The vastness of
space lay before the Federation starship USS
Triton, which moved slowly at impulse speed through the asteroid belt of a
solar system in sector 50102.
“Take us through
easy, Mister Crowder,” Captain Amanda Tomkins, commanding officer of the Triton, advised her helmsman, Ensign
Joshua Crowder, as the starship moved past an asteroid nearly a quarter the
size of Earth’s moon, the gravity it generated affecting the Triton’s course.
“Compensating,
Ma’am,” Crowder replied, still getting the hang of helming a starship after his
hasty appointment to the vessel a couple of months earlier before he and
several of his Academy classmates had even officially graduated.
“Captain,”
interjected the voice of Lt. Ckathel, the starship’s
cat-like Caitian chief science officer. “Sensorrrrs
arrrre detecting anomalous rrrreadings. It may only be sensorrrr
ghosts crrrreated by the smallerrrr drrrrifting asterrroids, but…”
“I’m detecting
the same readings, Captain,” added the starship’s new tactical and security
officer, Ensign Liam Petrie. “I think it
may be more than sensor ghosts. I think
it may be thrusters firing.”
Immediately
Captain Tomkins sat up straighter in her command chair.
“Petrie, sound yellow alert!
Raise shields!” she ordered.
Almost as soon as
the shields were in place, the Triton
shuddered violently.
“Weapons fire!” Petrie announced. “A ship has emerged from behind the large
asteroid at bearing 199 mark 6!”
“On screen!” Tomkins ordered.
The main viewer
blinked to an image just off the aft port quarter of the Triton, where a large, triangular warship was maneuvering to fire
again upon the Federation starship.
“A Kairn battlecruiser!”
Tomkins exclaimed. “Crowder, get us out
of here!”
* * * *
Sector 50104
45 light years away from the USS Triton
The Galaxy-class
starship USS Sarek
cruised through an area of open space, having completed a survey of an
uninhabited star system the day prior.
“On course 357
mark 0, Captain,” reported Lieutenant (JG) Briana
Kiernan from the helm console. Captain Kethry Sutherland, the Sarek’s commanding officer,
interrupted her conversation with Commander A-ZuRQuIL,
the starship’s first officer and chief of security, who was standing behind the
horseshoe railing behind her.
“Very well, conn.” She then returned
her attention back to the Capellan man wearing a sash
of blue feathers over one shoulder. “So
far, with some notable exceptions, this new mission is reminding me a lot of
our first tour aboard the Sarek. So many
unknown areas of space, going where none have been before us.”
“Actually, I feel
it’s quite different,” A-ZuRQuIL
countered. “When we were in the Gamma
Quadrant all those years ago, we were pretty much on our own. No where to retreat to, not that Kalin would have allowed retreat. No allies except those we made
ourselves. And then, once the Dominion
made themselves known…”
“I guess you’re
right,” Sutherland admitted. “At least
as part of the Fifth Fleet, the other ships aren’t all that far…” Sutherland paused when she noticed A-ZuRQuIL staring intently at one of the
indicators on his tactical console.
“What is it, Quil?”
“Long range
sensors are detecting something moving at high warp on an intercept course,
Captain,” the Capellan replied, his tone turning
formal. “From what I can detect, it’s
either an immensely large vessel, or…”
“…Or what?” Sutherland asked, not entirely sure she wanted
to know the answer.
Suddenly, A-ZuRQuIL looked up and addressed the officer
sitting at ops.
“Sound red
alert! Raising all
shields and deflectors!”
“What have we
got?” Sutherland wanted to know as she looked back at the main viewscreen.
“Enemy fleet coming out of warp!”
“All stop!”
Sutherland ordered, prompting the starship to drop out of warp and come to a
nearly complete halt. Moments later,
five triangular-shaped warships emerged from warp as well, nearly surrounding
the Federation vessel.
“What are they
doing?” Sutherland asked after nearly half a minute passed with no direct
action taken against the Sarek.
“Maybe they’re
evaluating us?” Keirnan suggested.
“Mister Keirnan, lay in course 175 mark 3,” ordered the
captain. “We’re outgunned here. If we can make a break for it, I’m going to
take the opportunity.”
“Retreat,
Captain?” A-ZuRQuIL asked with a slight
tone of amusement in his voice.
“Strategic
withdrawal,” Sutherland replied with an equally ironic smile.
“Captain,”
interrupted the officer at ops. “We’re
being hailed, audio only.”
“On speakers,”
Sutherland said after exchanging a surprised look with her first officer.
“Federation sssstarship, you have entered ssssovereign
territory of the Kairn Empire. Withdraw or be desssstroyed.”
“They’re actually
offering us a choice,” Sutherland said in amazement. The half-Betazoid
woman then said, louder, “This is Captain Kethry
Sutherland of the Federation starship Sarek. We will
withdraw. We do not want this encounter
to escalate into unneeded violence.”
“Then I ssssuggessst you be on your way,” the voice responded
threateningly.
“Kiernan, back us
away from the battlecruisers slowly. Once we’re clear of them, take us around and
on the course I ordered earlier.”
“Aye, Captain,”
the helmsman replied, activating aft thrusters and slowly moving the Sarek away from
the five Kairn vessels.
* * * *
Sector 50103
15 light years away from USS Triton and
30 light years away from USS Sarek
“Status?” Captain K’danz shouted.
“Shields down to 33%.
Shield four is on the verge of collapse,” Marine Captain Michael Drake
reported from the tactical station as he patted out a flash of sparks from the
display.
“Port impulse
engine is inoperative. Forward phaser array has burned out. Aft torpedo launcher is out of weapons,”
Lieutenant Kimmel Wheeler reported, the latest of the systems to be knocked
out.
“Did we broadcast
a distress call?” K’danz wanted to know.
“Subspace
transceiver has overloaded, Captain,” Wheeler added. “I tried to broadcast, but I have no way of
being certain we got the signal out, and definitely no
way of receiving a response.”
“We may very well
be on our own out here,” Commander Tom Paris, the Bellerophon’s first officer,
remarked.
K’danz looked at the viewscreen,
which displayed an image of the four Kairn warships,
two battlecruisers and two destroyers,
that were pounding the USS Bellerophon.
K’danz exchanged a look with her husband, the starship’s
chief engineer, Dar, who with his assistant chief was nursing as much power as
he could muster from the starboard side engineering console. She then looked back at the screen with an air
of determination and said, “If we’re going to buy it here, I’m taking as many
of those bastards with us as I can!
Helm, come about 180 degrees.
Tactical, trilithium torpedoes, full
spread. Fire at will!”
With a quick
jerk, the Intrepid-class starship spun on its axis to suddenly face the
trailing enemy ships. As soon as the
starship stopped turning, Drake fired six trilithium
torpedoes – three from each forward tube – at the pursuing ships. All six powerful weapons struck their marks,
three hitting one of the destroyers and immediately collapsing its shields and
blowing a hole into the forward hull.
The other three torpedoes were divided between the two much larger battlecruisers, doing little damage. K’danz watched as
the destroyer the Belle had damaged
peeled away from the other Kairn ships, plasma
starting to leak from the nacelles, and she smiled a grim smile.
The missile tubes
on one of the battlecruisers opened up, the business
ends of several nuclear-tipped projectiles aiming directly at the Bellerophon.
“It’s been an
honor serving with you, Carrie,”
“You too, Tom,” K’danz replied as she held her hand out to her
husband. Suddenly, one of the Kairn battlecruisers erupted in a
huge explosion.
“Captain! Two vessels
just dropped out of warp!” exclaimed Lt. Wheeler. “They’re Federation starships!”
K’danz could not begin to express her relief as the
Sovereign-class starship Dauntless
and the Leviathan-class starship Besiege,
weapons blazing, appeared almost out of nowhere and engaged the two remaining Kairn vessels.
Immediately the Dauntless
slowed and positioned itself between the Bellerophon and the now diverging
Kairn as the Besiege
strafed the ships with its pulse phaser cannons,
causing the second destroyer to lose shields and immediately start to withdraw
like its brethren. Meanwhile, the
remaining battlecruiser turned to bring its weapons
to bear on the Federation battleship, firing two nuclear missiles toward the
rear of the Besiege as it passed
overhead. One missile was detonated
almost immediately by phaser fire from the Dauntless, but the second detonated
against the Besiege’s
aft shields, knocking the compact vessel sideways before the crew compensated
and started bringing it back around to make another strafing run. But before the Besiege could complete its turn, the Kairn
vessel spun and quickly entered warp.
“We’re being
hailed by the Dauntless,” Wheeler
reported to the captain.
“On screen,
Kimmel,” K’danz ordered, her adrenalin rush causing her to shake slightly as
the image on the main viewer changed from space to the bridge of the Fifth
Fleet flagship.
“Status, Carrie?”
Fleet Captain Peter J. Koester, commanding officer of the Dauntless asked.
“We’re battered
and have several key systems out at present, but we can proceed on our own
power,” K’danz replied. “Thank you, Peter. I thought we were done for this time.”
“It’s a good
thing Spot was able to boost your transmission,” Koester admitted. “We were barely able to receive it. And if we were anywhere more than five light
years away, we would never have gotten here in time to help.”
“We’re in bad
shape, Carrie,” Dar said to his wife.
“We need to replace the entire port impulse package, repair all shield
and deflector generators, overhaul the phaser arrays
and EPS conduits, and Drake says we need to completely restock our torpedo
casing compliment. We don’t have a
choice. We need to head back to Homeplate.”
“Bill and I stand
ready to escort you back to the Typhon sector,”
Koester said over the screen, referring to William McLeod, the captain of the Besiege.
“In the meantime, I’m going to send a communiqué to Admiral Raiajh. The Kairn are getting aggressive. Too aggressive.”
Space,
the Final Frontier!
These
are the voyages…
Star Trek:
Fifth Fleet
“Proud Vengeance” By PJK and Robert Lydford
Stardate
63333.3
Aboard Starbase 719
AKA ‘Homeplate’
A debriefing
between the five starship captains and their first officers, Fleet Commander
Vice Admiral Penji Fil, Starbase and sector commander Rear Admiral Val’ri Raiajh and her own first
officer, Commander Cathryn Pearson, had just ended. As most of the officers left the briefing
room, Fleet Captain Koester hung back to talk with the two admirals.
“From what you
and your fellow crews have been able to determine, based on the locations and
timing of your encounters with the Kairn,” said
Admiral Fil, “we can only conclude one of two
possibilities. Either we greatly
underestimated the extent of Kairn territory when
Starfleet constructed this starbase out here, or…”
“Or the Kairn are following our starships and claiming anything we
discover,” added Raiajh.
“I find the
latter more likely,” Koester remarked, thinking back on his previous encounters
with the reclusive reptilian race. “What
do you think Starfleet Command’s response is going to be, Val’ri? I know Starfleet isn’t going to abandon
exploration of the Fifth Fleet area of responsibility. And I’m certainly not planning on sitting
here aboard your starbase for the next five
years. But it’s not feasible to have every
ship in the fleet keep returning for repairs every two weeks either.”
“We may just have
to request more ships to be added to the fleet, and hope we can overwhelm the Kairn’s resources,” the Vulcan-Deltan
woman replied.
“Unlikely, considering
the current state of Starfleet,” said Fil. “I don’t think SFHQ can spare many ships to
send out to us, even temporarily. We’re
not exactly just around the corner, you know.”
“There is another
possibility,” Raiajh commented, her expression indicating
she was not sure it was an acceptable option.
“Chancellor Martok has been looking for an
excuse to send one or more of his warships out here ever since he heard about
the Fifth Fleet being re-commissioned.
He wants to establish a foothold out here for the Empire. I think the Kairn
have provided the excuse the Chancellor has been looking for.”
“A Klingon ship as part of the Federation
Fifth Fleet?” Fil remarked, some of his old prejudices seemingly
re-emerging for a moment.
“The Klingons have been reliable allies in the past, Admiral,”
Koester reminded. “I worked quite
closely with Captain Kargoth before he was killed by
the Duras faction.
If we can get a commander who has a similar outlook, it could be an
asset.”
“I’ll send my
report back to
“I still don’t
see how one or two more ships out here is going to help us?” Fil remarked as both he and Koester started walking down
the corridor toward the starbase’s recreation
facilities. “We already have one of the
most powerful starships in the fleet in the form of the Besiege, and we still nearly got our butts handed to us.”
“Keep in mind, Penji,” Koester said a little less formally. “The Klingons will
do things in battle that would give most Starfleet captains pause. If Martok decides
to send one or two of his ships out here, and the
Federation Council allows it, it may be just what we need to get the Kairn off our backs for a while. In the meantime, I believe you owe me a
drink. Where does Val’ri
keep the bar on this floating palace of hers?”
* * * *
Three weeks later
Stardate
63390.8
Fleet Captain
Peter Koester exited the turbolift and stepped out
onto the bridge of his starship, looking around at the various stations. His first officer, Commander Setton To’Lock Arbelo, was sitting in the command seat, watching
several Starfleet technicians finishing up restoring the operations console,
replacing the panel top and activating the station while, nearby, Chief Pono Kyman, the starship’s Chief
of the Boat, supervised the work.
“What’s the word,
Monster?” Koester asked as he stepped over to the command chair.
“The
modifications to the communications system are almost done, Skipper,” Arbelo
replied. “They’re buttoning up the
system now. And my opposite numbers
aboard the Belle and Sarek told me
their modifications are almost complete too.
But I don’t understand what the modifications are for. Are all the Fifth Fleet ships getting this
modification?”
“From what I
could tell by observing, the technicians boosted our subspace transceiver,” Kyman explained. “It
should allow us to transmit further without the use of booster stations.”
“That’s one use
for it, yes,” Koester said cryptically, smiling. “And yes, all five ships are getting it.”
“What other use
would there be, Skipper?” Kyman asked, confused.
“Hopefully we
won’t have to find out, COB.” Koester
then turned his attention to his first officer and said, “Spacedock
Control has given us clearance for departure at 1200 tomorrow. Make sure the crew is advised and everyone is
aboard. Our next mission may be tough.”
“Aye,
Skipper. Is the fleet resuming its
mission in spite of the difficulties with the Kairn?”
Arbelo asked.
“No. Just us.”
“We’re going out
alone?!?” Kyman asked with disbelief.
“No, COB. We’re never alone,” Koester said as he walked
down and disappeared into his ready room.
* * * *
“Alter
course. Come right to 045 mark 355,”
ordered Commander Arbelo.
“Coming to course
045 mark 355,” Lieutenant (JG) William Hyland III responded.
“What are we
doing out here, Monster?” Counselor Tanzia Gera asked. “We’ve
been out here for almost two weeks. Not
a single system mapped or explored. No
contacts. Cruising
around in circles going no faster than warp two. To tell you the truth…”
Arbelo looked at
the joined-Trill counselor expectantly.
“Yes? Go ahead, Counselor.”
“Well… I feel
like we’re out here with a huge target painted on our hull.”
“You think the
Skipper is deliberately looking for a run-in with the Kairn?”
“Don’t you?”
Before Arbelo
could answer, the turbolift opened and Koester
stepped out.
“My tour of the
decks is complete, Exec,” the captain announced. “Everything is ship-shape as always. Any change in status?”
“We turned onto
the new course you ordered a few minutes ago,” Arbelo replied. “I do have one question, Skipper. What are we looking for out here?”
“What makes you
think we’re looking for anything, Exec?”
“Because for as long as I’ve been aboard the Dauntless, I’ve never known her to actively avoid exploration. It’s more like we’re stalking. What are we stalking, Skipper?”
“You have to...?”
Koester started to say before his was interrupted by the Marine officer
standing at tactical.
“Commander, long
range sensors are detecting several vessels traveling at warp speed, bearing
270 mark 4,” reported April Mendez. “They just turned on an intercept course.”
“The captain has
the deck and the conn!” Koester called out,
immediately replacing Arbelo, who moved over to his regular seat to the right,
in the center seat. “Raise shields. Bring us around to course 270 mark 0. Can you identify, Mendez?”
“Warp signature
identifies them as Kairn, sir.”
“About time,”
Koester growled. “Mister Hyland, slow to
one-half impulse. Mister Hagen, transmit
a call for assistance on frequency 167.9.
Make sure you include our current coordinates.”
“Slowing to
one-half impulse,” acknowledged the helmsman.
“Transmitting
call for assistance,” the ensign at ops replied.
“Sound red alert,
Exec. We’re about to have company.”
The red alert
klaxon sounded throughout the starship.
Within moments, several crew members on the bridge were replaced by the primary
crew, including Lieutenant Tom Riker replacing Ensign Jerry Hagen at ops,
Commander Alasdair Wallace replacing Lt. Spot at the science console – though
the non-corporeal entity never really left the bridge – and chief engineer
Jeffery Bloom replacing Lt. Commander John Smith at the engineering
console. Seconds later, Chief Kyman stepped out of the turbolift
and sat down at mission ops, completing the bridge crew.
“Captain, there
are six Kairn vessels inbound,” Mendez reported.
“Ship is manned
for battlestations, Skipper,” Arbelo added, checking
status reports on his LCARS screen.
“Any response to our call for assistance, Mister Riker?”
Koester asked.
“No response,
sir,” the operations officer replied.
“Skipper, it will
be days before our distress call is even received by Homeplate or any of the other
Fifth Fleet vessels,” Arbelo pointed out.
“We’re on our own out here. We
need to run!”
“I ordered a call
for assistance, not a distress call, Exec,” Koester scolded, still sounding
calm. “There’s a big difference.”
Before Arbelo
could make another point about how little difference there was between a
distress and assistance call in their present circumstance, Wallace called out,
“Kairn vessels dropping out o’ warp, dead ahead. Range: 11 kilometers.”
On the viewscreen, four large, pyramid-like Kairn
battlecruisers, flanked on each side by two smaller,
triangular-shaped destroyers, dropped into real-space. Immediately upon emerging from warp, the
missile tubes and weapons arrays of the Kairn ships
opened, each weapon aimed at the lone Federation starship. Within seconds, the battle was joined.
In spite of the
overwhelming odds, the Dauntless
managed to hold her own for several minutes.
Careful aim with the main phaser array by
Captain Mendez caused the detonation of several of the nuclear-tipped missiles
within one of the battlecruiser’s launch tubes,
tearing out a large section of the Kairn ship’s
hull. As the damaged ship maneuvered
away from the battle, the remaining five enemy ships tried to surround the Dauntless.
“Shield three is
on the verge of collapse,” Riker announced.
“All shields down by 40%. Compensating.”
“Weapons status?” Koester asked as he gripped his seat’s
armrests when the starship shifted violently to port.
“All weapons still functional. Quantum torpedoes armed and loaded in tube
one,” Mendez reported.
“Fire at will,”
Koester ordered.
Five bright white
quantum torpedoes launched from the tube directly below the main saucer hull,
striking one destroyer and one battlecruiser.
“One battlecruiser is starting a run on us along the port bow,”
Riker reported.
“Captain, we have
a rupture of the EPS taps on deck 10, section 25,” Chief Kyman
informed. “Damage control teams are
responding.”
“Jeff?” Koester
said, looking at the emotional Vulcan engineer.
“Re-routing power
flows. It shouldn’t be a problem,” the
engineer stated.
Commander Arbelo
leaned close to the captain’s ear and whispered, “Skipper, it’s not looking good. We need to get out of here or we’ll be
destroyed for sure.”
“Oh ye of little
faith,” Koester replied with a smile.
“Come around on course 190 mark 3.
Keep that damaged shield away from that battlecruiser.”
“Coming left to
course 190 mark 3,” Hyland acknowledged.
“Captain, I’m
detecting strange readings,” interrupted a British-accented, slightly
mechanical-sounding voice through Koester’s combadge.
“What kind of
strange reading, Mister Spot?” Koester asked.
“I’m detecting triquantum waves, subspace disruptions with a field
magnitude exceeding 2.9 teracochranes, and a
symmetric power utilization curve,” Lt. Spot reported.
“What?!?” Arbelo exclaimed, staring toward the science
console where Spot appeared atop the surface as nothing more than a five centimeter
circle of red light in front of Commander Wallace. “That would indicate…”
“No!” Chief Kyman protested, turning in his seat to stare directly at
the captain. “Not now! They can’t be here now!”
“What is it?”
Counselor
“The Borg,
Counselor,” Arbelo replied, his attention now firmly back on the main viewscreen. “Those
are the indications of the formation of a Borg transwarp
corridor. What bearing, Spot?”
“Bearing 181 mark
0, range 7 kilometers.”
“On screen,”
Koester ordered.
On the screen,
one of the Kairn ships moved past as, in the
distance, a purple and blue explosion flare, giving off spiraling tendrils of
energy, erupted less than seven thousand meters from the Dauntless.
“Steady,
everyone,” Koester said.
“Transwarp corridor has formed off the port bow,” Wallace
reported.
“It’s quite
beautiful,” the captain commented. “Yes,
Alasdair, I was expecting that.”
“You were
expecting…. THAT?” Arbelo said in amazement.
“I’m detecting
something emerging from the corridor, but I cannot detect a vessel of any kind,”
Riker announced.
Koester chuckled
as he said, almost to himself, “He’s grandstanding. Just rattling his bat’leth for us.”
“Skipper?” Arbelo asked, confused. “Are you expecting more company?”
“Watch the
screen, Exec. Watch the screen.”
On the viewer,
the Kairn ships were reacting to the sudden
appearance of the transwarp corridor, scattering like
insects. As the Dauntless’ bridge crew watched, the empty space in front of the
now-collapsing corridor wavered and a ship began to emerge from cloak.
“Captain! Klingon vessel decloaking off the
port bow! It’s a QaDwI’,
or Challenger-class, heavy carrier,” Mendez reported, excitement in her
voice. “¡Madre de dios! She
outguns us seven to one!”
“Dauntless is not a warship,” Koester
commented. “That is!”
As the bridge
crew watched, dozens of Klingon fighters started pouring
out of the hanger decks along each side of the main hull, swarming like flies
around the now-scattering Kairn vessels as the Klingon warship opened fire with its own disruptors, isokinetic cannons, and tricobalt
torpedoes.
“Mendez, we
aren’t going to let the Klingons have all the fun,
are we?” the captain asked with a grin.
“No, sir!” Mendez replied, still shocked by the sudden
appearance of the allied vessel.
“Then inform
Colonel McIntyre he has permission to launch his Hornets and re-arm all our phasers and torpedo tubes,” Koester ordered.
“Sir, yes, sir!” Mendez replied. “Bridge to Marine hanger. Launch Hornet flight.”
“Launch Hornets,
aye,” quickly replied Marine contingent commander Sean Elliot McIntyre. A moment later four Hornet-class space
superiority fighters took off from the aft hanger aboard the Dauntless and joined the Klingon fighters in harassing the rapidly dispersing Kain ships and depleting their shilds
as the Klingon warship destroyed first one of the
larger battlecruisers, then one of the destroyers as
the Dauntless took out the shields of
another of the battlecruisers. In just a few minutes, the Federation and Klingon ships and their fighters had completely destroyed
five of the six Kairn warships, only the first battlecruiser that had been damaged and started moving away
from the battle early on managed to warp away to safety.
“Well, that was
fun,” Koester said ironically. “April,
inform the Colonel he has permission to return his Hornets to hanger bay two.”
“Aye, Captain,”
Mendez replied.
“Captain, we’re
being hailed by the Klingon ship,” Lt. Riker
announced.
“On screen,” the
captain ordered.
The screen
changed to show the bridge of the larger Klingon
vessel. In the command seat near the
front, half-hidden in shadow from the subdued lighting and smoke that filled
the space, sat a large, burly Klingon wearing the
uniform and decorations of a general.
“Federation
starship Dauntless, I am General Ke’reth zantai Makura, commander
of the IKV Proud Vengeance,” he said
in a distinct voice. “My ship and I have
been dispatched here on special assignment with the Federation Fifth Fleet.”
“Welcome,
General,” Koester said in reply. “I am
Fleet Captain Peter J. Koester, commanding officer of the starship Dauntless. My crew and I are grateful you could join us
today. I was a little worried our new
trans-space transceiver wasn’t going to work.”
“It appears your
equipment works perfectly, Fleet Captain.
It was nice of you to organize such an elaborate welcoming
reception. My crew and I appreciate the
opportunity to hone our skills.”
“Speaking of
reception, General, I hope you and your command staff would honor us by
agreeing to join us for a reception in our ship’s lounge this evening?” Koester
said.
“We would be
honored to meet with you,” Ke’reth replied. “I’ll bring the blood wine!”
“We look forward
to meeting you face to face, General. Until then. Dauntless, out.”
The screen image
changed back to the view of deep space, where the Proud Vengeance maneuvered to come alongside the Dauntless.
“Did you know
about this, Skipper?” Commander Arbelo finally asked.
“If you’re asking,
did I know about a Klingon ship being assigned to the
fleet, then the answer is yes,” Koester admitted. “Did I know that our trans-space transceiver
was going to work, then no, I wasn’t entirely sure.”
“What in the
universe is a trans-space transceiver?” Chief Kyman
asked.
“You remember
when you were overseeing the installation of the new communications
modification, COB?”
“Yeah. I thought it
would boost our range of transmission,” the El-Aurian
man replied.
“That would be
true if we were to transmit on the normal subspace frequencies,” Koester
admitted. “Heck, I think we could send a
message directly to Starfleet Command on Earth with the new system with only
point nine-five percent degradation to the signal. But it’s frequency 167.9 that makes the new
equipment so great. It can then
transmit, within a limited range, at transwarp
speed.”
“So we were able
to transmit all the way back to Homeplate?” Arbelo asked.
Koester nodded as
he said, “Where General Ke’reth and his ship were
waiting for our call.”
“Wait a minute,
Skipper,” Kyman said, holding up his hands to pause
his captain. “If the Proud Vengeance was all the way back at Starbase 719, how in heck did they get all the
way out here to assist us in just over fifteen minutes?”
“The transwarp corridor,” Arbelo stated, starting to put the
pieces together. “The Klingons have developed transwarp?”
“I’m sure the
General and his crew will tell us all about their ship during tonight’s
reception. Exec, see to it that
10-Forward is prepared.”
“Aye, Skipper,”
Arbelo replied. “I just hope I can avoid
the blood wine. I’ve never been able to
develop a taste for the stuff.”
* * * *
Ke’reth sat back in the targ-leather
seat in his office, a mug of raktajino rapidly
cooling among a stack of L-shaped padds on his desk. His eyes stared almost unseeing, as he
half-closed them in thought.
‘This is a new
age…,’ Ke’reth thought to himself. Would his late father, Ton’arg,
have been able to work this closely with the Federation? With humans?
‘Dauntless… Dauntless… Dauntless…’ He mulled the word over and over in his
mind. It meant ‘One who is confident and
without fear.’ A good name for a ship,
he decided. ‘ghIjbe,’ he
thought, rendering the word into Klingonese. ‘One who is without fear.’
The ring of his
door signal interrupted the General’s thoughts.
“NuqneH?” he called out.
The door slid
open with a rough slam and Captain Havok, Ke’reth’s executive officer, stooped through the door and
walked in, carrying another small padd.
“Damage report,
General,” Havok said, handing the padd
to his commanding officer. “The Kairn cannot even fight well. Only minor damage to the secondary hull
struts and two shield generators are on backup power. Nothing Kana can’t take
care of, even out here. Her engineering
crews are already repairing the damage.”
“Very good, Havok. We took the Kairn by surprise and spooked
them, but unfortunately allowed one to escape.
I do not think they will be so easily surprised next time.” Ke’reth looked up
at his exec and asked, “So tell me, what do you think
of our new friends?”
“From what I have
seen, they fight well and bravely. But I
will reserve my judgment until I can actually look them in the eye. Only then will I know if they truly have
honor.”
“You will have your
opportunity, Captain. We have been asked
to join them aboard the Dauntless for
a… I believe the human term is ‘meet and greet.’”
“I could never
tolerate human social functions,” Havok said with a
grimace. “They always serve the gagh dead and the blood wine cold!”
Ke’reth chuckled as he said, “I cannot speak of the gagh, but the blood wine will be proper room
temperature. I’m having one of my own special
barrels pulled out of storage right now.”
* * * *
As 1800 hours
approached, Fleet Captain Koester, Commander Arbelo, Vice Admiral Penji Fil, and Master Chief Petty
Officer Pono Kyman, wearing
their standard duty uniforms, entered the transporter room and lined up in
front of the main console booth.
“Even after all
these years in the 24th century, I still get a lump in the pit of my
stomach whenever I have to deal with Klingons,” Admiral Fil remarked as he
fidgeted in place.
“I’ve worked
closely with several Klingons, particularly during
the Dominion War,” Koester responded, leaning forward slightly to look past
Arbelo at the admiral. “Once you get a
basic understanding of Klingon culture and their
sense of duty and honor, there really isn’t much difference between working
with Klingons and working with other warrior races
like Andorians or Capellans. And I happen to know you worked quite closely
with Capellans in the past.”
“Another chapter
of my life I would rather not discuss,” Fil remarked
with a wry smile.
“Captain, Proud Vengeance signals they are ready
to beam their party aboard,” announced Chief Gregory Blackman. “Transporters are synchronized.”
“Very well, Chief. Energize,”
Koester ordered.
The transporter
hummed to life and seven forms materialized on the platform. All wore elaborate Klingon
battle armor. The one Koester recognized
as General Ke’reth, wearing a dark grey cloak with
medals and the emblems of his noble house displayed upon it over the armor,
stood in the center of the platform.
Surrounding him were three male and three female Klingons. One of the males was an older Klingon, his hair turning silver-grey, and was holding a
cane with one hand, one of the women wore sleek black armor, and Koester was
surprised by how human one of the other women looked, being much shorter than
her companions and sporting no forehead ridges.
All seven Klingons looked over the Federation crew silently for a
moment before Koester stepped forward and said, “Welcome aboard the Dauntless.” He offered a Klingon
salute, pounding his right hand against his chest and swinging his hand
straight out as he added, “I’m Fleet Captain Peter J. Koester.”
General Ke’reth stepped forward, offering a salute in return before
introducing his own command staff.
“This is Captain Havok, my executive officer,” Ke’reth
said, gesturing toward the dark-skinned, heavily ridged, 2.2 meter tall
warrior. He then gestured to the
hard-as-nails looking woman next to Havok and said,
“My tactical officer, Commodore KI’HQaS.” He then gestured to the woman in black armor
and said, “Commander I’Sar, commander of the Black Dagger
Guard.” Next he gestured toward the
petite, ridge-less woman and said, “Commander Kana, my chief engineer.” Another gesture, this time
toward the male with the cane, as Ke’reth said,
“Commander K’Taal, my chief science officer.” Ke’reth then made
one last gesture toward the last male, saying, “And finally Doctor Krenn, my chief medical officer.”
Each officer
nodded toward Koester and then his crew members as their names were
announced. Koester greeted each in turn
before introducing his own staff.
“If you will all
please follow me, you can meet the rest of my command staff in 10-Forward,”
Koester said, leading all ten people out of the transporter room and toward the
nearest turbolift where, splitting into two groups – Koester
and Fil leading Ke’reth, KI’HQaS, Kana, and Krenn while
Arbelo and Kyman led Havok,
I’Sar, and K’Taal – they
descended two deck and made their way to the main lounge at the bow of the
starship. Inside the lounge were
gathered the rest of the command staff, Commander Alasdair Wallace, Commander
Jeffery Bloom, Dr. Justin MacMillan, Lt Colonel Sean McIntrye, Counselor Tanzia Gera, and Lt(JG) Carter Breitling, as well as other members of the crew that the
captain thought might be helpful in regards to entertaining the Proud Vengeance crew, like Klingon Lt Commander Rinja Ka’Dan and Daminian Lt. Spot.
To the visiting
crew’s surprise, the buffet table that had been set up across the middle of the
lounge was covered with not only Federation delicacies, like Bajoran hasperat, Bolian soufflé, Vulcan pok tar
and plomeek soup, and Earth beef, chicken, and pork
dishes, but also traditional Klingon fare like bregit lung, pipius claw, and
both gagh and racht, alive
and squirming.
A moment later,
the lounge doors opened again, and two crewmen carried a large barrel with Klingon script into 10-Forward with anti-gravs and placed it near the end of the buffet table. Ke’reth immediately
walked over to it, pulling the top off the barrel and grabbing a nearby mug
from the table, dunking it into the dark red liquid.
“Blood wine, from
my own special stock,” the general proclaimed, holding his mug up in the
air. “A toast!”
Each member of
both crews were handed mugs by the lounge stewards and dipped them into the
barrel, filling them with blood wine, Commander Arbelo trying to hide his look
of distaste from the guests. Once
everyone had their drink ready, Ke’reth continued.
“To our new comrades and the success of the mission ahead!”
Everyone raised
their mugs and shouted “Qapla’!” then drank from the
mugs. As soon as the toast was finished,
most of Ke’reth’s crew made right for the buffet
table as Koester took the General over and introduced him to his Klingon exchange officer, Ka’Dan.
“Ka’Dan was a big help in setting up this reception,” Koester
said. “It was he who made sure we
carried live gagh and racht
aboard when we left Starbase 719.”
Ke’reth grunted in gratitude as one of the stewards handed
him a plate with an assortment of foods, both Klingon
and Federation, grabbing a fistful of racht and
stuffing it into his mouth as he turned his attention on the young Klingon wearing the Starfleet uniform with Klingon rank insignia on his collar.
“And how do you
find serving aboard a Federation starship, ra’wl’ Sogh?” Ke’reth asked.
“It is… different…
than I was led to believe at the
Across the room,
the Dauntless’ chief engineer, the
emotional Vulcan Commander Jeffery Bloom, approached the Proud Vengeance’s chief engineer, Commander Kana.
“I hope you don’t
mind me asking, Commander…,” Bloom started to say when Kana suddenly
interrupted him.
“Yes, I am.”
Confused, Bloom
was speechless for a moment.
“I’m sorry. Yes you are what?” Bloom said with a smile,
which seemed to confuse Kana.
“You’re a… a
Vulcan, are you not?” she asked.
Bloom smiled
warmly at the petite Klingon woman as he nodded and
said, “Biologically, yes. But I was
orphaned as an infant and was adopted and raised by humans on Earth, so I’m
more openly emotional than my Vulcan brethren.
And I’m still confused. What is
it you thought I was asking you?”
“If I was part
human, which I am,” Kana admitted. “What were you going to ask?”
“The Skipper says
your ship was all the way back at the starbase when
we encountered the Kairn. How did you get all the way out here so
quickly? How are you able to create a transwarp corridor?”
Kana smiled,
slightly embarrassed to have jumped to the wrong conclusion, as she answered,
“Borrowed technology.” When Bloom did
not seem to comprehend, she added, “I managed to get my hands on an intact Borg
transwarp coil.
After some study of the coil, General Ke’reth
allowed me to install it into our engineering systems. It allows us to travel great distances, like
from your starbase all the way out here in the middle
of nowhere, in seconds.”
“Amazing,” Bloom said. “I know Starfleet has managed to get its
hands on a transwarp coil or two. In fact, this starship has recovered a couple
of them. But we’ve never managed to
install them and make them work aboard a starship. What is traveling at transwarp
like?”
* * * *
The reception
continued for almost two hours, various members of the Dauntless crew coming and going through 10-Forward to introduce themselves
to their new Klingon associates. Ke’reth had come to
the conclusion that his vessel’s assignment to the Federation Fifth Fleet would
prove most beneficial.
Ke’reth and Havok were talking
with Koester and his first officer, Setton Arbelo, and the captain was about to
offer the general and his crew a tour of the Dauntless when they were interrupted by the voice of the Caitian Lt. M’nday.
“Brrrridge to Captain Koesterrrr.”
“Excuse me,
General,” Koester said as he tapped his combadge. “This is the Captain. Go ahead, Lieutenant.”
“Captain, we just
rrrreceived a distrrrress
call on frrrrequency 167.9.”
“It has to be one
of the Fifth Fleet vessels,” Koester said to Arbelo. “But all the other ships had orders to stay
at Starbase 719 until we could determine if the
trans-space transceiver operated as expected and the Proud Vengeance was able to respond in a timely manner.”
“The distrrrress call is frrrrom the USS Bellerrrrophon,”
M’nday stated.
“They rrrreport they arrrre underrrr attack by Kairrrrn warrrrships.”
“Carrie!” Koester
growled with a touch of anger. “What the
hell is she doing out here?”
“Captain K’danz can be quite strong-willed,” the Human-Vulcan-Efrosian first officer said. “She probably came out here looking for us
against Admiral Raiajh’s wishes.”
“Do we have a
location for the Belle, Lieutenant?”
Koester asked his officer on the bridge.
“System Sigma
J-19,” M’nday replied.
“J-19?!? That’s almost
three sectors away! It would take us
more than four days at maximum warp to reach them!” Koester exclaimed.
“The Vengeance can reach them in seconds,” Ke’reth said, signaling for his crew to gather around him.
“Any word on how
many Kairn ships are involved, Lieutenant?” Koester
asked.
“They rrrreport they have engaged at least ten enemy vessels,” M’nday replied. “But
we lost contact with them rrrright after the initial distrrrress call.”
Koester looked at
Ke’reth and said, “I’m reluctant to send you and your
ship into a completely unknown situation.
We have no way of knowing how many Kairn warships
are out there. Is there some way the Dauntless could accompany the Proud Vengeance?”
Bloom stepped
over, having heard the conversation, and said, “Theoretically it is possible
for the Dauntless to ride within the Proud Vengeance’s transwarp
wake, since the Vengeance is the larger
vessel.”
“We have done it
before, towing the IKV ro’qul,” Kana said.
“With both ships locking tractor beams on each other, the two vessels
behaved almost as one. But the trip
through transwarp was rough for both vessels.”
“And it would be
likely that the larger and more massive the vessel being towed, the bumpier the
ride,” Bloom added. “The Dauntless is much larger than a B’rel-class Bird of Prey.”
“I do have a
theory,” Kana said warily. She then
grasped onto the communicator attached to the arm of her uniform and said,
“Kana to De’laH.”
“Go ahead,
Commander,” answered a female voice.
“De’laH, compute the following. Would it be possible for the Vengeance to tow another vessel as large
as a Federation Sovereign-class starship through transwarp
if both vessels are locked together by tractor beams and the Vengeance’s shields are extended around
the vessel being towed?”
“Procedure is not
recommended, Commander,” the voice replied.
“Who is De’laH?” Koester asked General Ke’reth,
leaning close to the Klingon. “One of Kana’s engineers?”
“For all intents
and purposes, De’laH IS the Proud Vengeance,” Ke’reth replied. “An Artificial Intelligence that Kana
programmed with some help from K’Taal. She’s tied into just about every system
aboard my ship.”
“I’m not
recommending the procedure, De’laH. It’s a necessity,” Kana stated.
“Computing,” De’laH responded. A
moment later she answered, “Yes, it would be possible to tow a Sovereign-class
starship through transwarp, but it would require both
vessels to be in extremely close proximity.
However, the main problem would be the need to make constant adjustments
to both ship’s shield harmonics or the passage would
be extreme enough to tear the second vessel apart. The adjustments required are too numerous and
often for any humanoids to be able to accomplish successfully. To be successful, you would need to turn the
shield harmonic adjustment of both vessels over to me.”
A look of shock
crossed Captain Koester’s face. “Is this
really the only way?” he asked.
“I’ve computed
the calculations myself, sir,” said the voice of Spot through Koester’s combadge. The crew
all looked down at the small circle of light on the deck at their feet. “There is no other way.”
Koester exchanged
a look with Commander Bloom.
“What do you
think, Jeff?”
Bloom looked
skeptical. “I have some misgivings about
giving control of my vessel’s shields to anyone.”
“Skipper, every
second we debate this is another second the Belle
and her crew are fighting for their lives,” reminded Arbelo.
Koester looked at
his first officer for a moment, finally nodding grimly.
“COB,” the
captain said, looking at Chief Kyman. “Please escort our guests back to the
transporter room. Exec,
sound red alert. We’re going
after the Belle.”
With a nod,
Arbelo tapped his combadge as everyone started
heading for the doors and said, “Bridge, this is the First Officer. All hands to battlestations. Helm, set course for system
Sigma J-19.”
* * * *
A couple of
minutes later, the doors on the Proud
Vengeance’s bridge opened with a clank and General Ke’reth
and his command staff walked in, replacing the more junior officers manning the
stations. As Ke’reth
threw his cloak over the back of his command chair and sat heavily into it, a
pedestal rose out of the deck in front of him.
A moment later a human looking female face, bald and with a green and
yellow plaid-like pattern for skin appeared as a projection over the pedestal.
“Course to the
Sigma J-19 system has been entered into the navigation computer, General. Shield harmonic adjustment program is standing
by.” A moment later, the head seemed to
grow extremely fierce looking Klingon brow
ridges. De’laH
looked at Ke’reth and said, “The Proud Vengeance is ready for battle, sir.”
Ke’reth smiled a toothy grin as he turned his chair to face
his science officer.
“K’Taal, are we ready for transwarp
speed?”
“We’re awaiting
the Dauntless. The starship is just starting to maneuver
into place,” K’Taal answered.
“Come on, Fleet
Captain.
* * * *
“Ship is manned
for battlestations,” Lt Colonel McIntyre reported as
Koester, Arbelo, and Bloom stepped out of the turbolift.
“Mister Hyland,”
Koester said, addressing his primary helmsman.
“Maneuver us as close atop the Proud
Vengeance as you possibly can.”
“Sir?” Hyland asked, looking back at Koester, his eyes wide.
“I need us within
mere meters, Lieutenant. Can you handle
it?”
Hyland gulped
inaudibly as he turned back toward his console before replying, “Yes, sir.”
The turbolift opened again and Chief Kyman
rushed out to take his position at mission ops.
“General Ke’reth and his crew are safely back
aboard the Vengeance, Skipper,” the
El-Aurian reported.
“Very well. Mack,
transmit our prefix code to the Proud
Vengeance,” Koester ordered.
“Excuse me,
sir?!?” McIntyre said, not sure he heard the order correctly. “You realize that if the Klingons
have our prefix code, they have control of our shields!”
“I know,
Mack. We need to let the Vengeance’s computer control our shield
harmonics, or this might be one ride we don’t come back from. And the Klingons
are our allies. Remember that.”
“That’s what they
told us back on Deep Space Nine in
2372,” Kyman said, reminding Koester of when
Chancellor Gowron had withdrawn from the First Khitomer Accords, starting the second Federation-Klingon War.
“As Chief of
Security, I must protest, Captain,” the Marine officer said firmly.
“Noted and
logged, Colonel. Now transmit our prefix code.”
Koester and
McIntyre glared at one another for several seconds before the Marine colonel finally
nodded and transmitted the required information.
“Captain, we’re
in position,” Hyland reported. “The keel
of our engineering hull is directly between the Klingon
vessel’s two isokinetic cannons at a distance of 4.5
meters from their hull.”
“Dauntless to Proud Vengeance. We are ready to engage tractor beams,”
Koester announced.
The air crackled
in the middle of the bridge, and suddenly a female Klingon
warrior appeared.
“What the…?”
“I am De’laH, Fleet Captain.
I am accessing your bridge holodiodes to
project my image here,” the Vengeance’s
A.I. said in way of introduction. “Proud Vengeance is ready to engage
tractors and extend its shields around your vessel.” The holographic projection then stepped over
to where Riker sat at ops and, with a look at the transporter-created
duplicate, said, “I require your station.”
Riker looked back
at his commanding officer, who simply nodded.
He then stood up from his seat and was quickly replaced by the
holographic Klingon.
“Engaging tractor
beams,” De’laH said.
A moment later, both the Dauntless
and the Proud Vengeance activated
their tractors, locking onto each other’s hull.
“Tractor’s engaged. Lt Colonel
McIntyre, raise shields.”
McIntyre was
about to protest once again when he noticed Koester looking his way and simply
complied. “Shield’s raised,”
he said.
“Raising shields
of the Proud Vengeance and extending
around the Dauntless,” De’laH announced.
“Cap’n, th’ Klingon ship has raised its
shields an’ extended them around us,” Commander Alasdair Wallace announced.
“Ready to engage transwarp,” De’laH announced.
Arbelo looked at
Koester and asked, “Have you ever traveled at transwarp,
Skipper?”
“Can’t say I
have,” Koester admitted.
“Me neither,” Arbelo confirmed before looking back toward the
projection of De’laH. A moment later he added, “Which one are you
holding?”
“The right one,”
Koester said, holding up his crossed fingers for his first officer to see. “You?”
“Both,” Arbelo
admitted.
“Engaging transwarp,” De’lah announced. For a moment the Dauntless crew believed they
could detect motion. Suddenly, on the
main viewscreen, it appeared like space itself was
torn open and both the Proud Vengeance
and the Dauntless were thrust into
it. Immediately, the ship felt like it
had been dropped into an earthquake measuring eight on the Richter scale.
“Adjusting shield
harmonics,” De’laH announced.
* * * *
Aboard the Proud Vengeance, things were not much
better. General Ke’reth
gripped the arms of his chair as he said, “The passage wasn’t this rough when
we towed the ro’qul.”
“As I feared,”
Kana stated. “The Dauntless is too large. It
will tear us apart!”
“Kana,
engineering reports several primary systems are being strained beyond their
design limits,” K’Taal announced. “You are required in main engineering.”
Kana looked at Ke’reth before heading to the door, saying, “If De’laH can’t smooth out this transit, we may have to drop
the Dauntless. We will be of no good if the Vengeance is too badly damaged before we
even enter battle.”
“But simply
releasing the Dauntless would likely
destroy the starship,” K’Taal protested.
“Better Starfleet
than us,” Kana replied before disappearing through the bridge doors to
engineering.
“De’laH, can you make this passage more bearable?” Ke’reth asked the floating head in front of him.
“I am making
between one hundred and seven hundred shield harmonic adjustments per second
aboard both vessels, General. This is as
smooth as this passage through transwarp space will
be.”
“Time to the J-19 system?”
“Twenty seven seconds until we emerge from transwarp,
General.”
* * * *
“Twenty five
seconds until we emerge from transwarp, Fleet
Captain,” the holographic Klingon De’laH
announced from her position at the ops console.
“Thank God,” Koester
remarked. “I don’t think my teeth can
take much more of this.” He then looked
over toward his tactical officer and said, “Colonel, we have no idea how close
to the Kairn we’re going to emerge. Arm all weapons and stand by for my orders.”
“Arming all phasers and torpedo tubes,” McIntyre confirmed.
* * * *
“Status?” Captain K’danz shouted.
“Shields down to 36%.
Shield two is on the verge of collapse,” Marine Captain Michael Drake
reported from the tactical station as a flash of sparks flashed from the top of
his tactical console.
“Torpedo tube two inoperative. Port lateral phaser
array has burned out,” Lieutenant Kimmel Wheeler reported, the latest of the
systems to be knocked out.
“I’m getting an
awful sense of deja’vu, Captain,” Commander Tom Paris
said, looking at K’danz.
“Kairn battlecruiser
coming back around,” Drake announced.
“Lock phasers and fire,” K’danz
ordered, in spite of the seeming hopelessness of the situation. In search of the USS Dauntless, K’danz had ordered her
starship out toward sector 50103 when the Bellerophon was simply supposed
to be conducting trials in the vicinity of the starbase
following her latest repairs. It was
here, in the solar system Sigma J-19, that the Bellerophon was accosted by first
a dozen Kairn ships, mainly destroyer and scout-class
warships. The Bellerophon had managed to
destroy or damage six of the Kairn ships before five
more vessels, all large battlecruisers, dropped out
of warp and joined the battle. It was
only through the heroic efforts of K’danz and her
crew that the Belle had survived as
long as they had, but it was seeming more and more a
hopeless battle for the lone Intrepid-class starship.
“Kimmel, you did
manage to transmit our distress call on that special frequency, right?” K’danz asked her chief operations officer.
“167.9, Captain,
just like you ordered,” Wheeler replied.
“Just before the transmitter was rendered inoperative
by the Kairn.
“I hope it does
whatever you’re expecting it’s supposed to do,”
Suddenly the Bellerophon was
battered to starboard. Lighting on the
bridge dimmed to half its normal level as Drake announced, “We just had a nuke
missile detonate on our port quarter.
Shield five has collapsed!”
“Engineering to
bridge!” said the voice of chief engineer Dar over the intercom. “The warp core just went down. We’re on fusion reactors and batteries.”
“We can’t warp
away from here, Captain,” Lt Commander Walter Hickam,
the chief helmsman reported.
“What now,
Captain?”
K’danz’s face grew even more determined looking as she
said, “See if you can restart the warp core, Dar. Cold start if you
have to!” She then looked at her first
officer and answered, “Fight them until we can’t! Drake, fire at will!”
Marine Captain
Michael Drake continued to fire every weapon at his disposal while Hickam tried to maneuver the damaged Intrepid-class
starship in such a way as to keep the collapsed shield away from the enemy
vessels, but it seemed a losing proposition with the lone Federation starship
facing down ten Kairn warships.
“Captain, I am
detecting unusual readings coming from bearing 010 mark
2,” announced Vulcan chief science officer T’Ashara. “It appears a transwarp
corridor is forming.”
As the Bellerophon
bridge crew watched in amazement, two ships barreled out of the artificial
phenomenon, the Sovereign-class starship looking like it was attached to the
larger Klingon warship’s upper hull until, a second
after emerging, both ships separated, the Dauntless
moving quickly to cover the Bellerophon while the Proud
Vengeance turned to face the majority of the Kairn
vessels.
“Dauntless is clear!” K’Taal
announced.
“Two Kairn battlecruisers at bearing
200 mark 358, range 1.5 kellicams,”
KI’HQaS announced.
“Lock weapons and
fire!” Ke’reth ordered with a grin. Immediately the Proud Vengeance let loose with a compliment of quantum and polaron torpedoes and fired the heavy isokinetic
cannons that the Dauntless had been
nestled between a few short seconds ago.
The polaron torpedoes overloaded the shields
of one battlecruiser, allowing the quantum torpedoes
to penetrate the hull. The cruiser
immediately exploded, its shrapnel hurdling into the smaller destroyer next to
it, badly damaging it as well.
“I want that
ship!” Ke’reth growled, then
turned toward Commander I’Sar. “Take a boarding party and capture me a
prize!”
I’Sar snapped to attention and saluted as she said, “Yes,
my General.”
“Qapla’!” the General exclaimed as the commander of the
Black Dagger shock troops departed the bridge.
* * * *
Aboard the Dauntless, the holographic image of De’laH faded away as soon as the two ships separated. “Mister Riker, resume your post!” the captain
ordered. “Mister Hyland, move us into
position to cover the Belle!”
“Aye, sir,”
Hyland replied.
“Alasdair, jam
all frequencies except 167.9,” Koester ordered.
“I don’t want the Kairn calling in more
reinforcements! We practically have an
entire fleet here already!”
“Jammin’ all frequencies,” Commander Wallace acknowledged.
On the viewscreen, the Proud
Vengeance could be seen firing a volley of torpedoes that destroyed one of
the large battlecruisers, sending debris into a
smaller Kairn vessel next to it.
“Mack, extend the
shields around the Belle,” Koester
ordered.
“That will make
our shields only about two-thirds as effective as normal,” Bloom warned.
“Better than
nothing,” Koester said as one of the Kairn destroyers
opened fire on the Dauntless. “Load all torpedo tubes with trilithium torpedoes.
Stand by phaser arrays.”
“Tubes one
through five armed and ready in all respects, Captain,” McIntyre reported a
moment later.
“Target the two Kairn ships off our starboard bow.”
“Locked on target.”
“Fire!”
As soon as
McIntyre had touched the controls, three torpedoes with trilithium
warheads, one from each forward tube, streaked across space to strike the
powerful shields of the Kairn ships. Bolts like an electrical discharge covered
the hull of the closer vessel as its primary systems started collapsing and the
ship drifted into the path of the second ship.
Unable to turn in time, the small Kairn scout
collided with the slightly larger destroyer, both vessels exploding in a
fireball as bright as a star.
“That’s how it’s
done, gentlemen. Good work,” Koester
praised his crew. “Maintain cover over
the Belle. Fire weapons at any Kairn
vessels within a radius of five kilometers.
Ke’reth can handle anything beyond that range.”
Koester was
amazed by the speed and maneuverability of the Proud Vengeance, for as more of the Kairn
ships were destroyed or, in the case of the one destroyer, captured by Ke’reth’s crew, the other Kairn
started attempting to break away from the battle, only to find the almost
thousand meter long Klingon warship easily
out-flanking them to be quickly reduced to nothing more than debris.
Finally, after
several minutes, the battle was down to a single Kairn
battlecruiser which had managed to maneuver around
the Dauntless, placing the two
Federation starships between itself and the Proud
Vengeance. Every maneuver the Klingons made was countered by the Kairn.
“We’re being
hailed by General Ke’reth,” Riker announced.
“On screen.”
“It appears we
are in a bit of a stalemate, my friend,” the general said to Koester.
“Perhaps if we both maneuvered at the same time in opposite
directions?” Koester proposed.
“If you maneuver
just the Dauntless, it will leave
your other starship vulnerable,” Ke’reth said. “And if you try to tractor the other ship out
of the way, you will move too slowly.
The Kairn would easily be able to keep you
between his ship and mine.”
As the two
commanding officers conversed, Lt. Riker suddenly reacted to an indication on
his console.
“Captain, the Bellerophon has
armed her aft torpedo tubes!”
Before anyone
could react, two trilithium torpedoes were launched
from the aft hull of the Bellerophon,
the first overpowering the shields of the last remaining battlecruiser
and causing them to drop as the second torpedo struck the hull in the vicinity
of the vessel’s bridge. Almost
immediately all systems on the Kairn ship started to
collapse.
“Cap’n, I’m detectin’ th’ indications o’ a
warp core breech aboard th’ Kairn battlecruiser,
and we are within th’ blast radius,” Commander
Wallace announced.
“Can we tow the Belle out in time?” Koester asked.
“You can with my
help!” Ke’reth said over the viewscreen
just before the image blinked back to the view of space, where the Klingon warship was quickly maneuvering around to come
alongside the Dauntless and Bellerophon and
lock its own tractor beam upon the disabled starship.
“Mister Hyland,
ahead full!” Koester ordered. With the
help of the Proud Vengeance, the Bellerophon was
pulled out of range of the explosion that destroyed the final Kairn ship.
“All stop. Release tractor beam and hold us here for a
while,” Koester ordered. “Mister Riker,
hail the…”
“Captain, we’re
being hailed by the Bellerophon,”
Riker announced.
“Just who I wanted to talk to. On screen, Lieutenant.”
The viewscreen blinked again to the image of the smoke-filled
bridge of the Intrepid-class starship.
“Thanks, Peter,”
Captain K’danz said.
“You and the Klingons showed up just in
time. I owe you one.”
“After you
rescued me from Capria IV, we can call it even. What the hell are you doing out here,
Carrie? I know you had orders to remain
at the starbase.”
“After all the
recent activity with the Kairn, I got worried when
the Dauntless was sent out alone and
we hadn’t heard from you in two weeks,” K’danz
admitted. “The Belle was on space trials, so I decided we should conduct our
trials a little further out from the Typhon sector in
the hopes we might find you. Who are
your new friends?”
“If you had stuck
around Homeplate
a while longer, you probably would have met them already. General Ke’reth
zantai Makura of the Imperial Klingon
Defense Force and his ship, the IKV Proud
Vengeance, on special assignment to the Fifth Fleet. Now, how badly are you hurt?”
“Pretty badly,” K’danz admitted with a frown. “Warp core is off-line. Shield generators are pretty much shot…
again. Phasers
need another overhaul.”
“I’ll have Jeff
send over an engineering crew to give you a hand. Then we need to report back to Admiral Raiajh.”
“Dar will be
standing by,” K’danz said before adding, “And again…
Thanks.”
* * * *
Captain’s log, stardate
63437.4:
It has been nearly a day since we came to the
Bellerophon’s aid, and while my crew has been helping
Captain K’danz get her ship capable of warp speed
again, General Ke’reth and his crew have been
interrogating the survivors of the Kairn crew they
captured while Commanders Kana and Bloom are studying the Kairn
destroyer itself.
Since we were able to jam all subspace
frequencies upon our arrival, no word of what has transpired here will ever get
back to the Kairn, who have lost an entire fleet and
will likely never know exactly why.
Good. Let them wonder. Maybe it will keep them off our backs for a
while.
Koester, commanding Dauntless, out
Fleet Captain
Koester was sitting behind the desk in his ready room, discussing their next
move with General Ke’reth when the two commanders
were interrupted by the voice of Commander Arbelo.
“Captain, long
range sensors are detecting a single vessel traveling at warp speed toward us.”
“Any identification, Exec?” Koester asked, worried that it
might be another Kairn vessel.
“Warp signature
indicates it’s a Federation vessel, traveling at warp 9.9.”
“It’s got to be
the Big Stick,” Koester said,
standing up and heading for the bridge with General Ke’reth
close behind. Just as the two commanders
stepped over to the command chair, a broad, flat ship dropped out of warp on
the screen and slowed to a stop near the two starships and Klingon
carrier.
“We’re being
hailed,” Marine Captain April Mendez announced.
“On screen,”
Arbelo ordered. The image blinked from
the exterior of the USS Besiege to
the vessel’s bridge, where Captain William McLeod sat in the center seat.
“We received the Bellerophon’s
distress call yesterday. Got out here as fast as we could.”
“A little late,
but welcome to the party anyway,” Koester commented. “The Belle
should be able to get underway in a couple more hours. Would you care to escort us all back to Homeplate?”
“Only if the
General agrees to give me a tour of his ship in the meantime,” McLeod replied
with a grin. Koester looked over at the Klingon general, who grunted in mock-annoyance.
“I suppose that
could be arranged, Captain,” Ke’reth replied before
looking back at Koester. “We can
continue our planning back at your starbase?”
“Of course, General.
Captain Mendez, would you please escort our guest back down to the
transporter room?”
“Right this way,
General,” the security officer said as she gestured toward the nearest turbolift.
Meanwhile, Koester turned his attention back to the viewscreen.
“I’ll see you in
a couple of hours, Bill. Try not to have
too much fun aboard the Vengeance.”
“I’ll try not to
touch anything,” McLeod assured with a smile.
“While you’re
there, give De’laH my thanks for getting us through
the transwarp corridor.”
“Who’s De’laH?” McLeod asked.
“I’m sure you’ll
find out. Dauntless, out.”
* * * *
Two days later
Starbase 719
All five Fifth
Fleet starships were once again inside spacedock
while the Proud Vengeance, too large
to pass through the spacedoors, maintained station
keeping outside.
In the H2 habitat
section of the starbase, Fleet Captain Koester and
Captain K’danz walked down a corridor toward the main
recreation facility with Rear Admiral Raiajh,
explaining everything that had occurred over the previous few weeks. Before they had even passed through the airlock
into the rec facilities, they could hear the voices.
“What is that?”
Koester asked, trying to make out the noise.
“Sounds like ‘Aktuh and Maylota,’” K’danz said. When
Koester looked at her quizzically, she added with an embarrassed
shrug, “My in-laws are big fans of Klingon Opera.”
The airlock
opened, and the sound of drunken voices overwhelmed the three Starfleet
officers, Admiral Raiajh covering her sensitive
pointed ears. Stepping through, Koester
could see the closest bar was filled to overflowing with members of the Proud Vengeance’s crew.
“This is the
first time Starbase 719 has hosted a Klingon
crew,” the Vulcan-Deltan Raiajh
said with a distinct look of worry on her face.
“There are almost 4500 Klingons aboard the Proud Vengeance. My poor starbase!”
As the three
walked further into the rec facility, they
encountered a drunken General Ke’reth shoving his way
past his crew and out of the bar.
“General!”
Koester called out, drawing the Klingon commander’s
attention. Ke’reth
stumbled over to the three Starfleet officers and, leaning against Koester,
belched loudly.
“You must join us
in toasting our victory, my friend,” the general said to Koester, whose eyes
went wide at the smell of extremely strong alcohol on the Klingon’s
breath.
“Actually,
General,” Raiajh said, drawing Ke’reth’s
attention. “Admiral Fil
will be hosting a Captain’s Table in the senior officer’s lounge, Section A1,
Level 10, Area 5, at 1900 hours tonight.”
“Captain’s Table?” Ke’reth asked,
unsure.
“It’s a Starfleet
tradition, General,” Koester explained.
“Officers who have been or still are in command of a starship get
together, buy each other rounds of drinks, and share stories of their exploits
while they were in command.”
Ke’reth’s confused frown turned into a wide grin as he
started to understand. He placed two
heavy arms around the shoulders of Koester and K’danz
and started pushing them ahead down the corridor as he said, “Did I ever tell
you about the time the Proud Vengeance
faced five Breen warships singlehandedly during the
Battle of Cardassia?”
“You can tell us
all about it tonight at the Captain’s Table, General,” Koester assured the Klingon.
The End
Return to 2386.
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