Triton 3 Lightning Flies, a startrek: other fanfic

Star Trek: Triton

Book Three

Lightning Flies

USS Pioneer, stardate 57120.5

The Pioneer took a direct hit and Batanides held on to her chair as the Breen destroyers flew right past her. She glanced at the information on the console beside her and saw that while they had no warp drive, they still had main power. The shields and weapons were fully charged and they were actually better armed than either of the Breen vessels if the tactical information was accurate. Another jolt rocked the ship even as the woman at tactical let loose another volley of quantum torpedoes and a barrage of phaser blasts.

'Nice work, Lieutenant,' Batanides called to her as one Breen vessel veered off. 'Concentrate your fire on the damaged one. I'll take over the helm.'

'Aye sir.'

Batanides took the helm and the Pioneer began a complex system of weaving and rocking, leaving the Breen ships facing each other and trying to avoid their own weapons.

'The lead vessel is losing power,' the tactical officer said. 'Shall I finish it off?'

'Absolutely, Lieutenant. This is no time for mercy. It's them or us, and I prefer them.'

'Aye sir, firing quantum torpedoes.'

The damaged vessel exploded, and Batanides only just avoided having her ship torn to shreds by the large chunks of debris. A huge section of hull the length of a nacelle scraped the Pioneer's shields and power dimmed momentarily as the ship was tossed about by the momentum. The inertial dampers whined in protest as Batanides fought to bring the ship under control and main power was quickly restored.

'Everyone alright?' she asked. 'Damage report?'

'Main power at minimal levels, shields down to thirty percent, torpedo launchers are all offline and phasers are at eighty percent power. Sickbay reports casualties on all decks and there are hull breaches on decks three, four, seven, eight, eleven, twelve and fifteen.'

Batanides sighed at the long list of damage. She would have to make repairs on the fly much as Voyager had had to during its stint in the Delta Quadrant. 'Put all power into phasers and shields.'

'Engineering to bridge.'

'Go ahead, Commander.'

'Captain, I can give you one forward launcher but only for a single volley before the power couplings overload.'

'We'll make it count, Commander. Thank you.'

'Thank me when we get home,' Lake replied and cut the channel.

'You heard him people; let's take care of that last ship.'

She bought the Pioneer around in a tight circle as the Breen vessel attempted to close to point blank range. The Intrepid-class starship dived under the Breen vessel and fired every dorsal phaser bank at the enemy ship's ventral hull. Several sections were decompressed under the onslaught and the Pioneer quickly came up behind the Breen and fired the volley of torpedoes. Each one slammed into the weakened shields and two penetrated the engineering hull, killing everyone in it and causing a warp core breach. As the Breen ship exploded, Batanides piloted her ship out of the war zone and headed them out of the system.

'Cancel red alert. I want a full damage report within the hour. What's our status?'

'Aye, Captain. Shields down to twenty-seven percent, torpedo launchers are down and phasers are now working at full power. Hull breaches are being repaired by damage control teams. Engineering says we'll have warp power in three days, providing there's still a ship left.'

Batanides slumped into the chair that was now hers, at least until they reached the nearest spacedock, and sighed. Ashe had left her in command several times while he disappeared on away missions, but he'd always come back to take the centre seat from her. Unlike most officers, she hadn't entered Starfleet wanting to become a captain and command a starship, instead only wanting to be an engineer and keep a ship running. Now she had no choice. With Ashe dead and half her bridge crew gone as well, she'd need to promote new people to those positions that needed filling and hope that she could run the ship with so few people. Even if they had warp drive, it would take well over a week at maximum warp to reach the Black Cluster and the Federation border, and longer still to make it back to the core worlds.

'Captain, Doctor Perez wants to speak with you.'

Batanides tapped her combadge. 'Doctor Perez?'

'Captain, Doctor Mendez is dead and I'm running short of medical staff. The EMH is offline and engineering says they have other priorities. If I don't have that damned hologram we're going to lose people,' the young doctor replied with her strong South American accent.

'What exactly is the situation down there, Callie?'

'Eight dead and more than forty injured, eleven seriously and five critically. I can operate on my own but I'm going to need help to save more than two of them.'

'I'll send someone to help as soon as I can, Doctor, but I can't promise anything. We took a real beating against the Breen.'

'Aye sir, I know.'

'Doctor Perez, in the absence of Doctor Mendez, you are now the Pioneer's Chief Medical Officer. Do your best, Batanides out.'

Smiling at the Lieutenant's probable reaction to the news, Batanides turned to face Lieutenant Melina Mendez, the doctor's daughter and beta shift tactical officer. 'You're the new tactical officer, think you can handle it?'

'Yes ma'am,' Mendez answered. 'My father would be proud of me,' she added, tearing up.

'We're all proud of you, Melina. You have the bridge; I'm going down to engineering to see what we can do about getting out of this hell hole.'

'Aye sir.'

Batanides strolled to the turbolift and noticed that the dedication plaque had fallen during the battle. She picked it up, wiped away the dust and fragments from it and looked at the epigram. "Every one does keep the bounded space." It was a line from an ancient poem that had been the captain's favourite, and she could never understand it but now she thought that she did. Every person had their own bounded space and the Pioneer's mission was to explore not only the galaxy's space but its peoples' space too. The turbolift doors parted and she entered, having placed the plaque back on the bulkhead. Things were looking up again and they would get home, of that she was sure.

USS Triton, stardate 57120.8

Lieutenant Sito scrolled through her transfer request, read it a third time and, satisfied with the wording, sent it into the Triton's subspace outbox, ready for it to be sent when the next communications went back to Command. She knew that at this very moment Astar was in contact Admiral Nechayev again. The admiral wanted an update of the situation even though less than twelve hours had passed since their last conversation. Apparently someone else at Command was interested in what was going on out here and making Nechayev take point on it. During what little free time she'd had since arriving on board, Sito had immersed in the goings on in the fleet since the end of the Dominion War, namely the Gateways incident, the Genesis Wave and the Ascendant problem at DS-Nine. More recently there was also the Tezwa affair and the resignation of President Zife, and his subsequent disappearance; the assassination of the Romulan Senate and the launch of the first of the Luna-class vessels. There was much more that she wanted to learn but she felt that the politics was the most important and read up on the history of President Bacco, former governor on Cestus III. She was a formidable woman and a worthy holder of the position of the highest office in the galaxy. Her ruminations were interrupted when the doors to the ready room opened and Astar stepped out.

'Commander,' she spoke to Wright directly and then walked over to the console Sito was sitting at. 'Lieutenant, I'd like you to provide another little briefing on the Breen situation. This time it will be just Commander Wright, Admiral Nechayev, you and me.'

'I'm ready whenever you are, Captain.'

'Excellent, we'll use the observation lounge again,' she said and then turned to Gonzales. 'Commander, you have the bridge.'

'Aye sir.'

Astar headed into the lounge followed by Wright and Sito. Admiral Nechayev was already on screen and presumably working at her desk. Sito sat facing the screen and the two senior officers.

'Over the course of my assignment in Breen space, I learned much about their political make-up. The Regent is the leader of the Breen Confederacy with a Thot in control of the military forces. About fifty years ago there was a military coup and the military have held power in various forms since then. The Breen use their primary, Ostkind, for much of their power and twenty years ago, scientists discovered that the overuse of the primary for such a purpose had led to a catastrophic loss of gas. They predicted that thirty years from then the primary would go supernova. The Confederacy government, held by a complete military government at the time, ignored the scientists and continued to siphon power and energy from the sun.

'Eleven years ago, the group of scientists used the com-net to tell the populace. The people called for a total evacuation and after a few uprisings the government agreed. Ships from all sectors were called in to evacuate the eleven billion people from the homeworld to neighbouring systems and this continued constantly for most of the last decade, finishing just last year, with everyone but the government off-world. During this time, the military government was taken over by Thot Pran, turning the Confederacy into a dictatorship, and he used every available shipyard to build an impressive military fleet. Thot Mol's energy-dampening weapon was integrated into many ships and Thot Pran used this to prove to the Dominion that the Breen would be good allies.'

'We all know how well that turned out,' Astar muttered.

'Continue, Lieutenant,' Nechayev replied.

'After the Dominion's defeat, Thot Pran returned to the Confederacy and had the shipyards dismantled in accordance with the Treaty of Bajor's Articles of Surrender, but Thot Mol continued to build his own fleet in secret. The rebellion started after the primary's short life span was made public, and the Confederacy was able to keep them under control with random public executions. After the war everything changed. The people were no longer content with the military in control, and the state of the Breen economy was equivalent to that of early twentieth-century Earth. The rebellion grew to encompass a large number of worlds and the Confederacy began to launch massive counter-offensives against rebel strongholds. There is a civil cold war happening as we speak and Thot Mol is acting as a third party instigator of hostilities.'

'Is there anything that the rebels can do to retake their government?' Astar asked.

'Captain,' Nechayev said in a warning tone. 'This is an internal Breen matter. The Prime Directive applies.'

'Thot Mol is considered an outlaw by both sides, Admiral. At the moment, while Thot Pran is still in power on the homeworld—which is heavily guarded by all the offensive ships still remaining—there is no way the rebellion could overthrow him.'

'But?' Astar asked, recognising the opening.

'If Thot Mol were to successfully destroy the homeworld then the rebels would be able to create a new government.'

'We are not here to discuss how to help the rebels, Captain,' Nechayev told her. 'Can you deal with the problem facing the Ynelavii people?'

'We're working on it, Admiral. I hope to have a solution within the next few hours.'

'Excellent. When you have done all you can, successful or not, you are to enter Breen space and retrieve the Pioneer at all possible speed.'

'Aye sir,' Astar replied.

'Lieutenant, I have received your transfer request and will process it at the earliest opportunity. You have done some excellent work for us over the last decade and I will be sad to lose you. Godspeed, Captain, Nechayev out.'

'Transferring, to where?'

'Starship duty somewhere. While I have enjoyed my time in Intelligence, I would prefer to return to starship duty, now that I'm alive again.'

Astar nodded. 'I hope you get a position you are satisfied with, Lieutenant.'

'Thank you, sir.'

'Dismissed, Lieutenant. I suggest you take advantage of the free time you have, you probably won't have much more when you get your new posting.'

USS Triton, stardate 57121.2

The computer was running another set of simulations and Lieutenant Jamal Mahtani took advantage of the lull to catch up on his reports. As chief science officer the ship's science teams reported to him and as Triton was primarily a scientific exploratory vessel, it meant a lot of reports to go through. The information garnered from the sensor nets was not promising. As he'd reported to the captain earlier, the average surface temperature had dropped to minus six degrees Celsius and was continually dropping at the rate of one-tenth of a degree every hour. Every ten hours that passed meant a lower chance of anyone being alive down there and he wasn't ready to give up on them quite yet. After a number of failures, he'd taken a different route to set the phasers for the right amount of power needed but it had still resulted in a negative result. The current simulation was using quantum torpedoes with a special exothermic biochemical compound to raise the temperature across the planet and he hoped that it would be enough. Astar had warned him that they were running out of tie and if he couldn't figure out something soon, they would have to move on.

'How's it going, Lieutenant?' Gonzales asked, wandering over to his station.

'Not as well as I'd hoped,' Mahtani replied. 'The damage to the atmosphere is just too great for our phasers to make any difference. I'm computing the effect that torpedoes might have.'

Gonzales looked at the screen showing the simulation and her eyes immediately went to the simulated temperature gauge. 'Five degrees,' she said.

Mahtani looked up and sighed. 'Some difference but not a great deal.'

'It would bring the temperature back up to freezing,' she told him. 'Some parts of all M-class planets are like that. This gives them a much greater chance of survival.'

He entered a sequence of commands and the computer returned them with a number. 'A fifty-eight percent chance of survival,' he muttered.

'What was that, Lieutenant?' Astar asked, emerging onto the bridge.

'I have a partial solution.'

'It's better than nothing. What do you need?'

'Six quantum torpedoes and a thousand litres of superheated bio-plasma,' Mahtani answered.

'What is it and where can we get it from?'

'It's warp plasma with a biological compound similar to what we have in the bioneural gel packs.'

'Do we have a thousand litres?'

'A thousand litres will raise the mean planetary temperature by five degrees, which gives the population a fifty-eight percent chance of survival.'

'I like those odds, Lieutenant. Get on it.'

'Aye sir.'

'Captain, I'm picking up some unusual activity in the lower atmosphere,' Gonzales said. 'Apparently the science teams have managed to increase the sensor nets' range.'

'And?'

'It appears to be a space-faring vessel of some kind but I'll have to wait until it's closer before I can make a positive identification.'

'Keep me informed.'

'Aye sir.'

'Captain, engineering reports that they have been siphoning off the warp plasma since I suggested it and that we have enough for three torpedoes currently.'

'Do you have to detonate the torpedoes all at once?'

'Yes ma'am, they have to be placed in the upper atmosphere across the planet.'

'How long before you can launch them?'

'Less than an hour,' Mahtani replied.

'Very well, I will inform Admiral Nechayev of the situation.'

Gonzales looked at her console and frowned. 'Captain, we're receiving a distress call from the planet. It's coming from the craft.'

'Can you identify it?'

'No sir, the computer has no record of any vessel like it. It will emerge from the atmosphere in the next few minutes.'

'Put the emergence point on screen.'

The view of the planet altered to a specific point that was midway between the pole and the equator at the terminator between day and night. Every eye on the bridge watched as the cloud over the area quivered slightly and a small ship the size of an old shuttlepod emerged. It seemed to hover and then changed course and headed for Triton.

'Can you still not identify it?'

'Not definitively, sir. From the hull alloys and configuration I would postulate that it is a Romulan or Vulcan vessel of some sort, though it is extremely old, about three hundred years.'

'The Vulcans have never come out this far and we're on the other side of the Federation, far from Romulan space,' Astar mused. 'Scan for lifesigns.'

'One lifesign, Captain, and its Ynelavii.'

'Bring the ship into the main shuttlebay and have security meet me there. I'd like to know who he is and how he came to have that craft.' She turned to Wright. 'Since they sent out a distress call that we were able to pick up, I'd say that the Prime Directive no longer applies, wouldn't you?'

Wright nodded. 'Are we going down there, sir?'

'After Lieutenant Mahtani has raised the temperature. Prepare an away team with you, me and at least one other, plus two security personnel.'

'Aye sir.'

'I'm ready to do that now, sir,' Mahtani said. 'Commander Xeris has loaded the plasma into the torpedoes.'

'Commander, oversee the launch.'

'Yes sir,' Wright replied and moved to the tactical console where Gonzales and Mahtani were making adjustments.

As Astar entered the turbolift Wright heard Mahtani suggest a more equilateral placement of the torpedoes for maximum effect. Gonzales accepted his input and made the adjustment. He nodded and she loaded the torpedo launchers.

'We're ready, Commander,' she said.

'Change the view to cover as much of the surface as possible.'

At operations, Talen put the main image onto the viewscreen and added insets of the other parts of the planet that they could "see" from the probes they had launched earlier.

'Firing torpedoes,' Gonzales said. 'Range to target, thirty kilometres.'

Mahtani returned to the science station to monitor the telemetry.

'Twenty-five…twenty…fifteen…entering the atmosphere.'

'They're all on course,' Mahtani said and Wright noticed that everyone was watching.

'Target in five seconds…four…three…two…one.'

The six torpedoes detonated as one and a pale blue cloud overlaid the white clouds of the planet as the biochemicals did their work.

'Lieutenant?' Wright asked.

'Temperature is rising,' he answered. 'Two degrees so far and rising steadily.'

'Good work.'

'The snow is beginning to stop falling,' Mahtani added. 'An unexpected side-effect. It looks as though the planet's natural weather systems are beginning to take hold. I didn't expect it to happen so fast.'

'Temperature on the surface is approximately two degrees Celsius and holding.'

Standing by his ship in the auxiliary shuttlebay, Colonel Allak waited at attention until the gold-uniformed soldiers' leader arrived. They had advanced technology to be sure but the weapons they held looked like laser pointers, not guns. A projectile weapon was more effective for disabling people than a beam of light, but they knew something he didn't because they stood just inside the doors to this big hangar pointing their weapons at him. The doors opened again and two women entered. One wore a gold uniform, one wore red and he judged that the one in red was in charge because she had more pips on her collar. He saluted her in the formal way of his people, using his left hand flat and bringing it up to the side of his head, and then returned to his former stance.

'Welcome aboard the Federation starship Triton, I am Captain Astar, commander of this vessel.'

'Thank you, Captain,' he replied, caught a little off guard that she was speaking his language but not really surprised. 'I am Colonel Allak, leader of the Militia Elite, protector of Regent Dolan, the duly elected leader of the Ynelavii people.'

'This ship of yours, where did it come from?'

'I don't know, Captain. The Regent informed me of its existence only a few hours ago. I learned how to fly it into orbit so that we might ask for your help, providing that you are not actually the cause.'

'We're not,' Astar replied and waved away the soldiers. 'Put your weapons down, he's a guest aboard this ship. You will have to be debriefed, Colonel.'

'Understood, Captain.'

'Now, can you tell us anything about the vessel that did this to your world?'

'Unfortunately, I have only seen pictures of it as we have no contact with our satellites. If you could gain access to them, you might be able to download the images and see for yourself.'

Astar turned to the gold uniformed soldier beside her. 'Lieutenant, get Mahtani and the science team on it right away. The more we know about Mol's ship, the better.'

'Aye sir,' she replied and exited with the others.

'Come with me, Colonel. I will escort you to quarters for you to freshen up before your debriefing. We have already tried to help your world and if our instruments are recording accurately, the continuous snowfall will have slowed considerably. Within a few hours the clouds will start to clear and you will be able to start rebuilding.'

'On behalf of my people, I thank you.'

'You're welcome. Allow me to give you a brief tour of the ship. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.'

'I already am, Captain. Over the last century my people have formed a unified world government and tried to find a common goal that we might all work together for. The aliens that tried to destroy our world have instead helped us to become stronger and we will not become like we once were. We have evolved and we will continue to become stronger.'

'I believe you, and I think that politics may appeal to you once you decide to finish your military career. You are a good orator.'

'Thank you, Captain.'

Lieutenant Commander Xeris entered his quarters after an exhausting day and felt like just sleeping for a few hours, even before he ate something. His priorities changed seconds later when he sniffed the air and recognised the smell of curry. He knew only one person on board who could cook that well and with fresh ingredients that she had no doubt pinched from the galley. She emerged from the kitchenette that all senior officers' quarters had, and he smiled when he saw that she was wearing nothing but her underwear.

'You look ravishing.'

'Why, thank you, Commander,' Gonzales said with a smile. 'You look absolutely exhausted.'

'I am,' he replied as he slumped onto the couch. 'The captain wants me to inspect the ship that the Ynelavii soldier arrived in. It is definitely Romulan but it appears to be from the early twenty-second century, well before Earth's first contact with the Romulans.'

'Any idea how it came to be out here?'

'I have one, but I'll need to do some research before I take it to the captain.'

'Can you tell me?'

'There is some history between the Romulans and the Breen but it's not spoken about at all, except for the proverb "Never turn your back on a Breen." I know a little about that history and this could be the first real evidence of it.'

'Captain Astar should be told the moment you have proof.'

'And I will tell her, but it is the only thing that explains why a Romulan scout-ship would be so far from Romulan space, and so close to Breen space. There were a few skirmishes back then, and the Breen have not expanded past the Black Cluster, which they call the Dead Space, for more than two centuries. I found only a single record on the Black Cluster in the archives on Romulus, and it amounted to the description of a battle by a Fleet Commander. There was no mention of the Breen though, but I think it's obvious that they were the enemy.'

'Why do you say that?' Gonzales asked.

'How many space-faring civilisations are there close to the Black Cluster?'

'Three, four?'

'Exactly, and other than the Breen they were too small to represent a threat to Romulus. Earth was too primitive, Vulcan was a taboo subject for most, and the other worlds weren't much of a threat. The Tholians kept to themselves, annexing the odd system here and there; and the Klingons have always been a problem. My theory is that the Romulans felt the Breen could become a threat and attempted to create a beachhead close to their territory on a world in the Ynelav system.'

'It's plausible, but you have no proof at the moment. Can we put all talk of the Breen in the closet for now and have something to eat, I'm starved.'

'Sure, I'm pretty hungry too, but not for curry.'

Breen Warship Hevn, stardate 57123.7

After nearly a day and a half's travel, Thot Mol's goal was in sight. Long ago, he had been born on the homeworld and grew up in a privileged family. He'd applied to the officer corps of the Confederacy military and been accepted after his father had vouched for him. His military record was exemplary and he knew it, using his power to select those willing to do whatever it took to preserve the Confederacy. When he'd taken matters into his own hands he discovered that the Confederacy had been unwilling to label him as a renegade because they believed they could control him, and they had tried. But now he was going to show them the price of control and the cost of betrayal. The Hevn approached the Ostkind system on an elliptical path, so the weapons platforms would be unable to lock on to his fleet.

'Thot, three vessels approaching, all old destroyers,' Omdar advised him.

'They are no match for my vessels. Send in the frigates and order our destroyers to take up offensive positions around the capital city. Keep the fighters on stand-by.'

'As ordered, Thot.'

Omdar watched in horror as the three Confederacy destroyers attacked Mol's five frigates. He watched his instruments record every hit as disruptor beams tore into all the ships and torpedoes flew in all directions. One of the destroyers made a brave move and tried to strafe two of the frigates but they didn't take the bait and veer off, instead focusing all their weaponry on annihilating the Confederacy vessel, which exploded in a huge fireball. As cheers rang out across the bridge, Omdar noticed that the fireball expanded farther than it should and took two of Mol's frigates before it dissipated.

'Send in the fighters,' Mol ordered.

'They're in formation and engaging now,' Omdar replied.

He disliked watching the wholesale slaughter, on both sides, but Mol never understood battle tactics and preferred brute force. Omdar provided him with a running commentary and could hear the grunts and groans as the tide turned in the Confederacy's favour. The fighter pilots were not trained well and frequently missed shots that any child could have hit. Within minutes an entire squadron had been sent to the netherworlds of myth.

'Contact Headquarters, I want to speak with Thot Pran.'

Omdar looked up. 'The Regent is hailing us, Thot.'

'On screen.'

Mol swivelled his chair to face the large viewscreen as Thot Pran appeared. Wearing the ornate decorations of the Regent on his refrigeration suit, Pran looked imperial even if he was a usurper.

'Stand down, Mol. Your fleet is being decimated.'

'I am taking control of the Confederacy. I will order my destroyers to obliterate the capital city if you do not stand down immediately.'

'I'm afraid I cannot permit that, Mol. I hereby relieve you of your rank and command.'

'I do not recognise your authority,' Mol replied. 'Omdar, order the destroyers to fire.'

'This is your final warning. Withdraw the order before your destroyers suffer a death they do not deserve.'

'You have nothing to threaten me with,' Mol said confidently. 'Fire.'

'Do not presume so much,' Pran replied. 'Fire the cannons.'

'My destroyers have already destroyed your precious cannons, Pran. Stand down while you are still able.'

Thot Pran, Regent of the Breen Confederacy, hung his head. 'Beam down and we'll discuss my surrender.'

Mol smiled smugly. 'There will be no discussion, Pran. You will surrender immediately.'

'Never!' Pran replied. 'Initiate the defence grid.'

'Thot,' Omdar screeched. 'An energy field is building in orbit. It's strong enough to destroy us.'

Mol cursed. 'Move us out of range, and order a general retreat.'

'Already done, Thot.'

The remaining fighters and frigates escaped the energy shield but the destroyers—in a lower orbit—weren't so lucky and only three of them managed to get out in time. The others were destroyed, along with the two remaining Confederacy frigates that weren't fast enough.

'My fleet is in better shape than yours,' Mol gloated. 'And in a few moments your world will be perfect for the new Confederacy.'

'Nothing you can do can affect us,' Pran replied. 'I have been adapting this field ever since I discovered your duplicity.'

'Omdar, ready a protomatter warhead.'

'Weapon loaded and ready.'

'Fire!'

The Genesis torpedo blasted away from the Hevn and moments later impacted the energy field, vaporising instantly.

'No, again!'

'It won't work, Thot,' Omdar told him. 'The energy field is just too strong. We would be better off destroying the primary.'

'No!' Mol yelled. 'I want to make him step down.'

Pran was still on screen. 'I guess we have a stalemate then. There is a new government already set up in a secret location, Mol. No matter what happens here, you will have failed.'

'No!' Mol banged his gloved fists on the console to his left.

'Surrender now, Mol, and I will spare your life. If you continue on this course, I will obliterate your fleet.'

'With what?' Mol asked, getting more agitated by the second.

'This is an offensive shield, did you think it just covers the planet defensively. I can cause spikes in the field. Do not make me test it.'

Mol's mind began to formulate a plan and he cut the channel. 'Omdar, what is the nutation of the offensive shield?'

'Shifting. Thot. Never the same for more than a few nanoseconds.'

'Can you write a programme to match it?'

'Yes, but it may take several days.'

'We appear to have plenty of time,' Mol replied. 'But try to do it quickly. I have a feeling that we might not have as much time as we think. The shield may only last for so long.'

'I'll get on it right away, Thot.'

'Excellent, and someone get me a drink.'

New Regency Headquarters, Ynelav, stardate 57123.9

As soon as the transporter beam released her, Captain Astar felt the symbiont-chilling cold and wondered how so many of the planet's population had managed to survive. Mahtani's inspired biochemical solution had worked and the temperature was slowly rising. The cloud cover was diminishing and as soon as the atmosphere had deionised itself, Astar immediately decided to beam down to start diplomatic relations. Beside her, Gonzales and Mahtani were also dressed in the arctic weather uniforms, and the latter was staring off into the distance. All three had tricorders but only Gonzales carried a phaser. Astar began walking toward the building at one corner of the quadrangle they beamed into as three armed soldiers emerged from it. Each of them carried projectile weapons and she had no doubt that they were expert marksmen.

'Halt,' one said and strode forward, brandishing his rifle.

Astar stopped and held her hands above her head. The others did likewise. 'We come in peace. I wish to speak with Regent Dolan.'

'You are aliens from the vessel in orbit?' the solider asked.

'We are.'

'I am Major Rokan, second in command of the Militia Elite, please follow me.'

She did and was led into the building. Rokan said nothing as they walked along corridors and entered a lift that was far slower than any turbolift. Five minutes later, they emerged into an office that was clearly not designed to be the working residence of a world leader. Colonel Allak had not been debriefed but he had provided her with a little information about the current political make-up of the Ynelavii people.

'Greetings, I am Regent Dolan, the legitimate leader of the Ynelavii,' a man said, entering the office from a side door.

'I am Captain Leza Astar, commander of the Federation starship Triton. I bring you greetings from the United Federation of Planets and my sincerest apologies for the unprovoked attack on your world.'

Dolan frowned. 'You are not responsible and yet you apologise? I do not understand.'

'My people have a strict non-interference policy about worlds that have not yet achieved faster-than-light travel, it is our Prime Directive. The attack on your world came from a race that has no such policy and we have taken the strongest diplomatic measures that we are able to. I intend to take more punitive measures, as ordered by my superiors, but I am disobeying the Prime Directive by being here and speaking with you.'

'Why have you done so?'

'I felt that the risk of cultural contamination was minimal as you were already aware of alien interference in your natural development. I can see how your people have suffered and I offer food and medical supplies to assist you.'

'Your offer is greatly appreciated, Captain and I accept. Before I can take possession of those supplies, I must know what has happened to my pilot?'

'He is being debriefed by my executive officer as we speak. Colonel Allak will be returned to you as soon as possible.'

'Debriefed? Torture?'

Astar's brow creased. 'We do not practice torture, nor have we done so for more than two centuries. It is a simple debriefing as all military personnel undergo after any mission. I will return to my ship shortly and when I return with your supplies, I will bring your pilot back as well.'

Dolan nodded. 'That is acceptable. If I may ask, how did you get down to the surface? Our radar detected no vessel.'

'Matter transmission,' Astar answered. 'I cannot give you any more details than that without violating the Prime Directive any more than I have done already.'

'I understand. Is there anything you wish to ask?'

'How did so many of your people survive the polar conditions?'

'By working together, Captain. In our greatest time of need, my people's true colours have shown. We are closer to our goal of true unification that at any time in the last half-century.'

'A laudable goal, Regent. If and when your people develop faster-than-light travel, I see no reason why you should not be able join the Federation. Though it will not be my decision, I will put a good word in my report.'

Dolan did not understand the phrase but he understood the meaning behind it. 'Thank you, Captain, but we have a few problems to work out before then. We will be rebuilding our world and that will take quite some time.'

Astar nodded. 'I understand. Many races we have come across have had to undergo similar transformations, though it has been their doing and not due to outside influence. I should go now, and leave you to get back to work.'

'Stay well, Captain.'

'Stay well, Regent,' Astar replied and tapped her combadge. 'Three to beam up.'

Commander Aaron Wright strolled through the corridors of the ship, nodding to those he passed, and hoping that the colonel could provide more information than he had done thus far. Other than an overview of the recent political upheaval and some odd mythology about the origin of the vessel he'd arrived in, he had been edgy in revealing anything else. Wright dismissed the security guard in front of the soldier's guest quarters and entered. Colonel Allak was sitting in the chair by the desk looking at something on the monitor. The captain had seen fit to allow him access to the Federation library to learn what he could about them. She would deliver a copy of it to the Regent when she returned to the surface with the supplies.

'Am I to be tortured now?' Allak asked.

'We have not practiced torture in a long to reveal information,' Wright answered. 'I'm sure you have been debriefed by your superiors.'

'I have.'

'This will be no different. I will not ask you to divulge state secrets, nor will I ask you to tell me anything about yourself that you do not wish to. I only want to know the sequence of events leading up to the launch of the alien craft.'

'I have told you about the distress signal and the bunker.'

Wright nodded. 'I meant about the craft itself. We recognise the vessel and know about its former pilot but it is a long way from their sphere of influence.'

'You wish to know more about the Devil Warriors,' Allak said. 'I do not believe in the myths but we are all taught them.'

'Devil Warriors?' Wright asked.

'Centuries ago, when our world was much more primitive, a race of warriors descended from the heavens to kill us all. They landed in vessels like this one but our ancestors fought them off and they left our planet.'

'Can you describe them?'

'They had hair cropped close to their heads with pointed ears.'

Wright slumped in the chair. 'Romulans.'

'You know of them?'

Wright nodded. 'I do, they have been enemies of ours for many years but this is a long way from their territory. I didn't think that they had any need to be in this area of the galaxy.'

'They don't now, but they did once,' Allak replied. 'Obviously the myth is based on some facts, and I must tell the Regent. They may return.'

'I will see that you are returned as soon as possible. I must speak with my captain about this as well. Thank you, Colonel. You have been most helpful.'

Allak bowed his head and returned to perusing the information on the monitor. Wright left his quarters and the security guard returned.

'Wright to Astar.'

'Go ahead, Commander.'

'It's definitely the Romulans. They were here centuries ago according to local legend.'

'Commander Xeris had just been telling me about something he found in Romulan archives some time ago. The Romulans keep coming back to this world and to the Black Cluster. I should inform Admiral Holt and Admiral Nechayev. Get up here. I think we need a plan of action in case they return shortly.'

'On my way.'

USS Triton, stardate 57124.3

He stood in the auxiliary shuttlebay staring at the craft as though it held the secret of the universe. His only thought however was to discredit his people for their centuries of deceit and smug superiority. As a student of history the Romulan Senate reminded him of Earth's Eugenics Wars, where Khan and the other supermen had believed themselves to be superior to everybody and tried to take control of the world. The Senators always believed that Romulans were superior to humanity and yet the first war in which the two forces fought, humanity won—causing an extended period of isolation—and this craft presumably came from that approximate era. Xeris pointed his tricorder at the old ship and watched as the digital display provided him with very little information. Frowning, he stepped through the open hatch and sat in the cockpit. The technology was certainly in keeping with previously-known twenty-second century Romulan technology but it had been adapted by the primitive Ynelavii, quite well in fact. Xeris sat his tricorder on top of the pilot's console and initiated a link with the craft's computer. There was still power and the link was quickly established.

'Commander?' Gonzales asked from the upper level. 'Have you found anything?'

'Not yet, I've just opened a link to the ship's computer core. Whatever information there is, is likely to be heavily encrypted.'

'Why do you say that?'

'I recognise this class of scout. It was intended to be used as a small fighter—and had impressive weaponry in its day—but it didn't perform well in tests. The intelligence service of the time took over the project. This is an Imperial vessel.'

'Aren't all Romulan vessels "Imperial?"'

'Now, yes. Two hundred years ago, the Tal Shiar was known as Imperial Intelligence, like the Klingon intelligence is still known. Romulan warbirds were just called by their names and the only way to tell the difference between military warbirds and those controlled by the intelligence service were to call the latter "Imperial."'

'What happened?'

'The Senate became far more militaristic than it had been and all warbirds became "Imperial" because the intelligence service were no longer allowed vessels of their own—like the Cardassians' Obsidian Order.'

'You really are a history buff.'

'I do have a cultural bias. I see everything as it relates to the Romulan people, or as it does not.'

'Sounds interesting.'

The tricorder bleeped for his attention and he dutifully picked it up, looking at the display. 'This is interesting. The computer core isn't encrypted. According to the navigational charts,' he added after flicking through several displays, 'this little vessel managed to pass through unclaimed space without being caught by anyone and crash-landed on this planet. There were at least a dozen warbirds and several dozen scouts with it. It was an invasion force by the look of it.'

'So what happened to them?' Gonzales asked.

'The logs are blank from then. I'll need to run an algorithm to try to retrieve them. But there could be dozens of Romulan vessels rusting in Breen space, under Ynelavii ice-caps or drifting in the Black Cluster,' Xeris answered, clearly not happy with any of those possibilities.

'We need to inform the captain.'

'I agree, but I should try to retrieve the logs first. There doesn't seem to be any immediate danger of Romulan reprisals.'

'Maybe not, but she should still know what we've found.'

He looked aggrieved, but nodded acquiescence and tapped his combadge. 'Xeris to Astar.'

'Yes, Commander?'

'I have found evidence that several dozen Romulan vessels disappeared in this area about two hundred ago.'

'When, approximately?'

He looked at the readings. 'About three years after the Earth-Romulan war, 2164—three years after the founding of the Federation.'

'Thank you, Commander. What else can you tell me?'

'Very little until I'm able to retrieve the lost data.'

'That is your top priority, Commander. Astar out.'

Standing by the quarters of a supposed guest was demeaning for Lieutenant Ryan McNamara. He was sure that the half-Klingon bitch had stuck him here because of their past history. Of course, there was no way to prove it without evidence, and he had none, but he wasn't going to let her walk all over him. He was supposed to be the deputy chief of security and yet he had been assigned guard duty. McNamara spotted two security personnel headed down another, adjacent, corridor and called out to them.

Jenark and Yuri Delco, an Axanari and human, were two of the new recruits on board, and both were just of the Academy. 'Sir?' Delco asked.

'Take over here,' McNamara told him. 'I've just been called away.'

'Aye sir,' Delco replied and the two of them took places on either side of the door.

'I'll be back as soon as I can,' he said and dashed off down the corridor.

It didn't take him long to reach the holodeck where Lieutenant K'Tyra Parker was training the beta shift security personnel. He strode inside and found himself facing a replica of the Triton's corridors. It looked like main power was offline and the red lighting made the ship's facsimile seem eerie. He could hear phaser and disruptor fire in the distance and getting further away. Ignoring the noises he took off at a brisk trot and soon came face to face with a Breen soldier. His instinct to fight was strong but he fought it off, so powerful was his rage, and he barrelled past the Breen disruptor bolts toward the sound of phaser fire.

'What the hell are you doing here?' Parker yelled as he stopped barely a metre from her.

'I want to know why you stuck me on guard duty,' he bellowed at a volume equal to hers.

She narrowed her eyes at him. 'You are under my command and will do as you are ordered to.'

'I'm your deputy, not some green recruit.'

She sighed. 'I didn't want to use two people to look after some alien colonel, so I assigned you because you were supposed to be able to handle it on your own. I see that I was mistaken.'

'I don't do guard duty. The position of security chief was supposed to be mine. I don't know what you did you get this job, and nor do I particularly care, but I'm telling you here and now that I will take it back, no matter the cost.'

'Is that a threat, Ryan?'

'A promise!'

'I'm relieving you of duty, effective immediately. Charges of insubordination will be filed by the end of this shift.'

He lunged at her and she let it connect, ignoring the sting to her cheek.

'As will striking a superior officer. You don't deserve to wear that uniform. Faragas, take him into custody.'

The hulking Rigellian-Chelon grasped his arm and he slumped as if aware of what he had just done. 'This isn't how I wanted it,' he muttered. 'The job should have been mine.'

'It has become clear that you don't deserve it,' Parker told him. 'I'll try to be kind in my report, as long as you don't resist arrest.'

He nodded and the Chelon led him away.

'That was unpleasant,' she said and turned to face her security forces that seemed scared and awed at the same time. 'That's all for now. Computer, end programme.'

As they exited, Parker wondered who she would get to replace McNamara and realised in the same instant that this was where she wanted to be. Triton was definitely her home and she would make that known to Admiral Holt at the next available opportunity.

New Regency Headquarters, Ynelav, stardate 57124.6

Seated at a short table hastily brought in for this gathering, Captain Astar and Lieutenant Commander Gonzales were given a number of data slates which contained all the Ynelavii history from mythology and prehistory to recent times. Regent Dolan had been in and out over the last few hours to see if they needed anything but each had declined the offer every time. Gonzales was pouring over the military records and engagements while Astar went through political information and the cultural database that the Ynelavii had amassed over three millennia of recorded civilisation.

'Their battle tactics are impressive,' Gonzales said. 'Some are even better than those taught at the Academy.'

'High praise,' Astar replied. 'Their politics and culture leave more to be desired. While they do seem to currently have a stable single world government, much of their previous history is replete with barbarism that even Trill and Betazed did not have. Even Earth was more civilised.'

Gonzales frowned. 'Perhaps, but a team of cultural experts will have to be brought on site with engineers and the like to repair the damage that Thot Mol and his Genesis weapon has wrought.'

'Admiral Nechayev is speaking with President Bacco and the Federation Council as we speak, hoping to convince them of the need for this planet to be made a protectorate, so that nothing else can occur to damage these people's development.'

Astar's combadge chirped for her attention, 'Commander Wright to Captain Astar.'

'Yes?'

'The first deliveries of aid are ready to be beamed down.'

'Excellent, have Colonel Allak beam down with them. I want our security teams on hand with every package to make sure there is no rioting.'

'Acknowledged, Captain. I have to report an altercation between Lieutenants Parker and McNamara; the latter has been arrested on charges.'

'Can it be solved without resorting to a court-martial?'

'Unlikely, sir. Parker is making a point of pressing charges, but she says she'll waive them if McNamara submits to a full psychological work-up.'

'I'll with him when I return, Astar out.'

'I had a feeling that her presence might cause some resentment, but I didn't think he'd go that far,' Gonzales said, sighing.

'Why should he resent her?'

Gonzales gave her commanding officer a sideways glance. 'I resent her because she was placed in the command structure without notice, and the job of security chief should have gone to Ryan. Although, after today's performance I can see that he wasn't ready and might never be.'

The door opened and the regent entered, looking haggard.

'Is there a problem?' Gonzales asked, rising from her chair.

'No, just the usual internecine bickering among Ministers. Some aren't convinced that you are not the perpetrators, regardless of the evidence.'

Astar nodded, familiar with the problem. 'Has Colonel Allak reported to you yet?'

'He has, and I thank you for your generosity.'

'It's the least we can do. I'm hopeful that a relief mission will be arriving soon to assist you in rebuilding, if that is what you want, and providing my government sees fit to help you.'

'Any help would be appreciated, but we should be able to muddle through on our own.'

'Along with the food and medical supplies, I'm leaving you with a copy of our historical database so that you might get to know us better, as we are learning about you.'

Dolan nodded. 'I implore you; do not be put off by our violent history. We have had our share of wars and disagreements, but we've evolved beyond that point. At least I like to believe we have.'

Astar frowned a little at that last comment but said nothing on that subject. 'Do you have any objections to us taking these data slates?'

'None at all, Captain. These copies are for you and your Federation.'

'Thank you, Regent. We'll be going on a short tour to make sure the supplies are getting where they are supposed to and then we have to complete our mission.'

'To rescue that other ship and deal with the aliens who did this to us?'

'Yes; it is my hope that we'll be able to return in the next few days to assist in any way we can.'

'Thank you, Captain, and good luck.'

After transporting across half the planet, Astar was glad to be out of the cold-weather gear and back in her standard duty uniform. Thot Mol's weapon may have been devastating, but there had been positive effects, Astar thought to herself. The ozone layer was repairing itself, the pollution levels had dropped to almost zero, and most importantly of all, the people were working together to build a better future. Her thoughts then turned to the real problems at hand, namely dealing with Thot Mol and recovering the Pioneer and her crew.

'Is everyone back aboard?' she asked her exec as he emerged from the turbolift.

'The last team beamed back just a moment ago.'

'Good, then I think it's time we got underway. Ensign, set a course for the last known position of the Pioneer. Take us out of the system at full impulse and then punch it up to maximum warp. I don't think Captain Ashe would appreciate us dallying any more than we have done.'

'Captain,' Gonzales interrupted, 'we're receiving a message from Regent Dolan.'

'Put him through.'

'Captain, I just wanted to thank you again for your generosity, and to wish you good luck.'

'Thank you, Regent. I wish your people well and I will try to return.'

Dolan nodded and cut the signal.

'All stations report ready,' Wright said, looking at his console.

'Ensign, engage.'

Larson deftly piloted the Luna-class starship out of orbit, avoiding the now-defunct satellites that the Ynelavii had previously used to communicate across the globe, and guided her toward open space, where the Pioneer awaited them—as did the Breen.

USS Pioneer, stardate 57127.3

Melina Batanides sat on the couch in her ready room watching the stars streak by at warp. It had taken the engineers a little more than a day to get the warp drive up and running and they had now been heading toward the Black Cluster at maximum warp for about a day and a half. The engines were running hot but she had several reasons to get out of Breen territory, chief among them was to inform Starfleet that the Breen Confederacy had broken the Treaty of Bajor's Terms of Surrender. While it would most likely be dealt with diplomatically, there would be starships on hand to make sure that no further action was taken by the Breen to build warships. The second biggest reason was that she needed to get the crew home and give them some R and R. Cupping the mug of hot chocolate in her hands; she inhaled its aroma and sighed contentedly.

'Captain, there's a vessel approaching,' Lieutenant Mendez called over the comm. 'It's Starfleet.'

Batanides smiled. 'I'm on my way. Hail them.'

'We're being hailed,' Mendez said as Batanides reached the bridge.

'On screen.'

A Trill woman appeared on the viewscreen before she could even make out what class of ship the other vessel was, and her eyes gave away the fact that she was joined. 'I am Captain Leza Astar of the Triton.'

'Commander Melina Batanides, captain of the Pioneer. You have no idea how pleased I am to see you, Captain.'

Astar smiled. 'I'm sure. What happened to Captain Ashe?'

'He was killed when we retook the ship from the Breen. I'm transferring all our sensor logs and official logs to you now.'

'Please join me on the Triton, Captain,' Astar said. 'I'd like to know what you know about the Breen.'

'Too much,' Batanides replied. 'They've broken the Terms of Surrender.'

'I know, but it's much worse than that. Come aboard and I'll show you.'

'Yes ma'am. I haven't replaced my exec yet, so I'll bring my tactical officer along, if that's permissible.'

'Gladly, Astar out.'

'Melina, transporter room two.'

Five minutes later, Batanides and Mendez were standing in the Triton's transporter room looking around in awe.

'I've never even seen one of these before,' Batanides remarked. 'Kept missing my chance.'

'Time enough for a tour later, Captain,' Astar said tersely, 'but right now we have a major situation on our hands.'

'Are the Breen massing a fleet for war?'

'Worse,' Astar replied. 'A rogue Thot has made himself a large number of Genesis devices and he's been using them to devastating effect.'

Batanides nearly choked. 'We have to stop him.'

'And we will, but I need to know what you know first.'

'With all due respect, Captain,' Batanides replied, 'we should get underway now and you can debrief me en route.'

Astar nodded and tapped her combadge. 'Commander, set a course for the Breen homeworld and signal the Pioneer to follow.'

'Aye sir,' a male voice replied.

'This way to the observation lounge and briefing room,' Astar said and gestured for them to follow her. 'We've been delayed in finding you because of clearing up the damage done to a world in neutral space just outside the Black Cluster. The population survived but their world has gone from a Class-M to a Class-P.'

'Fortunate, I suppose.'

'So, what can you tell me about the Breen you encountered?'

'They were all standard vessels, except one.'

Astar nodded. 'The Hevn, Thot Mol's personal warship. I have a crewmember that was undercover on the warship and has given us a lot of data on the vessel's construction. I've had my engineers go over every last detail to find a weak spot. I'll have my chief engineer send your chief engineer a copy of everything.'

'Two teams are better than one.'

'I agree.'

'Do you know where you'll be assigned after this?'

'We're supposed to be exploring the Delta Quadrant, and I hope to get there once this business is over and done with.'

'What is this Thot Mol trying to do?' Mendez asked.

'Take control of the government, annihilate all the rebels and destroy the Federation,' Astar answered with a wry grin. 'He's not very original, but with the Genesis devices he has at his disposal, he is dangerous.'

Batanides thought back to the battle in which she'd wounded the warship. 'Captain, the Hevn has biological components like the other Breen vessels, doesn't it?'

'It does.'

'Perhaps it might be prudent to give it a cold.'

'A virus?'

Batanides nodded.

'I'm sorry, but I'm not going to kill a living thing to stop Thot Mol.'

'The ships aren't alive, Captain,' Mendez said. 'They're more like spaceworthy vegetables. We wouldn't be harming an intelligent creature.'

'Can you predict the effects any virus might have on the vessel?' Astar asked as they entered the observation lounge.

'We could introduce a virus that would kill the vegetable, like a blight.'

'That might destroy the vessel and kill all on board.'

Mendez shook her head. 'If you destroyed the gel-packs would that destroy the ship?'

'No it wouldn't, but can you guarantee that will happen on the Hevn?'

'Your engineers have been studying it, Captain,' Batanides replied.

'Indeed they have,' she agreed. 'Astar to Xeris, do you have a moment.'

'Aye sir, what can I do for you?'

'If we were to introduce a biological virus into the Breen ships, would they be destroyed or crippled?'

'Crippled, probably, just as if you knocked out our own gel-packs.'

'Thank you, Commander. Work with Doctor Brex to devise such a virus, Astar out.' She turned to Batanides. 'Can you tell me anything else?'

'Not really.'

'Gonzales to Astar.'

'Yes?'

'We're receiving a distress call, Captain. It's coming from the Breen homeworld. They say they're under attack.'

'Increase speed to maximum warp,' Astar replied. 'It might be prudent for you to return to your ship.'

Batanides nodded. 'I'm still going to get that tour.'

Astar smiled. 'You will, I promise.'

Breen Warship Hevn, in orbit of Ostkind III, stardate 57130.1

Prethot Omdar had spent more than two days working on ways to disrupt the planetary offensive shields and each had proven fruitless. Mol lost three ships in the last energy spike and was beginning to get aggravated with him. The energy from a Genesis torpedo would most likely be absorbed by the shield and redirected outward, toward the remaining vessels. Only eleven fighters remained, along with two destroyers and two frigates, all of which had some damage.

'What are you doing now? Mol asked for the tenth time.

'I'm using our sensors to pinpoint the exact nutation of the shield. With it, we can send a torpedo through the shield.'

'Excellent, but what is taking so long?'

'The shield nutation continues to shift. The computer is working on a model to predict the changes in nutation and take advantage of them. I will programme a firing sequence into the computer.'

'Good work, how long?'

The computer bleeped for attention and Mol looked up. 'We're ready.'

'Signal Thot Pran.'

'Are you ready to surrender?' the Regent asked of him.

'On the contrary, I plan to destroy you. As we speak, I have weapons targeting your position.'

'You lie!'

'Never,' Mol replied, smirking even though it couldn't be seen.

'Thot, I'm reading two warp signatures approaching, Starfleet ships!' a young officer called out, more awed than scared. 'And their weapons are active.'

'Now we have a common enemy,' Mol told Pran.

'Yes, you,' Pran replied, 'they have come at my insistence.'

'This time you're the one lying.'

'We're being hailed by one of the ships, Thot,' Omdar said.

'Which one?'

'The Triton, it is Luna-class, a new explorer.'

'Put it through.'

'Thot Mol, I am Captain Astar of the Federation starship Triton. You will surrender your vessel to my forces immediately or you will be destroyed. Under the articles of interstellar law you are to be arrested on the following charges: an unprovoked attack on a Federation protectorate world; the theft of Federation property; the murders of Starfleet personnel; the use of metaweapons banned by the Treaty of Algeron; and breaking the terms of surrender as laid out in the Treaty of Bajor.'

'I do not recognise your laws.'

'I do,' Thot Pran interrupted, causing the viewscreen to split in half, showing both faces. 'Captain Astar, I officially notify you that Thot Mol is considered a renegade and traitor under Confederacy law, and we revoke any and all claims to his person, crew and vessel.'

Astar inclined her head in acknowledgement. 'Thank you, Regent Pran.' She faced Thot Mol. 'Do you wish to add resisting arrest?'

'I do,' Mol replied. 'All vessels, fire.'

The remaining fighters immediately went after the damaged Pioneer but found her to be more than capable of defending herself as Lieutenant Mendez ably picked off each one. Within a minute all that was left of the fighters was debris. The frigates and destroyers converged on Triton, intent on destroying her but well placed quantum torpedoes—thanks to Lieutenant Sito's highly-detailed plans of those ships—knocked out one frigate and destroyed another. The destroyers attacked and one was destroyed quickly by the Pioneer, while the other tried ramming Triton. The Pioneer strafed the remaining frigate, aiming for the engines, and it barrelled into the destroyer, sending it wildly off course and into the offensive shield.

'Thot Mol,' Astar called to him from the viewscreen less than five minutes later. 'I believe that your fleet has been somewhat depleted.'

'You will pay for this,' Mol replied.

'There are only a few hundred people on Ostkind, Mol,' Pran said, 'the rest of the government have been relocated. In the event of our demise, the new government will quickly step up to take our place. You will have lost before you have even started.'

'Enough of your talk,' Mol yelled. 'Omdar, fire through the shield.'

'No,' the Prethot replied, openly defiant for the first time.

'What?'

'I've had enough of taking your orders, killing innocents for your grand plan. The only reason the Ynelav attack failed is because of me. I have upset your plans from the start. Were you aware that we had a Starfleet officer masquerading as a pilot? I thought not. You have failed. None of us will take your orders now.'

'Surrender, Mol,' Pran suggested.

'Never!'

'Then you will be destroyed,' Astar said and turned away from the viewscreen, 'Prepare to fire on my mark.'

'I will never yield.'

Omdar suddenly pulled a disruptor from his uniform and aimed it. 'This ends, now.'

He felt a sharp pain in his back and turned to face the young officer that had announced the arrival of the Starfleet vessels. Looking down he saw that the man held a disruptor of his own and it had just been fired. Omdar slumped to the deck, his consciousness fading as the barking laughter of his superior officer became louder.

'There you see,' Mol crowed. 'No one defies me and lives. Fire through the shield.'

'I cannot,' the officer looked up, stricken. 'He deleted his files.'

'No matter, fire at the sun. Nothing will escape that.'

The officer attempted to do so but could not. 'All weapons systems are offline.'

Mol growled. 'Very well, I surrender.'

'Prepare to be boarded,' Astar said and cut the channel.

'Hand out weapons. I intend to kill anyone who steps aboard, and get those weapons systems back online. I will not fail when I am so close to success.'

'Yes, Thot.'

'Keep the shields up; it should prevent them getting a transporter lock. I would rather they destroyed them than allow me to suffer at their hands.'

'They are firing some kind of feedback pulse into the shields, they're dropping.'

'Get us out of here.'

'They've locked a tractor beam onto us.'

Mol growled again. The Starfleet captain was supposed to be destroying him for not complying. Instead, she was risking her ship and crew to capture him so that he might answer for his crimes. Well, to hell with her. He had committed no crimes worthy of being punished for. Trying to take control of a corrupt government for the good of the people should not be a crime; it should make him worthy of a medal. He should be held up high and worshipped by the people for saving them, not cowing down for fear of being reprimanded by aliens. Mol felt the ship move as the engines came up to full power.

'We're breaking free,' an engineer whooped with delight.

'Do not be so happy, crewman. We are not free of their oppression yet. We will yet be victorious.'

'But we are alive.'

'For now. Where are those weapons?'

'We're clear.'

'Go to warp.'

The Hevn shuddered suddenly and Mol knew what had happened. 'Warp engines are offline.'

'I have weapons,' the young officer added. 'Torpedo launchers are fully loaded.'

'Aim for the primary and fire when you have a clear shot.'

'Ten seconds and I will be ready.'

Mol counted down the time in his head and rejoiced when the torpedo streaked away from the ship toward his destiny. Toward a new beginning for his people and to the end of the weakling Federation, who would learn that to cross the Breen meant death!

USS Triton, stardate 57130.2

Astar watched in horror as the torpedo moved away from the warship toward the sun. She knew there was no way that anything could reach the torpedo before it detonated and made the only decision that she could, then prayed that they would be able to make things right, but she waited to give it until there was no other choice. She watched, horrified, as the torpedo slammed through the primary's outer layers and saw the effects of the protomatter as it interacted with the hydrogen at its core. A large energy wave began expanding from the torpedo's impact site and the closest planet in the system was shattered seconds later.

'Captain, that wave will intercept us in less than two minutes,' Gonzales said, slightly worried.

'Is Mol leaving?'

'Yes sir, but his engines have taken damage and he may not be able to make it out of the danger zone.'

'Can we tow him at warp?'

'The wave is already starting to destabilise the system, we'll only just make it ourselves.'

'Has the Pioneer gone?'

'Yes sir, sixty seconds.'

'Warp one, engage.'

Larson threw the ship into low warp and Astar sank into her chair. Beside her, Wright looked utterly calm. 'We had no choice, Leza,' he said softly. 'We can go back once the shockwave has passed and see if anyone survived.'

'I doubt anyone could have survived that. Do you know what happened at the Amargosa observatory in '71?'

'The destruction of the star, I read about it.'

'The entire system had been decimated, nothing was left.'

'Do you want to go back?'

Astar turned to Gonzales. 'How much time do we have before the shockwave has passed through the system?'

The tactical officer consulted her readouts. 'It should be safe to return now, sir.'

'Ensign, turn us around. I want to know if anyone survived.'

'It's unlikely, Captain,' Gonzales replied. 'I've never heard of anyone surviving a blast when they've been that close.'

'There's a first time for everything, how long?'

'Three minutes, Captain,' Larson answered.

Astar waited in silence as Triton headed back toward the Ostkind system, former homeworld of the Breen Confederacy.

'Sir, Commander Batanides is hailing us.'

'On screen.'

'Captain, with your permission, I'd like to head for Deep Space Three, I'd like to get my crew home and back to their families.'

'Of course, go right ahead. We'll catch up in a few hours.'

'Aye sir, Batanides out.'

'We're entering the system, sir.'

'Slow to impulse and put it on screen.'

What she saw shocked her and she shook her head, almost disbelieving her eyes. Instead of a large number of rocks floating free and a dead sun at their centre, there was a black hole and an event horizon—with Thot Mol's ship caught in it.

'Open a channel to Thot Mol,' Astar ordered. 'Perhaps now he'll be ready to listen to reason.'

'Channel open.'

'Thot Mol, this is Captain Astar. Do you need assistance?'

'This is your doing, Starfleet!' Mol replied vehemently. 'I will get myself out of this.'

'How may I ask, do you plan to do that?'

'Why should I tell you?'

'You shouldn't, but you want to prove your superiority to me.'

Mol chuckled and she decided that she didn't like the sound too much, like duranium against duranium. 'Very true. I use my remaining protomatter devices to create a shaped shockwave that will allow me to break free.'

Astar turned to Mahtani at the science station. 'Lieutenant?'

'I have absolutely no idea what that is likely to do,' the chief science officer replied. 'It could work or it might destabilise subspace in this region. There's no way to tell.'

'Thot Mol, my science officer suggests that you may cause more harm than good.'

'What does it matter, this system is dead,' he replied and cut the channel.

'Is there any way we can stop him?' she asked her officers.

'Not without getting too close and getting ourselves pulled in,' Mahtani answered. 'I hate to say this, but the best thing we can do is just wait and see what happens.'

'I don't like doing nothing.'

'Neither do I,' Wright added. 'But it might be the most prudent course of action in this case.'

She nodded. 'Take us to the edge of what is left of this system.'

'Aye sir.'

As the ship moved toward the edge of the system, Gonzales' console bleeped. 'Captain, I'm reading phaser fire in the brig.'

Wright looked at Astar. 'McNamara.'

'Seal the deck,' Astar ordered and activated the comm from the arm of her chair. 'Lieutenant McNamara, Ryan, what do you think you're doing?' she asked as softly as she could, though there was acid in her tone.

'Making sure that the half-breed doesn't keep the job I should have.'

'It won't be your job now, Lieutenant, not after this.'

'It was never going to be my job, was it, Captain? You just let act as security chief until you found someone more qualified.'

'I was going to give it to you, if you proved yourself, but I was overruled and had to assign Lieutenant Parker in your place.'

'Who assigned the half-breed, I'll kill him too.'

Wright moved to stand beside Gonzales and whispered in her ear. She nodded and tapped out a number of commands.

'That isn't very polite, Lieutenant, and not politically correct either.'

'She's half animal, always has been.'

Wright nodded to Astar. 'Where are you going, Lieutenant?'

'To kill her, where else.'

The turbolift opened and Parker stepped out, wondering why she was called to the bridge without her combadge.

'She's on the bridge, are you going to kill us all?'

'If I have to,' he replied tersely.

Astar muted the channel. 'Can we flood the section he's in with anaesthezine gas?'

'Too many people there.'

'Where is he headed?'

'My quarters,' Parker replied.

'That we can seal.'

'Where is he now?'

'Still in the same section.'

'He'd ditched his combadge,' Parker realised quickly. 'Scan for his lifesign.'

'Turboshaft three.'

'Shut it down and beam him back to the brig. We'll have to deal with him later. Right now we have more important things to worry about.'

'You bitch!' McNamara yelled before he dematerialised.

'Captain, look!' Larson called out.

Astar cursed herself for not watched the Breen ship more closely, but she saw—as everyone else did—the launch of more than twenty torpedoes, presumably all protomatter warheads.

'Damn,' she muttered. 'Are we in any danger at this distance?'

'I don't know,' Mahtani answered honestly. 'I'm getting some unusual readings in subspace.'

As a former science officer herself, some time ago, Astar joined him at the science station. 'That is odd, and I presume totally unexpected.'

'Yes sir.'

'Captain?' Wright asked.

Astar looked at the viewscreen just as the last torpedo detonated.

USS Triton, stardate 57130.4

Astar glanced at her exec and then back at the viewscreen as snaking tendrils of energy hundreds of kilometres long erupted from the event horizon and converged on the very centre of the black hole. Protomatter was one of the unstable forms of matter in the universe and wrought havoc with anything it came into contact with. When something as powerful as a black hole was forced into contact with protomatter, the results were going to be unpredictable.

'Captain?' Wright asked again.

'The sensors are picking up neutrino levels which are rising rapidly and the black is now emitting something more than radio waves.'

Mahtani continued. 'There is only one known phenomenon that causes elevating neutrino levels and the appearance of verteron nodes in proximity, and there is only one in the entire galaxy.'

Wright nodded as the knowledge dawned on him. 'A wormhole?'

'An artificially created wormhole. Natural wormholes have no verterons,' Mahtani informed him.

'So the Breen will have a wormhole leading to who-knows-where in a few minutes,' Gonzales said, disgusted with the thought.

'Something like that,' Astar replied and then frowned. 'Where is Mol's ship?'

Gonzales busied herself at her console. 'He's backing away from the event horizon, and trying to power up his warp engines.'

'Ensign, can we reach him before he can go to warp?'

Larson shook his head. 'I wouldn't want to fly through this at anything faster than one-quarter impulse.'

'Then he'll get away with all that he's done,' Astar said, feeling defeated.

'Captain, the wormhole!'

All eyes turned to the viewscreen as a brilliant flash of vibrant blue energy erupted from the centre of the wormhole. Mol headed straight for it and seconds later both the wormhole and his ship vanished.

Astar smiled. 'Ensign, take your time. We'll launch a probe into the wormhole and then find out where it leads.'

'We can't, sir,' Mahtani told her.

'They had the same problems with the Bajoran wormhole. They had no way of communicating with the other side. The final solution is unlikely to occur twice.'

'What did they do?'

'A rogue comet found its way into the wormhole leaking soliton radiation and when it reached the other side they were able to receive telemetry. As I said, Captain, a solution unlikely to occur twice.'

Astar nodded at the explanation. It made a weird kind of sense to her. 'What else can we do?'

'We'll have to enter the wormhole ourselves. After discerning our position, we head back to the other side and return to Federation space.'

Astar considered the proposal and while reluctant to allow Thot Mol to go anywhere except a penal colony, she knew that he would have to wait as she had a few things to sort out first. 'Very well. Ensign, set a course for the Breen wormhole.'

'Aye sir, wormhole approach in three minutes.'

'That was quick flying.'

'I found a shortcut.'

Astar smiled. 'Good work. Lieutenant Mahtani, have stellar cartography ready to perform a long-distance scan.'

'Yes sir, they're primed and ready.'

'Two minutes,' Larson called from the helm.

'Commander,' Astar turned to Gonzales. 'Did you beam McNamara to the brig?'

'No sir, sickbay. He's in a restraining field.'

'Good thinking.'

'Thank you, sir.'

'One minute.'

Astar activated the intraship comm. 'All hands, we are about to enter a wormhole. Brace yourselves, it could get bumpy.'

'Reading elevated neutrino levels, slighter higher than those of the Bajoran wormhole.'

'Do they pose a threat?'

'No, sir.'

The wormhole opened and they were swallowed like Jonah in the whale. Astar could not help but stare at the multicoloured tendrils of energy that snaked along the wormhole's walls. Within moments they were in unfamiliar space and quite evidently alone.

'Where are we, Lieutenant?' Wright asked the science officer.

He looked up, surprised. 'According the local stars, we're on the other side of the Black Cluster.'

'Which is where exactly?' Astar asked.

'The Helix Nebula.'

Astar's eyebrows rose. The Helix Nebula had been known about since the twentieth century but Starfleet had never been able to explore the region because travel through the Cluster was impossible.

'I think it's time we went home,' Astar said. 'Turn us around.'

'Aye sir.'

The journey through the wormhole felt longer this time when Triton emerged, she could see that they were no longer in Breen space.

'What the—?'

'Is that—?'

'Yes sir, it's Deep Space Three.'

'Open a channel to Admiral Holt.'

'He's hailing us, sir.'

'Put him on.'

'Captain?' Holt asked.

'I wish I could explain, sir. You'll have my report as soon as I figure out what to say.'

'Never mind that, just beam over and tell me what the hell has been going on. Captain Batanides has told me what she can about the events in the Ostkind system but you obviously have more to tell.'

'Yes sir, I do. I also have a few things to tell you that might surprise you.'

'I'm not easily surprised anymore, Captain.'

Astar smiled. 'How about the fact that we rescued an undercover Starfleet officer believed to be dead for a decade.'

Holt raised an eyebrow. 'Indeed? Then we have much to discuss.'

'And I need to have a crewman transferred to your brig. He seems to have become unhinged.'

'Is that a professional diagnosis?'

'Probably not, but the colloquialism is apt.'

Holt nodded. 'I see. I suggest you beam over with him. I'll have him escorted with my security personnel, Captain.'

'Thank you, sir.'

Deep Space Three, stardate 57144.1

Lieutenant Sito Jaxa had spent most of the last two days in long-distance debriefings with Admirals Nechayev and Janeway but her hardest conversation was with Captain Picard. He was pleased to see that she was alive and she then contacted all of her old friends that she could reach and left messages for those she couldn't. Admiral Holt had approved her transfer and she was now waiting for the official posting, though it was just a formality. Captain Astar entered the room and smiled at her. Following the captain, the other senior officers of the Triton entered the conference lounge on the station.

'I wanted to tell you all the news, before I told the crew,' Astar told them. 'But first, I would like to introduce you to our new deputy chief of security, Lieutenant Sito Jaxa. Lieutenant Parker has agreed to stay on board as our security chief and now comes the bad news. While we were gallivanting around the Black Cluster, Starfleet Command assigned the Oberon to explore the Delta Quadrant.'

Sito stood in mute shock as most of the others did too, but Astar continued with a new smile on her face. 'Command also believes that we should not squander the opportunity presented to us by Thot Mol's behaviour. As of today, Triton's new mission is to explore the Helix Nebula and beyond. While there is no guarantee that the wormhole will still be close to Deep Space Three by the time we return, we will find our way home somehow. At least it's not a seventy thousand light-year trip.'

Everyone chuckled.

Wright stepped forward and tapped his combadge. 'Ten to transport, energise.'

By the time Sito realised what was going on, they had all materialised on Triton's bridge. Astar stepped toward a conspicuously vacant section of the bulkhead and turned to face her senior officers.

'It has taken Commander Wright and me a long time to find the right epigraph for our ship but we have it. Commander.'

Wright picked the cloth-covered plaque from his chair and placed it on the bulkhead. With a flourish he unveiled it.

USS TRITON

LUNA CLASS

STARFLEET REGISTRY NCC – 80210

LAUNCHED STARDATE 57097.3

UNITED FEDERATION OF PLANETS

And below, the long list of Starfleet and civilian personnel involved in her construction, followed by the epigraph at the very bottom.

"WE SHALL NOT CEASE FROM EXPLORATION"

— T. S. Eliot

'Very apt,' Xeris said.

'"And the end of all our exploring/Will be to arrive where we started/And know the place for the first time,"' Talen quoted. 'From "Little Gidding."'

Astar turned to face Gonzales who had moved to the tactical station. 'Has the Admiral given us permission to depart?'

'He has,' she replied with a smile. 'Docking clamps have been released.'

'Ensign, take us out,' Astar said as Brex, Xeris, Parker and Sito entered the turbolift, heading away toward their respective realms.

'We're clear of the station,' Larson informed her.

'Set a course for the Helix Nebula,' she replied, all her thoughts on the mission ahead.