The bedroom was destroyed.   Dominus rarely shared his bed with Bellitor, but when he did they were violent affairs.  Belitor lay in the bed half covered with a sheet and her right arm over her head.

Sliding out of bed Dominus pulled on his pants and tightened his belt, “We should do this more often.”

“I don’t think so,” Bellitor replied.   “Besides your fondness for the slaves makes it unessisary.”

The big man turned to her with his hands on his hips, “Fair enough. I am restless.   This hiding wears on me.”

“I know it does,” Bellitor replied wrapping herself in the sheet and standing next to him.  “But we moved too fast last time. This plan could take decades, but when we are done the Federation will have fallen and we will be at the top of the heap.”

He scowled and then growled,  “I am not a mole. I do not wish to live underground for much longer.”

Bellitor thought for a moment, “I do not see why we couldn’t establish ourselves somewhere else.  Become a part of of the community.   We can’t directly be in politics because of our versions in this reality.”

“But Ian and Órlaith have no such counterparts,” Dominus added.

“Not Ian,” Bellitor replied. “He’s loyal and my son, but he’s also an idiot.”

“I do not trust Órlaith,” Dominus grumbled.  “She is cunning,  but she does not share our vision or lust for power.”

Bellitor nodded, “She has too much empathy.”

“So where do we go from here?”

Bellitor sighed, “We must speak to the Vorta.  We need a third child.”

Dominus grumbled and clinched his fists, “I do not like the Vorta.”

“You don’t like most females,” Bellitor observed,  “but we need the Dominion technology to design and grow our next child.”

“I don’t know. Two already seem like a liability.”

Bellitor nodded, “I agree,  but what options do we have?  Neither Ian or Órlaith will do for a push to get our people onto the the Federation Council and the only way to take over this world is corruption within.”

Dominus nodded, “Very well.  It’s the long game then.”

“The long game,” Bellitor replied.   “For now let’s find you a compound somewhere close to civilization but isolated enough that your tendencies won’t out us before we get started.  I was also thinking we should start building a movement for the idiots to rally behind.  Much like how Lenin and Hitler gained power.”

That got Dominus’ attention.  “The humans here claim to be enlightened.”

Bellitor laughed, “They are still human, and most of them are morons and susceptible to a cult of personality.  We can reintroduce the Terra Prime movement.   We have the Dominion War as our catalyst. Blame the Vulcans or something.   The point is everyone on Earth has lost someone they know to this war.  Now we play into their fears and manipulate.”

Dominus chuckled, “I get to play Hitler.  What does that make you?  Eva Braun?”

“Oh honey,” Bellitor replied, “I could never be the bimbo lover.  There is no one else like me, and you best get used to it.”

Rebecca sat in the nearly empty observation lounge with Denver’s tactical pod looming large in the windows.  Starbase 1 filled out the rest of the view as ships of all sizes darted about carefully orchestrated by Orbital Control.

Rebecca sighed and tossed her PADD to the table and it clattered against the black-tinted glass of the surface.  “The War has stalled.  The Dominion is licking its wounds in Cardassia.” She pinched the bridge of her nose, “And Starfleet is acting like we’ve won the damn war by retaking DS9. So, what are the crew rosters looking like?” She asked Cheon looking for a break from reading the intelligence reports Riandri had prepared for her.

Cheon was deeply thought as he reviewed the Alpha, Beta, and Delta crew rosters. Creases had already formed deep furrows in his brow as he attempted to rearrange the teams so that the new crew members would be placed on both the Alpha and Beta teams, allowing them to learn from the more experienced members of the crew. He was about to speak when he looked up from the PADD in his hand.

The doors from the bridge suddenly parted washing the quiet of the room with the hum of standard bridge operations.  An officer stood at the entrance that Rebecca hadn’t seen before.  He wore Lieutenant’s pips on a red dickey and the typical features of a man from Asia, possibly China.

Marcus Ming made a quick visual assessment as he entered the room and saw both Captain Talon and Commander Kyo.  He was glad he’d taken the time to review the record overviews of the senior staff and those in the fighter wing.  It was a habit he got into early on as felt it was sensible to do so when reporting to a new assignment.  It wasn’t usually the complete story of each officer but it provided a baseline of information that was sometimes if not often useful. The lieutenant paused once he reached what seemed like an appropriate spot, came to attention while tucking the PADD with his official transfer orders into a minimally intrusive position, and formally said, “Lieutenant Marcus Ming reporting for duty.”

Rebecca stood to formally greet the officer,  “Captain Talon. Nice to meet you, Mr. Ming.”

Cheon sat there in silence, taking a quick glance at the new Lieutenant before returning his gaze to the PADD in his lap. He quickly lifted it up, retrieved the new crew members, and accessed Ming’s personnel file.

As he read through the file, he nodded inwardly at the officer’s accomplishments and accolades. Setting the PADD back on his lap, he returned his gaze to Ming as the CO began her introductions.

Ming started to make detailed mental notes of the senior officer’s reactions, mannerisms, and wording.  He’d likely have attributed it to his tactical/strategic skills had he fully realized he was doing it.

As Cheon sat there in his silence he noticed how the new Lieutenant was analyzing both of them.

Without missing a beat the pilot said, “Likewise captain.  The Denver seems to have a rather impressive track record.  That is an absolute credit to her crew and the command staff.  I am eager to lend anything and everything that I can to that success in the future.”

Rebecca eyed the Lieutenant unsure how she felt about his eagerness.  “We’ve been lucky.  We lost a lot of crew along the way including our captain.” She picked up her ever-present coffee cup, sat back in her chair, and took a sip.  “Commander Kyo here saved us all l, otherwise we wouldn’t have survived the first month of this war. This assignment here protecting Earth has been our longest stint off the front lines since hostilities broke out.”

“You don’t miss anything do you, Mr. Ming?” Cheon’s tone was both inquisitive and in a manner of fact way.

While keeping his eyes on the Lieutenant he addressed his captain. “Let’s hope that our orders come quickly.”

Rebecca smirked, “I’m not looking to get shot at.  If you want to you can always request a transfer.”

“Oh come on you know as well as I do that things would go to hell in a handbasket and everyone would be hunting me down if I left,” Cheon stated with a smart-ass tone.

Ming paid attention to the exchange for a moment before speaking first to the ship’s executive officer, “I try not to miss anything if I can avoid it, Commander.  Doing anything less, especially these days, can be quite expensive.”

A smirk crossed Cheon’s mouth as he heard what Ming had said. “Luckily we don’t have to pay for it in the long run. If as you say we all pay attention to the details.”

The pilot shifted his gaze toward the ship’s commanding officer he said with sincere earnestness, “Captain, I’m in this for the duration.  I have lost too many close friends and I’ve had my ass nearly shot off more times than I like but thinking about, quitting is no longer an option.  We’ve all lost more than we care to lose….If we fail we will lose so much more.  I’ll be happy when we get to go back to peaceful exploration.  Between now and the war’s end my goal is to do everything possible to make that peaceful exploration an option again.”

“That’s the problem, isn’t it?  The strong always prey on the weak.  Greed is one constant among all sentient life.  There’s no need for the Dominion to expand into the Federation other than they want it.  We’re all in this for the duration.  The alternative is Dominion rule and something tells me we don’t want to find out how that goes.”

Cheon remained silent as the captain spoke about Dominion rule. He had once seen something close to that in the eyes of the refugees that had been a part of an evacuation after the Cardassian rule of Bajor.

Ming’s face adopted an even more sober expression than before for a moment.  The captain had just expressed a few sentiments he’d had as well even if not in the same words.  The idea of the Dominion winning was an abhorrent concept to him.  He said, “Quite.  I’ve never liked bullies or tyrants.  Frankly, the Dominion is a bit of both and is one of the ugliest sorts.  I’m able to fight…I’m actually fairly decent at it despite the fact I am not overly fond of it.  I learned those skills out of necessity.  One detriment I have been told that I have is that I never learned the concept of surrender.  Oh, I could tell you the definition of it of course.  The concept never quite made it down here though.”

With that last Ming tapped his chest over his heart a couple of times.  His head tilted slightly as he continued, “It’s been a more useful trait than not it seems.  As they used to say….I had my last squadron, crew, and Captain’s back.  Now that I am on the USS Denver under your command I have your back, the back of this crew, and the back of my flight.  If need be I will die defending you all and the Federation along with all the best ideals it represents.  To be honest I aim to live for all the above and to do everything I can to ensure all of the above come out of this intact…”

The pilot sighed and added, “As intact as possible anyhow.  Even if we win this war I hope we, meaning the Federation, can go back to the way we were.  What worries me is that I have to wonder if that is even possible.  The only way to go is to do our damnedest to win this thing and rebuild things as best we can.”

After another pause he looked a bit sheepish, “Sorry Captain…Commander.  This isn’t quite the light and cheery ‘Reporting for duty’ scenario I am used to.”

Rebecca gave Ming a weak but honest smile, “These are not cheery times.”  Her fingers danced over the control pad on the table and the wall monitors on either end switched to a list with hundreds of names.  “That is the list of killed in action over the last month. I know at least six names on that list.  We all know names on that damned list.”

Sighing she set her coffee aside. It was cold now anyway.  Leaning forward she shuffled through some pads finding one with the new crew transfers she pulled up Ming’s information.   She didn’t read it closely.  “Well, Mr. Ming everything looks in order. If you haven’t already been assigned quarters speak with Commander Kyo.  Shuttle bay two has been expanded into surrounding cargo Bays and science labs.  It probably isn’t purpose-built like you are used to but it is all yours. I am not sure when the rest of Bravo Flight will arrive especially your Crew Chief,  but I expect soon.”

Ming studied the names on the panel for a moment.  He looked at the captain when the moment passed and, as he did so, grief flashed across his features for maybe two heartbeats before he schooled his features again.  The Bravo Flight Leader nodded and said, “I’ll get on it and coordinate with the necessary departments to get that situation squared away in jig time.  I shall also keep an eye out for my wayward flight as it were.”

His eyes diverted toward the XO for a moment, “It seems my quarters were already arranged for.  For that, I am glad as the so-called downtime transitioning between commands has mostly been anything but downtime.”

“Use your ”Down-Time”,” he air quoted, “for training your skills on the holo-deck, that is my suggestion,” Cheon said as he looked at Ming. “Other than that get to know your fellow crew members.”

Marcus nodded glancing at both officers, “Thank you both.  It’s been good meeting you both and I look forward to working with the two of you come what may.”

“You are dismissed Mr. Ming,” Rebecca said with a nod.  “If you need anything let me know.”

The Lieutenant came to stiff attention and nodded to the two senior officers ever so slightly before turning on a heel and exiting the lounge.  The encounter wasn’t quite what he’d planned however that seemed, he realized, to be an apt sign of the times.

Cheon looked at Rebecca for a moment before handing her his assessment of the Lieutenant. “He’ll do just fine in my opinion, Captain,” he stated, “As long as he hones his skills as a fighter pilot and can follow orders I don’t see there being too much to worry about.”

Ming was home….Whatever home was these days.  Ming’s parents were up there in age however both remained active.  His mother was teaching at Starfleet academy now teaching the next batches of officers to serve both on the front lines and behind the lines in supportive roles.  Both needed the basics in her given field.  His father had retired from his role in Taiwan splitting his time now between continuing his coursework in Flagstaff along side military history at Starfleet Academy since the war broke out. 

Taking a huge breath and slowly releasing it he moved along the main drag of New Berlin, Luna.  It was a nice day he thought although it didn’t really compare to Earth, Pacifica or most other non-domed worlds.  Although the weather rarely changed all that much (although it was simulated for day vs night, summer vs winter) he had grown up here and was a fair judge of such things.  After walking a few more moments he went into The Moonpie Wave Café and Grill.  He stopped and looked around once inside.  He exchanged pleasantries with the Orion greeter as he continued to look around.  His eyes locked onto a human slightly taller than him, solidly built and with red hair, pale skin as well as amber eyes. The other man looked up just at that moment and big smiles crossed both faces as that happened.

After a few long steps by both the two embraced with exclimations of joy.  The two then found their way to a table toward a back corner in the modestly busy eatery.  The pilot started the conversation, “Nice place, Joel.  Figured you’d eventually have your own place.  I’m proud of you ya moon rat.”

The other man laughed and said, “Thanks.  You know me….Love to cook and I figure if I got to work for some jackass it might as well be me.  I’m glad to see you old friend but what brings you back to Sol sector?”

Ming took a bit of a breath and said, “Transfer.  Seems I impressed someone and they decided to give me a flight.  My wing commander on Tucson was doing a fine job herself so they’re moving me to the Denver.  Thinking they’re desperate.”

The restauranteur wasn’t lost on the fact Ming’s hand had brushed the two solid pips of a lieutenant on his collar. That same collar recently had the full pip and hollow pip of a J.G. He said, “Congratulations Marcus! …. And it is good to see you.  I worry about you with the war being on.”

The fighter pilot smiled a with a certain thoughtfulness, “I won’t lie…..There’ve been some bad tangles.  My fighter has been singed more than once but the Dominion doesn’t realize how hard to kill I am.”Chef Joel McCabe shook his head, “I am glad.  I’d be lost without my best friend after all.”

The two men continued the conversation for a good couple of hours.  They ate, drank (non-alcoholic / syntheholic beverages) and talked.  Toward the end of this timeframe the conversation was winding down and the dinner rush was not far from winding up.  Ming smiled and said, “I should be going.  I’ve should try to see the folks before I head to my next assignment.  Not much turnaround at this point but I might be able to stick around for a day or so….I’ll try to swing by before I report in to the Denver.”  

McCabe nodded sadly and the two made with bittersweet farewells.  Ming hated the idea of having to leave so soon but he needed to at least try to see his family and he did want to make sure he got to Denver in pleanty of time to get acquanted with her, her command crew and his new wing.  He looked forward to this damned war being over.  He aimed to take a long leave to catch up with everyone he was missing out with.   A little less than one full day was way too little time with all that was going on.

Ming surveyed the bay.  The conversion from the pre-war usages had gone well by all appearances and it presently held five attack fighters.  Peregrines he’d heard some call them which he liked the sound of.  He’d seen some visiting his mother in Arizona’s southern deserts somewhere around 450 clicks south of Northern Arizona Univeristy’s main campus in Flagstaff.   

They were beautiful and deadly at the same time which is how he felt about these fighters.   After he inspected them he walked up to Crewmen Mikaela Andrews with a bit of a smile.  “Ship shape and ready to rock by the looks of it Andrews.  Compliments to you, Chief Xellath and the rest of the flight crew.”

The human techncian beamed even as the Tellarite Crew Chief came up beside her and said, “Glad you think so sir.”

Ming nodded and added, “My fighter looks brand new…Not even a scratch or scorch on the exterior and the diagnostic results are the best I have seen since I first got her despite the fury the Dominion has rained down on her. The other four are looking better than specs too…Your doing?”

Chief Petty Officer Xellath nodded, “Aye sir.  The better they perform means the more likely they come home with their pilots.  Andrews here has been pulling more overtime than anyone else except for me.”

The human woman shrugged, “Just doing what’s needed, Chief.  Gotta make sure these birds come home with their pilots after all just like you said.”    

Before Ming responded four officers entered the bay together.  All three noticed their entry at which point Ming looked at the two members of the groundcrew and said, “Thanks again for the hard work.  If you both will excuse me..” 

The two nodded and returned to what they were doing, while Ming grabbed a PADD as he headed toward the newly arrived officers.  As he approached the quartet stopped in line and came to attention.  All had the single pip of an ensign, and were one human male, three women of Vulcan, Human and Andorian decent.   He had reviewed their bios the night before so he recognized them as his flight.   

He looked at each one in order and acknowledged each by name, “Ensign Esessa Sh’ivhohlol.  Ensign Jenna McPherson.  Ensign Günter Erickson.  Ensign T’Kown of Vulcan.  Pleased to meet you all.  I am Lieutenant Marcus Ming, callsign Lunatic, and I’m your new flight leader.  We will have our official debriefing and orientation at 15:45 this evening in conference room four however I wanted to introduce myself and introduce you all to the fighters we’d be flying.”

Tapping the first fighter indicating it to be his.  The second one he tapped, indicating it was Knight 2 and would be assigned to T’Kown.  Third, Knight 3, would be McPhearson.  Fourth would be Sh’ivhohlol and fifth would be Erickson.  

He said, “Get comfortable with your fighters.  With a little luck and even more skill they’ll be ours for a while to come.  Between now and our going into action we’ll be doing a combination of both live and holodeck drills to work on our unit cohesion.  As you should know that is as at least as important as our individual fighting skills.   As what I hope is an unnecessary reminder:  when we get into a furry hairball survival can just as easily come down to who’s got the better wingmate and how well everyone communicates with or anticipates eachother the best .” 

By the time he was done each pilot was standing next to their fighter and were focused on him.  He nodded and smiled a very slight smile glancing at an antique style analog aviator watch on his wrist before he said, “There’s about 95 minutes until the briefing so go ahead and start going through what you need to before then.  I have a few things to do to prep for the briefing itself so I will meet you all there at the appointed time.  I look forward to working with you all.  As you were!”

The other pilots relaxed and fell out of ranks.  He nodded to the group (who were all still watching him for the moment) and exited the flight bay.  As he did so he wished he caught up a bit more on sleep.  As it was he’d make do as he had since the start of the war.  The best way he could.  

The 12th Order Headquarters sat on a hill that overlooked a vast jungle and commanded the surrounding area and settlement. Located on Sarpedion V  the fortress compound could survive attacks from orbit and the ground.

A lone shuttle broke through the dark grey clouds and into a heavy downpour. The shuttle flew low over the city shaking windows and dislodging birds from their protective roosts. 

At the compound, the bay doors parted and receded into the roof to reveal the shuttle bay within.  The shuttle slowed and hovered over the opening for a few seconds sending standing water upwards into a misty cloud.  With a whine of engines, the shuttle descended into the void and once it cleared the roof the doors slid shut.

Once the shuttle had come to a rest the locks to the exterior egress clunked open and the door slid outward, parted, and to either side of the entrance.  A pair of Jem’Hadar with their weapons at the ready stepped out followed by the Vorta known as Maveren. 

“Third, you and Sixth are dismissed,” Maveren said.

The two Jem’Hadar didn’t say a word and simply acknowledged the Vorta’s command with a shallow nod. Maveren turned and exited the shuttle bay into a corridor typical of Cardassian design.   Round, grey, and annoying little things you had to step over at every section.  The Cardassians were members of the Dominion,  but she had, to be honest, she really disliked most of them.

Making her way to the administrative section of the compound she ignored the Cardassian officers working at various terminals and pushed her way into Gul Gozec’s office.   With a fake smile, she clapped her hands, “I hope you didn’t miss me too much while I was on Cardassia.”

When Gozec looked up and saw Maveren enter his office, his eyes widened. Confusion was written all over his face as he reached for a PADD and rifled through the memos and combat reports. He came to a halt near the last encounter with the Denver and swiped through it. Maveren’s name appeared in the report as Killed in Action. He lowered his gaze after tossing the device at the Vorta and slipped a hand onto a disruptor he had hidden out of sight.

“Would you mind explaining?” he said, his tone chilling even the most seasoned Jem’Hadar warriors; had there been one in the room with them.

“Explain what? Oh… the fact that I died.  Yes, I suppose that would be confusing. You knew Maveren 4.  I am Maveren 5. A new clone was activated to replace the last one. Rest assured I have all her old memories… well, most of them anyway.”

Gozec body appeared to relax as he appeared to lean back in the chair; while at the same time moving it closer to the desk so that he could keep his hand safely on the disruptor. 

“You damn Vorta and your cloning,” Gozec said as he shook his head trying to throw attention to his dislike of the idea of coming back from a glorious battle in which he had died.

She shrugged,  “It is the order of things.  We all serve the Founders including you my friend.  And if the Founders should decide that I am to replace my progenitor… well, who am I to question a God?”

“Puppets on a leash”, Gozec thought to himself as he continued to sit there.

“Now, shall we get to work?  I have order’s from Weyoun and Gul Dukat.”

Releasing the disruptor he placed both hands on top of the table.

“What do our illustrious leaders have for us?”

“Invasion of the Federation,” she replied.  She crossed over to the wall monitor entered commands into it and brought up.  “We are going to lead the 12th Order and elements of the 9th and 14th Orders and take Betazed.”

‘Betazed,’ Gozec thought to himself. “Are you certain about this?”

Maveren eyed Gozec with suspicion,  “Why wouldn’t I? It’s only defended by the 10th Fleet and its defenses are inadequate.”

“I’m not concerned about the 10th Fleet,” Gozec said as he stood up and moved over to a table that held the quadrant’s detailed information as it stood at the time. “I’m more concerned about the proximity to Deep Space Nine, as well as a distress call being made to Starbase 11, which could summon the 4th Fleet from Sol,” he told the Vorta as he widened the area. “Unless you mean to call in the 4th Fleet, which would mean…,” he paused for a moment, “you mean to call out the Denver.”

Maveren gave Gozec a suspicious expression,  before returning to her briefing ignoring his outburst. “Betazed’s defense systems are obsolete and undermanned.  Betazed is strategically important,  and puts us in a position to conquer Vulcan, Andor, Teller, and Alpha Centauri which will go a long way in allowing us to destroy Earth and all resistance ending this terrible conflict.”

She turned to the galaxy map Gozec had brought up staring at it. “Starbase 75 will be our biggest obstacle other than the 10th Fleet.  We must watch them and plan accordingly.”

Gozec knew that she was right but he also knew that something wasn’t completely sound about her plan. What it was he couldn’t put his finger on, but he knew when to trust the tingle in his ridges and this was one of those times. However, he didn’t open his mouth to speak this to the Vorta. Instead.

“As you wish Maveren.”

He looked at the map once more studying it. Trying to figure out what it was that had his instincts flaring up like they were.

She handed the complete intelligence and objectives outlined by Dukat to Gozec on a Cardassian PADD. “I trust you are more equipped to plan this invasion strategically?”

Gozec took the PADD and looked up at her. In his mind, he was using every foul word and phrase that he could come up with on how much he despised her, and at the same time, he nodded to her.

“Of course, you know that this will take some time to incorporate into the fleet and for me to come up with the plan,” he stated in a tone that portrayed a subject of the Dominion.

She walked to the sideboard lifted a bottle of Kanar, poured a single glass, and returned with it setting it on the desk in front of the Gul. “Smile Gozec.  This is a victory of sorts.  You have gained the favor of your people and the Dominion.  You have proven yourself a valuable member of the Dominion and soon your enemies will know to fear you.”

Gul Gozec looked at the glass for a moment and then back to the Vorta. He was glad for the training that he had undertaken and was sure that poison wouldn’t work on him. Taking the glass he lifted it up and saluted her with it.

“For the Dominion,” he stated in an even tone and took a healthy draw from the glass.

“For the Dominion,” Maveren repeated.  She turned and headed for the door, pausing she glanced over her shoulder, “I look forward to seeing your plan.”

Ming was standing at the front of the room at parade rest when the other pilots entered the briefing room.  At each of four chairs toward the front Ming had placed a PADD and analog wristwatch on the desk.  The flight leader nodded to the group and gestured saying, “Have a seat everyone and we’ll get started.”

Once the group settled he began, “In front of you are a padd and a wristwatch.  There is a reason for both of which has an explanation.  First:  The wristwatches.  Standard 12 hour face with marks for every hour, smaller marks for every half hour and the smallest for the 15 minute marks.  These have woven tritanium wristbands and are rechargeable by magnetic induction, photovoltaic and kinetic means.”

The pilots, as expected, were examining the one in front of them.  Noticing this he continued, “In the early 20th century pocket watches were the most common mechanical means of telling time on the go.  The first use of airplanes in combat occurred during the First World War on Earth starting in 1914.  Those pilots invented the first wristwatch so they could tell time and coordinate more easily on missions as the technology on their aircraft was rudimentary at best and primitive at worst.”

After another brief pause to allow that to sink in the lieutenant went on, “Since then it’s been a bit of a tradition for pilots to wear them.  My last fighter wing CO carried on the tradition as I served under her and I am carrying it on here.  These ones happen to have an additional beacon and communication abilities unlike the originals in case of an emergency where we are lacking other options.  It’s unlikely to be that bad but this is a war and nothing should be left to chance.  Please wear them with regularity and with pride.  They’re often worn on the wrist of the non-dominant hand but do what works for each of you.  If you’ll notice there is the outline of the knight chess piece on the midnight blue face of each watch as we are known as the Knights.  Any questions so far?”

The other pilots remained silent although they did look amongst themselves indicating that they were expecting the others to have one.  Nobody did it seemed….Either that or they were unwilling to ask.  Ming found that more amusing than annoying but he kept that to himself.

“The PADDs have the standard flight patterns and combat fighter tactics but I have added some non-standard one that we need to learn as a squadron.  They’ve proven effective against the Dominion while I was XO of the Rangers and we should at least know them in case the time arises where we need to use them.  There are also some variants to the standard ones that we pioneered as well.”

Gunter’s hand came up now indicating a question.  When the Flight Leader nodded to him he asked, “If these are so successful why aren’t they fleet doctrine, sir?”

Ming nodded thinking it a valid question that he had wondered himself once or thrice.  He replied in a matter of fact tone, “Good question.  The answer is simple.  Fleet bureaucracy compiled by the fact that there’s a war on.  The sad reality is that some things that might be the most useful don’t always get out to the lines as fast as they should.  That has been the case from the Roman Empire if not before.”

Gunter appeared to be less than thrilled with the answer but nodded acceptance of it.  Ming added, “I can assure you it has previously been sent up the chain of command and I will be doing so myself in the not too distant future myself.  Nothing’s ever 100% of course but, as mentioned, these have had moderate if not very decent success so far. We’ll work on improving them even more in the meantime.  Any other immediately relevant questions so far?”

The pilots returned to their silent exchange of looks with no replies to which Ming DID allow a small smile to.  He said, “Alright.  Since there is nothing I am going to ask you all to study the contents of these PADDS this evening.  I won’t object if you want to grab dinner at some point in there and I will ask you all to get a good night’s sleep after you spend time committing as much as possible to memory.  Tomorrow we start the practice runs.”

There was a collective groan from some of the pilots to that last part.  The Flight Leader said, “Yeah, not the most popular I know but it’ll help ensure we all keep coming home.  That is part of my job too after all. Bring yourselves, your flight gear and the PADDS with you to Holodeck 2 tomorrow at 0830.  Until then you are dismissed Knights!”

The Vindicator dropped out of warp still cloaked at the indicated coordinates.   Negotiations with Galin and his people had taken nearly two months. Finally, an agreement had been made for 80 ships. Unfortunately, the majority had been smaller out-of-date Klingon birds-of-prey.  But, they could conquer more minor powers and use that territory to extract resources and build up the Imperial fleet.

Jeter looked at the view screen and frowned, “Not what we had hoped for is it?” He said aloud to no one in particular. “But it is a start.”

‘A start to my very own fleet perhaps…’ he thought to himself.

“It’s not going to conquer the Federation,” Órlaith observed. “But we will need shipyards for that.”

“Agreed, these ships will do their job well but we need to locate ourselves shipyards and facilities to build the vessels of a better caliber. For now, though,” Jeter said as he watched one of the birds of prey slowly circle around a formation of its comrades, “let’s expand our domain.”

Órlaith glanced at her brother and then at Jeter, “Where is Galin?   Something feels… off.”

~~~

Meanwhile, Galin made his way through the crowds of people who worked, lived, or were hiding. He walked against the flow of people, and those standing on an upper balcony might have imagined the flow parted around him.

“Seong,  I’ve noticed another woman with you recently,” he said to no one as he walked with his hands behind his back and his pace slow and even.

He knew she was nearby, and as if by magic, she appeared from the crowd and positioned herself behind him.

“Who exactly is she?” Galin inquired as he walked slowly toward the farthest of the observation lounges.

“A very old friend and I must confess older than you and I,” Seong stated in a tone that appeared even but conveyed the message ‘don’t broach the subject again’.

Galin had caught the message and let the subject slip from his mind, for the time being. Seong knew he wouldn’t let it go, but she also knew Vausees’ personal information wouldn’t get to him. She slowly faded back into the masses of bodies that flowed around them, seeing and hearing nothing more from Galin.

Galin abruptly changed directions and headed for a nearby corridor, and the masses moved around him as if they were unaware of the change in direction.

Two servants appeared at Galin’s side as he entered the observatory lounge. He ignored them, but he knew they were nearby. He came to a halt in front of the massive glass and iron wall, peering out into the black inky void of space as the small fleet he had purchased floated about. He felt a slight tingle in his right lobe at that point and realized he was being discussed.

He nodded to one of the servants, and a sharp chirp was heard as the observatory’s comms connected with the Vindicator.

“You know, hooman Jeter, all you have to do is ask, and the facilities that your black heart craves can be yours. And, unlike my fellow Ferengi, this one is completely free.”

He was well aware that only his voice would have been heard and that no image of him would have been seen, let alone discovered. It was simpler to delete an audio file than to hire someone to remove an entire conversation, video, and audio from a ship’s memory without being noticed.

~~~

Seong watched from the shadows as her boss continued to work his way into Jeter’s pockets and mind. She knew that this man would soon be gone from this universe, and her secret would be kept just that.

Seong stood there watching in silence, and without moving a muscle, she said, “Not yet Captain,” her voice low as she spoke. 

Vausees locked her gaze on Jeter and the others standing nearby, just out of reach but close enough for her body to tremble with excitement. She knew that arresting and apprehending them would result in the promotion she so desperately desired.

“This had better not be a trap, Seong, or I will see you in their place, Princess,” she said in the same low tone as Seong.

Jeter frowned as the audio of Galin’s voice came over the coms. He glanced back at Órlaith and her brother Ian and couldn’t help but agree with Órlaith sentiment; his eyes shifted for a moment to the silent woman in the shadows. He didn’t trust the Ferengi and there was something about this situation that bothered him.  “We will see Ferengi. You have held up your end, in part. Provide us with the access codes to those ships and I will consider this deal done.” 

Galin shrugged at the request and tapped on the console that was before him. The codes appeared in the PADD that Jeter had.

As soon as he possessed the access codes to the ships he would be able to set the plans in motion and distance himself Galin, and the annoyance that was Ian before moving on to his ‘parents’. His eyes shifted to Ian momentarily, his intense dislike for the young man was barely restrained before linking back to Órlaith; he was not sure how she would react but he suspected she would need to be eliminated as well unless she saw reason.

He has spent the last two months subtlely adjusting the shift patterns of the crew so that those loyal to him would be there when needed. Finally, after years with Dominus and Bellitor he would be able to satisfy his desire for their deaths and be free to get out of this endless cycle of death and destruction, even if it needed just a bit more of both.

Órlaith eyed Jeter.  Something about his expression sent red flags.  She knew her mother trusted him, and he had always been a loyal servant… but that expression. She just couldn’t decipher it, and she was usually pretty good at reading people.  “What is going on in that head of yours?”

Jeter’s eyes refocused for a moment on Órlaith and he shrugged, a little bit of annoyance coming through in his voice, “Impatience, this has taken longer than I wanted. That and something is off but I cannot put my finger on it.”

Accepting the explanation she turned to stare out the viewscreen. “Maybe I’m just a little paranoid.”

A clone commander entered the bridge drawing uncomfortable looks from those present on the bridge. The clone approached Jeter and simply nodded to Órlaith.  “Where are the ships? My crews are ready to take possession,” she said.

Jeter looked the clone up and down, ‘yet another of the endless stream of clones,’ he thought to himself. “The ships are ready and waiting. A total of 80 vessels are now ready for you and your crews,” he said as he glanced down at the PADD in his hands confirming that the access codes had come through as Galin had indicated; codes he would make sure he kept hold of for any unexpected turns.  “You can now take possession of them immediately, but I want a full report from each vessel’s combat readiness within the next 36 hours.”

The clone nodded, turned on a heel, and headed for the turbolift distributing orders into her communicator.  Órlaith gave her an uncomfortable glance as she departed. “I’ll be more comfortable with them off the ship… they are just… unnatural. It gives me the heebie-jeebies.”

Jeter chuckled under his breath at that, “Yeah; easy to crew ships with and follow orders but they lack the initiative and independent thought I have found.” He turned to look out at the viewscreen and watched the ships, wishes he, they, had more than a smattering of vor’cha-class ships and other such cruisers. The outdated B’rel-class ships when working in swarms could be useful but they had many, many limitations. 

Looking back at Órlaith he continued, “Once they are manned we will depart. The Shengalian system is outside of the control of any of the main powers and is rather rich in resources. A good place to start I think.”

“Does mother know of this?” Órlaith asked not having been told of this.

Jeter nodded, “We were instructed to gather a fleet and we need to be able to supply that fleet and start building a power base. The only way we can do it is to secure resources.” He paused for a moment and looked around the bridge, “I will be updating your mother shortly on this, first I want to ensure we have everything in place and the ships are operational.”

“So, we’re improvising now Jeter? That’s not like you,” she said with suspicion in her voice.

Hearing his sister Ian moved to her side with his arms crossed and glared at Jeter. “When did you decide to grow a spine?”

“Finally found your voice did you, Ian? For all your gusto, you both know very little about me or anything of that matter, after all, you are not even a year old,” Jeter said as he easily met Ian’s eyes and grinned wickedly. Without waiting for a response he looked over at the operations station, “Are the clones all offloaded?”

The officer nodded anticipating the next command, “Good, notify all departments that we will need to take a full restock of our inventory now that they are gone; there is work to do.” The long-awaited command to his people was sent to all decks and officers.

At that, the officer’s grin widen and Jeter turned back to face Ian and Órlaith. Without pause, he rapidly pulled out his phaser and pointed it at Ian’s chest. With that, the bridge officers around Jeter moved quickly, drew their phasers from their hips and from under their consoles, and rapidly stunned the couple of confused crew who were not explicitly loyal to him leaving only Ian and Órlaith standing, multiple phasers pointed straight at them.

Jeter didn’t move this entire time as he watched, the events unfold. “I wouldn’t move or you will be stunned many times and well, I am not sure if it would stun you or kill you,” he said as he looked at Ian. “Maybe it is time you learned some hard truths.” He put extra emphasis on the last two words he spoke. 

Ian clenched his fists,  “If my father doesn’t kill you, I will.”

Jeter smiled, “Oh, Ian. I have known your father for many years and you are not him. And I suspect that like usual he will have overstepped, and let his own inflated ego get in the way. He likely already has the federation bearing down on him.” Jeter couldn’t help but smile inwardly knowing that an anonymous message was moving through subspace to Starfleet with some hint as to where Dominus and Bellitore were hiding.

Órlaith barely reacted.  “Why?” She asked genuinely curious.

Jeter looked at Órlaith and felt a bit of a prang of guilt. She lacked the cruel streak found in the others. “Why do you think Órlaith. Power and Choice,” he said but what he really was after was freedom. He knew some of those loyal to him saw it only as a way to grab power but others wanted to escape.

“You know my mother doesn’t accept betrayal.  For your sake, I hope father finds you.  Your death will be a bit less painless,” Órlaith warned. “Flee, and Godspeed.  We cannot stop you. I just hope you find what you are looking for. If we meet again I will have no choice but to kill you.”

Jeter nodded, “I would expect nothing less but perhaps in time you will see this as an opportunity to become your own person.” He turned slightly to look at the remaining bridge officers loyal to him. “Take them to the brig and let’s ensure we have the ship secure.” He paused for a moment and spoke again, “And make sure they are searched thoroughly under heavy guard.”

“I would rather be dead than a prisoner,” Ian grumbled.

“Give us a shuttle, and you won’t have to worry about us taking over the ship and organizing a resistance,” Órlaith suggested.  “Or just kill us now and be done with it.”

Jeter’s looked at them and smirked, “We shall see.” He glanced at the security officers loyal to him. “Best beam them directly there.” A moment later both Órlaith and Ian vanished, Jeter smiled before speaking to the con officer. Set a course to these corrdinates,” he tossed his PADD to the officer,” We can drop them off there and return here in short order. Let them see how they fair.”

He took a seat in the command chair and glanced out at the fleet before them. “Notify the Galin that we will return shortly. I may want to have another discussion with him.”

Bellitor stared out the window and into the vastness of the Montana prairie. The farmhouse they were using as their base of operations was comfortable enough,  but the winters were bitterly cold.  Peter Crawford approached, and Bellitor could see his reflection in the glass, but she didn’t acknowledge his presence.

Crawford pulled a chair from against the wall and sat roughly, slipping out a cigarette to smoke.  He lightly lit it and enjoyed the sensation of smoke and nicotine as it flared through his mouth and nostrils.  He waited a few more minutes as he finished the cigarette and turned his attention to Bellitor, “Brooding doesn’t look good on you.”

“Not brooding, and those things will kill you.”

Peter pulled out another cigarette and offered it to her, “I plan to live forever.”

“I’m good, but thank you.” She let the silence fall between them for a long time.  Finally, she spoke, “I know you don’t like Dominus,  but you have always been loyal to me. Why you haven’t betrayed me is actually beyond me.  Jeter, I get. He’s comfortable where he’s at, but unless I have severely misjudged you, you are ambitious and would relish being at the top of the heap.”

Crawford took a drag from his cigarette and regarded her for a few minutes in silence before he replied, “Ambition is a great thing.  Hell, it’s gotten me where I am.  Spilling blood to cover the debts and charges is the game.”  He took another puff, “I’ve got my daughter.  We’re one and the same – that old all-for-one and one for all.  I don’t do anything to put her in jeopardy…and she does the same for me.”  He dropped the remains of the cigarette to the ground and dug into it with his boot, “I do what I do to keep us together and near the top of whoever we are.  People get too close to the sun – they’re going to take a header straight down.  I prefer to keep me and mine flying.”

Bellitor glanced at him and smirked, “Close enough to make the rules, and far enough that you aren’t the face of things when it all goes south.   I’m not sure if that’s cleaver or cowardly.”

Peter stood, “I’m a simple murderous bastard, Bellitor – you’ll know good and well if decide to try and climb to the top of the trash heap.  Your position as Empress of this wasteland is safe, far as I’m concerned.  We need you, and you need us.  I don’t mind killing to make sure that remains.”

“That much is certain,” she replied.  “Listen, I have a job for you.”

Crawford raised his eyebrows, “I do enjoy working my murderous bastard credentials.”

“As you know, I have been giving the Starfleet recruiter in Billings some special attention.  Disgusting little troll, and it’s amazing what you men will do for a look at a nice pair of tits.” She picked up a Federation PADD and tossed it to Peter.  “Your counterpart seems to be a bit of a rising star. He’s aboard a ship called the Denver. I want you to replace him. When the time is right, you will resign your commission to run for Federation Council.”

Peter read the report.  “He’s nice and shiny.  I can muddy him up a little.  This does mean I have to be nice when I’m standing in his place.  I am not a nice man, Bellitor.  I hope the time being right doesn’t take too damn long.  I gotta kill something every so often to feel…balanced.”

“If you feel you need to kill, kill. Just don’t get caught. Zodiac never got caught and it took years for BTK, and several others before they did. If you feel you aren’t up to this assignment I suppose we could clone you.”

Crawford growled, “I’m the original Peter Crawford.  Don’t need some copy doing my work for me.  My hands prefer to be dirty and bloody – not going to get some clone get the pleasure and credit.  When and where are we going to make this switch happen?  Carolyn will have to tag along…somehow.”

“Your discretion,  but I think sooner than later. Carolyn will need an identity if she is to come along.  I have a few sources that can make that happen.”

He thought for a moment, “A long lost cousin or something – needs a secure posting alongside a trusted relative.  We can fabricate most of her identity. An operations cadet or something?”  He glanced at his chrono, “Whatever we do, let’s get in gear.  Once we’re in play, time will be of the essence.”

She considered Peter for a moment, “Will hiding your nature be that difficult?

A quiet smile crossed his lips, “I’ve learned in my life to compartmentalize.  I, as Peter Crawford, will step into a closet for a little bit.  Knowing there’s blood to be spilled eventually, I’ll manage.”

She nodded, “I trust you will do what is best for you, and at this juncture, that’s what’s best for me.  Make it happen.”

Crawford gave a nod, “You got it.” He turned and headed to his bunk area where his daughter waited.  Things were about to get interesting.

Órlaith paced the brig.  She didn’t like being held like a caged animal.  Her brother Ian lay on the bench that served as a bed snoring softly.  She gave him a disgusted look.  She didn’t understand her brother.  His ability to be so cruel, and then just switch it off and go to sleep in a situation like this.

She pulled the hair tie out of her blonde hair and shook it out in agitation before pulling it back into a single pony tail.  It was still a mess, but at least the loose strands had been regathered up and out of her face.  She absently wondered what she’d look like if she cut it all off.

Jeter sat in the ready room as he reviewed reports from his teams across the ship. Over the takeover went without any major issues. There had been a couple of small firefights and a few deaths but that was expected. He was now fairly confident that those who had been offered to join his side had meant it while those who refused sat waiting for their fate in the cargo bay. As he did he tapped his screen and an image of the cell appeared on the screen. He watched for a moment as Órlaith paced the small space.

He was interrupted when his door chimed, “Enter,” he said absently but his hand drifted to the phaser on his hip. ‘Never hurts to be careful,’ he thought to himself. The door opened and in walked the con officer and one of the security officers he first recurited, “Sir we have arrived at the coordinates, what are your orders?”

Jeter stood up and smiled, “Perfect, are the resources gathered that I ordered?” The security officer nodded. “Good, there should be a class L planet in the system. Let us find a nice somewhat hospitable place for those misguided individuals in the cargo bay.”

The con officer looked at him for a moment, “We won’t be executing them sir?”

“No, I know that is what Bellitor and Dominus would do but I think they might have a change of heart after some time. And as for Órlaith  and Ian, let’s put them down on the opposite side of the planet shall we?” The two officers nodded and agree to find the locations before turning to leave.

As they left Jeter looked back at the video and made up his mind. He quickly left the ready room and made his way to the brig.

Stepping through the door he stopped and looked at the two prisoners; as the madman Ian slept he could tell that Órlaith was in no way able to. “I trust you are comfortable,” he said as he stepped up to the forcefield.

She scowled at Jeter, “What do you want?”

Jeter smiled and let out a low laugh, “Such anger.” He paused for a moment and looked at them both and then around the room before continuing. “I wanted to let you know that we are almost at our destination and you will then be moving on to your new accommodations. I DO need to get back to my fleet after all.”

“If you think keeping us alive will shield you from my mother you are mistaken.”

“I am not worried about your mother, she will have her hands full soon enough, if not already. They stupidly like to draw attention to themselves. It is why they are endlessly having to run away.” Jeter said with a low chuckle. “That is here nor there really now. Normally I would tell you to get your things packed but, well, you don’t really have the need now. That said I thought about it and figure you and maybe your idiot brother could take a single thing from your quarters to your new home.” He paused for a moment and continued, “And now, a weapon will not be allowed.”

“I have nothing that can’t be replaced,” Órlaith said simply.  “No need to waste our time with that.”

Jeter shrugged, “Ok, just remember that.” He turned and stepped up to the security station before he pulled up the current status of the ship. “Good,” He muttered to himself before looking at Órlaith, “Looks like a suitable location has been found. I do hope you enjoy your new home and that your brother is adequate company though I doubt it.”

He tapped a few quick commands and then opened a com channel to the transporter room. “Jeter to the Transporter room, get a lock on our two wayward prisoners and initiate transport to these coordinates.”

Glancing back at Órlaith he smiled, “Bon voyage,” just as the force field dropped and the transporter initiated taking Órlaith and Ian to their new home.

Ming was fairly pleased with the holodeck simulations his pilots had done with him.  They still needed work but after a day or two of practice they seemed to be picking up the others styles in short order.  That pleased him, in large part, because they didn’t have much time to get comfortable so the sooner they learned the better.

After flying for the past number of years it’d been made abundantly clear that if you couldn’t trust the person on your wing and they couldn’t anticipate your moves or you theirs the end result would be a message from the Fleet informing next of kin you’d had your ass shot off.  As the new CO of the flight he was determined to make sure he trained the other pilots well enough to ensure, as best anyone could, that his pilots came home safely.  It wasn’t likely to be one hundred percent possible however that was the target.

Earlier, as he often did at a new assignment, he replicated a few uniforms to have at the ready.  He also replicated some flight suits and civilian garb that he liked but hadn’t been able to bring.  As he had done so he’d thought of creating a full on duster to go along with a few variants of the duty uniform but over the flight suits the attack craft pilots often wore.

 He felt it could potentially be great addition to Starfleet’s variations to their uniforms.  It in certain environments it would offer an extra layer of protection when full on cold weather gear wasn’t quite necessary or when there were periods of rain.  He also felt that dusters often looked good as well.   He resolved to put something together to submit for approval.  Sometimes you needed to keep busy in your down time while at alert prior to any launch orders. 

At this point he felt it was time to graduate to field training at least for half of this next phase.  Test them more in real situations then do any polishing in the sims to finish.  It was going to get even more real all too soon.    The flights were going to possibly interfere with the ship operations so Ming decided it was time to check in with the Captain to make sure everyone was on the same page with the next step of the new wing’s drills.   

To be continued……

Ming had spent the last few minutes wandering the ship collecting his thoughts.  Talon had a damned decent record.  What he gathered between that and his one meeting gave him the impression of a good leader in addition to a good officer.  She reminded him of his last wing commander whom he admired greatly.  Direct but diplomatic it would be then.

The pilot tapped his combadge and said, “Ming to Talon….Do you have a moment to meet face to face Captain?”

There was a pause before the captain responded, “I’m just leaving Engineering.  I can meet you in your office if you’d like.”

Ming actually smiled softly.  He actually did have a small office off the flight bay.  Rank has its privileges so the saying went.  Made up for the heavier burdens in part anyhow.  Setting his thoughts aside for now he replied, “Sounds good.  Enroute and I will meet you there.”

The flight leader got to his office and saw that he’d arrived first.  Something said about being in the habit of double timing it to this particular local as a force of habit.  He went behind his desk and organized the organized chaos a bit for a moment before he took a seat to review the last practice drills again.   He nodded as the numbers appeared to re-confirm his conclusions.  

As that thought finished crossing his mind he noticed Captain Rebecca Talon enter the flight bay.  He stood, placing the padd on the top of a small stack, then came around his desk to meet the captain.  Such gestures were habitual and he was just fine with that.  He exited the office, stepped beside the door and formally came to attention.  

As she drew nearer he said, “Thank you for coming Captain.  If you’d like please have a seat.”Ming did have the sense to add two comfortable chairs opposite the one on “his side of the desk.”  That being said he wasn’t sure that he’d ever expect that the Denver’s CO would be sitting in one but he thought…and hoped…that his choice would be acceptable for anyone command rated officers included.  

“Of course Lieutenant,” Rebecca said as she slid into the offered seat.  “I was doing my rounds anyway. What can I do for you?”

Ming moved over to and slid into his own seat.  He started to speak, “I’ve been working with my squadron in holodeck drills over the past few days.  We’ve got a good batch of fliers without a doubt.  That’ll help me bring them all home if we get into a scrap.  Unit cohesion still needs a bit more work however.” 

The Flight CO paused for a heartbeat or so before continuing, “Like any small unit knowing eachothers strengths, weaknesses and tendancies can mean the difference between coming home intact and…well not.  We will be continuing with the holodeck simulations however I would like to take them out in their actual fighters for drills as well. It adds a certain urgency to the training plus it’ll let everyone get a feel for their specific fighter.  Plus, since we’re in the Sol Sector, that’ll give us a chance to do so with, I’d like to think,  minimal chance of trouble.”

He offered the Captain a slight smile before adding, “I figured I should get the ok from your end since it’ll have at least a little impact on ship operations.  I didn’t want to leave you in the dark wondering what the hell Denver’s fighters are up to either.”

“Oh you aren’t impacting anything.  Half the crew is on shore leave and the other half is bored out of their minds.  It will do them good to have something to do.  Just make sure you file flight plans with Sector Control on Starbase 1 and then forward them to operations for Lieutenant Crawford so he can make sure everything on ship side is good to go.”

Ming nodded.  He was still new to being the head honcho but as XO of his last wing he had a running head start.  It seemed like small groups like this often had a number two person even if it wasn’t always official.  It made sense, especially in war, in the off chance things didn’t quite work out to the ranking officer on the team.  

He said, “Understood.  I already have the excersize parameters documented and I’ll have them submitted to both parties within an hour.  Hopefully it will be approved quickly as all the pilots are well trained we are not quite a cohesive unit yet.  The more time we get in flight the better. “

“I agree.  Holodeck training will only take you so far. I would try to work in a way yo drill your maintenance and ordinance teams as well.  During a prolonged battle you will have to return for fuel and rearming.  I don’t want our crews first time doing that under the pressure of a battle with the Dominion.”

“I concur on all counts, Captain.  We didn’t start this war.  Every little bit counts that’ll let us win it however.  I fully intend to help toward that end.  I’d be even happier if we can do that with me bringing my pilots back every time.  It may not be possible but if whatever Gods still exist will allow it I’d be grateful.  As mentioned previously we already have lost too damned many,” Ming said.  This time his voice caught oh so slightly toward the end.  Obviously a painful memory struck home as he finished his thought.    

“I agree Lieutenant,” Rebecca stated. “How are you settling in? Do you or your flight need anything? I am working with Admiral Daley on getting us posted back on the front lines. We might be joining up with the 10th Fleet near Betazed.  This may be the last time for you to get what you need.”

Ming looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, “Spare parts and plenty of munitions for my wing of course. I’ll make sure Chief Xellath passes the pertinent details to Lieutenant Crawford.  I’d also like to schedule an afternoon, if possible, to return to Earth before we deploy….I’ve not had much chance to spend time with my folks with their schedules at Starfleet Academy. They’ve finally managed to free up a bit of time. “He paused for a long moment…His gaze drifted toward the large window to the flight bay.  He was visibly mulling over something with some intensity.  After that moment passed he added, “There is one other thing that I hesitate to ask however with my experience on the Tucson it seems potentially relevant for the forthcoming deployment.”  

Nodding out to the flight bay he continued, “The Peregrines are the backbone of the fighter corps for good reason. Tough, well armed, agile and good for kicking the enemy square in the ass.  However, not long before I left the Tucson we received schematics for a prototype craft classified as the Valkyrie.  They have the advantage of more advanced jamming gear and are even faster than the Peregrines are.  They seem liked they’d be quite useful for scouting as well as good a backup should one of the main fighters be down for whatever reason.  The Chief confirmed we have room for one more in this bay.  I am multi-craft certified as is Ensign Sh’ivholol which makes me confident we’d be able to adapt quickly enough to be able to fly one effectively.  I’ve also verified that we have a few on my team that are certified in certain systems which would make them ideal for secondary system operators.   That might be useful out there…And extra versatility never hurt I’ve found.”

He tilted his head very slightly and asked, “Do you think that getting at least one might be a possibility, Captain?”

“That fighter is still very much in the experimental phase,” Rebecca replied, “and it isn’t in full production.  I believe only two squadrons have received them if I am not mistaken.  None are in the 7th Fleet. But, I can pass the request along to Admiral Dailey who has a bit more pull with fighter command than I do. As far as shore leave goes, you are free to do so at your discretion.  Just submit the request to Commander Kyo. We’re basically just rubber stamping those requests since there’s no way to know when we will have a chance to return to Earth.”

Ming nodded at Rebecca’s key points as she spoke.  He said, sounding controlled with a hint of excitement in his voice, “I’d appreciate that Captain.   If half of what I read was true it’d be an invaluable assett.  And I understand that even one would be a diversion of a resource but much smaller than a whole wing or even squadron.  Add to that deploying it in new areas would be another opportunity to verify it’s capabilities as well.”  The wing CO paused for a second before adding with more control in the voice, “But you already said that you’d work on it so I digress.  Hopefully it’ll bare fruit.  I’ll also forward the request to the Commander shortly.  My folks suggested meeting at a restaurant run by my best friend from childhood.  Always figured he’d become a chef.”

The Lieutenant let a bit of good humor slip into his demeanor as he said, “We have had an ongoing humorous competition going for years…Is he the better chef or am I the better pilot?  He’s a damned good chef he’s but not quite that good.” 

“A bit of an apples to oranges comparison,” Rebecca responded with a smirk. “My dad wasn’t a trained chef but he knew his way around the kitchen.  Mom was in Starfleet so it fell on him to cook for me. Dad is a bit old fashioned. We grew our own vegetables,  and raised chickens for eggs and had a milk cow or two. I think he would have used real meat if he thought he could get away with it.”

Ming actually chuckled now. After the chuckle ended he said, “Joel and I have been friends since not long after we both learned to walk.  An….Inside joke, I guess you could say. He fired off such an unrealistic comparison as a kid and I teased him about it.  It kind of stuck and evolved from there.”  

He added, “And funny you should menton your dad’s habits.  My friend is similar.  He actually has a small farm with some other folks that supplies the vegatibles, herbs, the eggs and dairy products.  Meats too occastionally that are humanely procured.  The farmers ensure the animals never know it when the time comes.   Not at all like the old days thankfully.   During life the animals are pampered to almost Risa like levels.   Even with all that the sheep often take care of things themselves.  They’re not exactly the sharpest bat’leth in the arsonal if you catch my drift.  They seem to find a way to end it all even if there should be no possible way derived by sentients.”

The lieutenant shook his head at that last part.  He was genuinely glad they did things the way they did however since he’d have had a bad time reconciling it otherwiwse.    As all that was going on he noticed the chronograph. 

The pilot gave the ship’s captain a genuine smile and said, “I’m very much enjoying this conversation captain but I did schedule next simulation run for the Knights soon.   Plus I should probabily get to that paperwork too even though I should be able to tackle it in fairly short order.  Too much to do in so little time it seems.” 

Rebecca stood, “Very well Lieutenant.  My door is always open.”

Marcus nodded again and stood as well, “Thank you Captain.  Likewise.”

She nodded, turned and walked out of the office heading for the security deck where she wanted to check in on the newly formed Tactical Recon Team.  She hoped she would never have to utilize trained ground forces, but at this point in the war anything seems possible.

Ming watched Captain Talon leave the office then out of sight out of the bay.  He thought he made a good choice taking this position.  In the meantime he had to nuggets to train up and all five pilots on the same page so that they could, hopefully, help win this Gods forsaken war and it’d be even better in the unlikely event that they all came home safe when it WAS over.  He looked out the door in Talon’s wake and remembered her and the rest of the crew’s losses.  Yes….Everything possible to win this damned thing and bring everyone now left home safe.

“Ma’am,” an Ensign announced. “I am picking up an encrypted message piggybacked on a sub-space signal from one of our remote listening posts.”

Riandri had just walked into the intelligence office and was not expecting anything like this so quickly, it caught her off guard, “Sorry, what? Where did it come from?”

“I don’t know. It looks like they were trying to disguise the signal, but did it poorly. The signal itself is an encryption I have never seen before.”

Moving over to the central terminal Riandri pulled up the sub-space signal in question, “This is odd, very odd. Have you tried running it through all the know decryption algorithms?”

She shook her head, “No.  I don’t even know where to start.”

Riandri studied both the sub-space signal and the encryption of the message, “Odd, the encryption itself seems basic in a way. The more complicated part was how it was embedded within the signal itself.” She puzzled over it for a minute when an idea came to her. “I think this is very rudimentary if I am not mistaken. I remember reading about this years back, I think it is a one-way hash function; see these repeating binary stings every 8 digits? I think those might be breaks. Try running it through the computer with a focus on primitive encryption methods.”

She followed the instructions and the computer went to work decompiling the message. After a moment the computer beeped and the Ensign stared disbelieving down at the results.  “It worked.”

Riandri let out a little chuckle as the file appeared before here awaiting to be opened. Before she clicked on it she isolated it onto a secured location on the off chance it had any unpleasant surprises hidden within. Once done she opened it and a short message appeared on her screen. 

This message contains a warning to Star Fleet. I will not go into detail of who I am but your adversary is the same as mine. They have arrived at the end of March from an alternative universe and seek to undermine and destory the Federation. As you are likely aware the daughter of one of your captains, Nick Ryder has gone missing. They have kidnapped her and are now setting up a base north of a town called Billings in Montana at the recidence of the Crawfords. I would recommend you act fast.

Riandri read the message twice before she sent a priority alert to the captain and XO with the message attached. “Damn, this thing is getting twisted,” she muttered to herself.

The ensign glanced up at Riandri,  “There’s some technical data in the message as well.  It looks like coordinates,  technical specs and other data as well. This mystery individual has intimate knowledge of this operation.”

“So it would seem,” Riaindri remarked as she began looking through the data. “I can only think of one way to have gotten so much data on this. Whoever sent this is or at least was working with them very closely. It could be a trap for us and they intended us to get it since we are already involved to a degree or they want to use us as a tool to remove those on Earth.”

Riandri paused for a moment as she thought through several possible options, “Let’s catalogue everything here for starters and quickly. Then I need to take this to the Captain. One way or another I expect we will be on the ground in short order.”

“Understood,” the ensign replied.

Riandri found herself standing outside the Captain’s ready room 15 minutes later. When she entered the bridge several heads turned but no one asked her why she was there. Without pause she tapped the door panel next to the door and waited, clutching a PADD to her chest.

“Enter,” Rebecca’s voice came over the comm.

Riandri walked into the ready room and nodded towards the Captain, “Captain, we came across a message that is of top priority, it is about Angel.” Riandri stepped closer and handed her the PADD before she continued to speak, “The communication indicated that those responsible for the abduction are located at a ranch north of Billings Montana. Oddly enough the ranch appears to be owned by the family of Lieutenant Crawford. It also confirms what we believed, they are from an alternate universe.”

Rebecca set her coffee down slowly before speaking.  “There’s a lot going on in that statement. Let’s start at the beginning. What message?”

One of the ensigns on my team picked up a message piggybacked on a sub-space signal from one of our remote listening posts. As expected it was encrypted but was done with what we would consider a rudimentary algorithm, the computer had issues with it but once identified it was easy enough to access. The file contained the message you see there as well as the exact coordinates of an underground facility and a rough map as well. There is also information on what appears to be cloning equipment, it appears they are trying to increase their numbers.

“And you believe it’s legitimate? This isn’t some sort of well, I don’t exactly know what else it could mean.”

Riandri frowned for a moment, “It is hard to say, there was no ID on who sent it. It could be a trap or, and I tend to think this more likely, someone who was part of this group and wants us to remove their enemy. Either way, we should be cautious but it is the best lead we have at the moment.”

“I agree,” the captain replied, “but the United Earth Constitution protects people and property from warrantless searches.  We don’t have any evidence Angel is being held there beyond some cryptic message. We can get this to the Circuit Judge in Bozeman,  but I doubt he will issue a warrant with this message. We may rescue Angel, but the perpetrators could very well get away free. We need more proof before we can raid them. We can’t just do this half-cocked.”

Riandri frowned but fully understood the reason for the laws. She thought on it for a moment then a smile crossed her face, “We do not need to have a warrant. The property is connected to Lieutenant Crawford; we, well several of us could travel there under the guise of a visit. It would give us an opportunity to scan the area and get an idea if the information is in fact accurate or if we have been sent on a wild goose chase.” She turned to face the viewport for a moment before continuing, her stance relaxing slightly, “It is not perfect but is a workaround, if there is nothing, no harm. If we encounter those who the message indicates are there it would only make sense to have a security team from Denver beam down to assist their crewmates who suddenly find themselves in danger. That said I would expect local law enforcement to be contacted and brought in.”

“Nothing against a knock and talk, and hopefully Mr. Crawford won’t be cause to spook them into fleeing before we can get enough evidence for a warrant. Make it happen.”

Riandri grinned, though she was very happy to sit back and observe and review intelligence as it comes she always enjoyed the chance to get out of the office, “Will do Captian. I will speak to Lieutenant Crawford right away.”

Marcus was glad for the shower.  The sweat from the couple of fighter sims with his wing was getting to him and he was glad it was gone.  The last practice sim was the hardest.  His pilots were all talented.  Of the five pilots three had flying styles that complimented each other and two who meshed among themselves.  The issue was the two teams could mesh better. 

Luckily they’d improved greatly so he was confident they’d hammer out the issues in fairly short order and with more practice.  He’d also planned for a holodeck outing meant to be a team building excercize and a bit of fun to be had by the unit.  He also decided that he was naming Ensign Esessa Sh’ivhohlol as his number two. She was a member of the three but she was skilled, the most experienced and (Ming felt) utterly competiant.  It felt like the best route to go.  

In the meantime he had one thing to do before he wound down for an early night.  His parents were getting a rare afternoon off and had been able to arrange time off to meet with him, have a late lunch/early dinner and  to catch up.  He was glad for it as they’d not had more than 10 minutes to talk for any given week since the war started.  He hoped that the captain was right earlier about time off being rubberstamped.

He sat down at his desk and queued up the messaging system. He took a deep breath before beginning to type:

To: Commander Cheon Kyo, Executive Officer, USS Denver

From: Lieutenant Marcus David Ming, CO of Bravo Flight, 335th Squadron, USS Denver

Re: Leave RequestSir; 

I would like to request permission to depart for Earth on July 17th from 1200 hours tomorrow until 2000 hours Mountain time which corrilates the same date from 1400 to midnight.  I appologize for the shorter notice however my parents, both professors at Star Fleet Academy, were able to get time off to meet me last minute.  We have not had the opportunity to meet up due to conflicting schedules.  If this could be arranged I would be most grateful.  Again, I regret the shorter notice but I hope the request can be accomidated.  

Signed,

Marcus D. Ming.

The lieutenant sent the message with moderate priority.  He was tempted to send it high priority however he did not want to make it sound like an emergency.  While it was urgent for him it hardly seemed taht it qualified for something similar in terms of ship’s business.  

Ming yawned.  He was still a bit fatigued from little sleep for the past few days with the transfer from the Tucson to Starfleet Command then to the Denver.  There was a bit of a SNAFU that added an extra stop and more time to what should’ve been a simple and easy procedure.  War seemed to have that effect on occasion it seemed.  The fairly high energy training he’d been developing and executing did not help.   It was, however, something he felt necessary.  Keeping himself run ragged was counter productive especially since sleep would be an extreme luxury and, based on his experience on the Tucson, not one that would be common once they got back into the field.  

With that in mind he cleaned up to wash the sweat off from the day before heading out to the main area of his quarters.   He had some food and grabbed an old paper book to read while laying on his modest sofa.  His head rested on the pillow against the arm rest and he was asleep 90 seconds later. 

Riandri stumbled as she slowly made her way down the corridor toward the sickbay. She silently cursed herself for not coming sooner but she was fully aware that if Peter hadn’t pushed her she probably would have held off.  And she hates to admit that he was right.

She shook her head as she looked around as the pounding headache and waves of dizziness were reaching a point where she would have trouble standing. Her legs collapsed from under her as she fell against the nearby door heavily. 

 She looked around to see if anyone was present as she reached for her combadge.

Seong was alone in the Kyo quarters when a sudden thud against the door jarred her from her meditation. She looked to the door and stood up. Reaching out she tapped the door controls and the door slid to the side. Her eyes instantly locked with Riandri’s.

Riandri’s hand was just about to tap her combadge when Seong opened her door and looked at her. Riandri couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed about this. She blinked several times to clear some of the fog from her head and the headache, “Doc, I think I, um.” She started to say but had to scrunch her eyes closed as the headache redoubled. A second or two passed and she blinked her eyes open, “I need help.”

Seong could see that there was pain coursing through Riandri. Without a second thought, she tapped her ComBadge. 

“Sickbay, prepare to receive two on a medical emergency site-to-site beam,” she said as she knelt down to her fallen comrade. 

With that, she tapped her badge again and closed the comms. “Computer, lock on to my ComBadge and Riandri’s and transport us both to sickbay,” she ordered. A soft beep confirmed her order was received, and both women were covered in a light shimmer of color as the transporter began.

A moment later the two women were deposited in sickbay, with Riandri in a biobed and Seong next to it.

Riandri lay on the biobed and looked around and up at Seong. She slowly blinked as she tried to speak but all that escaped her lips was, “hea, he..” She slowly brought her hand to her head. As she did she was able to get a single word out, “Pain.”

Seong looked over at a nearby near, “Nurse, give me 5 cc’s of anesthizine,” she ordered before looking back down at Riandri. “This will take the edge off but I need to you focus and tell me exactly everything that happened prior to you ending up at my door,” Seong finished in a soothing tone, not wanting to aggravate her pain any further.

Riandri felt the hypospray inject the anesthizine and within a few moments she could feel the pain receding. After a couple of moments, she felt more like herself, he turned her head and looked up at Seong, “Nothing new really, I have been having headaches and periods of dizziness since we got back to Earth. They have been getting worse but with everything going on and the likely kidnapping I didn’t think much about it, until well before I ended up at your door.”

Seong placed a hand on Riandri, “I want you to get some rest while I try and figure this out,” she said. “Can you do that for me?”

Riandri nodded, “I can do that.” With that Riandri relaxed on the biobed and stared at the ceiling but it didn’t take long for the exhaustion her body had accrued while she struggled against the headaches to overwhelm her and she slipped into a restful sleep.

As soon as the biobed registered that Riandri was in REM, Seong looked over at the nurse. “Keep and eye on her and let me know the moment she either wakes up or something happens to her alpha waves,” she instructed.

The nurse nodded and stepped over to the bed to pull the live chart onto a PADD. As that was happening Seong left sickbay and headed for a holo suite onboard. She needed to try some experiments as well as run a history on Riandri and her species. 

As the door to the suite closed and the program that Seong had requested came into focus, Seong began to review what the computer had begun on her patient’s background.

After an hour or so Riandri woke up feeling a little rested but noticed that the anesthizine was still having an effect and her headache was barely present. She pushed herself up and looked around seeing the nurse, “My head is a lot better. Is the Doc around?”

Holo-Suite 1

Seong sat at a table, poring over the information provided by the computer. She looked up at the two people, Jean-Luc Picard and Guinan, and listened to what they were saying while referring to the data on the PADD: Af-Kelt was an El-Aurian-only form of time sickness. It happened after the timeline was disrupted in some way, and the El-Aurian saw echoes of their own future. Distance from the point where the timeline was disrupted provided no protection from the effects.

‘This could be the only plausible explanation for what’s going on with Riandri,’ she reasoned as she placed the PADD on the table. “Computer, send a message to Commander Cheon Kyo with my findings in a secure message,” Seong instructed. A soft tone returned a moment later, confirming that the message had been sent as requested.

A few moments later her combadge chimed and the voice of the nurse came through, “Doctor Seong, the Lieutenant is awake and asked for you. The anesthizine appears to have helped with the headaches. What would you like me to tell her or shall I send her to the holo suite to speak to you?”

Seong thought for a moment about what the nurse had said. “Send her to me,” she replied as she sat back in the cushioned seat, looking at the frozen Picard and Guinan; as the computer had stopped the simulation when the nurse had contacted her.

Several minutes later Riandri walked through the arch into the holo suite, she paused for a moment upon seeing the frozen holograms of Jean-Luc Picard and Guinan. “Been a while since I saw her,” she said absently, nodding towards Guinan before turning to look at Seong. “I wanted to thank you for the anesthizine, it has helped,” she said as she took a set next to Seong on one of the chairs. “I assume you found something? Something to do with my species I gather?”

Seong smiled, “Yes, thought it best to let you watch it yourself.”

Riandri sat staring out the large windows at the vast empty void surrounding the ship, lost in thought as the plate of food and tea sat untouched in from of her.

After her visit to sickbay two days earlier, she was feeling rather depressed; after several hours of prodding, they didn’t know what it was that was causing her to feel so miserable. Though she would admit to feeling slightly better, physically anyways but she knew it was down to the drugs that the doctor had been able to provide.  

At the doctor’s suggestion, she had reached out to a couple of the El-Aurians she knew who had remained on Earth to ask them about what she had been experiencing in case they had any ideas. To her surprise, they had gotten back to her and shed some light on her current condition as they were experiencing similar effects. She had Af-Kelt, or ‘time sickness,’ both the Doc and her were sure of it and it occurred when the timeline was being disrupted. She knew why it was happening now and was confident of the cause, but what hit her the most was the fact it reminded her of just how little she knew about her own people and their abilities.

She absently reached for her tea and went to take a sip but stopped when it touched her lips; she had been there so long it had gone cold. She was about to turn around to get a new one when she heard footsteps approaching. 

Crawford had been concerned about Riandri since their initial conversations, and he hadn’t been able to shake his worries over her deteriorating condition.  There was something about the woman beyond her being an El-Aurian.  He was starting to feel like there could be something more to their relationship than just crewmates and confidantes.  Entering The Mile High Club, he’d spotted her from across the room and her listless stare into the windows. He snagged her a refill of her tea and got his hot black tea.  He walked up to the table and gently sat her steaming refill on the table, “Got you a refill, Lieutenant.”  He sat opposite her with a quiet smile, “A staring contest with the stars suggests you need an ear…or someone to sit with you.”

Riandri didn’t even look as she let out a little scoffing laugh, “One I will definitely lose.” She turned to look at Crawford and smiled though her thoughts were still clearly elsewhere. After a moment, she blinked and focused on Crawford, “Please.” She glanced over at the tea and smiled again, “Thanks for the refill. I let mine go cold, sadly…not that I won’t drink it that way. How are you?”

Crawford sighed, “Still trying to figure out what went wrong in the simulation.”  He related how he’d lost track of the situation and had found himself not really himself for a brief moment and then soon recovered.  “The medical check-up didn’t find anything out of the ordinary…so I’ve just been trying to figure out if I’m suddenly losing my mind or my abilities as an officer.”  He took a pull from his mug, “You?  You seem to be a thousand miles away, Lieutenant.”

Riandri let a small smile when she looked at him. “Likely both I think,” she said before she shrugged. “Spoke to the doctor the other day, as you said I should. She couldn’t place what was causing the headaches and dizziness but gave me some meds at least and that has taken the edge off of it. si what it is.” She took a sip of her tea and closed her eyes enjoying the feeling of the warm drink. “So what exactly happened in the drill? I ran into Jeter, and he mentioned more coming up,” she asked clearly trying to push the conversation away from herself.

He rolled his eyes, “Lieuten…Riandri.  Look, I learned early in my life that going things alone is no way to live.  If anything, it’s a surefire way to shorten your life expectancy.  The more you isolate yourself, the fewer hands you have to grab when you need help up.”  He leaned on the table from his seat, “You gotta let me in, just a little.  The door doesn’t have to be opened all the way.  Just enough so I can listen.”

She turned her head back to the window for a moment and took a deep breath.  As she did, her mind went back to the time before Wolf 359 and her husband. She knew he would not be happy with the way she kept everyone out since his death, barring a few people. She closed her eyes and deflated a bit before turning to face Crawford, “Ok.”

She smiled and spoke, “I reached out to a few friends, old friends, you could say. The Federation doesn’t have a huge amount of data on my species; only what we have let them have, really, I guess. It is called Af-Kelt, or ‘time sickness’ and is a normal reaction to, well, disruptions in the timeline. It would appear these visitors are messing with things that shouldn’t be played with.”

Crawford frowned.  In his spare time, he had done additional research on the El-Aurians.  He had found Af-Kelt in the latter half of his search, and it had given him goosebumps.  It was often an indicator of something terrible around the next corner.  “I wonder….” He sat back in his chair, “It might explain what happened with the drill…I read somewhere that the existence of your other self at a relative distance can have side effects.”  Peter leaned back in, “I know this sounds crazy…but is it possible another of me is somewhere out there?”

Riandri looked at him for a moment with a faint smile, “Have you done research into me?” She then took a sip of her tea and thought for a moment, “We have seen that it is possible that there are others of ourselves out there. The Captain for example; who knows who else came with them? For all, we know there could be an alternate Denver out there right now. And as you said that could have impacted your, um, performance lets say,” she said with a smirk. 

Peter faux rolled his eyes, “Double entendre will get you pretty twisted up if you’re not careful,” he let a smile slide across his lips.  He thought for a moment, “The concepts of alternate universes and mirror universes always got me mixed up – so many ways it can all go so very wrong.” He regarded her for a moment, “I do my research on all my friends and…well, whatever they might end up being in the end.”  He let the statement hang in the air for a moment.

Riandri smirked as she responded but the expression became quizzical as Peter, “You research your friends to see what they might be in alternate universes? How do you go about that?”

Crawford sipped at his tea and nearly spit it out at the question.  He had meant it as a flirtatious question but the intelligence officer had taken an entirely different meaning from his statement.  He chuckled, “In a manner of speaking, yes.”

“So then, what would an alternative Riandri look like?”

Peter leaned on the table, looking her in the eyes.  Yep, his stomach still did some flipping when he looked at her differently.  He wasn’t sure what to do with that energy, but it was a refreshing feeling after feeling empty for so long.  He teased out his words, throwing a little more flirtation than usual in hopes she would get his drift, “Well, she’d be more of a badass – my guess is the world she grew up in had few restrictions or things keeping her from being her true self.  Her reputation would precede her – the ground would figuratively shake when she walked.”  He cocked his head, “The world wouldn’t hold her back anymore…she wouldn’t have to hide who she was – there’d be a bright energy of freedom bustling just beneath her skin.”

Riandri snorted a laugh at hearing Peter’s description of her alternative self. She had to admit the conversations with Peter always cheered her up, something that she had not let happen often the last few years, and their conversation had gotten her out of her own head. “So,” she began, “Does that mean I, me, here and now, am closer to my true self? Or am I hiding who I am? Though I like the idea of making the ground shake where I walk.”

He chuckled and sipped at his tea, “Identity is a funny thing sometimes.  You’ve hidden your El-Aurian background – for good reason.  Now that I know and others know – I think it’s allowed you to draw closer to that true Riandri.  The fewer walls you have around you, the more you can put that true self out there.”  He finished his tea, “I think you make the ground shake, along with a few other things – but that’s a personal opinion.  I’d have to do some scanning to see the actual effect of you on the world around you to make a scientific statement.”

Riandri couldn’t help but laugh at that and gave Peter a half-hearted glare, “If I didn’t know better, that could be a comment about my weight Mr. Crawford.” 

Crawford reddened a bit, “That’ll teach me to try and flirt,” he chuckled along with her.

“As for the El-Aurian part, well, I never hid it per see, but you are right that it isn’t something I advertised too much. It brought up to many memories I would prefer not to dwell on, but that time is past.” She paused and looked out the window at the planet below before speaking again, “It is nice to know that you think so highly of me, though.”

Crawford lifted his up in salute, “Not quite on a pedestal but getting there.”  He smiled and stood, “I should get back to the mountain of reports.  An operations chief’s job is never done.”

“It never ends, that is true enough. I should likely get back to things myself, spend to much time staring out at the stars here,” Riandri remarked. 

He gave a nod and started to step away but stopped, “You want to do dinner sometime this week, Riandri?”

Riandri was caught off guard by the question and felt her cheeks warm a little. “Oh,” was the only thing that escaped her lips at first before she got her thoughts together, “Yes, I would like that. Let me know when works best for you.”

Crawford felt his eyes light up, “I’ll be in touch.”  He cleared his drink and headed out, stopping at the door to glance back at Riandri.  Had she been watching him and then glanced away quickly?  He left through the doors thankful she had followed her, ‘oh’ with something other than, ‘no’.

Órlaith approached the camp she and her brother were sharing with a defeated expression on her face.  She sat down on a log next to her brother who was feeding a stick into the fire.

“Nothing?” Ian asked looking up from his ration pack that Órlaith had provided.

“No so much as a cave painting let alone a sub-space transmitter,” Órlaith replied.  “There’s water and some edible plants about 3 kilometers to the northeast.  There’s some indication of animals so I think we can survive, but I don’t think there’s any way off this planet.”

Ian set the ration aside and let out a long sigh, “So rather than kill us quickly he shows mercy and kills us slowly?”

“Well,” she said with a shrug. “We can survive, but it won’t be easy.”

Her brother scowled,  “I’d rather be dead.”

Órlaith didn’t respond.  What was there to say?  She was happy to be free of the cell, and she certainly didn’t want to die, but, a life here… Well, that was a bleak thought.

When the Vindicator suddenly warped away, leaving two pairs of life signs on the planet, Seong’s eyes widened. Vausees, who sat behind her in the cockpit, caught her gaze.

“You saw it right,” Seong told her companion.

“I did,” said Vausees. “Bring us down.”

Seong cocked her chin to the side. Vausees noticed the movement and explained that this was not justice but a death sentence, which was not what she had agreed to. Her motivation became clear at that point, and Seong nodded.

“I’m keeping the fighter cloaked as we circle,” Seong said as she descended into the planet’s atmosphere.

As soon as the fighter broke through the atmosphere, Seong switched the engines to silent mode, ensuring that they remained silent even in the breathable planet’s atmosphere as they began to pilot toward the nearest life signs. At their current altitude, not even a contrail would have been visible as they passed by.

Órlaith tossed another stick on the fire sending sparks skyward in a plume of black smoke. Opening a ration pouch she removed the water and slowly sipped it. Noting Ian had ripped open a second ration and started eating it with gusto.

“We need to be conservative with those.”

“Why? We’re dead. What does it matter if it’s tomorrow or a month from now?” Ian demanded. 

“We aren’t dead yet. It’s not ideal, but, if we’re smart, we can live here indefinitely.”

‘On this rock? I’d rather die.”

“I don’t care what you want.  We’re moving camp tomorrow.”

Ian scowled at her, “fine.”

“We’ll have plenty of water. We will have to build a shelter.,”

“And I suppose you know how to do that?”

“No, but we’ll figure it out together.”

~~~

Meanwhile, as Órlaith and Ian are discussing what is going on with their current situation, miles above them flying in total silence and cloaked, Seong and Vausees have locked onto their location. 

“Circle around the campsite before landing,” Vausees said as she brought up the topography of the area around the campsite.

“Way ahead of you,” Seong replied as she gently banked the craft to the left, beginning her circle of the area.

Looking to her right, out of the cockpit, Seong notices a clearing just inside a wooded area. She motions toward it with her head, “That looks concealed enough for us,” she informs Vausees, who looks toward the clearing.

“Yeah that will suit our purpose and it’s close enough to the campsite.”

Making one more pass over the camp and its plume of smoke, Seong banks toward the clearing and begins the process of landing, doing her best to ensure that barely any signal is given that they are there. As the craft touches down she looks over her shoulder.

“I think nightfall should be the best time to make our move. What do you think?”

Vausees nods, “Agree,” she replies as she checks the chronometer. “We have about an hour or so left of daylight, so we should make our move shortly after.”

Seong nods as she checks over her gear.

~~~

Órlaith woke.  The night was silent and the stars with their unfamiliar constellations twinkled brightly overhead.  There was no moon. Whether that was because this planet didn’t have a satellite or it was in a phase that had it in the shadow of the planet she didn’t know.

Something had woken her and she didn’t know what.  Then something clicked in her brain.  It was quiet.  Too quiet.  The night sounds were gone. Just the sound of a gentle breeze moving through the vegetation. 

Jeter had left them no weapons aside from their Imperial daggers. Órlaith had fashioned her blade into a spear secured tightly to a fairly straight pole tied with strips of cloth torn from her trousers braided and tied.  It was this spear her fingers wrapped around concealed under the mylar blanket she was using for warmth. She remained motionless but ready to spring into action.

Seong moved quickly behind Órlaith, surprising Vausees, who had already neutralized Ian as he slept a few feet away. As the blade sheathed in her boot came up under Órlaith throat, Seong leaned in and said, coldly, “If you plan to use that crude weapon, you had better move faster,” as the point of the blade pointed up at Órlaith’s vital jugular.

Seong’s usual chocolate brown eyes appeared to be nothing more than a well of darkness surrounded by the bright white sclera, though the majority of it was hidden by the glare she was giving Órlaith.

A deep growl came from behind Seong, and she knew without looking that Ian was awake. “I am not here to kill either of you, but if you give me no choice,” she stated again in the same tone. As she spoke, her gaze never left Órlaith.

Vausees placed a booted foot on Ian’s chest and gave him the look that said, ‘try it, and you’re dead’.

Órlaith returned Seong’s glare. Her spear was still concealed under the blanket, and she had no idea how the other woman knew about it.  Not relinquishing her grip she stared back daring Seong to make the next move.  “What do you want? It’s not to kill us or you would have already tried that by now.”

“And you would have been dead before you moved to grab the spear under your mylar blanket,” Vausees stated as she pointed at Órlaith and the single red dot on her, that was coming from the fighter that was hidden in the forest. “Granted I would have sacrificed my agent in the process but at least you wouldn’t have to suffer any longer, now would you?”

Seong didn’t even bat an eyelash at the comment coming from her mentor. After all, she knew that sooner or later her time would come when she would either have to once again fake her own death to get out of the deal she had placed herself in or die doing so. She wasn’t afraid to die, not in the slightest bit, however, she had unfinished business, “I was going to save your former boss’s ass but after seeing what he has done to the both of you…” she pauses as she removes the blade from Órlaith throat, “I think you two deserve a chance to go after him yourselves. However, I won’t make it easy since the three of you are still my boss’s targets but we have both come to an agreement that you two should have a shot at him first.”

Seong eased herself off of Órlaith, but never took her eyes off of the woman.

Órlaith sat up keeping a cautious eye on their visitors. “I’m no assassin. I believe him when he says that he just wanted freedom.” She shrugged, “I have no desire to track him down. In truth in a way I admire him. He succeeded in gaining his independence and didn’t do so in a blood bath. That level of cleverness is… commendable.” Climbing to her feet leaving the spear where it lay. “Do what you have to, and get it over with. I let my guard down thinking there was no one here. I should have had a watch set up. I was careless and deserve the consequences of that carelessness.”

Vausees removed her foot from Ian, “Stand up and join your sister,” she ordered

Seong moved over next to Vausees as she watched Ian.

“By the authority granted to me by the Terran Empire. I am placing you both under arrest for violation of section 42b subsection 3. Unauthorized sanction of inter-universal travel,” Vausees states as she unholsters a phaser and levels it toward them both.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Ian grumbled, both at the absurdity of the situation and the theatrics. 

“You’re her child aren’t you? The princess before mama took control of the Empire?” Órlaith asked. “I am not nor have I ever been to your reality.  I wasn’t even conceived in this one.  How can I violate a law that doesn’t exist in my reality?”

Seong remained emotionless as Órlaith spoke to her. She knew better than to speak about her past, but this woman was correct. She was the missing Princess from the Terran Empire. 

“Do you have a problem, sir?” Vausees asked as she trained the phaser more toward him. “And as for the how. You can thank your mother for that,” she replies to Órlaith, “because her genes run in your hyper-growth bodies. Which makes you part of her reality, and subject of the Terran Empire’s policies and laws.”

Ian simply scowled.  His murderous eyes show hate and contempt for both Vausees and Seong.

“I will not be a prisoner. Just shoot me now and get it over with,” Órlaith said nearly as frustrated with the theatrics as her brother. 

Later…

Stars streaked by the ship as they were putting distance between that barren planet.  Seong and Vausees were discussing the prisoners when Torin returned to the command deck.  The Trill gave both women a rueful look as he dropped into the seat behind the helm.

Seong had noticed the helmsman walk onto the bridge, out of the corner of her eye, but paid no mind to what he was doing. She didn’t care much for this ship, as she had run from it in the past, even though she wasn’t a target for Vausees anymore she still hated to see this ship.

Torin half listened to the women as he worked his way through the navigational checks,  followed by system checks of the engines, deflectors, and nav sensors.  “You are going about it wrong,” he said suddenly.

Vausees held up a hand and turned to her Helmsman. She raised an eyebrow at his outburst. “Something on your mind, Ensign?”

Torin turned to Seong,  “You want Bellitor.  You don’t know where Bellitor is, but you do have her children. Let the kids go; like cockroaches, they will lead you back to the nest.”

Seong shrugged, “I could give a damn about this Bellitor,” she admitted. “I am after a man named Jeter.”

Torin gave them a look and returned to his work.  “And Jeter is part… or was part of that particular cockroach colony. Something tells me Bellitor won’t take the betrayal and theft of her ship lying down.  She might find Jeter for you. Or,” he shrugged,  “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Seong nodded to Vausees, “I think I will take my leave,” she stated as she had had enough of this man and exited the bridge.

Vausees returns the nod and looks at the Ensign, “The next time you have something to say keep it to yourself,” she orders. She looks to her fiance and nods and departs for the Brig.

Torin shrugged unconcernedly with the threat.

Brig…

Órlaith stood with her brother when the doors to the brig slid open. Brother and sister gave each other glances.

Vausees stood there contemplating her promotion if she kept them on board. She closed her eyes as she considered the most likely outcome and the charges that would be leveled against her once they returned to her universe and time.

As she walked over to the console and deactivated their cells’ force field, she sighed. Before approaching Órlaith and handing her two phasers.

“Go to deck 12 and take pod 3. Oh, and you should probably talk to Seong before too long.  I get a feeling you have some information she needs to know,” Vausees said.

She then stepped out of the brig. 

Órlaith glanced at Ian, “Let’s get the hell out of here before they change their minds.”

“This doesn’t make sense. Why arrest us and them just let us go, and what do this Seong want?” Ian asked.

Órlaith nodded, “Yeah, I thought it strange too, and we certainly don’t know anything she could possibly want. This is probably a trap, but we can’t do anything in the brig.”

Ian nodded, “Agreed.”

The pair peeked out of the brig to see an empty corridor.  Hanging to the left in the opposite direction Vausees, they ran down the empty halls to the end where a turbolift waited for them.  As the doors slid open Órlaith paused. 

“What is it?” Ian asked.

“It’s a good way to get trapped,”

“So are the maintenance tubes,” Ian added, “and this is faster. I would think getting to the shuttle bay as fast as possible would be the best course of action.”

Órlaith nodded, “You are correct.” Entering the turbolift with Ian right behind her she ordered the lift to deck 12. When the lift slowed to a stop she peeked out leading with her phaser.  This corridor was empty as well.  “This is suspicious. Where is the crew?”

“Because this is a trap,” Ian replied.

“Or Vausees cleared our route for us, but yeah defiantly could be a trap.”

The duo moved down the corridor and entered the shuttle bay. Without hesitation Órlaith aimed and stunned the duty officer who had turned to face them as they entered.  She fell to the deck with a heavy thump. “Sorry,” Órlaith said with sympathy, “But I can’t let you warn the rest”

“Over here,” Ian shouted. “Pod 3.”

Órlaith glanced at it and shook her head, “No, I don’t intend to make it that easy for them.  That runabout.” She pressed the button on the side of the airlock frame and the doors slid apart with a hiss, Órlaith squeezed between the parting doors not even waiting for them to fully open.

She was already running the prestart sequences as Ian slid into the co-pilot’s seat and started working through the checklists. “Let’s wait to power the weapons until we are ready to get out of here.”

“You planning on blowing a hole through the bay doors?” Órlaith asked with a smirk.

“Yeah, how else?”

“Let’s try opening them remotely, but yeah have them ready in case they change their minds.” His fingers danced over the controls, “I’m ready to power engines.”

“Sealing airlock,” Ian responded.  “Pre-start checklist is complete.  Navigational computer… check. Shields… check.  Structural integrity field… check.”

Órlaith glanced at Ian and nodded, “Any red flags?”

Ian shook his head, “Everything is green on my end.”

The cockpit was suddenly filled with the sounds of the engines shutting down.

“You should have listened to the captain’s advice about pod 3,” a voice from behind them said, as Seong appeared from the shadows of the cargo bay. As she stood there, a remote was pointed at them. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at both of them, finally settling on Órlaith.

“A little birdy told me that you have some information about my mother,” Seong explained as she lowered the remote and slipped it into a pocket that vanished as soon as her fingers left it.

Órlaith dropped face first on the console in defeat and frustration.   Resisting the urge to just scream she let out a long sigh.  After a long moment to collect herself she sat up. “Look lady, I don’t know anything important about your mom. I wasn’t there. I only know what my mother has said, and it is to gloat about how she defeated her. I assume it means killed,  but who the hell knows?  Maybe she exiled her for all I know. I didn’t ask, and honestly, it seemed unimportant.”

“It is most important,” Seong stated as she stood there at the entrance of the cockpit, the only exit that existed for the two of them. “Then again I could just send you both on a fool’s errand to find out what happened,” a smirk crossed her lips. “Unless you prefer to be captured.”

Órlaith didn’t respond and simply sat head buried in her arms on the console. She was tired of the scheming, the plotting,  and this damned cat-and-mouse game these people were playing on her at her expense. And most of all, she was tired of being in the middle of the fallout of her mother’s evil choices.

“We do not,” Ian spoke for her.  “You want us to ask our mother what happened to yours?  We can do that.”

Seong looked at Ian for a moment and stepped away, but before she exited she stopped. “Get it done and I will consider this matter closed and let my mentor know that you both perished trying to get the information.”

Ian shrugged. Their compound was the safest place in the galaxy.  Not only was the entrance nearly impossible to locate, the clone troops, and Imperial Guard held the compound from intruders.  Would he tell her?  A malevolent smile crossed his lips at that thought.  Of course, he would.  Knowing his mother she wasn’t one to do things in half-measures, and she would handle it as expeditiously and practically as possible.  Her mother was dead, and there was no body to recover.  That was just how Bellitor operated.   This news would certainly bring only pain, and that tickled Ian’s fancy.   He only wished he had pulled the trigger himself.   The anguish that would bring was just too good to contemplate. 

“You have a deal. And I gladly agree to it,” he said giving her a smile that was just as disingenuous as he was.

Ming had woken up at 05:56 in the morning.  He’d slept longer than he had in quite a long time.  Rather than admonishing himself like he might otherwise he conceeded that he had been running on too little sleep and over stimulation for a while now so it was a necessary evil.

He’d planned on transporting to Earth before too long.  He had scheduled training sessions for after he got back and got some rest.  After a more than decent sized potato, egg, and bacon breakfast burrito with some strong doses of purple tea he got cleaned up and into uniform.  He slipped into his not quite official uniform duster he’d developed based on the number of similar variants used by the fleet over the years.  It was a heavy-ish black duster with a department specific band across the chest, shoulders and back.  Figuring that fortune favors the bold he forwarded the design, replicator pattern and a brief proposal to Captain Talon.

If he got told off for it he’d endure it.  However if it got enough support it would be another variant that would be useful in certain envronments.  He’d had a period or two in his life where the Ancient West was a fascination.  One thing that had stuck with him was the dusters….They were useful and they, in his unhumble opinion, they looked good.

Focusing on the matters at hand he tapped the combadge under his jacket and said, “Ensign Sh’ivhohlol – Please report to Bravo Flight CO’s office off the flight bay in 15 minutes.”

“On my way,” Ensign Sh’iv replied.

Ming left his quarters and headed for his office.  When he got to the bay a few minutes later he ran across Crewman Andrews already hard at work.  She was working on a weapons array on his fighter.  Unlike the other fighters in the bay it wasn’t right off the flight line.  He brought his over from Scorpion Flight and it’d seen a lot of action.  Pausing, the flight commander said, “Good morning Andrews.  What magic are you working on today?”

The Crewman looked up and flashed ming a smile before replying, “Tightenin’ the compression on yer phaser arrays.  That aught to squeeze a bit more power into each shot ya take.”

The lieutenant actually grinned at her off beat pseudo Southern North American accent.  He knew she’d started off in that region, travelled after she turned eight, then came back for her enlisted specialist’s training.  He realized that attributed to the speech patterns and he still found it a little endearing.

The officer nodded and told her, “I look forward to testing them out tomorrow.  We’ll be doing flight drills in the neighborhood of Mars and the Astroid Belt.  I’ve live fire drills planned for that and look forward to giving them a try.”The mechanic replied, “Please let me know what ya think when yer done, sir.”

“I will Crewman Andrews. I will.  And, now, I’ll let you get back to work,” Ming said with a sincere smile and a nod.With that he entered his office and took a seat behind his desk.

He pulled up the record for the pilot who’s flight designation was Knight 4.  After a moment he looked up to see the Ensign enter the flight bay.  He stood up ready to greet the Andorian officer when she got to the office.

“You wanted to see me sir?” Ensign Sh’iv announced as she reported to the office.   Her antennae twitched involuntarily.

“At ease Ensign.  You’re not in trouble…At least most wouldn’t see it that way I suppose.  Have a seat and I’ll be happy to explain,” Ming said amiably and gestured to one of the comforatable chairs in front of his desk.

“Of course sir,” she said sliding into a nearby chair.

Ming moved around his desk and took a seat himself.  He said, “I’ve been reviewing the wing’s records.  Some folks are pretty fresh out of the academy but I’d say we have some real talent experience or not.  Would you agree?”

“They wouldn’t be here if they weren’t,” Sh’iv observed.  “The fighter corps is small and elite.  They don’t just let anyone into it.”

“Touché.  With that in mind I have been giving your record another once over after seeing you in action in the trainings.  After another once over of the rest of the wing’s records and considering their performance I am very confident of the team we have,” Ming said pausing for a heartbeat before continuing.

After a moment he added, “Getting to the point in my last wing, the Scorpions, had an XO.  Until recently that was me.  It seemed like a good idea to hedge bets if the worst came to happen for the flight leader.  After some consideration I have decided that I would like you in that role.  Any objections?”

“Me sir?” Sh’iv asked shocked.  “I mean a clear chain of command is a must, but me? I’m not even the most experienced in the group.”

“Some have a bit of an edge over others in terms of experience or else in seniority.  Nothing I’d consider expansive in most cases.  Based on my review of the wing’s records you seem to have the best balance of experience and seniority.  In addition I have noticed how the team responds to you.  The combination of those factors leads me to KNOW you are the best pick for the role,” Ming said.

He added, “I believe in you and your ability to fill this position, Ensign.”

Her antennae twitched,  “Yes sir. I will do my best not to disappoint you.”

Ming smiled, “I felt the same way when I got offered the role.  I am going to tell you the same thing that Lt. Commander White Cloud told me when I got the role.  ‘Focus on the job when you’re prepping for and in action.  The rest is unessary details.’  It took me a bit to figure out the details when it was given to me but in the end it made sense and is effective.”

Marcus paused for a second and added with a bit of a warm smile toward the end, “I’m heading to Earth from late morning to early evening ship time for a brief leave however I’d like to meet with you again tomorrow to go over any last minute details before the next training run.  It’ll give you a chance to think of any questions that come up between now and then.  I will also have time when I get back for any questions you have after I get back tonight.  Effective tonight consider my door open…..XO.” 

Sh’iv nodded, “Yes sir.  What time tomorrow?”

“Pre-training briefing will be here in the flight bay at 0945 hours.  The war is raging on out there but odds are slim there will be any action here in Sol Sector within the next 24 hours.  On my authority I’m pausing training for the next 26 hours.  I won’t encourage anything too crazy but I’ve been working the wing pretty hard and this will likely be the only real downtime for a bit.   I encourage everyone to relax, have a little fun and allow for a bit of a mental reset,” Ming said 

He didn’t finish the thought that ran through his mind.  He hoped the thought that it might be their last chance didn’t echo outside of his skull.  Instead he smiled lightly and added, “Any other questions for the moment?  If not you’re dismissed for now and I’ll just ask that you enjoy the rest of your day.”  

She nodded, “I’ll pass the R&R to the rest of the wing unless you want to.”

Ming thought about it for a second before saying adding a slight smile at the end, “I’ll take care of it.  I’ll introduce you as our new XO tomorrow morning.  Until then have fun Ensign.  Dismissed!” 

She snapped to attention,  “Yes sir.” Spinning on a heel in a sharp about face she strode out of the office leaving Ming alone.

The man who was getting to be known as Kight Actual / Knight 1 let his face split into a grin. His gut feeling was saying that it was going to be an interesting 24 hours or so….and not necessarily in a bad way.

Before leaving his office Ming tapped his combadge, “All Knights….Knight actual.  I am ordering a stand down for today.  No drills, no trainings.  We won’t get many more opportunities for free time after today so have fun, relax, don’t get too crazy.   You’ll want to get a good night’s sleep tonight.  Enjoy Knights!  Ming out…” 

With that done Ming waited for the acknowledgements to trickle in and, once done, he powered down his terminal and headed for his quarters to finish getting ready for the day.  As he went he became more convinced he made the right choice for his second in command.

LtJgMike Collins had arrived at Starbase Echo. He was assigned as a security officer.  His duties included patrolling the stations Promenade, and doing random sweeps of the areas around the ship to discourage thief and smuggling.  The security chief has encouraged his staff to put forward any ideas to help make the station safer. Collins had been thinking about an idea, but had been afraid to talk about it. So one day, he went to the security office and spoke to his boss. “My idea is to create a tactical recon unit, comprised of security, engineers and medical personnel. Other departments can be mixed in, when needed. This unit can be used to locate enemy units, and engage them, if ordered.” His boss, listened, and after several minutes of thought finally said, “Good idea, get it started. Take whoever you need for your teams. I’ll clear it with the Commander, and Collins…..you’ll be in charge.” And with that, new units were to be formed, under his command. He started contacting all personnel he felt would be a good fit for the new units. It took weeks to start the ball rolling, months of training to get things right, then finally, it was done. The new units would prove to be essential when long range scans detected a large force of Jem Hadar and Cardassian ships heading to the station.  A station wide evacuation was ordered, and the Tactical Recon Teams, or TRT, were mobilized. The teams would stage at all vulnerable locations. The prime objective: get the civilian population and Starfleet personnel off the station first. The attack came. Cardassian and Jem Hadar troops started boarding the station. Firefights ragged all over the station. The bodies piled up. But thee TRT’s held their ground! They took heavy losses, but they held! Finally when the last transport carrying fleet personnel left, the remaining TRT’s fought their way to the hanger deck where their ship waited for them.Losses for the civilians, Federation personnel were put at 10%. Losses for the TRT’s were put at 56%. But Command called it a victory anyway. For their actions, the TRT’s were awarded Starfleet’s Medal Of Honor. Collins received the Medal of Honor, with clusters, then given 2 months R&R and told to report to the USS Denver.

Marcus Ming sat with Joel McCabe, his oldest friend, in the restruant McCabe had created and made a decent sized success.  Ming had spent some time with his parents who returned to Starfleet Academy in San Francisco not long before.  Now he was having some quality time with the man who might’ve well been a brother.  

“Your own wing now…Congratulations.  I just wish it wasn’t in the middle of a war,” McCabe now said.Ming gave his friend a lopsided smile.  While both men enjoyed a good challenge and neither was scared of a fight Ming had much more confidence in that realm.   While both men could cook it was a passion of Joel’s and a pasttime for Ming.  Ming’s talents and passions, along with his mother being Starfleet that was a natural path for him.  McCabe’s dad was a chef who transported to Manhatten every day as sous chef of a resturant who’s reputation went well beyond Earth.  

“Thanks ‘Zed.’  I am glad to have the opportunity.   Of course I’d rather it be in peacetime but the Domionion won’t go away on their own…And I’ve seen too much by now that I can’t really walk way without seen an end to it,” Ming said with a shrug and look that was as placating as appologetic.  

McCabe grinned at the use of the nickname he’d had since a child.  Recipricating the favor Joel said, “Yeah.  Par for the course coming from ‘Ming the Merciless.’  You could never let an injustice go.  Not since I have known you and that was when we were both in the neighborhood of five years old.  I’m a little surprised you didn’t become a member of Starfleet Security or the JAG service.”

Ming shrugged, “I’d sure as hell thought about it.  Remember all those discussions before me going to the Academy?  I picked the path that I felt suited me best.  Besides, who knows what’ll happen after the war?  Starfleet Security and JAG may not be off the table.  You sure picked the right path though.  How in the stars did you come up with this menu?  It’s obscenely good!”

Joel responded with a wink before getting a little more serious after the first sentance, “Family secret as you know.  Hey, have you heard from Kate lately?”

The pilot looked a little crestfallen and replied, “On and off.  Likely for the better.  It’s usually a bad idea for a pilot to fall in love with his flight leader let alone getting her to fall for him back.  Things have been good despite the cloak and dagger stuff.  Still….we decided to end the romance once my transfer to Denver was complete.  Too comlicated, too tough wondering if the other would be getting back to their ship in one piece.  Hell, wondering if their ship would make it home again.”

The chef in the room nodded, “You two had a damned decent chemistry in your fighters and out.  That’s too bad.  I get it though.  I worry about you too brother.”

Marcus put his hand on his friend’s shoulder, “Thanks buddy.  I can’t promise anything other than I’ll do my best to make it out of this whole thing in one piece.”

The two men talked for another hour straight not really keeping track of time.  The ending of the conversation came when Ming’s combadge chirrped.  After a heartfelt goodbye and brotherly hug Ming stepped back and tapped his badge saying, “Ming to Denver…One to beam up.”Marcus’ view of his best friend standing outside the front door of his resturant dissolved as he did.  

Thus ended Marcus Ming’s latest visit to Earth.   

Órlaith opened the door to Angelica Ryder’s cell.  The young woman was asleep or drugged. Órlaith was sure which. Closing the cell door behind her with a soft click Órlaith sat down at the single metal chair in the corner of the cell and waited.

She had come back from the betrayal and marooning at the hands of Jeter changed.  She had never questioned what her mother and father were doing until now.  Now nothing felt right. There had to be more out there than this dark lifestyle, and she was increasingly seeing her parents as evil having now seen the dicotomy.

Jeter had spoken of freedom. A concept she had only heard of in terms of derision by her parents,  but he had spoken of it fondly.  Like a long lost love. There was no cruelty in his actions.  It would have been better for him to just kill her and Ian, yet he didn’t. 

Then there was Seong and Vausees.  She could sense the same darkness in them as her mother and father, and yet they let her go.  That was a problem. She was certain there was an ulterior motive there, and yet as far as she could tell she wasn’t followed.   Was it in hope of gaining some sort of favor with her mother and father?  Possible,  but that seemed unlikely. She sighed bothered by her thoughts.

“What do you want?” A hoarse voice came from the bed. “Come to gawk at the animal in the zoo?”

“No,” Órlaith replied uncertain how to respond.  Her family had been torturing her for months, and made clones from her DNA to be used against the Federation and her family in this reality.

Angel rolled over looking like the hell she most certainly was in. “Then what is it that you want? I think you are the only one who hasn’t levied some form of abuse towards me.”

“I also have been avoiding you,” Órlaith observed. 

Angel rolled back on her back and stared up at the ceiling and let out a rueful chuckle.  “You got me there.”

“You are fantastically strong willed,” Órlaith observed.  “I don’t know if I could have endured what you have gone through.”

“You never know what you can endure until you have to experience it. A few months I probably would have felt the same as you.”

Órlaith considered Angel’s words. After a moment she spoke softly,  “I’m sorry as to what has happened to you.  I hate that you must experience this.”

“If you were truly sorry you would have let me go.”

Órlaith’s eyes went wide at that and she sucked in air like she had just been punched in the gut. That wasn’t the response she was expecting,  nor could she argue the point.  Angel was right. She was just as guilty of torture as her father, mother, and brother were despite never having laid a hand on her or spoken and unkind word.

“You’re right,” she said… “I… Well to be honest, defying my parents never even crossed my mind. I’m not sure it’s an option. They are family and family is everything.”

“Even if they are evil bastards?”

There was a long pause as Órlaith considered that last phrase. Yes they were evil.  Did that make her evil as well? She didn’t feel evil, but of course until recently she had never known anything different.  She had been bred for the purpose of evil and somehow something went wrong. She was different from the rest.  She’d known that for a while now, and she was pretty sure mother had noticed it as well.

“What is freedom?” Órlaith asked suddenly. 

Angel laughed softly at that question,  “It sure as hell isn’t this.”

“A loyal servant of my parents recently betrayed them.  He said he was looking for freedom.”

“It is the nature of humans,” Angel started, “to strive to have the freedom to choose their own path. There are always those that seek to limit that freedom to enhance their power over others.  I wouldn’t think that was freedom either. Except for being a prisoner of a tyrant they are prisoners of their own greed and lust for power. Instead of a slave to a master they are slaves to their ambition.  That isn’t very appealing either.”

“Like mama and my father?”

“I would think so. But yeah, those who have no freedom yearn for it the most and some will do anything to gain it.”

“Like a loyal servant who seemingly has little to gain, but much to lose?”

Angel shrugged,  “A gilded cage is still a cage.”

Órlaith sighed taking that in.  She had been questioning things for months now, and with Jeter and now this conversation with Angel those uncertain thoughts were starting to coalesce.

“Mama says it takes an iron fist to rule the galaxy. A ruthlessness that keeps the wolves at bay.”

“Who says someone has to rule the galaxy?  No government is perfect,  that much is certain,  but a democratic one by the people for the people offers the most freedom.”

“There’s no emperor or king?”

“Some societies do. There are even a few planets in the Federation that still use those archaic terms, but the Federation is represented by a president and council which are all elected by the people.”

Órlaith took that information in. Could this be possible?  Could a society like that actually work?  Obviously it could and does, but it was being tested right now. Nothing said it would survive the Dominion,  but deep down she hoped that would happen.

“Let me go,” Angel said suddenly. 

That drew Órlaith out of her reverie. “Hmm? Oh… uh… I can’t.  My father and mother do not wish it, and I cannot go against them.  They are all I have.”

Angel smirked,  “I see you haven’t changed talking to me.”

“Why should I?” Órlaith demanded,  not entirely certain why she lashed out.

“You ask questions but you do not listen.  Why would that associate leave to look for freedom? I’ll tell you why. It’s because people yearn to be free. No matter what reality they are from.”

“Angel Ryder, you are wise beyond your years,” Órlaith replied.  “I was recently held captive as well. No torture,  so it cannot compare to yourself,  but I think I have some understanding of what you are going through.   If it were up to me, I would let you go, but it isn’t up to me.  My mother and father are all I have.  I may not agree with them, but I cannot go against them.”

With that Órlaith started for the door.  She pulled it open. Pausing, she looked over her shoulder and simply said “sorry” before closing the door behind her and letting the lock fall into place. 

Rebecca stepped out of her ready room and approached the operations station, “Mr. Crawford do you think you can trace the signal of that message to its source?”

Crawford tapped at the console, furrowing his brow.  “There’s always a way to find the answers.”  He pulled the signal onto the console and began to work through what work he had quickly done, “There’s ways to parse a signal and pull apart it’s pieces…,” his fingers played with the signal a little more, “…and you can then trace those pieces back to where they came from.”  He stretched the sensors, “It’s going to take a moment to boost this,” he tapped at the console again and grimaced as the computer protested, “…overriding that…scanning that…and then tapping into that…,” slowly but surely the computer began to see it from Peter’s perspective.  It took almost ten minutes of bouncing the signal around, using various repeaters in the area and beyond, but the computer soon blinked green on an approximate location.  Crawford grinned, “I think…93% sure…that’s what we’re looking for, captain.”

“I knew giving you a promotion was a good idea,” Rebecca teased. “Hail them.”

The comms officer aboard the ISS Vindicator sat up in surprise.   Being the only ship of the Empire in this reality there was little call for his services in a day to day capacity,  but the station had to be monitored. 

“Captain,” he announced to Jeter. “We’re receiving a sub-space communication from the USS Denver.”

Jeter straightened from his display at that, “The Denver? Really? Link it through to the ready room, audio only for now.” With that, he stood, made his way to the ready room, and took a seat before opening the incoming communication.

Crawford glanced up, “We’re getting a response….”  He tapped at the console and the screen was filled with faces from the ship where the signal had come from.  Peter spoke up, “This is the Federation Starship Denver…,” he turned to the captain for her to introduce herself.

“I am Captain Rebecca Talon. With whom am I speaking?”

Jeter smiled as he recognized the voice, straightening every so slightly in his seat he decided that maybe audio was too limited, “Link in visuals.”

“Captain Talon,” he began once he knew his image was being broadcast, “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, well in this universe anyway. I do believe you already know who I am, well who my double is anyways. I have to have to admit I am surprised you were able to trace the signal back though I guess I shouldn’t be, I assume Crawford helped?”

On the viewscreen Rebecca stepped forward to stand next to the operations station and placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder, “He did, but I think your clumsy attempt to disguise the signal made it easier to track. However, that was intentional wasn’t it?”

Jeter laughed, “Well if the information was just freely given it would likely have been dismissed but with a little bit of work required to dig it out the value of it increased. But without confirmation, I assume your Star Fleet is dragging their heels? Why act on credible information about a threat and a kidnapping when you can debate and let that threat increase with each passing moment?”

“Intel,” Rebecca responded. “And legal restrictions.  How do I get Angel Ryder back and take down my counterpart?”

“Did I not give you a map and details of the facility? I had expected the same, if not some of the decisiveness that your counterpart exhibited. Was I mistaken? ” Jeter said with a smile, “I have already provided you with more than you had and I guess you could say I removed the main threat to you. They are trapped on Earth, and their ship will be of no help to them again and the children, spawn. whatever you want to call them are out of the picture.”

“No… you didn’t. There was some corrupted data so perhaps that was that information,” Rebecca responded.

Jeter leaned back in the chair, “I have looked in on you and your crew. I have no doubt if you act fast you will be able to use it to your advantage but if you wait, well, that’s on you.” He turned and was about motion for the connection to be cut when he stopped and looked back at Captain Talon, “Be aware that your counterparts are cruel, more than you can imagine, same goes for yours, Crawford. I know better than most.”

Peter raised his eyebrows, that uneasy feeling returning. Jeter had said ‘yours’ and ‘counterparts’.  That suggested more than just his double.  He wanted to ask just what the hell that meant, but he held his tongue and just stared at the man.  The darker side of him was out there somewhere..and with another Crawford…but who?  Which of his family’s double was looking to continue some kind of mad murderous campaign?

“Since I need to spoon-feed you here are the details, maps, excetera that you may need.” Without waiting for a response Jeter’s lips spread into a wicked smile, “Well this has fun but I do have other pressing matters to deal with. Rebecca, please pass my regards along to your counterpart, Bellitor, make sure to tell her that she needn’t worry about Órlaith or Ian any more.” His eyes shifted to Crawford, “And Peter, hopefully, you aren’t as insufferable in this universe but either way. Hope it goes better with your wife this time around if it happens at all that is. Pitty my counterpart wasn’t there.” Jeter’s shrugged, “Oh well.” With that Jeter tapped the controls on his chair and the screen cut off.

Rebecca stared at the blank screen with her hands on her hips.  “Did you get the schematics of the facility?”  

When Peter announced  that they had she nodded, “Good.  This should satisfy probable cause.  We have a location,  and a victim.   Transmit those logs to Admiral Dailey for a warrant Mr. Crawford.” Not waiting to for Peter to respond Rebecca slapped her combadge, “Talon to senior staff: please report to the observation lounge.”

Riandri stepped onto the bridge just as Captain Talon finished speaking the order. She had been notified they had made contact with the individual who sent the encrypted signal. See the blank view screen she exhaled and deflated a little, “Damn, did I miss it?”

Ming was reviewing the training information for the Knights at his desk within his quarters.  He and his new XO had turned the 5 individual pilots into something resembling a cohesive wing.  In fact they were doing better than he’d planned.  He looked up from his work when he heard the captain’s invitation.  Tapping his badge Knight 1 replied, “Ming…On my way Captain.”

Without hesitation the pilot saved his work, shut down his terminal and left for the bridge double time   Whatever was up it sounded important.

Cheon entered the observation lounge, without Seong, and stood next to the Captain.

Rebecca walked into the observation lounge.  “Thanks for coming,” she announced.  Setting the PADD down on the table she entered commands into the keypad without sitting down.  “Ladies and Gentlemen we have our warrant.”

“Good, I am worried we may already be too late given the information we have received. Do we have a plan?” Riandri asked.

“That’s why we’re all here Lieutenant,” Rebecca replied to Riandri. “This is a rescue mission,  but there are bigger implications at play here.  While, I think it’s a bit of an overstatement to say the very existence of the Federation is at risk I think these people do want to destroy the Federation,” Rebecca continued.

Riandri looked around the room before speaking up, “Given the information, we have from our new friends and the alternative Jeter Captain Talon is not exaggerating. For some reason the alternative version of some of us here working towards causing the collapse of the Federation. We need to get in and put a stop to them.”

At the mention of his alternative version Jeter let out a snort, “He sounded like a right treat, glad I didn’t have to deal with him.”

Collins started speaking. “Captain, this should be a mission for the Recon team. We can infiltrate and look for the prisoner. And maybe….dispose of some of the kidnappers.”

“We’re getting to that Mr. Collins,” the captain said, “But yes, you and your teams will be needed.”  She pressed a button on the control pad and a schematic of a massive underground facility was displayed on the wall monitor. “Ladies and gentlemen,  our contact has provided us with a massive amount of Intel. Located north of Billings, Montana on a farm owned by the Crawford family. Yes, the same one as Lieutenant Crawford here. Remember we believe these people are from an alternate reality or realities, ” Rebecca continued.   “There is a real possibility you could run into an alternate version of yourself, but that isn’t the real threat.   My counterpart is imploying Dominion cloning technology,  and they have been breeding an entire army.  Our contact believes there may be as many as two-hundred clones protecting the facility.”

Ming, of course, knew about alternate universes.  Basic quantum mechanics and Starfleet history.  He always figured there was an occupational risk of something like this however actually running into it was still a bit of a surprise. Nonetheless, he had a job to do and it was in the service of the Denver and the Federation.  With that, he refocused on Captain Talon. 

“Starfleet is sending in ground forces to help deal with the clones, but we are in overall charge of this operation.   Mr. Ming, transport inhibitors are in place preventing beaming in within five kilometers of thr compound. It’s possible that there is fighter or drone protection along with shuttles to allow for their escape.  You and your people are to transport us to the site and maintain air superiority.”

Ming nodded, eyes briefly narrowing with thought, before replying, “Understood Captain.  The Knights will be ready.”  

“Good. We will be splitting into three teams. I will be leading the team that includes Lieutenants Nalam and Willis, and Dr. Kyo to rescue Angelica Ryder. The Starfleet assault team from San Francisco will deal with the clones.  Commander Kyo, Mr. Crawford and Mr. Collins’s Recon Team will apprehend Dominus and Bellitor. Mr. Ragez, there’s likely some information of interest to you in that compound. You are on Commande Kyo’s team.  Commander Lovecraft, you will be in command of the Denver while we are away.  Any questions?”

Riandri shook her head, “Not from my end, the intelligence we have seems to be pretty solid but I do want to remind everyone that the source seems to be acting out of their own interest with little care about what happens. That said they do seem to want Bellitor and Dominus apprehended since I believe he betrayed them, though I think they would prefer killed but that is not how we operate.”

“We’ll try to capture Bellitor and Dominus alive, sir.” Collins tapped his combadge. “This is Collins. Recon Team 1 & 2, saddle up and prepare for a mission. I’ll be there to give you the details. Collins out!”

“I wouldn’t count on her coming quietly,” came a cold voice from out of the shadows. What appeared to be Seong, stepped out of the corner where she had stood silently. “I would also suggest that if given a chance she will use a clone to escape.”

The alternate Seong looked at the Captain, “Would you not do the same if you were being hunted?” she said as she stepped up to the table, stopping next to Rebecca.

“Surrender without a fight?  Not a chance,” Rebecca replied.  “And Nick won’t either.”

Seong nodded. “Then we have our options,” she stated as she looked at Rebecca.

“Okay people,  you know what we are doing.  Suit up, and be prepared to move out at…” she glanced at the chronometer,  “Let’s hit them right as it gets dark.  Let’s all meet on the flight operations deck at 20:00 hours”

Admiral Quinn Dailey sat in the captain’s chair and Rebecca sat to his right going over the latest reports from the fleet and the war in general while they waited for the rest of the briefing participants to arrive. 

Cheon stood outside the Observation Lounge, he despised being in the same room as any ‘Brass,’ and this one was no exception. He walks in after taking a deep breath and tapping the doors’ entry icon on the console.

He takes his seat next to his captain, crosses his arms, and waits for the rest of the senior crew to join them.

Riandri approached the Observation Lounge humming to herself as she played over the events of the last few hours in her head. When she reached the door she massaged the back of her next for a second as she silently thanked the doctor for the meds to help with her headaches. Without pause, she entered and nodded to Cheon and Rebecca before giving the Admiral a short, “Sir.”

Peter followed Nalam into the room and found his seat next to her.  What they had to share was mind-boggling.

Rebecca leaned forward on the table with her hands cupped flat on the black surface with her elbows resting on the edge. “Thanks for coming.  Lieutenants Nalam and Crawford what have you found on your surveillance of the ranch?”

Riandri looked over at Crawford and took the lead, “Not much sadly. We set up surveillance of the ranch but did not approach it. It seemed quiet and nothing out of the ordinary. The information we have though indicates the underground network is beneath the ranch. We did ask around the nearby town about recent events and there wasn’t much to go on. Sadly I think we will have to make a direct approach and see if the Crawfords will invite us in….”

Peter spoke up, “What little recon we were able to get I didn’t see my Aunt Tilly or Uncle Angus Crawford.  Passive scans also turned up nothing.  Both are pretty regularly active in the community, so the fact that we didn’t see them is telling.  Telling of what, I do not know.” 

“Anything we can get a search warrant issued?” Admiral Dailey asked.

Riandri frowned at the question and shook her head, “No, not from what we saw.” She paused for a moment and continued, “But that said it would be foolish to disregard our information and the threat that this incursion could present to the Federation. We could continue to observe but we might miss our chance to stop the threat before it gains a footing. There is nothing, legally, from my understanding to allow a relative to visit with a friend unless I am mistaken?”

“I caution restriaint. They don’t know we’re on to them,” Rebecca replied. “We don’t know who our enemy is, what their capabilities are, and what their plans are.  Before we start knocking down doors, we need to do this so we aren’t putting our people at risk, or we don’t scare them off.  This is the best lead we’ve had in months since the surveillance footage.  We know our main perpetrators look like myself and Captain Ryder.  It is possible that there are others on this crew that have doppelgangers and the sudden appearance of a second one might be cause for alarm.”

“These are exigent circumstances,” Admiral Dailey pointed out.  “If you can get that I’ll back whatever raid you perform.”

Crawford spoke up, “I’ve been having some…experiences recently.”  He glanced at Riandri, “We’ve been talking about my symptoms – we think there’s a possibility I have a double down there.”  He tapped at his PADD, sending the report to the gathered officers, “It falls under a paradox – having two people with exact DNA from different universes or realities together in the same place can have this effect.  Given how close we got just doing the distance check – my hunch is there’s a Peter Crawford down there.”

Cheon remained silent as he listened to the senior staff explain what was going on. Cheon’s eyes narrowed when Crawford told them about his condition and symptoms. He was aware of what was going on and cast a quick glance over at Riandri.

His wife had informed him of her condition and the knowledge she had gained while studying in the holo-suite.

“Please excuse my interruption, but what do we know about the current situation, as well as the location of our missing person?” Cheon stated as he picked up a PADD and gave the impression that this conference was an annoyance. He was actually waiting for a message.

“Well…” Rebecca started, “That’s what we are trying to determine. Mr. Crawford, with your doppelganger in play and we don’t know where he is at. You better stay here.  Let’s get Lt. Nalam as much information as possible.  Lt. Nalam, I don’t want you doing this alone. Cheon how do you feel about a trip to Montana?”

Riandri nodded along, the discussions she had with Crawford about the possibility of a double of him and others on the ship were worrisome and made her wonder if there was one of her as well. “I am happy to go back, we can easily make an approach to the ranch under the guise of a survey company or such though having Lt. Crawford there would be the easiest reason to approach.” She glanced at Crawford then back to the Captain and the XO, as she absently rubbed her temple “That said we can make it work, the last thing we would want is for this paradox to cause any further issues.”

Cheon looked up when Rebecca said his name, “I have a better idea, but I will need to discuss it in private,” he replied as he looked at his captain.

Admiral Dailey stood, “You know where I stand on this. Make this legal and let’s nail these sons of bitches to the wall. Becca keep me informed.”

“I will sir.”

With that, the Admiral walked out of the Conference room. “Pete, go ahead. I’m sure you have plenty to do.” Rebecca added.

Crawford gave a long sigh in response, “The fun never stops.  On it, Captain.”

With just Cheon and Riandri,  Rebecca turned to Cheon, “The Lieutenant is involved; I would think she needs to know what you have to say.”

Riandri looked between the Captain and XO, she had gathered there was more to what was happening than she knew but hadn’t pushed too much on it. “I assume you know more about these visitors than you have previously let on? Or have I missed the mark on that?”

Cheon gave Riandri a brief glance before nodding. “That is correct, and one of them should be beaming into this room in a few moments,” he said, shifting his gaze from her to the captain.

The room suddenly lit up with a light blue hue, as if on cue, as a young woman appeared next to Cheon. “Captain, Lieutenant…” he paused for a moment, looking at them again, “I present Seong Kyo, my wife’s doppelganger.”

Seong reached up and removed the top of her helm, leaving a half mask behind to protect her face from total identification. Her gaze moved from Cheon to the two other women in the room.

Rebecca gave Cheon a dirty look, “This is not protocol Commander.   You better have a good reason for this.”

Frowning Riandri looked between Cheon and the alternative version of Seong, “I think you have some explaining to do Commander, and why this intelligence was not shared before. Starfleet intelligence would be VERY interested in this.”

“Simple,” Seong said as she reached into her pocket and tossed a photo onto the table. The image was of a woman who resembled Rebecca. “We all have a common enemy, and a woman you met briefly is hunting her and others like her.” She then tossed another photo onto the table, this time of Seong’s mother, with Seong sitting next to her. “That is my mother; I am unaware of her whereabouts; however, I am aware that the woman you are looking for has something to do with this.” She then tossed a third photograph of Angel onto the table.

She paused for a moment, allowing the information to sink in, before speaking again. “I know she’s important to someone, or else the Federation wouldn’t have sent you.”

Cheon had remained silent throughout this encounter, knowing that what he had done was morally ambiguous and violated several protocols. Still, he also knew that this woman was their best hope, and frankly, their only option, for capturing their enemy, dead or alive. He also knew that if something went wrong, no one would know, which is why he waited until only three of them before bringing in Seong.

“Yes, I am aware of my doppelganger, and Angel is the daughter of my best friend.  Of course, I would help look for her.” Sitting back in her chair Rebecca crossed her arms, “Okay, what are you planning?”

Seong looked at Rebecca, “You misunderstand, Captain, I am not planning anything as I have already executed my part by showing myself to you and Lieutenant Nalam.” Seong looked at Riandri. “How’s your headache being around me,” she paused for a second. “Or should I say your species’ inherent gift?”

“So you drop in here and expect us to do the work?” Riandri said with some annoyance. “As for my headaches, they are under control for now but the sooner we remove these individuals and stop them from impacting the timeline the better.”

Riandri looked over the Captain, “If we act quickly with what Peter, ah, Lieutenant Crawford, and I mentioned I think we can bring this to a close.”

Seong’s eyes narrowed as she looked at the young Lieutenant, and Cheong caught the look in her eyes. 

“Riandri, I think you misunderstood what she said,” he stated as he looked at Riandri.

Seong leaned forward and her dark eyes flared for a moment. As she spoke her voice lowered several octaves, and in a near whisper she spoke, “I know exactly who and what you are. So don’t play games with me and I won’t have to play them back, El-Aurian.” 

Seong then turned her attention to Rebecca, all the while keeping her eyes locked on Riandri, “Tell me, Captain, how well do you know yourself?”

“How well do I know myself? What does that mean,” Rebecca demanded. 

Before Seong could speak Riandri cut in and looked at the Captain, “I believe she is suggesting you try to anticipate your doubles actions.” Turning Riandri fixed her eyes on Seong and she continued, her voice cold, “Though it would go quicker if you could speak plainly here. As you said games have no place here.”

Behind the half mask, a smile began to spread, and she nodded to Riandri. Without conceding she stood up and focused on Rebecca. “So, Captain, what do you do if your children were being held captive? Or rather that was the last piece of intel you had on them?” Seong asked.

“My children are on Starbase 75 with their dad. But, in that scenario, I would be doing the same thing I am doing for Angel Ryder.  Her father is like a brother to me, and she is basically family. And when I found the people responsible… well, that is not something a Starfleet officer should utter out loud, but let’s say I may not be too careful with my phaser.  You don’t mess with a mama bear’s cubs.”

‘Interesting,’ Seong thinks to herself. “So you believe that Bellitor will come after her children?”

Rebecca considered the statement and nodded, “Very likely.”

Seong looked at Cheon for a brief moment. He caught her eye and nodded. “Then I would exploit that weakness and follow this ion trail.” She reached into one of the pockets that were hidden and produced a small device.

Rebecca didn’t even look at the device before sliding it over to Riandri. “Lieutenant I expect you know what to do with that?”

Riandri grabbed the device and looked over it, “It’s a data storage device, should be compatible with our systems,” she said as she linked her tricorder to it. “Yes, it has the signature of an ion trail on it that approached Earth recently. Let me bring it up here.” She activated the wall display which slowed the trajectory of the ion trail leading toward the planet below, “Looks like it gets close to the planet but then is lost in all the background noise of the other ships but I would say it is heading towards North Ameria.”

“I take it by your line of questioning that my counterpart has children,  and they are on whatever it is that is generating that Ion trail?” Rebecca asked.

“They are children by age but not by appearance, clones would be the exact phrase in this situation. As for what they are on. It is a runabout from the ISS Heracles. The vessel you saw exiting from a temporal rift, to be precise,” Seong said, emphasizing the importance of processing this information quickly. She looked over at the Lieutenant as she spoke about the urgency of the situation. “I let them go with the knowledge that if they completed the impossible fool’s errand, they’d be free.”

Riandri scoffed, “What is this fool’s errand and do you intend to allow them to go free?”

Seong looked at Riandri, “Now now Lieutenant, I can’t give all my secrets away. However, let’s just say that someone will not be leaving this fast-approaching assault.”

“Well, it’s something,” Rebecca said with a sigh.  “So, what is this?  Enemy of my enemy is my friend?  How can I know to even remotely trust you ?”

“You can’t,” Seong said in a nonchalant sort of way. “Or rather I wouldn’t if I were you, but that being said I am the best shot that this crew has to relieve this universe of a very dangerous enemy.”

“Be that as it may,” Rebecca said standing.   She hated cloak-and-dagger nonsense,  and this definitely fell into that category. “I’ll use your information under advisement,  but please don’t be offended if I don’t take your word as gospel. Cheon, you allowed her on this ship, she’s your responsibility.” With that, the Captain turned and headed for the bridge. 

Cheon nodded and waited for the room to clear, all except the Alternate Seong. As Rebecca was about to leave he gently placed a hand on her forearm. “Rebecca, I know I have severely violated your trust and have broken more policies than I care to image, but I could see no other way to get this accomplished in a manner that would preserve what is left of the integrity of our universe.”

“Commander you haven’t violated my trust,” Rebecca replied. “But you shouldn’t have kept this from me.” With that she stepped out of thr lounge and was gone.

The massive underground complex was a maze of corridors as the small Starfleet team moved through the nearly empty corridors.  Occasionally one of the clone officers in an Imperial Starfleet uniform would appear and the team led by Commander Cheon Kyo would stun them and bind their wrists and legs.  Twice they encountered clone soldiers,  their faces hidden behind their helmets.  Those too were quickly eliminated. 

Collins and the Recon teams brought up the rear. Team 1 watched their backs, while team 2 concentrated on the sides.

Cheon held up a hand, signaling the team to halt their advance.

“Something is off,” Cheon whispered, dropping to a knee. He knew Seong was floating between the teams that were assaulting the complex. Closing his eyes he wished that she was with them at this time.

Two large groups of clones approached flanking the Starfleet parry, their disruptors raised.  A single clone, she wasn’t wearing any armor,  but a blacked-out version of a Starfleet uniform.  Instead of a delta for the combadge, there: was the Earth bisected by a sword.  She had a familiar look.  The whole crew recognized that face.  They had spent an entire summer searching for her. But this wasn’t the 16-year-old Angel Ryder.  She was a woman, and by appearances, she would be in her mid-twenties.

The Recon teams had taken a position in front of the away team, with phaser rifles raised.

“Lord Dominus wishes to speak with you.”

Cheon looked at this facsimile of Angel and then at the teams. “Lower your weapons,” he ordered, and then in a lowered voice, “They take this round.”

Seong knew that had been directed at her as she stood in the shadows near the group’s rear. However, she didn’t step out of the shadows but moved within them as Cheon stepped away from the group.

As Cheon passed Collins he placed a hand on the young lieutenant’s shoulder. “Hold fast and wait.”

Collins watched as Cheon left with the clone. Having been ordered to ‘hold fast and wait’, he would do that. He had his units lower their weapons, but keep them ready.

Command Center…

Dominus sat in the center of the command center like a king on his throne.  Bellitor moved to his side when Cheon and Seong entered.   The man stared at the pair and smirked, “I didn’t expect you to come so… willingly.”

Bellitor walked to Seong, pinched her chin with thumb and forefinger,  “I know you.. or rather I am pretty sure I knew your mother.”

Pure horror and shock flooded over Seongs face at the touch from Bellitor. ‘How did she…but there is no way.’ she thought to herself as she stepped out of the shadow, that Cheon was casting behind him.

Cheon had watched as Bellitor appeared to move her hand at nothing and then suddenly his eyes widened when Seong stepped out of his shadow, only a foot away.

Bellitor smirked at the reaction,  “One of my ancestors was Betazoid. Scandalous I know, but you won’t be telling my subjects. When I was deaged I had them enhance certain abilities including turning on my empathic abilities.  I could sense you, my dear Seong. How do you think I have survived all those assassination attempts?”

Seong snapped her head away from Bellitor, “You won’t get to escape this time, murderer,” she snapped back. “I will personally see to it.”

“Murderer?” Bellitor asked amused.  “Your hands are just as bloody as mine, and I have never killed anyone who didn’t need it. But, I have never sugar-coated my misdeeds.   I am one. Many times over, but make no mistake so are you.”

“I have only killed to survive,” Seong stated, “You on the other hand have killed to take a throne that was never yours, to begin with.”

“Yes, it seems that way doesn’t it?” Bellitor replied, “But, I have an army, and you have what? A weaker version of your late husband?  This Cheon looks even more useless than the last one.  I assume you found him here?  How did you convince him to be your…” Bellitor smirked, giving Cheon a contemptuous glance, “Well that doesn’t need to me say out loud does it, my dear?”

Cheon stood there in silence as he knew exactly what Bellitor was trying to do. He looked at her and smirked and nothing more.

“My husband never existed because you had a hand in that as well didn’t you?” Seong’s voice was laced with venom as her eyes shifted from their dark chocolate hues to the inky darkness of the void of space itself as she stared at the woman in her eyes. “As for what you have, it would take more than that to stop me. More than you could ever find to stop me from driving my fist into your throat and removing your neck from your shoulders,” Her voice held a tone that meant she held more confidence in the statement she had just made.

“Oh?  Was he one of those I erased?  Well, I’m sure there was a good reason, but collateral damage does happen. You can’t bake a cake without breaking a few eggs.  I had an Empire to build.”

“Seems like your Empire is falling apart and as I said you will not escape this time,” Seong said before her hand slipped into a hidden sheath.

Corridor…

The clones and the Starfleet Recon Team led by Lt. Collins stared at each other.  Tensions were high.  Both had their orders, but neither side trusted the other.

Suddenly the stomping of boots echoed through the corridor and a group of ten Starfleet security officers, who had been, dispatched by Admiral Dailey to help with the “clone problem” rounded the corner and ran headlong into a stand-off. Both sides raised their weapons with Starfleet outnumbering the clones two to one now.

Inexplicably at the height of the tension, a single energy beam crossed the distance. Was it an accident?  Was it malicious? Who pulled the trigger? There was no time to consider that as the stand-off erupted into chaos.

“Cease fire! Recon teams 1 and 2, cease fire!” Collins shouted at the clones. “Before this gets bloody, I suggest you cease fire!”

A disruptor bolt flew past Collins just missing him. A clone took a phaser blast to the chest, and he crumpled to the floor.  Two of the newly arrived Starfleet security personnel took disruptor blasts to the chest.  The clones were mindless, near automatons bred in the same way as the Jem’Hadar.   Victory was life, and once the battle started there was no stopping them until they were all dead or Starfleet had been pushed from the field.

Collins saw that there was no other way to deal with this….so he ordered the teams to regroup and return fire. No other choice…it was them or us. He watched the clones fall one by one…two of his teams fell….and what seemed like forever, lasted only a few minutes…..9 of the 10 ‘reinforcements’ were either dead or wounded, and his teams…he lost half his people. The clones? They all lay dead, their blank eyes looking at nothing.

What a waste.

“Sir,” his senior NCO announced as he approached his CO.  “Everyone who can still walk is assembled and ready to go get the XO.”

Collins looked at the dead and wounded. “Let’s go! Weapons hot! Shoot to kill.” He replaced the power pack in his rifle and started toward the room the captain entered.

The comm crackled to life, “Lieutenant Nalam to all Starfleet forces, their transport inhibitors are down. I suspect the targets have beamed away but be on guard.”

Command Center…

The Recon team under Lieutenant Collins’ command burst into the command center their phasers raised. Dominus didn’t hesitate and fired his disruptor at the intruders and they ducked into cover. Growling in frustration he turned his rage on Bellitor,  “You have failed me again! All this time hiding and plotting for this?  I am through with you.”  Without any sign of remorse, he shot Bellitor in the chest.  Her eyes were wide in shock, but by the time she fell to the floor, her life was gone. 

Dominus rushed to a nearby console firing shots at Seong, Cheon, and the Recon team trying to keep them at bay.  “I’ll see you around!” He shouted triumphantly as he pressed a button.

The computer responded with a prerecorded message in Bellitor’s voice, “Sorry Dominus no beaming away this time.  I am one step ahead of you… I have always been one step ahead of you.  Goodbye, my love.”

In frustration, Dominus smashed his fist into the console shattering it and sending shards of glass everywhere.  Raising his disruptor fired and struck one of the Recon Team members sending him falling backward. Clone soldiers moved to their commander’s side.  Here they would make their last stand.

Seong took the shot to the chest but she followed Dominus. Leaping into the air, she screamed out with rage at the denial of taking Bellitors life. Her fist wraps around a hidden dagger as she is in mid-air. 

Cheon followed after her and leaped after Seong. He caught her in the air and took her to the ground. Not caring that the dagger that she had, had buried itself into his shoulder. Pain flooded his mind but he knew that Dominus need to get captured.

“Lieutenant Collin’s take aim and stun that son of a bitch!” Cheon yell as he held down Seong, who had pure rage and hatred in her eyes.

Collins activated his sniper scope, took aim, and fired.

Seeing all was lost Dominus took one last shot. This time aimed at Collins.  It was a glancing blow and didn’t kill him, but it was enough to throw Collins’s shot off and the phaser beam shot wide.  Growling in anger and frustration Dominus thrusted his disruptor to the point where neck and chin join and fired.

Collins wasn’t hurt too badly when Dominus fired at him, but that caused his shot to go wide. Then he saw him commit suicide.

Apart from the moaning of the injured,  silence fell upon the command center. An officer kneeled next to Dominus and checked for a pulse.  Shaking her head the remaining clones tossed down their weapons seeing their leadership dead. It was finally over.

Seong went limp the moment the disruptor bolt entered Dominus’ body. Cheon looked down at her. “Medic.”

One of the Medics from the Recon Team ran forward and started scanning Seong, looking for injuries.

“I know she took a disruptor bolt to the chest, but I have seen this woman take far more than that and keep on going,” Cheon stated as he placed his fingers on her neck. “I can feel a pulse but she’s non-responsive.”

Collins spoke to the medic. “Can you do anything for her here, or is she going to die?”

The medic looked at her commanding officer and team leader. “She needs immediate surgery, which I can’t do.”

“Do what you can.” Collins started looking at the wounded and the dead, and the clone prisoners that were being guarded by a couple of his people. He walked over and pulled one of his team aside. “If they try to escape, you have clearance to drop them.” The man nodded. “Aye sir.”

Cheon reached up and pulled out the dagger that Seong had buried into his shoulder. A soft clatter was heard when the dagger hit the floor. He knew that was a bad idea and should have left it in until he was back on the Denver, and in sickbay. Blood began to flow from the gaping wound. Reaching into the medic’s bag he grabbed a hypospray and a gauze package and did a quick field dressing.  He looked down at her for a moment. “Don’t you dare die on us, that’s an order,” he whispered as he stood up and began to look for the rest of the away team.

They had been inside this compound for fifteen minutes,  and Rebecca paused at an intersection.  Consulting her tricorder she frowned. “This place is a maze.”

Riandri let out a low chuckle under her breath, as she checked the corridor behind them; her phaser rifle at the ready.

Peeking around the corner the corridor was empty.  With a nod of her head, she leads the others forward.  “According to our intelligence, the holding cells are at the end of this corridor.”

“We should have seen someone by now, where are they, especially if we are so close to the holding cells,” Riandri remarked as she followed closely behind the Captain.

“Agreed,” Rebecca replied. Just then there was a soft explosion and the walls shook.  “The Assault Team must have engaged the clones.”

“But they won’t get far,” A voice announced from behind. “Drop your weapons.”

Both of the Seongs spun around, one in the shadows and one surrounded by the away team

The ‘alt’ Seong swore silently, ‘how did I not notice him.’

Rebecca nodded to her crew and she set her phaser down before turning to face the speaker.   He was a handsome young man with dark hair and a chiseled jaw.  Beside him was a woman who appeared to be the same age. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail.   Flanked on either side of them were two clone soldiers their faces hidden behind their helmets.

“Okay you got us,” Rebecca said.

The man gave her an evil smirk. “My father would use you up and then kill you.  Unfortunately, we don’t have time for prisoners.” He eyed Riandri and gave her a lascivious smirk.  “I might make an exception for myself when it comes to you.”

“Ian,” the woman spoke. “Let’s just get out of here. The jig is up.”

Ian sighed, “For once sister, you are quite right.  I guess we’ll have to settle for shooting them.”

A sudden flash followed by an intense low pulse suddenly erupted as the light enveloped the room. Seong had stayed in the rear, well out of sight. Moving without a sound she slipped up behind the twins.

Leaning in Seong whispered, “Thank you for your assistance.” She then snapped out with her left hand and pressed down on both of their necks; applying a Vulcan neck pinch, before she disappeared back out of the room realizing that their mother was near.

As Seong disappeared another group of clone soldiers moved into the corridor their disruptors raised and pointing at the group of Starfleet officers. One of the medical drones kneeled next to the unconscious siblings and pressed a hypospray to their necks.

Slowly one by one they came to.  Helping them up the clone commander spoke, “Are you, okay sir?”

“That bitch Seong,” he spat.  “She used us to find this place.”  He raised his phaser and pointed it at Rebecca. “Kill them all,” he said coldly. 

“Ian no! Stand down!” Órlaith pleaded. This caused a moment of hesitation amongst the clones who didn’t attack the Starfleet group. “Ian it’s over.”

“You are weak sister.   This is what it takes to rule a quadrant… a galaxy!” His eyes were set on the decision.

Órlaith fired a single shot into Ian’s side from her hip.  The impact caused Ian’s own shot to go wide slamming harmlessly into the wall. Ian staggered backward clutching his side with his free hand.  “What have you done?  You were always soft.  Father should have…”

He never finished his sentence as Órlaith fired. This time it was carefully aimed and it struck her brother in the chest. He took two steps backward and fell heavily to the floor with a sickening thump of flesh and bone against concrete. 

Órlaith spun on a heel and fired at one of the clones striking him in the chest. He jerked back and as he did so the helmet fell off revealing the face of Peter Crawford.

As the unexpected twist of events unfolded, Riandri dove for her phase rifle. Grabbing it she brought it to her shoulder aiming at the group of clones and fired several bursts off in the confusion, stunning several of the clones. Before she could fire again one of the remaining clones took aim and fired at her, the disrupter bolt catching her in her shoulder causing her to cry out in pain resulting in her remaining shots splashing harmlessly on the wall.

A hand came down on Riandri as Seong pulled her to cover. Without saying a word she handed her a hypospray and then fled back into the chaos that she had started. She needed to get to Bellitor, nothing else matter now.

Rebecca dropped to her knee and in one fluid motion, she picked up her phaser as one of the clone soldiers was aiming his disruptor at her. Her shot struck him in the shoulder, sending him staggering backward.  A phaser beam behind her finished him off.

“I got you, Captain,” Chief of Security Alexander Willis announced and extended a hand to help her up.

“Thanks. I owe you one.”

Riandri glanced in the direction Seong disappeared and muttered an obscenity under her breath, she didn’t like this version of the woman but had to admit she was useful. Quickly pressing the hypospray to her neck, she injected herself with its contents and instantly felt the pain in her shoulder being to decrease as the painkillers took effect.  Glancing around the rock Seong pulled her behind she saw the Captain, Willis, and Crawford regaining their feet as her eyes landed on the young women who had started this whole thing. Getting to her feet she held the phase as best she could and pointed it at Órlaith, “I suggest you raise your hands.”

Órlaith tossed down her disruptor and turned her attention on the remaining clones ignoring Riandri,  “Stand down!  It’s over!”

The clones hesitated. They had been bred to give their lives in the service of Dominus and his family,  and surrender wasn’t something they were encouraged. 

“Do it,” Órlaith ordered again.

Finally, they lowered their weapons, and then one by one, they tossed their disruptors to the floor between themselves and the group of Starfleet officers. Órlaith approached,  “I expect you are looking for Angel Ryder.” Reaching into her pocket, she removed a large old-fashioned key.  “You’ll want this.  It’s the second cell on the left.”

Riandri glanced at the key and then at the Captain, “Toss it over to her. What do you want me to do with her Captain?”

“Take them all into custody,” Rebecca said as the key was tossed to her, “But send her to the Denver.   I think there’s a conversation to be had for later.”  With that Rebecca ran down to the end of the corridor.   

While the Captain rushed down the tunnel to the cell blocks, Riandri looked over at Willis and Crawford, “I assume you have enough restraints for them?”

Peter smiled quietly, “Always be prepared.  And I am prepared.”  He tossed a pack of restraints to Wills and they went about the work of putting each of them in custody.  Crawford approached his doppelganger, who was in considerable pain.  A quick scan of a medical tricorder confirmed it.  He was dying.  Peter knelt down beside him. This version of him was a lot older than him and had been through hell if the scans were anything to judge.

“Took you long enough.”  He spat out his words, staring past Prime Crawford to his daughter who was walking sullenly out of the darkness, escorted by a security officer who had found her.  “Meet your future.”

Peter turned and met eyes with a 16-year-old who glanced from his face to the other, confusion and anger flashing in her eyes.  She pulled at her restraints and the security officer, “You killed him, didn’t you.”

Crawford shook his head, “I don’t know who fired the shot…but I would have rather found a way to send you home.”

She shouted back, “We don’t want to go home…there’s a reason we came here, you idiot.”

Prime Peter turned to his alternate and knelt again, “I’m sorry this had to end this way.”

The older of the two groused, “It was always going to end this way, Peter.  I’ve lived in blood and guts for so long…it was bound to happen eventually.  Live by the phaser, die by the phaser.”  He coughed and stared into the eyes of the younger version of himself, “She’s done nothing to deserve it…but find a way to save her, Pete.  Keep her from this….ending.  Don’t let me girl die young.”  The coughs came harder now and he laid back down, his eyes growing distant as he muttered, “Blood and born and blood and born…all to the end we go.”  A moment later and he breathed his last.

Carolyn sighed but shed no tears.  She stared at her father’s body and then turned her eyes to the closet thing to a relative she had.  “Well, I guess I’m your problem now.”

Crawford felt a dry chuckle die in his throat.  “Come with me.  We’ll see what can be worked out.”

Cell block…

At the cell door, she turned the key, and the lock fell away, and she pushed open the door. Angel lay on the bunk, her back to her.

“You have grown since last I saw you,” Rebecca announced. 

Angel rolled over confusion on her face and then realization flashed across it. “Aunt Becca? Is that really you?”

“Yes, dear. Doctor Kyo! You are needed!” Rebecca shouted over her shoulder for her Seong. She wasn’t a fan of that alternate version… Too untrustworthy. 

Seong heard her name coming from the Captain and tapped a security officer on the shoulder, “Move.” The officer looked down at the woman, and the look on his face was pure confusion as he had just witnessed a woman that looked like her moments ago disappear into a shadow. Yet here she was, or rather someone that looked like her. 

Seong knelt next to Rebecca, “Captain. Let go. I have her,” she stated as she set down her medical kit. Seong’s light brown eyes looked into Angel’s. “Don’t worry, sweety, your aunt is my best friend, and I wouldn’t let anything happen to her, so that means that I won’t let anything happen to you, okay?”

Angel nodded in shock. For months she had dreamed of this day, never believing it would actually happen.  This young adult was suddenly the child she most certainly was, and tears streaked down her face.

Seong smiled as she wiped away the tears that had begun to streak down Angel’s face. Shen then began to run the medical tricorder over Angel.

“How is she Doc?” Rebecca asked.

“Minor dehydration, malnutrition,” Seong stated s she continued to scan Angel. Suddenly Seong closed the tricorder and looked a Rebecca. A look of urgency passed between them as her hand reached up and tapped her Combadge. “Denver, two to beam directly to medical, code blue.” She returned her attention to Rebecca. “Finish here as fast as you can.”

Suddenly the room was flooded with a bright light as both she and Angel were transported to sickbay.

Rebecca nodded and rushed out of the cell.  She was worried about Angel,  but as Captain, she didn’t have that luxury.  She still had teams in the field, and that took priority. 

Corridor…

“Good,” Riandri responded before turning to Órlaith. “And what is your name?” she asked keeping her phaser at the ready.

“I am princess Órlaith of the Terran Empire…” She cut herself off, “No, I  not. She glanced at her brother’s body, and sadness filled her eyes. ”I am Órlaith, traitor of the Empire.”

“Well Órlaith, you will have a quick trip back to the Denver and we will have a chat there soon enough but until then we need to know where the transport inhibitors are?” Rianndri asked with gritted teeth, the pain from the disruptors shot clearly evident in her tone.

She hesitated,  torn between her duty to her family and the consequences of her actions. Nodding finally,  “I can take you to them. They are not far. Are you well Lady…” She paused realizing she didn’t know Riandri’s name, “Lady of Starfleet?”

Riandri let out a pained chuckle at that comment causing her to grimace, “Lieutenant Nalam will be fine.” She glanced back at Crawford and Willis before returning her gaze to Órlaith, “Show me where the inhibitors are, we need to disable them.”

Órlaith simply nodded, “This way.”  She led Riandri down the corridor giving her brother one last forlorn look.  Walking to the end of the long corridor she made a left and at the second door she held a hand to the biometric sensor, and the door slid open.  

Riandri glanced around half expecting a trap but gestured to the doorway with her phaser, “After you.” Stepping through after Órlaith she found a room with several computers and consoles but otherwise empty.

“Over here,” she said moving to a console.  She entered commands, hesitated, and rechecked, “Uh… the inhibitors have already been deactivated.”

“Shit,” Riandri muttered under her breath, “Can you tell when they were deactivated?”

Tapping out the controls she nodded, “Logs indicate six minutes ago via remote access.  I can’t identify the console.”

Riandri tapped her combadge, leaving a red blood stain on it, opening a channel to every Starfleet officer involved in the assault and spoke her voice a little slurred, “Lieutenant Nalam to all Starfleet forces, their transport inhibitors are down. I suspect the targets have beamed away but be on guard.” Closing the channel she turned back to Órlaith, “Where do you think they would have gone? I assume they had a backup plan in place, what is it?”

“They? I assume you mean my father and mamma.  I was not told of any escape plans, though they certainly had them, they wouldn’t have left us… Well, they wouldn’t have left Ian.  I have always been different.  I didn’t quite fit into this mold… Mamma would not have left him. Are you sure you are well Lieutenant?”

Riandri blinked as her vision swam and slumped against the wall. She focused on Órlaith and went to wave her off but stopped when she realized blood was dripping from her hand. The painkillers had numbed the pain of the disrupter blast but the damage it caused was still present. “Um, been better for sure,” she muttered as she slid to the ground.

Órlaith walked across the room and pulled down a first aid kit.  It wasn’t anything sophisticated,  just a few bandages,  some pain relievers, and some analgesic cream.  Opening the bottle of pain relived Órlaith shook out several white pills and handed them to Riandri.   Drawing her Imperial dagger Órlaith cut open the uniform to reveal the wound.  

The edges were black and charred, but the center was red and oozing blood. Órlaith winced in sympathy,  “I am sorry Lieutenant this is going to hurt.”

Riandri looked at Órlaith and in particular the dagger in her hands. She nodded as she fumbled to pull out her hand phaser but she was unable to get a grip on it.

She sprayed the wound with an antiseptic and wiped the blood away before shaking in a packet of the clotting agent over the site.  It would bind with the blood and create a temporary hard external shell that would stop bleeding and hopefully give the body enough time to clot naturally.  Pressing gauze to the wound Órlaith wrapped a bandage holding it in place. “There. How do you feel?”

Riandri scrunched her eyes closed as the antiseptic was applied but relaxed as the numbing agent within dulled the pain. “A little,” she paused and looked back up at Órlaith, “Why help?”

“Because, Lieutenant, I think there is more to her than what we have seen,” Cheon stated as he knelt down next to Riandri. “Just like myself.” He knew that Riandri would know what that meant. 

He looked at Órlaith for a moment and then at the dagger that was near her. “You plan on using that or would you mind relinquishing it to me?” He asked her before turning his attention to his wounded counter officer. Blood was flowing from his shoulder but he had all but forgotten that he had been injured having removed the dagger that the now-transported alt Seong had mistakenly stuck him with.

She shook her head at Cheon, “Don’t be a fool. If I was going to stab someone I would have already.”  She cut open Cheon’s uniform and then flipped it to him presenting him with the handle. “What is it with you Starfleeters and shoulder wounds? This isn’t  from a disruptor?” She said curiosity and surprise in her voice.”

“No, it isn’t,” Cheon stated as he took the dagger from her. “It is actually from a dagger.”

She sprayed the antiseptic on the wound and sprinkled the last of the clotting agent into the wound and stuffed it with gauze and held it in place with a bandage.  “There low tech, but it will get you by. And to answer your question Lieutenant: you were suffering,  I could ease it. Is this not an appropriate action? I hold no malice towards you, and if I did I would have still treated you.”

Riandri grunted an acknowledgment as the pain subsided, “Well thank you. I appreciate the help.” She glance over at the XO, “Anything updates from your end? If not we should get Órlaith back to the Denver.” She tired to stand and put weight on her left arm without thinking and she gasped in pain, “Maybe sickbay for myself..”

Aoife ran her fingers up the transporter sequence controls and the pad hummed to life.  As the blue energy faded a single individual appeared in the center, her hands in cuffs.  The young blonde was visibly barely keeping it together as she stood there.

“Transporter room three to bridge,” Aoife said into the comm.

Berkely had taken the Conn when both the Captain and the Commander had left the ship. He sat in the command chair and was looking at the incoming reports from the mission when he heard the intercom. 

“We have the prisoner the Captain told us about sir,” Aoife replied.

Berkely looked over at Jeter and nodded. “See to it Chief,” he stated.

Jeter made his way to the transporter room to oversee the prisoner handover. The Captain had been overly vague about who the prisoner was but had given clear instructions that she was to be treated well and would be debriefed upon her return to the ship. The door before him slid open and he stepped into the transporter room, before looking at the prisoner he nodded to the two security officers who were keeping an eye on her and Aoife. “Status?”

Aoife simply indicated the blonde woman still standing on the transporter pad. “Our visitor is secured Chief.”

“Perfect,” Jeter remarked before turning to face the prisoner. “Welcome to the Denver, I am Chief Jeter.” He glanced at the security officers and nodded, “If you will follow me I will show you to your accommodations until the Captain is back.”

Órlaith nodded, and stepped forward, “How is Lieutenant Nalam?”

Jester turned and looked at the prisoner. “Nalam? She is recovering in medical. I heard you helped treat her. Thank you for that.” He paused and gestured to the door, “After you.” 

She nodded resigned to her fate.  She was conscious of the cyanide tablet hidden inside a false molar.  She would not allow herself to be tortured.  “I assume you want… revenge?”

“Revenge?” Jeter asked as he led Órlaith down the corridor with one security officer in tow. “No, any crimes you committed will be held against you but that is not for me to decide. The judge advocates general and federation will handle that.” He paused for a moment and glanced at her, “Or are you referring to my double? Is revenge something he would seek?”

“Is that not something anyone would seek?” She asked curiously. She didn’t wait for him to respond, “I have committed no crimes towards your people, other than associating with those who have.  I haven’t killed, robbed, or harmed anyone except those in self-defense or in defense of others.”

Jeter listened as they walked and nodded slowly, “Revenge is not something people seek often, sometimes yes but usually only when the offense is of a deeply personal nature. As for your crimes, if you have not committed any and you do not have designs such as those of the others then you have little to worry about as long as you cooperate and provide assistance.” Before Órlaith was able to respond the door to the sickbay opened and the XO stepped out.

Cheon stepped out of sickbay, his shoulder fully healed, and looked at Órlaith. “That isn’t the Federation way, Órlaith,” he stated as he looked at Jeter. “I’ll take her from here.”

A worried expression crossed Órlaith’s face.

The comm interrupted.  “Mackenzie to Master Chief Jeter.  Another batch of prisoners is beaming aboard. This time a Carolyn Crawford.”

“Master Chief, meet up with Miss Crawford and have her sent to me on the observation lounge,” Cheon ordered as he looked back at Órlaith. “Come with me,” he suggested as he motioned for her to follow him to the observation lounge. “I am sure as soon as Lieutenant Nalam is able she will join us.”

“Be cautious of Crawford,” Órlaith warned.  “She is quick as lighting,  and deadlier than a cobra.  She is one half of my mother’s personal assassination team with her father.  She needs no reason to kill,  and nor will she bat an eye. They both enjoyed their work and mama kept them busy.  Even mama didn’t trust them, though it is ironic that it was they who stayed at her side while the one she did trust betrayed her.  I would not have expected Carolyn to have come willingly,  nor without her father at her side.”

Jeter acknowledged the order from Cheon with a nod before he looked at Órlaith for a moment before nodding, “I appreciate the assessment I will keep an eye on her.” He turned to walk back to the transporter room but stopped. “Once the Lieutenant is back on her feet who should I send her to first Commander?”

Cheon stood there for a moment and was about to speak when Órlaith spoke.

“Sir?” Órlaith started cautiously, “Do you know what happened to my parents?”

A sigh left his lips. Not one of irritation but one of guilt. He looked at Jeter, “I’ll call for her,” he stated.

Jeter nodded, “Sounds good sir.” He then turned and made his way towards the transporter room and this Carolyn Crawford.” As he did he couldn’t help but wonder what her connection was to Lieutenant Crawford.

“Órlaith,” Cheon paused for a second, “This isn’t the place to discuss this,” he said as he tried to keep his tone level. “If you would follow me to the observation lounge we can have this discussion in private.”

“And when is there an appropriate place?” She demanded her eyes set and staring into his. “I murdered my brother to protect your people. You owe me the fate of my parents.”

Cheon leaned in toward her ear, “You sure that you want this information to be known to everyone?”

“I know how a ship works. Everyone will know by the end of the day anyway,  and knowing now means my imagination cannot get out of hand.”

Brig…

Peter Crawford sat outside the cell that held Carolyn Crawford.  They both stared at each other, the open hostility could have fried the circuits that powered the forcefield.  Peter held a PADD in his hands while Carolyn’s hands rested at her side.  She hadn’t said much since he’d stepped through the doors, and he’d been content to observe her while reviewing the notes from the ranch and the ongoing investigation that was in progress on Earth below.  He started with, “The DNA and genetic analysis from the body of your father is giving the science team a bit of a struggle.”  His eyes went from the PADD to hers, “We move quickly here on the Denver, so anything you’re trying to hide won’t stay in the darkness for long.”

Carolyn gritted her teeth.  “Why don’t you just say what you know, pretender?”  She would have spat at him, but whatever she lobbed would have bounced back at her.

“I’d rather hear it from you.”

A sigh between the clenched jaw and she grumbled, “My father isn’t dead.  He’s in the wind…and far the hell away from any of you.  That Peter Crawford was a clone…and it would have worked.”

Prime Peter chuckled, “That’s where you’re mistaken.  You shed no tears for him or exhibited any kind of emotional connection.  That was the first clue.  The rest was our science team doing their due diligence.  No matter what happened or if you’d found the tears to shed…the truth would have come to light.  You said he’s in the wind?  Location?  Direction?  Intent?”

She stared at him in silence, her fury registering in her glare.  She snarled, “He didn’t tell me.  I wouldn’t let him.  No matter what you do to me, I’ll never be able to tell you.  Even if I did know…I’d rather die at the hands of Starfleet than tell any of you.”

Crawford sighed and stood, finishing his notes.  “You have such a dim view of us.  We don’t torture, and we don’t abuse.  We’re members of the Federation…and we’ve got a duty and a responsibility to uphold.”  He stepped to the door, and a mournful look crossed over his face, “If we were anything like what you imagine us to be…I would have returned the favor you paid to my aunt and uncle on their ranch.  Their blood is on your hands…and you’ll get proper justice for it…not mine.”  The door closed behind him, leaving Carolyn Crawford to stew in her own rage as the emptiness of the situation became more and more apparent to her.

The cargo bay was empty aside from three torpedo casings set side-by-side on their stands. The bay doors parted and Órlaith entered alone. Her security escorts turned and stood next to the bulkhead on the outside. 

Órlaith crossed to the center of the bay to stand in front of the remains of her family.  She was the last one. Setting down the bundle of crimson she was carrying she separated one of the folded cloths and shook it out to reveal the flag of the Terran Empire.  She was surprised there was a pattern for it in the Denver‘s database. 

One by one she draped the flags over the coffins. There was no one else to mourn their passing. Just Órlaith and silent tears began to flow.

Her mother was in the center, and she placed a hand on the coffin.  “Not exactly the state funeral befitting the Empress of the Empire is it mamma?”

She moved to the right casket and stood there in silence, guilt gripping her. Through a choked voice, she forced out the words, “Sorry brother.  Us against the world?  I… sorry.” She fell silent as she wiped her face with the back of her hand.  “I just wish you had listened,  but that wasn’t in your nature was it? All action.” She gave a grave smile and a sad chuckle.  “I won’t forget you.”

Riandri stood off to one side of the cargo bay in the depths of the shadows observing Órlaith say her farewells to her family. It didn’t take much for her to understand exactly how Órlaith felt. Following the events in Montana she had spent 36 hours in sickbay during which time she had been on the receiving end of more than a few angry telling-offs by the medical staff. The disruptor blast she looks at had come close to claiming her life and if not for Órlaith she would have died for sure. The only positive side of her stay in medical seemed to be that the frequent headaches, nausea, and dizziness seemed to have resolved themselves; likely due to the removal of individuals in the caskets before her. 

Riandri stepped forward out of the shadows by the doorway. “The loss of one’s family, no matter what they have done, is the hardest thing to endure. For what it is worth you have my sympathies for their loss. I wish things had turned out differently.”

Órlaith looked up feeling self-conscious from her raw display of emotion.  She had been told it was a sign of weakness.  But Riandri showed no indication of derision, and her condolences seemed heartfelt. 

“Me too,” Órlaith replied simply. 

Riandri smiled and walked up beside her and stood there without saying anything for a few moments, “I wanted to thank you for saving my life and the lives of those on the team I was with. If you hadn’t acted the way you did we would likely be dead. I know for a fact I would be after I was shot.” She turned to look at Órlaith, “I know you have spoken to Commander Cheon but we will need to have a full debriefing soon.” Before Órlaith could respond Riandri held up a hand, “This is not the time for it, take the time you need to mourn your losses.”

Órlaith nodded, not really knowing what to say.  What was there to say? After a long silence, she finally spoke, “No thanks needed.  I did what I thought was right… I just hope Ian… my brother understands that.   There was no need to kill your people.  He just…”  she let her voice trail off choked with guilt and emotion.

“I am sure he does. It is easy for one to lose their way when continually pushed in a direction. You did well making your own path. I think he would be happy about that,” Riandri remarked.

“I wish I could believe you, Lieutenant,” she Órlaith replied.  “I really do.”

Riandri looked at the young woman for a moment and knew, at least in part how she felt. Without thinking she stepped up and wrapped Órlaith in a hug. Seeing Órlaith struggle with the loss before she reminded her of herself all those years ago when she grappled with her own feelings of guilt and shame for surviving the assimilation of her world and then more recently with the loss of James. “It is a belief you, we, all of us who have lost people must have for ourselves. If they cared for you at all then I know they would want the best for you.”

Órlaith hung her head,  “You didn’t know Ian.  He cared for no one but himself.  So no, I…”  She wiped the tears from her cheeks and sighed.  “Sorry,” she exclaimed feeling self-conscious again.

Riandri sighed, “Sadly some people are like that, all you can do is think about how you will want to move forward to make yourself happy and hope, I guess, that they would accept that.”

“That depends on your people I suppose.  In the Empire, I would be waiting for my execution, but I expect you don’t deal with criminals quite as harshly.   Growth is hard in prison.”

Riandri frowned slightly and stepped back, “We don’t, you are right. Though as for growth in prison, I cannot comment on that Órlaith but no matter what happens there is always a way to improve yourself.” 

Órlaith gave Riandri a skeptical expression,  “The ways of your people are strange. Mama would say it’s weakness, yet you have resisted the Dominion.   That is not weak.  In the reality where the Dominion has come to this quadrant time and time again, they came and conquered with little resistance.   Maybe there’s a strength that isn’t so apparent.”

Hiding her smile Riandri nodded, “That is true and something people often miss.”

Cargo bay – Entrance

Cheon stood by the entrance to the cargo bay. After having delivered the news of Órlaith’s parent’s death, he knew that she needed to see them, one last time. He knew what it felt like to have one’s parents suddenly gone without fully knowing why or how. 

Suddenly a chill ran down his spine and knew that he wasn’t alone, “Seong,” is all that he said as she stood in his shadow.

“What is to become of her?”

Cheon shrugged and shook his head. “That isn’t for me to decide.”

“And me?”

Once again he shrugged, “That’s up to you, however, all this cloak and dagger stuff isn’t really a part of the Federation and her allies,” he said softly.

“But it has its merits, Tal’Shiar,” a wicked grin spread across her lips as she winked.

He shook his head and changed the subject back to where it needed to be. “I think we should have a sit down with my Seong and discuss what the three of us can do to help you ‘stay’ out of trouble.”

Alt Seong’s grin vanished as she looked at him. Reaching up she gently rubbed the area where she had taken the bolt from the disruptor. Though it was healed, a phantom sensation still lingered.

“I think I am done with all of this blood and guts,” she confessed as she stepped out of his shadow and looked up into his eyes.

Cheon nodded, “Meet me in my quarters in an hour.”

A smile crossed her lips and she leaned up onto her toes and kissed his cheek before leaving his side to join Riandri and Órlaith.

Órlaith had not expected an audience for this noting Cheon’s entrance. In reality, she didn’t expect a formal funeral for her family. It was a surprise the crew had even bothered to place them in the casings for burial when a phaser set to vaporize would have been faster and more efficient. 

Riandri glanced at Cheon as he stepped up beside them, “Commander, how is your shoulder doing? On the mend I trust?”

“Fully functional,” he replied as he placed a hand on the casket. “I may not have believed in what your family did Órlaith, but no life should have been taken, and no family should have been ripped apart by this chaos.” He looked at her with genuine guilt in his eyes. 

Riandri stood silently beside the pair and nodded in agreement with the XO.

“Thank you, and to be honest I didn’t believe in their goals either.  Such a waste.  My father… both of them were mechanical geniuses and natural leaders.  They could have made the galaxy better, yet they chose violence.”

“Indeed,” Cheon said, placing his hand on her shoulder. “I’m not sure what will happen to you after you leave this ship, but if your statements are true, you should be well taken care of. Also, and I realize this is a long shot, but if you find yourself wanting to join the fleet out here,” he pauses to catch her gaze, “I’ll endorse it. If no one else does.”

Having said that he takes a look at Riandri and motions for them to leave to give this grieving woman time to do just that, grieve.

Órlaith was still finding her footing here on the USS Denver.  It was a whole new world from what she was used to. There was no backstabbing, or people wrangling for a better position by any means necessary.  She still felt the niceness of everyone a little disconcerting, and as strange as it sounded she felt far more comfortable with those that openly displayed their mistrust for her.  

And then there was Rebecca Talon. The woman had he mother’s face, but had none of the cruelty behind those green eyes. But, then there was little expressions. A smirk, a shrug of the shoulders, or a laugh and she would see Bellitor in her. That was going to take some getting used to as well.  Captain Talon was NOT her mother, and yet she was.  

Entering the intelligence offices she looked around.  The officers there gave her curious looks. One, and Ensign, approached her. “Can I help you?”

“Uh…” she hesitated suddenly feeling sub-conscious, “Lieutenant Nalam?”

The ensign nodded, “Have a seat and I will inform the Lieutenant you are here.”

Riandri was leaning back in her chair with her legs crossed on the corner of her desk reading through the latest intelligence reports. Since joining the Denver she had felt herself settling in and the ship and crew were becoming more of a home than a placement for her; especially as she became closer to some of the crew. She was unsure how she felt about that if she was honest with herself, since joining the fleet she had done her best to keep her distance from people to avoid the connections that had hurt her so much in the past. 

A moment later her office door buzzed, sitting up quickly she sat up and brushed the blond hair out of her face, “Enter.” The newest addition to her team, a young ensign named Jasmine, poked her head in.

“Lieutenant, there is a visitor here to see you.”

“Thank you, ensign, send them in,” Riandri said as she placed the PADD in the desk drawer, locked it, and cast a quick glance about her office making sure it was all squared away. 

“Hello,” Órlaith greeted uncertainly.  ”Captain Talon sent me down here.  She thought you could help build me an identity.”

Riandri stared at the young woman for a moment as she processed what she was just asked. “Sorry, you want me to build you an identity?” The request itself was not impossible or overly difficult she admitted to herself, sure she would need to bend some rules and such to get this woman’s new identity into the federation records but it wasn’t something that was unheard of. Before the woman could respond Riandri continued, “I need a bit more information.”

“Such as?” Órlaith asked.

“Who you are for starters, what makes you tick, your likes and dislikes that sort of thing. Do you have an idea of who you want to be? Where would you be from? I would suggest a remote system, limited contact, that sort of thing.” Riandri said as she locked eyes with Órlaith. As she did she couldn’t help but feel, sense, a similarity between the two of them, both having lost everything they new and trying to rebuild.

Órlaith gave Riandri a quizzical look, “Does it matter? In light of recent events… well things have changed haven’t they?  Moth… Captain Talon has suggested that since I have an opportunity at a fresh start and that I should distance myself from Dominus and Bellitor. According to the Captain I look like her Irish grandmother, and thought that could be a starting point.”

Riandri looked Órlaith  for a moment and shrugged, “It’s a starting point.” She sat up and pulled up a list of planets and systems flicking through them. “Guess we can find something and go from there.”

She continued to type away on her computer, “The colony on Naniru Prime I think would work. Little traffic. Easily enough to create an identity. Though…” She paused and looked at Órlaith, “I assume you want to keep Órlaith as your name? What about a surname?”

Órlaith thought, “I think so. Nanitu Prime?”

“Naniru, a small agricultural world mainly with some mining operations, pretty far off the beaten track but a lovely world itself. Mountainous, rugged. Has a decent planetary ring and several moons which is odd for its size. And a type of hardwood that is almost as hard as duranium,” Riandri said without looking up. “It is rimward, down towards the space claimed by the Children of Tama and the Sheliak Corporate. As for surname?” She became as she pulled up the Captain’s files, “How about Murphy; a distant relative? Helps to explain any resemblance questions that may pop up.”

She considered that.  While Captain Talon wasn’t family she was blood. Hell genetically speaking she was her mother. She sighed, “Makes sense. Strange though. My first foray in a legitimate life starts out with a lie.”

Riandri smiled, “It may be but this is one that will harm no one and set you onto a better path.” She continued to type and then pause. “That is set up and will be into the needed systems soon; as far as people need to know is you arrived from Naniru recently in search of something new. It isn’t perfect but there is no reason for people to look at it. I guess the question for you now Ms. Murphy,” Riandri said putting emphasis on the last part, “is what do you want to do now?”

She raised an eyebrow,  “I don’t know.  You think I can remain here until I figure things out?”

Riandri pursed her lips and made a, ‘Hmmm’ sound. “I guess. There is room on the ship and if the Captain is ok with it then that works for me. Though if that is the case I would like to debrief you on everything you know about how you got here and the technology related to it.”

“I don’t know the technical details,” she said honestly.  “But I can tell you the basis behind it.”

Riandri frowned, “That is unfortunate but anything you can provide would be helpful. The potential threat that technology possess to the federation is substantial, as you are well aware. So what can you tell me?”

“I’m sure you’ve heard of the Pythus Sector and how it was destroyed by temporal rifts?”

“I am familiar with it but far from an expert. Do the rifts there act as a means of travel?”

“The device was created based upon those rifts.  Like I said, I don’t know exactly how it works, but it essentially generates an artificial rift.  We have been able refine the technology to narrow and direct the rift to a general time and and location.  Nothing as precise as a specific date and coordinates, but close. As for ourselves we are from the 2420’s.”

Riandri stared at her for a second before responding, “From 45 years in the future. I guess we can assume the ship you arrived on is a much more advanced vessel as well. That poses some possible challenged. You mentioned before that you do not know where the ship is after you were marooned…” Riandri paused, “Sorry, this isn’t meant to be a debriefing on everything though I would appreciate a full report on what you know about the vessel.” 

‘It is vastly superior,” Órlaith replied. “I has a cloaking device, ablative armor, twenty type-XII phaser arrays, six torpedo launchers and a compliment of 2,500.”

Riandri let out a low whistle, “Not something we would want to run across. I will give the Captain whatever information you can provide us with on it.” She looked around the room, relaxed and sighed, “There will be time to talk more but if you do remain here what do you think you would like to do?”

Órlaith frowned,  “I don’t know.  I figured I would join your Starfleet when the time was right, but beyond that I don’t know.”

Riandri nodded, “That is definitely an option. If it is something you want to pursue I would recommend shadowing staff in each of the departments to get a fell for things. I can let the department heads know to expect you if you would like?”

Órlaith smiled, “I would like that.”

“Well then Ms. Murphy, I welcome you to the Denver. I will speak to the heads of the departments today and have them, or more likely someone on their staff get in touch with you,” Riandri said with a relaxed smile. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Órlaith smiled and looked around.  It was weird to be welcomed without hesitation.   This was a whole new reality.   She still didn’t know if she made the right decision to stay here, but one thing was for certain.  She had no regrets betraying her family.  There is more to life than plotting,  causing suffering and seizing power. “I don’t think so,” she said simply.

Riandri smiled, “Good luck then with your new life.”

“Thank you… I think,” Órlaith said with hesitation. “I’ll see you around Rian.. Lieutenant.”

Riandri watched Órlaith leave the office, tapped the end recording button on her machine and clicked her tongue a few times, she knew what the woman had done to set herself on this new course. Though she didn’t doubt that Órlaith wanted to make a new life for herself Riandri felt she needed to keep an eye on her. She wouldn’t be a good intelligence officer if she wasn’t a little suspicious after all.

Ensign Sh’iv rolled her fighter to the right and looked down below.  The farm house was quiet.   The barn sat dark and silent like a bulwark against time.  The house was dark as well.  By all appearances it appeared abandoned.   Intelligence said otherwise.

The Starfleet  assault team sat on the edge of the property just out of tricorder scanning range.  There was no hiding one-hundred trained fighting men and women.   

She rolled back into level flight and scanned her instruments.  Nothing.  She wondered if the Intelligence had in fact been wrong.

Ming settled into a vector parallel to his XO, AKA Knight 4, about 200 clicks off her port wing.  Knight 5 was 200 clicks off of his port wing doing the same.  Knight 3 was 200 clicks off Knight 4’s starboard wing.  Knight two was in a low altitude pattern above him and his XO’s vectors to drop in if and when things devolved into a fur ball. 

It’d been a while since he’d flown combat air patrols, or CAPs, but it was rather like riding a bike.  The space between each craft was to allow for better observation of the terrain below but 200 clicks was nothing for fighters like his wing used if trouble arose.   Not crowding was also likely look less suspicious from the ground.   

The whole cross dimensional incursion thing seemed a bit surreal to Ming despite knowing about the very real existence of the other universes.  He felt hyperaware of his surroundings though.  There was a tension he’d never felt before and he couldn’t put a finger on it.  This was far from his first live fire operation since the war began.  This was something well beyond that.   

As they got closer to the target Marcus felt the hair on the back of his neck stand.  Within moments a realization came to him.  His counterpart was out there….somewhere…..without any doubt.   He murmured, “Bastard.”

Knight 1 knew better to break radio silence and transmit in the open however.  He knew things were closer to getting quite serious but he had no real idea what form it’d come in. One thing he did do was have his fighter’s computer send a tight beam message to the other atmospheric Knights with two words:  Stay frosty.

It was one of the prearranged codes that had been set up with the wing.  It basically meant he felt trouble on the horizon however its nature and direction wasn’t yet known.  Knight 3 sent back an acknowledging double click on the same tight band signal.  Knight 5 was next.  The wing seemed more accepting of some of the signals than others…All except T’Kown who had maintained the unflappability expertly wielded by most Vulcans.  

“Bogies nine o’clock low,” Ensign Sh’iv announced over the intercom. 

Ming checked.  Sh’iv nailed it.  There were enemy craft showing up on the scanners alright.  The slippery buggers were laying in wait.  Smart move Knight 1 thought with grudging admiration. Point in fact it was a tactic which he used more than once.  There was a flash of annoyance at himself for not giving the thought of it being used against him and his flight the seriousness it perhaps should have gotten.   

No matter.  There really was no way of knowing what most new enemies might present.   His first instinct was to dive on them weapons hot.  On an act of pure instinct he growled, “Knights 3 and 4 hard right!  Knights 2 and 5 with me — hard to port NOW!”  

His sensors showed that his orders were being enacted when two coherent green beams of phaser energy split the night where he and his XO would’ve been had they maintained course.  That kind of move was why he had Knight 5 hanging at such high altitudes.   

He found the action absurdly annoying which was uncharacteristic of him in combat.  He was usually able to keep emotionally even handed in combat.  Despite this he said, “Knight 2…Go after the bugger that fired at us on the ground as planned.” 

Knight 1 barely had to glance at the scanners to know it was some sort of firing emplacement.  Just like the flight leader knew there were exactly 4 bogies coming rising toward them from the ground.  After a moment Ming’s blood dropped a few degrees cooler when his fighter’s computer obeyed an earlier command and let him (and his flight) hear enemy transmissions. 

The drop was because he heard an angry voice identical to his saying, “Flogger 3 and 4….Take the Federation fighters that peeled off toward our rights.  The I and Flogger 2 are going after the other two.” 

That answered his question of if there was another version of him around.  Knight one said, “Looks like our dance cards are filled Knights.  Knights three and four are on your pair.  Knight five on me…We’re on our pair.” 

Erikson acknowledged him curtly as usual.   The man often, though not always, acted like words were the same as handing out gold pressed latinum which Ming had a certain respect for. 

Ensign Sh’ivhohlol with her wingman banked left and then right. An enemy fighter crossed in front of her, and she released a deadly barrage of phaser fire but it was a glancing blow and the the enemy rolled away to relative safety. 

Ming had another thought.  He added the enemy’s frequency for a brief transmission.   The head Knight said, “Flogger one….This is Knight one.  I hope you’ll forgive me if I do not wish you luck.  I aim to kick your ass.” 

Knight one proceeded to kill the link right as Flogger one let off an enraged scream.   That was the desired response.  Anger could be a useful tool.  Rage usually made one sloppy.  He actually heard Günter chuckle after the exchange.  Ming, at the moment , didn’t reprimand him.  Instead he dropped the nose of his fighter toward the ship of, he presumed, his counterpart.  His sensors indicated his wingman was right with him.  Head to head wasn’t usually the best game plan but he had something in mind.    

Diving for the ground battery her fighter whistled and was buffeted as she picked up speed.  Adjusting the inertial dampers to max she lined it up on her sensors , and with a single press of a button a pair of full size photon torpedos hanging from under the wings detached.  She pulled up and the fighter wined in protest while the torpedoes acting like “dumb” bombs fell to earth and obliterated the ground battery in a brilliant antimatter explosion. 

Ming’s sensors registered the explosion and he grinned.  He realized however it was Sh’iv rather than T’Kown.  At a glance he noted that the Vulcan was still a few seconds out.   He scowled slightly and made a mental note to flip flop their designations after this party was over. It was an oversight he should’ve caught when he elevated Knight 4 to XO. 

After what amounted to less than a heartbeat he shook the thought off.  He said, “Knight Actual to all Knights.  Switch to scrambler code Foxbat on my mark…Mark!” 

Once he stopped speaking he switched the encryption accordingly.  After a second or so he’d gotten four acknowledgements at which point he said, “Knight two, eyes out for another ground emplacement and ground fire.  Knight 5 you’re with me on designate Floggers one and two.  XO and Knight 3 on the remaining two.”

Ming and Günther dove on their pair.  He triggered his phaser array when he got the tone.  The ship he fired out rolled off to a side just as he did so with the wingman following suit.  Not before the wingman flogger fired at Knight 5 missing by literal inches but scorching the dorsal side of the Federation fighter’s starboard wing.   The Federation pilot swore loudly and acidly as he stuck with his flight commander.          

Knight Actual and Knight 5 chased their quarry with something just short of alacrity.  Ming sent a short code to his wingman and got an almost immediate acknowledgement.  Three seconds later both fighters fired their phasers at the flogger in front of Knight 5.  The mirror Ming pulled up hard at the second the Federation fighers had fired.  The mirror’s wingman wasn’t so lucky as it was hit and went down as it started breaking up.  Ming’s counterpart must’ve thought he was the target.  Just as well.    He’d just lost his wingman and was now in a 2:1 fight where the odds were now against him.  

Sh’iv rolled right just as energy fire flashed by her cockpit.  Pulling a hard turn she dove towards the ground he wingman struggling to keep up. The enemy followed closely as she side slipped from side to side making getting a targeting lock more difficult.   

She pulled a hard tight left turn, and her cockpit sensors screamed in alarm as the inertial damper warnings lit up her cockpit screen.  Master caution alarms filled the cockpit as over G loading stressed the spaceframe. The enemy fighter shot past, and as her enemy came into her targeting sensors and she released a full barrage of phaser fire and micro-photon torpedoes slammed into it and it started streaming smoke.  The pilot ejected, and unmanned the fighter nosed groundward  slamming into the Montana prairie and erupted into flames.

Ming didn’t relish the idea of killing his alternate self however he relished the idea of his own death less.  He activated the homing mechanism on the queued micro-torpedo and fired it off as he signaled, “Knight Actual:  Fox 2!”  

The Mirror Ming banked hard to starboard and almost dodged it.  Almost being the operative word.  It did save the mirror counterpart from turning into a fireball.  The concussion caused the enemy ship to move and flex unnaturally before starting into a wounded dive as it started to break up.  Ming saw his mirror counterpart eject as soon as the other deemed it safe.   He didn’t fire even though he suspected the other Ming might have.   

That left one enemy fighter out there.  That one was taken out by Knight 2, the current designation for Ensign T’Kown, who dove on the final enemy fighter and fired turning the final flogger into a fireball.  On that note he commed in to the flight frequancy, “Knights….Knight Actual.  That takes care of that batch of threats.  Keep an eye out though since there may be other bogies out there.  We have to keep the airspace clear until the ground forces are clear.”

“Understood sir,” Shi’iv responded back, “I’m still flying sir, but my panel is lit up like an Andorian sunset.”

Ming scowled.  He knew Erikson had taken some damage too.  Superficial to light most likely as his wingman was keeping up with him but damaged none the less.   

The Knight CO snarled with frustration but ended it before keying back into coms, “Damn.  Knights 4 and 5….Knight Actual.  Can you make it back to Denver?”

“I’ll try Knight Actual,” Sh’iv replied back.

“Good.  Get yourselves back home, have the flight crews patch up and reload ASAP and get yourselves back as soon as plausable.  Knight Actual, Knight 2 and Knight 3 will hold things down here.  We’re still in good enough shape to do so.  If they can’t get it done in a reasonable amount of time….Get creative.  While you’re up there report the situation to whomever is in the Captain’s chair on my authority.  You got me XO,” Ming ordered then asked to verify his orders were clear. 

“Understood Knight 4 out.”

She pulled back on the control stick and increased power to the impulse engines but as she did the fighter started to shake violently and audible alarms filled the cockpit.  The engines spewed black smoke and plasma as she arched across the sky

“Knight 4 to Knight Actual…” her voice came over the coms with vibrato, “Engines are over heating.  Unable to return to base.”  She leveled off and reduced power to the engines and the vibration ceased, but the fighter was still streaming plasma. “Controls are sluggish,” she added as the fighter started to roll to the left in a shallow bank. She slowly increased power to the left engine and the asymmetrical thrust leveled the craft, but the vibration returned, just this time not as violently.

Ming snarled.  He was NOT going to lose a pilot on his first time out as a commanding officer.  He’d storm the gates of Hell followed by Gre’thor before he let that happen.  His fierce sense of loyalty was speaking and he didn’t care.  “Knight Actual to Knight 5…..How bad is your damage,” the Knight’s leader radioed.

Knight 5’s gutteral response came back, “Largely superficial sir.  Very slight drag but otherwise no issues.”

“Understood Knight 5.  If you’re not 100% than I need you to return to base.  Reserve the Mialoss along with Crewman Andrews and either Ensign Lott if he’s available.  Stand ready reassigned from fighter pilot to SARdog.  The Mialoss is better for fast in an fast out with some teeth IF they can’t fix your fighter in short order”  Ming commanded

There was a long pause before the German accented pilot replied, “Understood.  Knight 5 returning to the Denver.”

The Knight leader checked and saw Knight 5 comply.  He added, “Knights 2 and 3 continue on fighter and ground supression.  Three is assigned to wing and two is assigned to lead.  Confirm.”Knight two’s acknowledgement came a moment before three’s.  Nodding, “Knight Acutal to Knight 4.   Can you mantain flight or is that becomming problematic?”

There was a long pause,  “Knight 4 to Actual… I am able to maintain altitude,  vut maneuvering is difficult.  There’s a civilian airfield in Billings,  I am going to attempt a landing there.  Save it if I can.”

Ming’s blood was running more icily than going nose to nose with his mirror.  His death was not something he relished considering however losing someone under his charge was something he feared much more.  Maybe it was something to discuss with the ship’s counselor assuming that the Denver had been assigned one yet.“Actual to 4….I’m guiding you in.  2 and 3 should be ok for a little while at least.  Worst case we have the emergency transporter systems onboard. The ship we can replace if needed.  You’re not replacable, Ensign. Either which way I am with you,” Ming said.

The flight commander looked at his sensors and tapped the controls a couple of times.  “Shit,” was the first word that ran through his mind when he saw the readings on his XO’s ship.  Her ship was in dire straights worse than the outside scans by the mark one eyeball lead one to believe.  Verbally he continued, “Let’s head in that direction.  I have my emergency transporter locked on to you just in case. Seeing as your ship is the one in distress I will suggest you be the one to declare the emergency and get guidance from the control tower attached to the field.” 

“Understood sir,” Shi’iv responded. Switching to civilian frequencies Sh’iv spoke, “Knight 4 to Billings Approach. I am declaring an emergency. Requesting vectors.”

“Billings Approach to Knight 4. Understood.  Adjust heading to 120 and decend and maintain 5300 to intersect the localizer at HEXOS. When you get a chance fuel and souls on board.”

Sh’iv hadn’t even looked at that gauge until now.  The duetierum tanks were dangerously low.  Something had compromised one of both of the fuel tanks. “Knight 4, Approach, two souls on board… approximately twenty minutes worth of fuel.  Possible fuel leak.”

“Approach,  thank you Knight 4. Switch to 127.2 for tower. Goodluck.”

“Knight 4 to Approach.  Switching to 27.2. Thank you.”

The rest of the approach went smoothly.  With the runway in sight she slowed even further and thr fighter started the vibrate violently.   She had full pitch, but roll was minimal at best.  She could control yaw with engines and so far that had been effective.  Switching back to Starfleet frequencies, “Knight 4 to Actual. How should I land this thing?  I’m not sure I have full vertical control.”

Ming could all but feel her uncertainty.  He made a point to keep his voice a bit lighter with the next words that he spoke, “Very carefully Ensign.”

He spoke a bit more seriously now, “Try not to force it and do not make any sudden corrections.  Any corrections that need to make try to be deliberate but gentle about them.  Hopefully that makes sense.”   

She chuckled,  “Carefully was the plan sir.  I’m not going to risk a vertical landing.”

“Billings tower to Knight 4, you are cleared to land runway 10-left.”

“Knight 4 to Billings tower, cleared to land 10-left.”

Intentionally leaving the landing skids up since the fighter didn’t have wheels.  Pulling back on the speed she deployed a little reverse thrusters to slow her approach.  Absently she wiped sweat from her brow as the runway grew closer. 

In what seemed like hours, but in reality was only a few minutes she was gliding over the threshold  and a moment later she had touched down on the concrete surface and was skidding along making a terrible grinding noise of tritanium on concrete. Once she was fully touched down she applied reverse thrusters and the fighter slowed  and  finnally came to a stop in the center of the runway.

Ming had coordinated his own flight path and landing near Sh’iv’s wounded bird.  He taxied close and set his systems to standby.  He exited his fighter and walked toward the one belonging to his XO.  He shook his head as he looked over her fighter.   It could’ve been worse but it could have been much better.

The lieutenant looked at Sh’iv as she exited her figther.  She looked a little wrung out but understandable after that ride.  He studied her for a moment before he said, “You’re not hurt are you, ensign?”

“I am not,” she replied as she looked over her fighter.   Seeing the whole aft section for the first time it was pock marked from phaser fire with whole panels missing. “I thought I did the damage when I went over G. I didn’t realize that pilot nealry got me.”

“I know the feeling.  I nearly got my ass shot off at the start of the war.  My bird was at least as bad as yours but somehow I made it home.  I am just as happy to made it safely here.  I’d hate to lose my XO especially first run out,” Ming said with some lightness to start with more sincerity toward the end.

“That’s hard to belive sir.”“It was at least as much luck as skill,” the Human said with a hint of almost gallows like humor. 

Ming said more soberly, “We still have a job to do.  Denver still has not recalled us and ground ops has not confirmed the situation has been resolved.  Right now Knight’s two and three are out on their own.  As it stands we need to get back in the game.  With your bird in the shape she is I would like to suggest having Denver send down security to secure your ship and that you join me on my fighter as EWO and gunner if you’re willing.”

Sh’iv nodded simply,  “I’ll do what I can.”

Ming fixed Sh’iv with a confident look from his violet eyes as he said, “I am certain you’ll do fine XO.” 

“Thank you sir.”

The lieutenant tapped his combadge, “Ming to Denver.  Requesting a three member security detail to secure a downed fighter on the Billings airfield.  The pilot will be joining me in my fighter assisting with our assigned duties.  Please confirm.” 

The LT JG security officer replied and confirmed.  Within minutes a security team consisting of four security team members materialized on site.  After a brief exchanged between the Knight and the senior security team officer the ranking pilot gestured for Sh’iv to walk with him as he headed toward his fighter.  

David glanced at Sh’iv and smiled, “This’ll be the first time I’ve had a colleague with me in one of these in quite a while.  They’re technically one to two person ships but with the war personnel are generally limited so a fighter is a one person show more often as not.”

“Everyone’s a bit short fleetwide,” Sh’iv observed. “Makes sense not to double up your losses if you can help it.”

When they arrived at what’d been his fighter alone Lt. Ming gestured and said, “After you Ensign.”

Sh’iv nodded her antennae twitching as she pulled her flight helmet back on and climbed into the second seat of the fighter. She immediatly went to work doing pre-flight checks.

Ming followed his XO into the starfighter and assisted with the startup along side her.  He made a point to watch her out the corner of his eye.  In a combination of pointed professional discussion and a bit less casual chitchat the Lieutenant said, “One of the pilots we knocked out of the sky was a mirror universe alternate.  I was lucky.  I managed to think of what I’d do on a worst day possible and it worked out.  I still find it deeply…..unsetteling.  I mean the fact he was out there and had the very likely intent to kill me and my team makes it a bit harder to wrap my mind around.”

Sh’iv looked over a Ming before entering commands, “Targeting scanners… green.  Phasers… green.  Micro-torpedo launchers… green.  Tactical systems are a go. Lieutenant,  now is not the time to be discussing personal matters.  You can wrestle with the moral implications later, but for now my life and yours depends on your head being in the moment.”

David Marcus Ming nodded, “I realize that.  It was a momentary thought at most.  I have every intent on focusing on getting our mission done and all of us back to the Denver.  I can gaurantee that.  Continuing on……”

“Impulse generators… standby.  Impulse regulators… check. Impulse intercoolers… check.  Landing struts… deployed and locked.  Ground lights… on. Atmospheric controls… check. Anti-grav generators… check.  Preflight checklist is complete.”

With the checklest done in almost half the time Ming initiated the launch sequence and took them out into the sky and back into the fray.  As he set course toward the remaining two fighters in action he said, “True.  I saw the damage to that … well, whatever type of aircraft that was…took.  I’ve not seen the like so I presume it’s either something they cobbled together from this universe or else something they brougth with them.  But I do know it was critical damage that was forcing him down.  That was clear and the ship made a survivable crash landing.  It might make sense to keep an eye out for him just in case.  If he is as persistant as I can be it may not be the last dance with him.  Maybe.”

Ming manuvered a bit when they caught up with Knight’s 2 and 3 so that they were in a three ship triangle with Ming/Sh’iv in the lead, Knight two port and aft with Knight three starboard aft.  He said, “Shared scanning duties, electronic warfare and countermeasures to you, weaps and ordinance status checks primarily to you with piloting and weapons execution to me.  Any objections to that arrangement?”

“All systems a go,” Sh’iv said to Ming.

David nodded at Sh’iv’s response and kept a wary eye out in the term often used by earlier naval professionals.  He found himself also occasionally glancing at his XO and current EWO/Weaps officer.  He found himself trying to gauge her emotions amidst his due diligance to keep up with the current tactical and strategic duties.  There were points he had to hide a smile when he did so.  He perked up as he noticed some readings.  He said, making sure secure comms were operating, “Bearing 049 near ground level.  1.72 miles out.  Very near the property and main target for the ground troops.   I’m seeing readings that strike me as odd but I am not able to deturmine what they are.  Does anyone have a better visual or sensor view?”

Knight 2 radioed in, “Knight two reporting.  I don’t have anything more to add Knight Actual.  Negative on more detail.  I am unfamiliar with the emissions however it could be a weapon of some unknown design.”

Knight 3 chimed in after Knight 2’s report, “I concur with it being out of sorts Skipper.  It could just as easily be their means of jumping dimensions.  That said I do detect friendly ground IFF signals in the vacinity.  It might get dicey dropping what munitions we have left on target with that in mind.”

Ming considered McPherson’s analysis and nodded.  Valid points as well.  David then looked to Sh’iv and asked, “Your assessment XO?”

“Use the terrain to mask our signature,  get a good scan of the target and paint it for the others,” Sh’iv suggested. 

Ming considered the situation for a moment. Bombing the site was obviously out.  Considering the payload the risk to friendly forces would be too great.  Phasers it would be.  He also decided his fighter was the one going in.  Unlike the two other Knights he had assistance with him to help with keeping an eye on the scanners as well as the hardware status and more.   

“Knights 2 and 3…This is Knight Actual Primary.  We’re doing the attack run.  Cover us!  Help make sure we don’t get surprised,” Ming radioed. 

He turned and smiled at Sh’iv before saying, “Secure the torpedoes.  This’ll be a phaser run to lessen the risk of hitting friendlies. Keep an eye out for any surprises if you would.  Ship status too.  Any questions XO?” 

“Torpedoes are secured,” Sh’iv replied.   “Shields to maximum.  None sir.” 

Ming flashed Sh’iv a smile that was both confident, reassuring with a touch of something leaning toward unreadable.  He said, “Outstanding.  Let’s finish wrecking the mirror universe’s plans.” 

“They never stood a chance,” she replied.   “Foolish to try.”

David brought the fighter to atmospheric attack speed as he moniterd his readouts and sensor readings.   As they got closer he added visual scans as sometimes the mark one eyeball was sometimes the best.  He allowed himself to focus on the run.   

A moment later Knight 3 radioed, “Knight 3 to Knights actual and two….Possible AA emplacement three degrees port from target.  We’re being actively scanned.” 

“Actual prime to Knight 3…You’re cleared for attack.  Recommend guided torpedo at max range.  Knight 2….Fall back and continue to provide cover,”  Lieutenant Ming replied.  It was a necessary risk he had decided. 

After he got acknowledgements he muted the channel and muttered, “So much for a milk run to wrap things up.” 

A few seconds later Knight 3 let torpedoes fly…one to be specific.  It honed in and took the emplacement out with a spectacular light show.  A moment and a half later Ming got a good look at his target.  A hasty job of a small prefab building at the edge of the property.   

Smoothly shifting from his sensor displays, to his controls, to visual back to sensors again and starting the process over again.  He took a deep breath and held it for a moment before he cut loose with his fighter’s phaser arrays.  The building and contents all but disintegrated into a superheated mass of slag under the onslaught of the coherent energy beams

Moments later the three fighters were back in formation.  Nothing like a good cleanup run.  He took his eyes off of the controls and readouts for the span of a couple of heartbeats as he studied Sh’iv’s face.  Returning to the flying necessities he said, “I’m actually rather glad we’re getting to fly the remainder of this mission together.  You have done nothing but reaffirm my decsision to make you my XO.  I am also quite pleased that you’re on my team.”  

“Talon to fighter wing.  Targets are dead. Situation is secured,” the captain’s voice broke over the coms.  “Return to Denver.”

“Knight Acual Alpha to Talon.  Knight 5 already returned with damage.  Knight 4 is returning with me as her fighter was forced down due to damage and is at the Billings airfield under guard and is unflyable.  Knight Actual alpha and beta, 2 and 3 setting course back to Denver.”

The three fighters moved to comply and set course for the USS Denver.  This wasn’t the one sided victory one might hope for.  It was a victory none the less and everyone was going home.  That was what mattered.

The shuttle was concealed within the confines of some long ago abandoned building.  The roof had long ago caved in, and the concrete walls were cracked and windows stood empty to the elements. Whatever the ancient Americans had used this building for Bellitor didn’t know.

Glancing over her shoulder with Maveren in tow she pushed through the open doorway and entered the building.  Peter Crawford was already there doing the final checks on the shuttle’s systems when they approached.

Peter was quiet, and simmering.  His daughter was by now in the custody of this universe’s Starfleet.  They had long agreed that if they were separated, she would find him.  She was 16 years old and she’d been bathed in enough blood to harden her heart and mind to a blunt edge.  He had plenty of vengeance to wreak once they were in the air, and this place was in need of some murdering.

“Where is your daughter?” Bellitor asked approaching.

“She knew the risks.  We both did.  I’m just thrilled to be alive and on the run.  No better place to be.”

“It seems  both our children have failed us.” Bellitor entered the shuttle and the Vorta handed her a black box before sliding into the pilot’s seat.  Bellitor took a seat near the back to let Peter take up the co-pilot’s seat.

Crawford asked the question that held in the growling silence, “…and our partner?”

“He won’t be joining us.  I made sure of that.  Dominus was a liability despite my feelings… maybe that was why he was a liability.”  Bellitor opened the case and sorted through the vials, and removed three vials. They were labled in white with Dominus, Órlaith, and Jeter in bold black San Serif font. Tossing them to the deck she stomped the vials crushing them leaving glass shards and puddles of genetic material. “Once they are dead… there will be no coming back for them, though I expect Dominus is already dead.” 

She extracted two more vials before snapping the case shut.  These vials were labeled “P. Crawford” and “C. Crawford.”  She tossed them to Peter, “You and your daughter’s fates are in your hands now.  You have earned that much.  I will give you whatever your heart desires, though unfortunately I’m afraid it isn’t much beyond the word that you are discharged from my service.  You are not longer my subordinate.  We are equals.”

Peter accepted the vials and stared at them for a long time before sighing, “I don’t want to cheat my way through life anymore.”  He did the same with the vials as Bellitor had done and let out a long sigh, “Carolyn wasn’t keen on it anyway…she said it creeped her out.  As much as she’s lived and learned, she’s still a teenager down in the deep.”  Another sigh, “What’s next?”

“Maveren, get us out of here.” Bellitor tucked the case under her seat and sat back. “I have one last job for you should you accept it.  Kill Jeter.”

Crawford raised both his eyebrows, “I do enjoy killing every once in a while.  Keeps me in practice.  How do you want it done?”

“Dealer’s choice,” Bellitor replied.  “Just make sure he knows why.”

The shuttle lifted off the ground and soared into the distance, leaving the disaster behind.  She was a fugitive, but believed dead, and dead she intended to remain that way… at least for now.

Near the Nalam Cabin – 15:30

After a quick swim in the brisk stream by her cabin, Riandri lay in a hammock near her cabin, letting the sun warm up her skin as she stared at the sky through the leaves of the large birch trees the hammock was strung up between. Her thoughts were a jumble after the last couple of months and the ramifications of the visitors from another universe but as always her cabin, the one place that reminded her of her childhood home helped to settle her mind. 

As she listened to the wind through the leaves and the sound of the creek made her temporarily forget about the wider world, the war, and the evil versions of the crew. As she thought on it part of her wondered what she would have been like in those alternate universes, would she even be in this part of the galaxy, had the Borg destroyed her world? Given everything she saw from those she encountered she didn’t think she would like her other self.  She was pulled from her thoughts when her combadge’s alarm, sitting next to her towel on a low branch, chimed. With a sigh, she realized she had spent a lot longer at the stream and lost in thought than she had expected. 

Swinging out of the hammock she stepped into her sandals and grabbed the towel and flipped it onto her shoulder before starting to walk back up the trail to her cabin. 

Ten minutes later Riandri stepped through the door of her log cabin, “Computer, play top hits from the early 2000s.” Without pause, the computer started playing music from some random girl group she recognized but couldn’t put a name to. Kicking off her sandals she made her way to the bedroom to change out of her swimsuit and into some clothes more appropriate for the company.

Starbase 1 – 18:30

“She’s made no effort to reach out to you, Peter.”  The woman across from the deck leaned back in her chair, “She continues to be secure and has made no attempts to escape.”

Crawford had asked for the meeting with Lieutenant Commander Harris in hopes of finding some resolution to the reality of a 16-year-old daughter from another universe in the deepest darkest hole Starfleet could find.  She was a rising star in the diplomatic corps and he needed a favor.  She was walking the company line far as he could tell.  “It’s just…there’s a part of me who feels responsible for her.”

Rachel Harris raised her eyebrows, stood, and leaned over the desk, “She is not your daughter, Peter.  The amount of destruction that has been laid waste upon her psyche isn’t something I’m sure we can safely calculate.  If even half of the stories we’ve heard whispered of the Crawford family from the other universe is any indication – monsters is the kindest word I can say in this uniform.” His hands clasped and wrestled with each other, and she chuckled and held up her hand as he stared at her, annoyed.  She explained, “My son does something similar when he can’t argue his way out of something.  You’re not going to save her, Crawford.  I’m not sure anyone can.  Given what the psych examinations are telling us, she’s going to need a lot of time to be reprogrammed from the life she lived.”  She sat back in her chair.

Peter didn’t like being wrong, and he didn’t like not having a path forward.  He swallowed his pride, “She is not my daughter.  But she is someone’s kid.  Just…keep me in the loop?”

She scoffed, “I can give you bare minimum updates…such as ‘she’s still alive’.  That’s about all you’re going to get.  Put some distance between yourself and this, Peter.  You’re going to have to find the time to accept the reality.”

He stood to attention, “I’ll try.  Thanks for seeing me, ma’am.”

She smiled warmly, “I’m still in your coms as ‘second mom,’ aren’t I?

Crawford felt his face reddened, “Yes’m.”

“Then don’t forget to call more often, Pete.  I’m always here.”  He thanked her and headed out of the office.

Cabin – 18:45

Riandri sat outside by the unlit fire pit and barbeque setup she had built many years before in jeans and an unbuttoned loose fitted plaid shirt over her white t-shirt. Behind her, the picnic table was laid out with all the traditional barbeque accoutrements and several plates of various meats and meat alternatives. She grabbed the beer beside her and took a sip before glancing at her watch. “Wonder who will show up first?”

“Do I win a prize?” came a voice from behind her causing Riandri to almost spill her beer. Turning she saw Robert Jeter standing there in jeans and a shirt with two cartoon figures she didn’t recognize, a little kid and a tiger riding a wagon. 

“Your pick of the drinks I guess,” Riandri remarked as Jeter’s smiled and stepped over to the table and poured himself a glass of Saurian brandy before taking a seat across from Riandri.

Looking around at the open sky above them and the mountains towering over them Jeter clicked his tongue a few times before speaking. “It is very beautiful here, I can see why you like it. A bit too open for a spacer such as myself but still stunning.”

“I like it,” Rebecca said grinning.  Har father Jonathan stood to her right and Órlaith to her left.  Her husband Milo and the kids were still on Starbase 75 so she brought with her the only family she had on Earth.

“It is quite stunning. I can’t believe I waited this long to come to Canada,” Jonathan Sandoval added.

“Thanks, I am quite fond of this place myself, built it, well updated it, about 80 years ago. Has become my place to escape to,” Riandri remarked. “Please grab a drink, I will get the barbeque going in a few. Once anyone else arrives.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Rebecca said, “I’m starving.”

“Grab whatever you want on the table, there are chips and such. Wanted to give it a bit longer to see who else shows up for the real food to go on,” Riandri said, “Hope that is ok.”

Crawford waited until the transporter had faded to take a long breath and let it out slowly.  Riandri had invited the crew over to her place in Canada.  They’d had dinner a dozen times since May, and they were quietly feeling out their feelings with each other.  Things had been moving along more and more in the last month, and he was holding onto his promise to her to take it slow.  They’d shared more laughs and quiet moments together than he’d ever with anyone else.  There was something about the way she looked at him that nearly buckled his decks.  They’d come close to a kiss two weeks ago and they’d awkwardly retreated when it became apparent neither of them was sure what was going on.  They’d done lunches and dinners in the mess hall but had steered clear of their quarters.

As he walked up the hill and came into sight, he felt his heart flutter as he caught her laughing about something.  He steeled himself and soldiered on and waved to the crew as he approached, “Evening everybody.”  He gave Riandri a smile and nod while he fixed his drink, and sat down in the chair next to her.  The conversations were overlapping and he leaned over in his chair, “Hey.”

“Hey, you,” Riandri responded with a smile. “Glad you made it, wasn’t sure you would.” She had to admit her stomach jumped as it filled with butterflies when she saw him but her feelings were all twisted when it came to Crawford. There some something about him that she really liked but she wasn’t sure if she could be that open yet with someone. Leaning over towards him she spoke just loud enough for Peter to hear, “Did the meeting go well?”

Peter grimaced, keeping his voice low.  “My friend was forceful in making sure I understand how little I get to know…and that Carolyn’s not reaching out…as well as a lack of information on my alternate’s place in the world.  I’d rather not keep my eyes over my shoulder for the rest of my life…and maybe he doesn’t ever come for me.  It’s all a bit confusing.”

Riandri frowned slightly, concern and annoyance flashing across her face, “I am sorry to hear that. I will keep my ears open for anything and let my contacts know to give us a heads-up if they hear anything. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. If he shows up we will handle him.” With that, she reached over and took his hand giving it a squeeze.

Ming had decided to bring his old friend Joel as his plus one.  He wasn’t seeing anyone and he thought it’d be nice for his old friend and his crewmates to meet.  They also opted to bring some alcoholic beverages along as gifts as they were accustomed to.  Two bottles of Tullamore Dew, their shared favorite, was an Irish Whiskey that they’d spent many a time sipping over ice while chatting (and once or thrice partying with) was one gift while Joel had managed to score some Château Picard should anyone prefer wine.  He’d brought a bottle of red and two of white. Both men made a b-line for where the beverages were and deposited the bottles there for general use.  

Ming went for a glass of whiskey, on the rocks, with a splash while Joel went for a glass of red.  Joel asked his old friend, “Anyone you’ve gotten to start to know fairly well yet?”

Marcus shook his head, “Not really.  I have been spending most of my time drilling the wing.  Aside from that, there’s been a few senior staff briefings and maybe two meetings with the captain and the ship’s XO.   Nobody has been standoffish or anything.  There’s just been seemingly little time to get to know the other more senior officers…Still feels a bit odd to count me among those folks, to be honest.”

Joel smiled and said to his friend, “So you’ve mentioned.  Well, shall we mingle and see what happens?” 

“Sure.  Seems like a fair idea to me,” Ming replied before they started to openly look for folks to talk to among the Denver crew and company.   

“Excuse me, Lieutenant,” Órlaith announced timidly after approaching the flight chief.

Marcus lowered his drink as he was about to take a drink.  He didn’t mind the interruption.  This was a party and a social affair after all.  He nodded in a friendly manner and smiled slightly, “Hello there.  I don’t believe we’ve met have we?”

“My name is Órlaith.  Órlaith Murphy. I hope I am not interrupting.”

Ming and McCabe exchanged glances and both men introduced themselves.  After which Joel said, “Not at all.  But if you’ll both excuse me I should review the food to make sure the food meets my exacting standards.”

Marcus nodded to his friend, “I’ll expect a report later Chef McCabe.” When his friend departed the Knight’s CO explained, “My friend there is a chef by trade.  A damned good one if I might add.  It was also my old friend’s way of giving us a chance to talk.  You also look like a woman with business in mind.  Assuming that I am right what can I do for you, Ms. Murphy?   

The woman nodded pleased with the response. “It was suggested that I should find something to do on the Denver. I get that you probably won’t be able to get me into a fighter, but I would like to learn what I can from you. I would like to be your… apprentice.”

The Lieutenant looked thoughtful for a moment.  He scrutinized the young lady suddenly switching into professional mode.  He said, “Not a request I often get.  I would be willing I suppose if Captain Talon agrees to it.  Is there a particular goal you have in mind?”

“Well… uh… Okay, I don’t rightly know for sure, but pilot sounds like a fun job, but the truth is I never gave my future much thought until now.  I was more or less just living day by day.”

He added, “I’m guessing you’re not officially Starfleet yet.”

“Uh… no.  To be honest, I’m not even sure if Starfleet is the direction I want to go, but I haven’t taken it off the table either. It is my understanding that I can earn Academy credit through this capacity.  That seems like a wise choice.  I figure out what I do want to do, and if this is the direction I want to go I am already ahead of the game.”

Marcus studied the young lady a moment longer.  He trusted his insights and his insight was saying to give Órlaith a chance.  He said, “I agree conditionally.  If Captain Talon is on board with this I will insist on some Holodeck aptitude assessments.  You’ll have the leeway of course as I don’t expect you to know too much but I would like to see how you handle various ships.  If all goes well to this point I think I’d be willing if not happy to agree to that if you decide to continue with it.  

“I have done some piloting. Nothing in a fighter, and especially not in a combat situation.  I get you can’t get me in a real fighter, but I will do whatever you want me to do. Fuel, load, or wash your ship. I just want to learn.”

The aviator watched the young woman as she spoke.  He admired the sincerity she emitted.  The base piloting knowledge was very much a plus.  The proverbial sticky widget was the fact she was, in fact, a civilian.  The more she spoke, however, the more convinced he became that the right decision was to bring her along. 

Marcus said, “I am glad you feel that way.  I’ve been drilling the Knights at every opportunity I have had.  It’s improved a couple of the pilots’ flying skills and has done wonders for unit cohesion.  I think we’d be able to make room for one more.  I’m also confident Chief Xellath can show you the basics of ship repair and maintenance too if you wish.  Make no mistake….If you want to learn and gain experience you’ll get the opportunity to.”

Marcus offered her a genuine smile, “I think you’ll fit right in, to be honest.  I am looking forward to having you with us.”

Órlaith smiled, “Thank you, sir.  When should I report?”

Knight Acual’s violet eyes narrowed in thought for a second before he replied, “Report to the Denver at 1100 hours tomorrow ship time.  I’ll work on the arrangements.  You can meet me in my office, just off the flight bay, at 1600 hours.  That’ll give you at least a little time to start to get settled in.”  

“See you then sir,” she said with a smile.  “Now,  if you’ll excuse me… I’m going to ravage some of these snacks.” With that, she turned and headed for the snack table.

The next little bit passed as the crew of the Denver mingled before Jeter stood up and looked around, “I don’t know about everyone else but I am getting a bit hungry.” He turned to Riandri, “Mind if I get the food on?”

“Go nuts Chief,” Riandri said with a laugh, the alcohol starting to get to her. The Chief smiled and raised his glass to her and moved towards the barbeque quicky igniting it.

Three transporter beams appeared out of nowhere as Cheon stood in the middle of two women: Seong and Sister. He smiled as he looked at them. “Sweetheart, please introduce your sister to the crew,” he said softly, kissing the side of her cheek.

“Cheon, I am your wife’s duplicate, not her long-lost sister,” Sister teased as she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. She smiled back at Seong. It was an odd display, but she leaned over to kiss Seong on the cheek before leaving them to mingle with the Denver crew.

Seong was stunned for a moment before her senses returned to her. “She is correct, my beloved. She’s not someone who doesn’t know who the crew is,” she teased, slipping her hand into his as they walked over to where the senior staff was mingling.

Sister walked over to Riandri was sitting and stood before her. “May I?” she asked.

Riandri looked up at her and shrugged, “Sure thing.”

Sister bowed slightly and took a seat. She looked at Riandri. “How’s the injury?”

Riandri smirked and rotated her arm without issue, “It healed nicely, thanks to you and Órlaith. Have to say it is not something I want to repeat.” She stopped for a moment and took a drink before she turned to look at Sister, “I am curious, what are your plans now? Will you be staying?”

Sister lowered her gaze for a moment as she considered Riandri’s question. In reality, she had no family in the Terran Empire, and even if she returned, how could she convince the empire that she was the last of her bloodline?

Looking up, she smiled, which was still new to her, and said, “I think I will be after all, the closest thing to family that I truly have is Seong and Cheon.” 

Sister had no idea what her plans were because her main goal had been to destroy Bellitor for her mother’s murder, but that had been slightly taken away from her. She shrugged as her gaze met Riandri’s, “Who knows,” was the most simple explanation she could think of at the time.

Rebecca sat off the side with her father with her ever-present coffee in her hand.  She rarely drank spirits even off duty. As Captain one never knew when off-duty would turn into on-duty and she wanted a clear head.

Jonathan leaned over and refilled his glass with a bottle of mezcal sitting on a nearby table. Sipping it straight he sat back in the lawn chair and stared off into the beauty of it all.  “That’s one hell of a crew you got there.  They’re close, especially Riandri and Peter.”

Rebecca looked over at her father, “What about Peter and Riandri?”

“Have you seen how they look at each other?” He chuckled, “It’s obvious to anyone who has eyes Red.”

Rebecca stared into her coffee, not sure how to respond.  Should she break them up?  There was no regulation against officer fraternization, but she had also seen far too many relationships end badly. “I hadn’t paid much attention,” she admitted sheepishly.

“Well, you had other things going on.”  He grinned looking at Órlaith,  “That one’s a pistol. Now I know what a kid would look like between you and Nicholas.  I was rooting for you hoping you two would get together.”

“Dad!” Rebecca exclaimed. 

Jonathan simply chuckled into his glass.  “So is she my granddaughter or something else?”

Rebecca let that sink in for a moment.   After a long pause, she spoke, “Something else.  Bellitor may have shared my DNA, but she was not me. And officially she’s Uncle Sean’s kid.”

Jonathan nodded, “So that makes her a cousin still.”

“She’s nothing to us. Just an orphan I owe a debt to.  Don’t make it more than it is.”

“Becca, whether you like it or not she has your blood… our blood.  You were probably right to attach her to the Murphy’s. Fewer questions asked, especially since they died in that accident two years ago, but you are the closest thing she has to a mother. Don’t you forget that?”

“So what do I do?”

“Becca… if I had all the answers… well, I don’t know what I would do, but you need to figure that out on your own.  But remember she may look like she’s twenty. She has the intelligence and knowledge of someone beyond that, but she’s still just a child.  Those evil experiments of your counterpart robbed her of a childhood and never has she had a family. Now, it’s your turn like it or not.”

Rebecca nodded, sipping her coffee to hide her frown. “Okay.  You’re right.”

“Of course I’m right. You already knew it too, you just needed a boot to the bum to act on it.”

Jeter stood off by the barbeque humming away to the music that was coming out of the speaker. Before him the burgers and sausages sizzled and popped, turning to look at the others he raised his voice over the other conversations, “Grubs ready folks! Dig in.”

With that, he loaded the first batch onto a plate and took it to the tablets. “Get it while it’s hot.”

“Denver, two to beam directly to medical, code blue.”

Doctor Lorsa was making rounds for the inevitable casualties that would sure to come.  The hail from Seong drove that point home.  “Okay people here we go!” The Bajoran doctor shouted.

A transporter beam materialized and the CMO and an unknown individual appeared.  The individual was no more than eighteen.   She was a child in most human cultures, and certainly not a member of the assault teams. Rushing to Seong’s side she handed the CMO a medical tricorder and was already activating the diagnostic sensors.

Seong didn’t wait for the diagnostic to finish as she lifted Angel up into her arms. “Lorsa, Biobed one, full spectrum,” she ordered. Seong gently laid Angel down and then removed her Tricorder from her medical bag, and synced it with the Denver’s computer. 

“This is Angel Ryder, age 16 and my initial scans indicated minor dehydration and malnutrition. Which wouldn’t have been anything to worry about, until the tricorder picked up this.” she motioned to the monitor which indicated several abnormalities with her genes. “Her last physical did not indicate these and I can only speculate that this happened when Bellitor and Dominus stripped her DNA to create a clone of her.”

Seong turned back to Angel. “Sweety I need you to be brave for a little while longer.” She then tapped on the console of the biobed before attaching a small device to the temple of Angel. “I promise you will be well again when you wake up.” Seong gently soothed her as she nodded for Lorsa to place Angel in a coma.

Angel nodded terror in her eyes moments before the device rendered her asleep.

“It’s a Dominion technique,” Lorsa observed.   “Little care is made for the original donor.”

Seong sighed and ran a hand through her hair as she walked over to the console. “What do we know about this technique?” she asked Lorsa as she brought up Angel’s current gene sequence and her old one.

“Not much,” Lorsa admitted.  “There’s so much about the Dominion we don’t know, but this has all the hallmarks.”

“Lorsa, how’s your Gene therapy?” Seong asked the doctor. “And is it possible to take the genes from her last physical and the transporter archives and maybe, just maybe, gene splice them into her?”

Lorsa shrugged, “I’m orthopedics.  I haven’t dealt with gene splicing since biochemistry courses at the Academy.  I didn’t even encounter it in my resident rotations, but… yeah I think that’s a solid theory.”

Seong nodded, “Good. Setup the biobed while I gather the necessary genes from Angel’s last archived transporter signature,” she stated as she began to transfer the information.

The Bajoran doctor nodded to the CMO and pulled in several nurses to help her.  In a relatively short period, they had changed Angel into a surgical gown, sterilized the area, and had her resting comfortably.   The diagnostic sensor arched over her tiny frame in a half circle and the nearby wall monitor displayed the patient’s vitals.

Studying them she became concerned that Angel’s heart rate had dipped below 50 beats per minute.  Turning to a nurse Lorsa ordered, “Please administrator 10 ccs of Atropine.”

The nurse nodded and filled a hypospray and Angel’s heart rate almost immediately jumped to 60.  “Good,” Lorsa responded. “Thank you.”

Seong looked at them both and gave a nod of approval. “Good job,” she stated before returning to the gene splicing and manipulations that she was having to do on the fly.

“How’s it going, Doctor?” Lorsa asked.

Just then Rebecca entered with Captain Nicholas Ryder at her side.   They didn’t interrupt or say anything.  Standing in the back out of the way they watched with Rebecca’s green eyes piercing the distance, concern etched on her face. For Nick’s part, he played the part of a worried father well, but he also knew better than to jump in and demand answers. 

Seong looked up from her station briefly and nodded to both of the Captains. She then turned her attention to the doctor. “Slow but steady,” she replied to Lorsa. “How is our patient looking?”

“Stable doctor,” Lorsa responded.  “I am cataloging injuries… she is an extraordinarily strong young woman,” the Bajoran said impressed. “I haven’t seen an injury profile like this outside of survivors of the Occupation of Bajor.”

Seong nodded, “I am sure her father would appreciate that she didn’t give up, as evident by these injuries.” Turning she brought over a PADD with her completed work.

“Doctor would you care to check over my work before we implement them into the biobed,” Seong said before she handed the PADD over to Lorsa.

Lorsa nodded and sat down behind a computer terminal and started checking the data. After about fifteen minutes Lorsa nodded. “As far as I can tell everything is in order.”

“Good, set it up in the biobed while I speak with our captain and Angel’s father,” she said as she moved over to where both Rebecca and Nick stood.

Seong stood before the Captain’s and nodded. “Nick…Rebecca,” she paused to allow them to say anything before she continued.

“Doctor,” Captain Ryder said in measured tones.

Seong gently drew Nick aside with her hand on his forearm. “I’m going, to be honest with you, Mr. Ryder. Your daughter has suffered significant genetic damage at the hands of her former abductors. When they created a clone of her,” she explained calmly. “Dr. Lorsa and I believe we can replace or, at the very least, regenerate the damaged genes. However, sir, I must warn you that this is a highly experimental procedure,” she warned.

Nick looked at his daughter a defeated expression on his face. After a moment he nodded, “Do it.”

Seong placed a hand gently on Nick’s forearm before she turned and headed back to Lorsa and Angel.

As she approached the doctor she nodded, “Proceed.”

Lorsa nodded, “This is your idea Doctor.  I’ll monitor vitals, but you should do thr procedure.”

Later…

Angel woke and stared up at the ceiling unmoving letting her senses slot the pieces together.  She wasn’t in her cell or one of Dominus’ labs.  She felt different too…  She felt good.

There was a presence,  and she tilted her head and there he was. Instinctively she recoiled and the man that looked like her father jumped in surprise. He didn’t have the evil eyes of Dominus. “Dad?”

“Yeah kid, I’m here.”

“Is it really you?”

Nick chuckled,  “Yeah, it is.  Must be one hell of  a mind… well it must be really messing with your mind like this.”

Angel gave him a weak smile, “Something like that.  Where am I?”

“The Denver.”

“Aunt Becca’s ship?”

“The one,” Nick said with a smile. “She’ll be around eventually.  She’s got debriefings out that wazoo. Command isn’t happy that Dominus,  Bellitor,  and Ian are all dead. Personally I feel like the trash just took itself out.  The coward Dominus just killed himself when he realized he couldn’t escape.”

Angel didn’t say anything at first, “And of Órlaith? She was actually nice to me.”

Nicholas took a deep breath.  It didn’t escape him that Dominus who was him and Bellitor who was his best friend despite both being evil to their cores they had still produced a child that wasn’t.  At least so it seemed.  “She is confined to quarters.”

“I am glad she is is alive.   She was the closet thing to a friend I had.”

“Okay Captain,” Doctor Lorsa said clearing her throat. “Visiong hours are over.  When Doctor Kyo gets here in the morning we’ll determine is she can go home. Until then your daughter needs rest.”

Nick stood and kissed Angel on the forehead,  “Goodnignt sweetie. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“You too dad,” she responded with a smile.

Nicholas turned and walked out of sickbay while Lorsa filled a hypo with a mild sedative,  “Tbis should help you sleep.”

Pressing the hypo to Angel’s shoulder and a few breaths later she was snoring peacefully.