty flu virus among the Visitors. "In addition to which," the Commodore added, "Doctor Beintz, Starfleet's recently arrived CMO in the Outer Zone, is trying to get on top of an outbreak of Vekarian Flu which we currently have no natural immunity to." "Excuse me." Street had turned to someone off-viewer. She turned back to Jackson, frowning. "We've lost contact with another two of the fleet." "Magnetic radiation increasing exponentially," the Captain shouted from the rear bridge station, "a cloud is forming in front of the sun." "Got to go, Commodore. We'll keep HQ Operations informed," Street said and cancelled the communication - her face was instantly replaced by Inaami, not surprising Jackson who knew her associate monitored all calls to the Commodore. "Sir, I recommend the base goes to Yellow Alert status," the Troyian never held back an opinion from her long-time colleague. Jackson thought for a moment, biting a finger. "Give me the low-down on today's incidents around the port again." Inaami recited from memory: "There were 342 reports of near-misses, 53 minor collisions and 4 pretty bad accidents as traffic leaving Helub stepped up a pace. The Port Authority pride themselves in a one fatal crash per decade record, their trafficking system is so reliable, so they ordered a scheduled- only departure roster at 1300 hours. Unfortunately, this seems to have been understood by the native Qovakians as an unofficial confirmation of an ensuing attack?" Inaami broke off, noticing Jackson's shaking head, "? you know how paranoid they are. Consequently, literally thousands of requests for departure windows poured into Traffic Control, and simultaneously hundreds of thousands of people took to the corridors and transit tubes, most trying to get passage on a departing ship. Docking areas A, B, D, G, S and V are still overrun and Vekarian police officially reported 96 incidents of violence and disorder." "I think that says enough," Jackson said. "There's no way we could cope if word got out of a Yellow Alert. It'll be difficult keeping the Fleet's alert status quiet as it is." "And if there is an impending attack?" Inaami was almost Vulcan-like in her analysis. Jackson didn't buy into it. Not with so many Alpha Quadrant ships, the combined firepower of which was more than a match for the Cardassians fleet or even the Romulan fleet. And with the Qovakian fleet, such that it was, along side them, Jackson reckoned they might even be a formidable opponent for the Dominion. Her thoughts turned briefly to Brian, her eldest son, fighting in the skirmishes around Bajoran and Cardassian space that made up the gathering war with the Gamma Quadrant inhabitants. "Let's just pray there isn't," Jackson said and signed off for the night. She noticed Inaami's slight eyebrow movement before the link was severed, clearly her old friend was not in agreement with her. Jackson had kept her tight-knit administration team together since her first command of an outpost on Ferengi. Inaami, Jackson, Petri and Djanksy had been the top team for assignment to new territories and allies over the last fifteen years. Jackson knew that Inaami would inform her the moment the situation changed, and rather than be troubled with worrying thoughts, she was able to switch off from responsibility and sleep the moment her head touched the pillow. STARFLEET H.Q., OPERATIONS CONTROL, HELUB, 22:55 hours Inaami hovered by the communications console debating in her mind what could follow. A raised German accent caused her to look over at Leonard. He looked exhausted, his uniform dishevelled, but appeared excitedly coherent as he tried to convey his sense of urgency to the security guard assisting him at the reception counter. "Commander!" Leonard had caught Inaami's look. "I must see the Commodore immediately, or speak to Admiral Street." Inaami didn't immediately respond. "Sir," Lieutenant Commander Petri called to Inaami from the records interface station, glancing over at Leonard in a disapproving way, "the USS Draco recalled all officers an hour ago." She looked over at Leonard who shifted from side to side as he listened. "Mister Leonard did not respond, so they left without him." "It ? must have been the interference from the structure I was in." Leonard tried to justify himself to the command officer, half-smiling to himself at the magnitude of the situation he was beginning to find himself in. In a better light, he may have remembered with irony the old 20th Century movies he had endured with Winston Winston where the main protagonist was disbelieved at every turn, and seemed to do nothing but get himself into more trouble until, usually single-handedly, he could turn the plot around to a gratifying denouement. "Where's the Draco now?" Inaami looked round, distracted by a crowd of off- duty and unbusy officers gathering around the Operations security monitors. "She left the Vekarian system at 22:30 hours. Current location ? unknown" "Communications status?" Inaami looked over her shoulder to Djanksy. "Getting worse. There's interference on all subspace frequencies going off world. Signal range is currently down to within the Vekarian star system only, but that will deteriorate." Commander Djansky looked almost white with tiredness. The oldest of the group of friends, she was a systems specialist and invaluable in keeping the communications and information relay systems operational. Due for retirement several months ago, Djansky had been granted an extension by Starfleet Command at Commodore Jackson's request. As soon as the Outer Zone headquarters were secured she would be going home to her family in Gdansk in Poland. There was just enough time for one more adventure with her old friends. But pulling a double shift was clearly taking its toll, and she doubted she could last till midnight. "With the Commander's permission?" Djansky smiled. "Of course, Sara, you're relieved." "Excuse me, Commander." The German accent at such close proximity caused Inaami to whirl around. Leonard was standing immediately behind her. "I realise you're very busy, but I think this is very urgent." Inaami stepped back a pace. "It's the Commodore you need to see, and that will have to wait until the morning." The Commander was becoming increasingly concerned about the murmuring crowd gathered around the security monitors - must be more trouble in the spaceport, she thought. Leonard was rooted to the spot making Inaami feel a little uncomfortable. "I was in a disused storage facility earlier today, just outside the main port," Leonard held up his tricorder for the Commander's perusal, but she didn't look at it. Instead she looked into his eyes trying to read his emotional state. "I found many ships there, some Federation, only?" Leonard glanced over Inaami's shoulder at the security displays barely visible through the Starfleet spectators - there seemed to be throngs of people filling the main transit tubes. "?We put down on the hanger deck-" "We?" Inaami interrupted. "I was accompanied by Minister Re Lorken," Leonard couldn't help thinking about where she had disappeared to so quickly once they reached the outskirts of the space port, deep beneath the cityscape above. The journey had been long and arduous walking along the ridged floor of the transit tube - an endless, too warm and poorly lit conduit that had stretched for many kilometres. "We set down in the main hangar area and left the runabout for a visual reconnaissance, but? the runabout? it disappeared." "Disappeared?!" Inaami had read his feelings all wrong - initially she thought he was a logical, reasonable man, but what he was saying? perhaps there was more to his current state of mind than was immediately apparent. "I scanned for it, hailed it - it had just vanished. The Minister and I had to walk back to the space port through a transport conduit - it's taken us all afternoon and evening to get here." Leonard also smelled of an acrid, sweet aroma, Inaami noted. "Where is the Minister now? Is she alright?" Inaami looked around, just in case, concerned for the older statesperson who had been one of the few accommodating Qovakians they had dealt with. "She's fine. She was picked up by Vekarian Security and taken away as soon as we reached the outskirts of the port. I was just ? well I was just left there." "And you came straight here?" Leonard nodded "I tried to raise you by communicator but it didn't work. But Commander - that's not all." Leonard frantically stabbed at the unviewed tricorder and called up the image of the spear and flag on its tiny screen, dangling it in Inaami's line of sight. The tiny image did not seem impressive on the tricorder's display. "We found this on the floor of the storage facility. According to the Minister it has a significance, perhaps one that's relevant to our current situation." As if on cue, the security officers called over to Inaami. She frowned at Leonard. "Wait here." The security guard watching over Leonard folded his arms and regarded his charge with renewed contempt - clearly he didn't think much of Leonard's version of events, particularly the "disappeared" runabout bit. Inaami wasn't about to lose her sense of priority. A missing runabout was a serious matter, of course, but what was happening in the port right now meant that many Federation - and Starfleet - people could get hurt. The Vekarian authorities weren't blessed with the best of crowd control tactics, and the numerous broadcasts on Qovakian entertainment channels throughout the day had fuelled its population into a frenzy of speculation. A warning alarm sounded around the complex and Lieutenant Commander Corrigan at the Security Monitor board called out: "The Vekarian Port Authority has just ordered its police to a state of emergency." Inaami walked through the parting crowd to look closer at the monitors and read the directive communications. Corridor after corridor around the departure gates were packed solid with people. Traffic had come to a standstill in overcrowded transport tunnels. Outside the Federation/Starfleet complex, many of its own citizens were gathering to seek protection or a safe transport off world. One woman even carried a placard that read "Save Our Souls". It seemed they were just as gripped by the belief of an invasion as their new Qovakian neighbours. "Commander, please?" surprisingly, Leonard had followed Inaami again, his breath hot on her sensitive neck, he was so close. This time she would sort him out once and for all. She took a step forward and spun to face him. The gathered crowd of officers and crew flanked him. "Don't you people have quarters to go to?!" she bellowed to the observers and hangers-on. They immediately dispersed. Leonard's face was almost contorted with frustration, which Inaami mistook for a look of disdain. She lowered her voice and stared hard at the engineer. "Mister, technically speaking you're already AWOL, missing your ship's hail and departure. I can't imagine Captain Stockport would be happy losing his deputy chief engineer at a time like this." She was right about that, Leonard thought. Stockport wasn't his biggest fan - nor indeed were the rest of the senior officers, which was part of the reason Leonard had taken shore leave so far removed from his shipmates. The discovery of the Alpha Quadrant ships like the liner had at first been a convenient distraction, yet quickly turned into an obsession. Inaami looked as if she were about to brush past Leonard, but instead took him firmly by the arm and led him toward the exit. In the circular, marble- floored reception area she stopped and whisper-talked to him. "Now you've clearly had an eventful day. Your missing runabout will be reported to the SpacePort authorities. I suggest you go and get some rest and come back at 0800 hours-" Leonard had closed his eyes and shook his head in disagreement. "You don't understand. It's all true!" Leonard pointed toward the security monitors. "Don't you see, the K'Tani ARE coming!" Inaami didn't react, save for the lids of her eyes which lowered slightly in a look of impatience. Leonard was desperate for the Commander to believe him. "Otherwise? why would my runabout have been taken? And why would the Minister have been so afraid?" Leonard almost cringed at the sound of his own pleading voice. He could see that in light of the apparently unfounded hysteria gripping the spaceport currently, his story sounded crackpot. "I know this may all sound a bit strange. But 'm a Starfleet officer, Commander, and an engineer. I know the difference between irrational thought and a hypothesis-" Inaami held a hand up, just inches from Leonard's face causing him to stop. "Don't say any more, Commander, just leave. We're too busy to deal with this now. Prepare your evidence if you want, I'll see someone gives it some thought. But in the morning." Leonard just nodded in compliance. Already two of her staff were calling for her immediate attention. As the Commander retreated, Leonard walked over to a comm panel in the waiting area. "I'd like to speak to Minister Re Lorken, it's very urgent." He waited a few long seconds before the reply came. "The Minister has retired for the evening, please call back in the morning." The polite but empty voice relayed. "Then let me speak to an assistant, or Qovakian security?" Leonard insisted. "I'm sorry sir, there is no one available. The port is on a full security alert and no one can assist you right now. However, if you would like to report anything to the automatic message taker-" Leonard was becoming annoyed. "No! I want to speak to someone in person." "I'm sorry, sir, there is no one available." The clearly computer controlled interface was becoming tiresome. Leonard saw that Inaami was looking over in his direction back at her post. "However you can report in person to one of our offices where someone will be happy to assist you." Leonard suspected that the police offices would just file his report away until the spaceport's current crisis was over. By then it could be too late. He decided the situation needed direct action - that instead he would go to the Commodore's apartment. He walked over to the private elevator which would take him to the top of the complex, and the senior officer's suite. However, the elevator, it seemed, had been locked down for the night. Commander Inaami's voice called to him from the reception desk. "Leave the complex immediately, Commander? or I'll have security take you to the brig." Leonard blushed. Entering the regular turbocar he requested his own accommodation level, deep below the complex. He was sure he was right about the impending attack, but he needed to be able to convince someone. He mock-banged his head against the turbolift wall. The fact he'd missed his ship's departure had originally seemed to be unimportant. But now, in light of what Commander Inaami had said, and in the cold, claustrophobic space of the turbocar, he realised he could be in serious trouble. FIREFLY, ASTEROID FIELD NEAR THE QOVAKIAN WORMHOLE, 23:00 hours The Firefly dropped out of warp and slowed to a full stop some two thousand kilometres from the Asteroid field. The vessel, one of several new ships jointly designed by Starfleet and Federation member states, was just as unique as its strange-looking counterparts. This one in particular was a fusion of Brakonian and Starfleet technology. Vancek thought it looked like a squashed-up Intrepid class ship, less like a shoe-tree than that design and more like a bulbous insect - hence the name, she supposed. The shape could be described as having three general features: the top, like a rounded bird's head with the beak tapering to a flat, wedge- like prow; the rear and sides were more conventional, much like a smaller, more rounded interpretation of Starfleet design; Intrepid-like at the rear top where dumpy impulse/warp nacelles protruded horizontally from a tapered engine and hangar deck section; and Excelsior-like underneath, although the curved sides were cut short on its underside where the wedge shape from the prow sliced through its belly in a series of powerful sensor devices which tapered to the aft. Crewed by only 89, the ship was built for mostly science expeditions - capable of withstanding the worst kind of spacial phenomena, and every available space crammed full of scientific research devices for analysis. The crew was equally specialised - even its command crew had been selected for their science or technological know-how. Vancek and the rest of the bridge crew stood around the holographic representation of the area of space before them. The lights were dimmed and the pulsing of red light behind the bridge wall fittings indicated alert mode. The main viewscreen formed the New Tholian border. Just in front of it, a small, purple-blue whirlpool representation of the wormhole and in front of that, the near-stationary asteroid field, which spanned several thousand cubic kilometres. However, only the peripheral rocks were visible as the rest were obscured within a thick, impenetrable yellow-green cloud. The Firefly itself was represented by a miniature version hovering directly in front of Vancek at the perimeter of the holographic image, just in front of the helm station. Sarilev made several calculations on her hand-held padd. "Definitely nothing else in the immediate vicinity," she said. "The electromagnetic radiation appears contained within the cloud for the present." "Then there's no danger of it reacting with the wormhole?" Braxton chipped in. "Not for the moment, no." Sarilev stepped over beside Vancek, looking at the amazing amount of detail on the tiny holographic Firefly in front of them. "Although if it does connect, I wouldn't want to be around when it happened." "It's awfully quiet, isn't it?" Vancek said almost to herself. "I mean, don't magnetic storms usually spark and flare wildly all over the place?" "Usually," Sarilev said, "until they either stretch themselves too far and dissipate or connect with a greater force." An ashen-tan skinned woman with a red dot of powder smeared on her forehead slowly walked around the image, as if looking beneath the surface of the cloud formation to see what was within. "You said 'contained'?" she looked Sarilev in the eye in an eerie sort of way, causing the others to feel a little spooked - Krishnamurti had made several divinations for her fellow officers since their arrival in the Outer Zone and was popularly thought to have the 'sight'. "? Do you mean there could be a force containing the energy within the cloud?" "If there is, it's something new to me. The very cloud itself is the magnetic activity, it's just not behaving as it should." Sarilev referred to her padd, still no change to any readings. "It might just be a new kind of spacial phenomenon unknown as yet in our region of space." "The other storms throughout Qovakia," Vancek said, "they're not behaving like this. Not according to the reports from other ships. They're flailing wildly, just as a regular storm would." "That's right," Sarilev wondered briefly to herself if she were just trying to make a best guess in the light of not enough data, but quickly decided to trust her gut instincts; she pointed at the cloud, "but this may be how those storms began." Vancek looked at Krishnamurti, who looked wizened with angst. "Let's go round it. We'll enter the asteroid field at 8 by 13 degrees from point and monitor its activity closest to the wormhole." Braxton replaced the holographic image with the standard view ahead - despite the previous image of the situation, the cloud seemed immense, even at normal magnification, but, she reminded herself, they were pretty close. "Course laid in, arrival time thirty nine seconds." "Lieutenant Vaughn." Vancek spoke to the Tactical Officer behind her, an enormous hulk of a woman with the thickest neck she had ever seen on a human woman. "Aye, Sir?" by contrast, Vaughn's voice was the most feminine of all the bridge crew. "Raise shields." Vancek heard the zoop! of the activating energy fields and turned to Crosby. "Anything on hails yet?" "Negative, Captain," her fingers did a dance over her console, "too much interference throughout the quadrant. Here ?" she took control of the main viewscreen and displayed a drop-down panel containing an array of scientific and communications readings for all to see, "in fact, the whole spectrum of communications is being affected." Vancek could see for herself from the data that Qovakia was essentially blacked out - static and wildly inaccurate data was streaming across subspace frequencies. Contact with all ships had been systematically lost. "Keep on it, Lieutenant." Vancek said. "Now approaching co-ordinates, Captain." Braxton flipped the viewer's image back to standard ahead. Skilfully, she picked the easiest and safest course for the Firefly to pass into the asteroid field and observe the distance of littered space between the edge of the cloud and the wormhole itself. The image of the cloud at close range brought a gasp to Krishanmurti's lips. Unexpectedly, many hundreds of thin, needle-like spines began to protrude slowly from the thick yellow cloud. Longer and longer they emerged, black spines which expanded to form the noses of many small ships. Shades of black and sleek in shape, they had hundreds of shorter, spiny protrusions about their hull, the most significant of which became two hollow wings sweeping up and back from what was presumably the cockpit area. Vancek thought to herself that in a funny way, their ships looked like a more menacing insect design than that of Firefly. A swarm of black wasps come to attack her. They moved slowly, and as one, turning in formation to face their bepricked prows towards the Starfleet vessel. "Indeterminate readings," Vaughn said, "they seem to be pulling electromagnetic energy from the cloud." "No response to hails." Crosby had interpreted Vancek's nod an instant before. "Back us off," Vancek said. From the visual sensor readout panel on Vancek's command chair arm she noted there were 350 of them, and the very facts of their stealthy and silent presence were enough to make the Acting Captain react accordingly, "get us out of the asteroid field. Quickly!" "I'm reading an energy surge." Sarilev called out from the science stations, which she had rigged to get a clearer picture of the alien ships. "I think they might be firing." Vaughn called out as a green-yellow shimmer began to form around each ship. "Reserve power to the forward shields!" she bellowed to Vaughn and added, "Evasive manoeuvres if you will, please, Conn." It was a tall order, even if Braxton had been a veteran pilot. The bulbous Firefly was retreating at speed, picking a quicker exit through the asteroids, though knocking against a few small ones in the rush to move speedily out of range. Krishnamurti turned from her science post next to Sarilev and relaxed her body. Pretending to operate controls, she had spent the last minute of her life preparing for the death she knew was inevitable. In her trance-like state, the bridge appeared to glow with intensified colour, radiating light where life pulsed fragile. She saw its crew moving in slow motion, a mixed reaction of astonishment and panic on their slowed-down faces. On the viewscreen she watched as each enemy ship's needle-pointed prow began to glow white-hot. The light intensified, and suddenly beams of energy shot from each ship toward the Firefly. Even in this heightened state of awareness where time slowed for Krishnamurti, the attack was swift. As the beams made crackling contact with the shields, the ship lurched violently. Krishnamurti was thrown on to the deck and could only manage to turn her head briefly to see the mixture of light, energy, fire and debris envelop the bridge as the ship was ripped apart. *** Continue to Act IV