Fear, Betrayal, Justice

by Jminor

A lone Starfleet officer leads the Alpha Quadrant to victory

"Sir, we are approaching coordinates 003 mark 292," announced the helmsman. "The Orion cruiser Hartana is holding station thirty thousand kilometers away."

He rose from his command chair and paced back towards the tactical station. Gesturing to Commander Reed, said, "Open hailing frequencies: This is the Federation Starship Phoenix to Captain Sal-Ton. I've brought the payment. I'm looking forward to hearing the information you have obtained."

The forward screen then blinked to display the imposing figure of the Orion privateer. "Hello Captain. It's been a long time. I'll be more than happy to come aboard your vessel, to inspect the payment."

Nodding slightly, the captain headed for the turbolift, "Understood, I'll meet you in our transporter room in a few moments."

Standing next to the transporter chief, Kellin watched as a blue column of energy took shape on the platform. Sal-Ton then stepped from the pad and smiled widely. "Captain Kellin. Good to see you again."

Kellin tried to control his emotions, as the arrogant swaggering Orion extended his hand. He shook it firmly and gestured towards the exit. "If you'll follow me, Captain Sal-Ton, your payment has been placed in our cargo bay."

A few moments later, they entered Cargo Bay 4. Two large cases sat on the cargo transporter pad. "You're payment, Captain," he exclaimed. "Two hundred and five bars of gold pressed latinum, along with forty-three liters of bio-mimetic gel."

Sal-Ton pulled out a scanning device and passed it over the cases. "Very nicely done, Captain. You must have gone through a lot of trouble to get the gel. It is all but illegal within the Federation."

To say the least, he thought, this gel was stolen from a research facility on Proxima III. "Yes, it is. I was able, however, to obtain it from a few discreet contacts. The survival of the Federation may hinge on the information you have obtained."

Sal-Ton grinned wider, pulling a datapad from his tunic. "And here it is, Captain. The Starship Yorktown was severely damaged near Rigel XII three weeks ago in an ion storm. They are undergoing extensive repairs at an Orion Syndicate base at this very moment." Handing over the padd, he added, "The coordinates are included. But I caution you: This ship stands no chance of penetrating their defensive grid. And the battering Starfleet has taken with the Breen, the Cardassians, and the Romulans, I doubt they are going to apply the necessary force to capture one rogue Federation officer."

Kellin was seething with anger at this point. "Thank you for your concern, Captain, but I'll handle the situation." He gestured towards the transporter pad. "If you like, I can send you back to your ship now."

A few moments later the large Orion had dematerialized.

Reviewing the datapad, Kellin touched his combadge. "Kellin to Bridge. Set a course for Deep Space Nine, maximum warp. And contact Starfleet Command, I need to speak with Admiral Janeway."

Tacking his seat behind the desk in his ready room, Kellin activated the computer terminal. The image of Kathryn Janeway came to life. "Captain, I was told this was urgent, what can I do for you?"

He regarded the former captain of the Starship Voyager very carefully. If there was one Admiral in Starfleet who would understand what I'm about to do, it would be her. She had personally dealt with Captain Ransom of the U.S.S Equinox several years ago. She knows what its like to hold a grudge.

"Admiral, I need a taskforce, I may have located the Yorktown."

Janeway frowned. "Commander Tyler? You think you've found him."

He held up the Orion datapad, "Yes ma'am, at an Orion Syndicate base near Rigel."

"As much as I would like to help you, Captain, I'm afraid it's not possible. We've just launched a major offensive against the Orion Syndicate. We need every ship we have left. I don't have to remind you of the beating Starfleet has taken the last few years. In fact, there are a lot of admirals here, who are itchy to put the Phoenix back into fleet duty. You've been on detached service since this mess began. And not to put to fine a point on it, Captain, you haven't got the job done. The Yorktown is still leading this rebellion against the Federation. We've been plunged into war with three different powers."

Clenching the padd in his hand, Kellin retorted, "I understand the situation, Admiral. But one more ship in the fleet won't make a difference. Tyler is leading this entire war against us. If there's even a slim chance that his destruction will end it, we have to take it."

Janeway clasped her hands together and dropped her head a few centimeters. "All right. I'll divert the Enterprise to rendezvous with you at Deep Space Nine. You can coordinate your efforts with Colonel Kira once you arrive."

He sighed with more relief than I had felt in 3 years. "Thank you, Admiral. We won't let you down."

"Godspeed, Captain. Janeway out."

As the terminal blinked out to be replaced with the image of the seal of the United Federation of Planets, Kellin rose from his chair and headed towards the viewport. Watching the stars slip by at faster than warp nine, he leaned his forehead against the transparent aluminum window.

After seven years, all the hunts, all the traps, the close calls, the friends killed, he was finally closing in on the man who had betrayed the entire quadrant. But more importantly had betrayed him.

Seven years earlier…

"Drop power from the shield emitters, and route it through that anodyne relay. It'll increase thruster power forty percent."

Brice Kellin, newly promoted full lieutenant, assigned to Deep Space Nine watched his best friend John Tyler work the helm controls of the runabout Ganges.

"Thank you," said Tyler, "but I do know how to land a runabout with partial thruster failure."

Kellin smiled. "On the holodeck." He happed at the controls furiously, watching the surface of Bajor approaching at 150kph. "Not the same thing. No safety protocols here."

Tyler grinned back at him. "Got it." Two seconds later, the cockpit brightened. "Thrusters back online. I'm leveling our descent."

The nose of the Ganges suddenly lurched up, and the runabout began a slow descent, until it touched down within a large open field.

Tyler leaned back in his seat and sighed. "See? Told you I could get us down. Now what the hell happened?"

Kellin turned to examine the sensor panel. "I'm not sure, it was some sort of spatial eddy that grazed the port nacelle. Caused an overload in the impulse reactor. I don't think we're going to be lifting on our own power."

"Then contact the station and let them know we've set down," Tyler exclaimed.

"Aye, sir," Kellin replied to his lieutenant junior-grade friend. "I don't remember your promotion coming through yet."

The other security officer smiled and activated the communications system. "Deep Space Nine, this is the Runabout Ganges. Lieutenant Kellin and I have had a hard landing on Bajor, and require assistance."

Static filtered back over the speakers. Kellin moved across the cockpit to the engineering panel. "Looks like the coms on the fritz." He tapped his combdage. "This is Lieutenant Kellin to anyone within range. Please respond."

He counted to 20 before turning back to Tyler and frowned. "How far out in the middle of nowhere are we?"

Tyler brought up a topographical map of the area. "We're about 60 kilometers from Musilla."

Kellin reached under the transporter platform and pulled out two backpacks, two phasers, and the rest of the survival gear. "Then I guess we're going for a hike. Get your gear."

They moved across the plains of Bajor for several hours.

"Ya know," said Tyler, "when I told Chief O'Brien I'd help you test the new phaser targeting system on the Ganges, I did it because I wanted a chance to hone my engineering skills, broaden my horizons, and maybe head to the command track. I didn't think I would end up hiking across the Bajoran wilderness."

Kellin smiled, gripping his pack with both hands. Looking up the mid-afternoon sun. "Look on the bright side, after we got back to the station, we had a mok'bara session scheduled with Commander Worf. This is much easier…" a steady beeping noise suddenly began sounding from his belt.

He pulled out his tricorder. "I'm picking up two life-signs over that ridge," he stated point towards the west.

Tyler tightened his pack. "Then let's go, they may have a transport."

They double-timed it up the hill for a better view. In the valley below stood two tents, and what appeared to be a rather lavish campsite.

Off in the distance, two Bajoran women stood near a creek, washing what looked like cookware.

The two Starfleet officers exchanged looks. "Well, we just can't walk by without being friendly," Kellin explained.

Tyler nodded. "Then lead on, sir, you're the senior officer here."

They made their way towards the women. "Hello," Kellin said loudly getting their attention. "I'm Brice Kellin, and this is John Tyler. We're from Deep Space Nine."

The shorter of the two women, a very attractive young Bajoran with short blonde hair smiled. "Etana Karina. This is my friend Kalita Neru. What brings two Starfleet officers all the way out to the Vanderlil Valley?"

Kellin took a few steps forward. "Our ship crashed about 20 kilometers from here. Our communications array was damaged. We're making our way to Musilla."

Etana smiled. "That's a long ways from here. You're more than welcome to use our subspace transmitter."

"That would be much appreciated," Kellin replied. Etana lead him towards one of the two tents. Sitting down next to the communications array, Kellin tapped in the Starfleet frequency used by the station.

"Deep Space Nine, this Lieutenant Kellin. Please respond."

A moment later the small screen came to life with the face of Major Kira Nerys. "This is Major Kira. Report."

"Sir, Lieutenant Tyler and I had a hard landing on Bajor. Some sort of spatial eddy overloaded the engines. We're making our way on foot towards Musilla and found a group of campers and used their communications equipment."

Kira nodded. "Understood. The Defiant is returning to the station tomorrow morning, if you can sit tight, they can bring you home then."

Kellin nodded. "Thank you, sir, we'll set up camp here for tonight."

Kira terminated the communication.

Moving out of the tent, Kellin noticed Tyler in heavy conversation with Etana. "John, I just spoke with Major Kira. The Defiant will be here tomorrow to get us. If you two don't mind, we wouldn't mind setting up camp here tonight."

Six hours later, Kellin tightened his grasp on the bottle of Klingon bloodwine. He was sprawled on the ground around a campfire, laughing almost uncontrollably.

"Then as the ship came out of warp, the gravity plating buckled. John and I crashed right into Captain Sanders. The Ferengi ship we were chasing had sent out an anti-graviton pulse. It ripped through our shields and sent the entire crew flying through the ship. It took us two-days to get back on our feet."

Karina was laughing as well, sitting on John's lap, her own bottle of bloodwine in hand. "That must've been pretty scary," she said softly looking at John.

He smiled. "Nah, I was roommates at the Academy all four years with that man right there. Nothing Starfleet Security training could throw at me was as scary as that."

Kalita, who had been very quiet the entire evening finally spoke up. "So you two have known each other a long time?"

Kellin nodded. "First day at the Academy when we got our room assignments. Then we were stationed on the Enterprise together until last year when she was lost. We both put in for transfers to DS9. With the threat of the Dominion, Starfleet needs its best security officers out here. Just last month, we were on a mission with Captain Sisko on the Defiant. We had to work with a team of Jem'Hadar against another group of Jem'Hadar who had gone rogue. We landed on a planet in the Gamma Quadrant, where a dampening field prevented the use of phasers. We had to fight over a hundred and fifty Jem'Hadar hand-to-hand."

Kalita's eyes grew wide. "Amazing. Sounds like a dangerous life."

Kellin nodded. "It's not easy. We've both been thinking about switching to the command track. First one to make captain makes the other one his First Officer."

Tyler smiled. "He's being modest, he'll probably have his own ship within two years. He's trying to beat James Kirk as the youngest captain in the fleet."

"He only says that, because he keeps forgetting to submit his request for transfer to Captain Sisko," Kellin shot back. "Me, I put in my request 8 weeks ago. The captain says I have promise."

"So you want to command a starship?" Karina asked both of us.

We both nodded. "Best job in the galaxy," said John. "Think about it. Assigned to a true deep space vessel. No contact with home, just your crew to rely on; meeting new species, discovering new worlds. It's why I signed up in the first place."

"Then why did you go in to security?" asked Kalita.

Kellin frowned, lowering his bottle of bloodwine. He looked at Tyler for the smallest bit of nod giving him the okay.

"We were on a training mission on the U.S.S. Avenger when she was attacked by the Breen. They boarded our ship and began killing the crew. We were both on duty in engineering working with Commander Telana trying to reestablish the shields. Next thing we knew, distruptor bolts began flying over our heads. The commander went down, and the warp core was hit. A breach began.

"The captain's voice came over the com ordering us to abandon ship. John and I made our way to the shuttlebay and jumped aboard one of the remaining shuttles. As soon as we were clear, the ship exploded. We could count a handful of escape pods. The Breen ship pulled them aboard and went to warp. Long story short, we followed the Breen to an asteroid field where they had a base hidden.

"We managed to get aboard the station free the survivors and escape. We were commended with the highest honors. Captain Picard himself was giving the commencement address at the Academy that year and requested us for his ship. We went through Advanced Tactical Training and a year later, ended up on the Enterprise.

"So you can say the security field chose us, we were both going to be engineers."

Karina and Kalita were staring wide-eyed at us now. "Unbelievable." said Karina, "during the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor, my family lived in New Berlin. Kalita's family lived in Tycho City. We only returned to Bajor seven months ago."

Kellin nodded, fully understanding. These two Bajorans had lived on Luna- Earths only moon- during the Occupation. Several of the Bajoran Resistance fighters would consider these two women something slightly above traitors. To them, if Bajorans weren't here to fight the Cardassians they were helping them.

"I understand how that may be difficult for you," said Tyler. He took Karina's hand. "If you're not busy in a few days, you should come to the station and visit us."

Kellin chuckled under his breath, always impressed with Tyler's impeccable timing, just as his combadge sounded. "Defiant to Lieutenants Kellin and Tyler. Prepare for transport."

Tyler got to his feet. "Well ladies, it's been a pleasure, but we have to be going. Commander Worf does not like to be kept waiting."

Three Years Later:

Kellin squeezed the firing stud on his phaser rifle. The Jem'Hadar soldier 300 meters away fell to the ground, a sparking wound emanating from his chest. Slapping his combadge, Kellin ordered, "Alpha Team, this is Alpha Leader. Proceed to main objective. Perimeter defenses have been neutralized."

The Federation was at war. Sometimes, even after nearly two years of fighting it still seemed unbelievable. Kellin got to his feet and began moving quietly through the dense forest of Betazed. Dominion troops hand landed here over a year ago, and only now Starfleet was able to begin the counterattack and drive them off.

"Tyler to Kellin. Captain, I'm pinned down in sector 18. Require assistance."

Hearing his first officer and best friends voice, filled Kellin with apprehension. Tyler was supposed to be coordinating the fighter shuttles that had been launched from their ship, the Saratoga. "What the hell are you doing down here, Commander?"

"Sorry Captain, reinforcements were needed at the staging area. I brought down Omega Squadron to soften up the anti-personnel weaponry along the northern continent. Got hit by a torpedo and had a hard landing."

Kellin smiled despite his surroundings, thinking back all those years ago to their hard landing on Bajor. The day his friend John had met his wife, Karina. The two of them had been married for over a year. She was currently living on Earth while the Federation was fighting for its existence. "Understood, Commander. I've got a hopper; I'll be there as soon as I can. Sit tight."

Kellin readjusted his grip on his phaser rifle, gestured towards his team, and headed off towards their transport.

John Tyler threw his exhausted phaser rifle to the ground in frustration. Pulling a photon grenade from his belt, he set the timer for 4 seconds and threw it at the approaching group of Jem'Hadar. Running into the pile of enemy corpses, he drew on of the fallen soldiers plasma rifles. A distruptor bolt instantly passed by his ear. Diving towards the ground, he began firing blindly behind him.

Finding cover behind a large stone outcropping, he slapped his combadge. "Tyler to Saratoga. I could use an emergency transport."

"Sorry Commander, two more Cardassian ships have just dropped out of warp. We've got our hands full at the moment."

Tyler cursed under his breath, madly firing the weapon in his hand. Suddenly a large explosion went off less than 5 meters away. A bright beam of phaser energy fell from the sky, encompassing the closing Cardassian and Jem'Hadar troops.

A Starfleet hopper suddenly appeared through the treetop canopy and set down. The aft hatch slid open and a welcoming figure appeared. "Move your ass, Commander!" shouted Captain Kellin. "We've got a planet to conquer."

"Looks like the tides' turned. The Dominion has been forced back to their base. We're going to shell it."

Tyler shot a shocked expression at Kellin. "Not exactly proper rules of engagement."

Kellin, working the controls of the hopper as he set it down in the Federation staging area nodded. "We've taken heavy losses. We don't have much of a choice." He keyed the com. "Kellin to the fleet: Open fire."

From high orbit several beams of energy weapons along with several torpedoes rained down obliterating the Dominion base.

"Saratoga to Captain Kellin: Enemy ships are in retreat. We can bring you home any time you like. There's a new problem."

Kelled signed, standing up preparing for transport. "I'm only in a mood for good news, Lieutenant," he told his tactical officer.

"I'm sorry, Captain, the Dominion has attacked Earth."

Kellin and Tyler burst into the captain's ready room, Kellin already making his way towards his desk. Lieutenant Marasco, the ship's chief of security followed them in, carrying a padd.

"Initial reports are sketchy, sir. The enemy force consisted primarily of Breen warships. They've apparently joined the Dominion. The attack was focused on Starfleet Headquarters. Casualty lists keep rising every hour. All available ships are headed there now. Admiral Paris has authorized us to depart Betazed as soon as we secure all systems."

Kellin made a quick glance at his first officer. Tyler's face had gone completely white. His wife and family were residing in San Francisco, home of Starfleet Headquarters. Kellin dismissed his tactical officer and turned to his friend. "John, we'll get there as soon as we can. Saratoga's a fast ship. One of the benefits of commanding an Akira-Class cruiser, they're built for speed. I'll have you home in two days, my friend."

Tyler nodded silently and left the ready room.

Kellin took his seat at his desk and switched on his computer interface. "Computer, access security channel Omega 31." He tapped several keys, entering his authorization code.

A moment later the screen blinked on to show the weathered face of Cole. The middle-aged man, sitting in what looked like a very comfortable chair, nodded slightly, his leather tunic tightly wrapped around his slight frame. "Captain. I take it you're contacting me regarding the attack on Earth."

Kellin nodded. "Yes, sir. I need access to Starfleet Emergency communiqués. My first officer's wife lives in San Francisco."

"That's tightly restricted information. I'll do what I can." Cole looked down at the padd on his desk, and began tapping the controls. "Here it is. Etana Karina. Married to Commander Jonathan Tyler stardate 51032." His brow furrowed. "It appears she was injured during the attack. She's being treated at a Starfleet Medical Triage facility. Minor injuries only. A broken arm, a fractured clavicle. Nothing life threatening. "

Kellin sighed heavily. Thank God. "Thank you Cole. I really appreciate..."

"This can't be right," Cole interrupted. "According to my records, Etana Karina is a Bajoran."

"That's right."

"Then how do you explain this?" Cole tapped a command and a series biomedical readings appeared on the side of Kellin's monitor. He'd been at war long enough to know those readings when he saw them.

"That's impossible," Kellin blurted.

Cole manipulated another series of commands. "I've cross referenced it through our database seven different ways, through several key sources. There's no doubt about, Captain: You're first officers wife is a Cardassian."

"Come in," came the reply through the doors intercom.

Kellin took a deep breath held it, then pressed the entry key. The doors split open with a soft hiss. John Tyler was sitting in a darkened corner near the viewport.

Kellin took a step in and immediately notice the computer terminal was activated. An image of Karina and John filled the screen. They were on a beach somewhere.

"Risa?" Kellin asked gesturing towards the monitor.

Tyler nodded slightly. "Our honeymoon."

Kellin moved towards the vacant chair across from Tyler. "John, I pulled some strings with some friends of ours. Karina's fine. She's got a broken arm, and a fractured clavicle, but she's alright."

Tyler fell back in his chair, the relief almost visible as it escaped his body. "Thank you, Brice."

Kellin was immediately on his feet. "There's something else you need to know. Medical scans show that Karina is not a Bajoran."

"Not a Bajoran? How can that be? What could she possibly be?"

"She's a Cardassian, John, surgically altered to appear Bajoran."

Tyler stared at him wide-eyed. "There has to be some sort of mistake. Why would she lie about that?"

"The Cardassians altered several of their agents during the Occupation in order to infiltrate the Bajoran Resistance. A lot of them underwent mind-altering surgery. She may not even know she's a Cardassian. But she has to be told."

"How far away are we from Earth?" asked Tyler, visibly shaken, his voice trembling.

"We'll reach orbit in 40 hours. I've got engineering pushing the engines as hard as they can. There are a lot of people who need help on Earth, and obviously you want to see your wife."

Captains log supplemental. After two days, Saratoga has returned to Earth. The damage in San Francisco was severe. Over 15,000 people were lost. And for my first officer, this may be one of the most difficult days of his life.

"An exemplary job, Captain, Command is most impressed. With Betazed free of Dominion occupation, Stafleet's turning their attention towards Cardassia itself."

Sitting in the conference lounge of the Saratoga listening to Admiral Paris and Admiral Necheyev, Kellin couldn't help but think about John, who had beamed down to the surface five hours ago to see Karina. And hopefully get the answers to his questions.

"Thank you, Admiral," he said. "But with this new Breen\Dominion alliance, things aren't looking good."

Necheyev nodded. "It gets worse. Apparently the Breen have employed a new energy-dampening weapon. They counterattacked our forces in the Chin'Toka system just last night. We lost 311 ships. Including the Defiant."

Kellin nearly burst of his seat. The Defiant was assigned to DS9, his last posting.

Paris held up a hand. "Easy Captain, the crew managed to abandon ship in time."

Kellin breathed a little easier and sat back down.

"There was one ship that survived the battle," Necheyev continued. "A Klingon bird-of-prey. It apparently wasn't affected by the new Breen weapon due to some modifications her engineer had made prior to the battle. The Klingons are mobilizing to serve as a protecting force until Starfleet and Romulan forces develop a defense against this new weapon."

Kellin nodded slowly. The information in the past two days had been nearly unbelievable. Earth had been attacked, Chin'toka retaken by the Dominion, but now apparently, the Cardassians were rebelling against their Dominion occupiers, lead by Legate Damar. The Dominion cloning facility on Rondak III had been destroyed just this morning.

Paris turned to face Kellin. "Once a defense has been created, we feel we'll have no other choice but to attack Cardassia itself. Captain Sisko and Admiral Ross have been keeping me apprised of the situation. The Dominion's control may be unraveling, and we need to take advantage of it. As soon as their next report comes in, I'll want to talk to you about a special mission."

"Thank you, Admiral, I won't let you down." He hesitated for a moment. "Admiral, have you had a chance to read my report yet regarding my first officer?"

Paris nodded. "Yes, I'm afraid so. If his wife is indeed a Cardassian spy, your entire ship could be compromised."

Kellin's eyebrows shot up. "I don't understand, sir."

"Well..." Paris began. "The Cardassians are notorious for their interrogation techniques and means of persuasion. It could very well be possible that if she is indeed an agent, she could know a lot of things about this ship, her crew and all of Starfleet. Saratoga has been a very prominent ship these past few months. You've let successful campaigns against Rigel, Orias, and now Betazed."

Kellin's palms felt clammy. "I understand Admiral. I'll handle the situation. Commander Tyler is one of the most honorable men I know. He'd never be swayed to turn against the Federation."

Paris nodded curtly. "I've never had to question your judgment before, captain. I'll live the situation in your capable hands."

As the transporter released him, the first thing he noticed was the smell. Smoldering ruins of buildings, charred earth, and most oppressing of all, burnt flesh. Brice Kellin had come to know the smell of death.

He walked along the eastern quad of Starfleet Headquarters, several shuttlecraft rising over his head. No doubt search and rescue teams moving the most critically injured survivors to a medical facility.

"Captain," came a familiar voice. Saratoga's chief medical officer, Dr. Gilmore headed towards him. Her uniform was stained with blood, and her face was haggard.

"Doctor. How goes the recovery?"

"Not good. Most of the people in that building over there," she pointed towards a three-story building directly next to the Quantum Café, "were trapped. We picked up faint life-signs about 4 hours ago, but the building was too unstable to enter, and their life-signs were too faint to get a transporter lock. I'm afraid they all died."

Kellin closed his eyes. The faint breeze of this cool San Francisco morning almost made him forget what had happened here. "Have you spoken with Commander Tyler?"

Gilmore nodded. "Yes, sir, and I performed the genetic sequencing myself. No doubt about it, sir, she's a Cardassian."

"Does she have any knowledge about her transformation?"

Gilmore hesitated, looking down at the ground. "I'm afraid so, sir. She says she has no knowledge of it, and that she's never even met a Cardassian. But…"

"Go on, doctor," Kellin urged.

"I surreptitiously ran an ARA scan on her while she was telling me this. She was lying. And she's been lying to Commander Tyler."

"Does he know?"

"Yes, sir, I told him immediately after we left her hospital room. I gave him a copy of the scan results."

"Where is he now?"

"I think he was going back up to the ship, Captain."

Kellin nodded, silently dismissing the doctor. Touching his combadge he said, "Kelin to Tyler. Can you meet me in the usual place?"

As the public transporter kiosk released him, Kellin took three long strides into the streets of Baghdad. The restored city, which had been a flash point in Earth's third world war, was absolutely beautiful. A testament to the strife humanity had endured in the 21st century.

Kellin raised his hand to shield his eyes from the mid-afternoon sun. Making his way down the main boulevard, he approached the Wandering Dune. It was a bar that he and Tyler had spent a great deal of time in, during their Academy days.

Entering the bar, he immediately felt the cool breeze from the air-cooling units embedded in the ceiling, releasing the desert heat from his body. Eyes adjusting to the much darker environment, he spotted John at their customer table near the dom-jot table. He was nursing what looked like scotch, and from the look on his face, it wasn't his first.

"John," Kellin said softly, pulling out a chair and taking a seat. "I'm sorry."

Tyler looked up at him; his eyes were red and swollen. "Don't be. I was played for a fool for three years, Brice. I fell in love with a spy. Certainly not the first time it's happened in the history of warfare."

"Where is she now?" Kellin asked softly.

"Starfleet Medical. Recovering."

"If you want some time off, I can pull some strings with Command. Saratoga's probably going to be sent to the front in the next few weeks."

Tyler took another sip from his drink. "Thanks, Brice, I appreciate it, but I need to get back to work. Keep my mind focused."

"Have you spoken with her?"

"Briefly, she said she was sorry for lying to me, and that she still loved me."

"Did she say what her mission was?" Kellin urged.

"No. And with the way things are right now, I don't think Starfleet Security is going to accept that answer. They may turn her over to some "friends" of ours."

Kellin leaned back hard in his chair. Section 31. After what that organization was responsible for right now, he wouldn't put it past them. They'd infected the Changelings, the leaders of the Dominion, with a lethal virus. They were all slowly dying. "Maybe before we get under way, you should go talk to her. You'll never forgive yourself if you don't get the answers you need."

Tyler nodded almost imperceptibly. "Maybe you're right." He rose from his chair. "I'll see you on the ship tomorrow morning." With that, he walked out of the bar.

"Captain, all repairs have been completed. We're ready for departure.

Acknowledging Lieutenant Murasco's report, Kellin rose from his command chair and eyed the viewscreen. The large cavern of Starbase One filled the screen.

Saratoga was being dispatched to the Cardassian border. They were to attempt to engage a Breen warship. Two weeks ago Colonel Kira of Deep Space Nine had captured a Dominion vessel equipped with the energy-dampening weapon and turned it over to Starfleet Engineering.

The greatest minds in Starfleet now believed they had developed a countermeasure, but they needed a starship to test the new shield configuration. Admiral Paris had selected Saratoga for the mission.

They were to depart in thirty minutes but there was a problem. His first officer had not yet reported in.

In fact, he had been suspiciously away from his duties for the past month while Saratoga had undergone repairs.

Kellin had visited him twice since their last conversation in Baghdad. Tyler had been staying in San Francisco. His wife Karina had been released from Starfleet Medical and had been relocated to Starfleet Security Headquarters for interrogation. Doctors had also restored her Cardassian appearance.

Moving towards the communications station, Kellin turned his attention to Ensign Wheeler. "Ensign, try to raise Commander Tyler again."

The young ensign nodded and manipulated her controls. "Saratoga to Commander Tyler. Commander Tyler: please respond." She looked up at Kellin expectedly.

Kellin sighed and moved towards the Ops station. "Lieutenant Kelso, scan the surface. Find the Commander."

The operations officer turned around and activated the bio-scanner. A bright colored diagram of Earth appeared. A white blinking icon appeared. "Found him, captain. His combadge signal is emanating from Starfleet Security."

Bolting for the turbolift, Kellin told Kelso, "Transfer the coordinates to transporter room five. I'm beaming down."

Placing his hand on the security scanner, the large door parted open. Kellin stepped within Security Headquarters.

Walking quickly down the hallway he paid no attention to the inquisitive looks he received from junior officers as he raced them.

Reaching the holding area, he keyed in his security code. As the doors slid open, Tyler was sitting at a long conference table. Karina next to him. It was odd to her these days. Her Cardassian physiology had been restored. She was no longer the beautiful Bajoran he had made three years earlier.

"Commander," Kellin said softly. "Saratoga is preparing to depart. You were to report for duty four hours ago."

Tyler sighed, rising from his chair. "I'm sorry, Brice. I must've lost track of time."

"Too busy to return any of my hails too, I see," Kellin retorted staring his friend in the eye.

"Sorry, Captain. I really I am. Can we be going?"

Karina stood. "Hello John, it's good to see you again."

Kellin acknowledged her with a slight nod. He reached up with his right hand and touched his communicator. "Kellin to Saratoga: two to beam up."

As the transporter beam faded, Kellin dropped down from the platform and addressed the lieutenant manning the controls. "You're dismissed."

The young woman blanched visibly and hurried out the transporter room.

Tyler's hands shot up in an apologetic manner. "I know what you're going to say, Brice. I didn't report for duty. I was wrong; I just needed to see her again. Saratoga may be away from Earth for months. I had to talk to her."

Kellin stiffened. "I know what you are going through, John. I'm sorry. But I need my first officer at his best. We're about to go on what possibly may be a suicide mission. If Starfleet Engineering hasn't done their homework, we're going to end up in escape pods in a few days."

"Yes, sir," Tyler exclaimed coming to attention.

"Then let's go to work, Karina isn't going anywhere."

"All right people, prepare for departure. Starfleet's counting on us. The outcome of this mission may determine the outcome of the war."

The senior officers on the bridge, sat a little straighter at their stations upon hearing this.

"We're cleared for launch," stated Enisgn Wheeler from communications.

Kellin headed towards his command chair, Tyler taking his seat at his right side. "Seal the airlock and clear all moorings. Take us out."

The ship suddenly came alive, her impulse engines powering, and the Akira-Class cruiser glided out of space dock. A few minutes later they had cleared the system and went to warp.

"On course two seven zero mark two seven five, warp 9," confirmed Lieutenant Keeler. "We'll reach the Cardassian border in 3 days."

Captain's log supplemental, we've crossed into the war zone, three light-years from the Cardassian border. Still no sign of enemy ships. In the mean time my tactical officer and chief engineer have requested my presence for matter of great importance.

Leaning over the railing facing the warp reactor, Brice Kellin addressed his chief of security and chief engineer. "You're absolutely certain about this?" He brandished a data padd towards the two men.

Lieutenant Murasco, his chief of security hesitated and looked towards the chief engineer, Lieutenant Commander Vale. "I'm afraid so captain. Commander Tyler's been receiving and sending encrypted communiqués to his wife for the past 3 days."

Vale jumped in, "The messages were found in the lower subspace band. They came in during our regular updates from Starfleet Command, and weren't traceable. I found them while running a routine purge of the data buffer."

Kellin slapped the padd down on the railing. "According to this information, he's transferred our patrol route and our new shield modifications."

"I'm prepared to take the Commander into custody," said Murasco.

"I'll come with you, I want to have a talk with our first officer."

The two men headed out of engineering and proceeded to Tyler's quarters.

Pressing the door chime, no answer came.

Kellin keyed in his security override code. The doors hissed open and the two officers entered. The room was empty.

Murasco frowned. "Computer, locate Commander Tyler."

"Commander Tyler is not aboard the ship."

Kellin moved towards the computer terminal on Tyler's desk. "How did he leave?"

"Method of departure unknown."

Tapping commands into the terminal, the screen came to life. John Tyler's face appeared onscreen.

"Brice, I just want you to know what's happened. I'm leaving to be with Karina. The Federation Alliance is going to destroy Cardassia. She and I cannot let that happen. Starfleet started this war. If they had simply left the Dominion alone, this would not have happened. If the Federation had been able to stop the Klingons and the Maquis, Cardassia would not have sought the alliance with the Founders. I'm not going to let the Federation, the Klingons or the Romulans destroy Cardassia. Karina is pregnant with my child. I will not let her people die."

The screen blinked off. Kellin, seething with anger grabbed the terminal and threw it across the room. It collided in to the bulkhead and shattered.

Murasco took a step forward holding a tricorder. "According to the logs, Tyler beamed off the ship three hours ago. Internal scans showed a Dominion transporter signature. At maximum power, their transporters can operate up to three light-years."

Before Kellin could speak the ship was rocked by an explosion. He grabbed the edge of the desk for support.

"Red Alert. All hands to battle stations, captain to the Bridge."

"Report!" snapped the captain, exiting the turbolift.

Lieutenant Kelso, the operations officer, burst out of the command chair and headed for his station. "Four Breen warships, two Jem'Hadar fighters, and one Cardassian Galor-Class."

"Wonderful. Have the Breen fired on us?"

"Aye, sir, the new shield modifications appear to be working."

Murasco, rounding the tactical station and taking his seat looked up. "That may change in a hurry if our shield upgrades have been leaked."

Kellin, now heading for the lower section of the bridge frowned. "Rotate shield frequencies randomly. Helm, go to warp nine point eight."

The Saratoga began pulling away from the enemy fleet.

"Any other ships in the area?" demanded Kellin.

"There are three Klingon ships on maneuvers near Volon III," commented the communications officer, Ensign Wheeler. "Captain Tokath says they're on their way."

"Helm: adjust course to rendezvous' with the Klingons. Mr. Murasco, target the lead ships. Fire a full spread of torpedoes."

"Gladly sir," muttered Murasco. Manipulating his controls, he announced, "torpedoes away."

A dozen bright orange projectiles were released from the aft launchers, finding their marks in the forward shields of the leading enemy ships.

"The two Jem'Hadar ships are dropping out of warp," announced Kelso.

"Two down, five to go," said the captain, falling into his command chair.

The ship was buffeted again. "Shields at 65 percent," said Murasco. "The Breen ships have routed power to their warp drive. They're gaining on us. They'll intercept us before we reach the Klingons."

The ship was rocked again. A conduit exploded at the rear of the bridge. A bright green plasma fire erupted, engulfing Lieutenants Kelso and Murasco, incinerating the two men immediately, before a forcefield erupted engulfing the fire, extinguishing it immediately.

Kellin was pitched to the deck. A support beam fell from the ceiling. It caught Lieutenant Bela at the conn full in the face. Skull crushed, she fell to the deck in a heap.

Ensign Wheeler made her way to the helm. "Shields are buckling, Captain! We're dropping out of warp."

Kellin jumped to his feet and headed for tactical. Pounding his fist on the controls, he shouted, "Weapons are off-line!" He activated the communication array. "This is the Federation Starship Saratoga. We're under attack by enemy ships and require immediate assistance."

This ship pitched again, another conduit exploding on the port side of the bridge.

"Engineering to Bridge!" came Vale's voice. "Shield generators have been destroyed. We've got hull breaches all across the ship."

Another explosion. Kellin grabbed tightly onto the console. A beeping suddenly began from the communications panel. Pressing the command, the main viewscreen came to life. The sight there made his blood boil.

John Tyler stood on the Bridge of a Cardassian ship, flanked by a Cardassian Gul. "Saratoga, stand down. I don't want to destroy you."

Kellin, barely able to control himself. "What the hell have you done!"

Tyler smirked. "What I've done, I've done for Cardassia." He looked to someone off screen. Another figure walked into range of the visual feed. Karina stood there, taking Tyler's hand.

"We're sorry Brice," Karina said softly. "But the Federation has to be stopped. They've become far to imperialistic."

"Imperialistic!" demanded Kellin. "Cardassia started this war!"

Shaking her head slowly, Karina said coolly. "I can see why you would think that, Brice, but it's not true. John and I will stop you. For our children's future."

Tyler reached forward and tapped a panel. The screen winked out replacing the image of the five enemy ships closing on the Saratoga.

Another torpedo impacted. The helm console exploded. Ensign Wheeler fell to the deck, dead before she hit.

"All hands," Kellin announced loudly, activating the ship's intercom. "This is the Captain. Abandon ship."

He made his way to his ready room, pulled a bag of his personal effects. A habit he'd formed ever since the war began. Whenever you go into battle, you don't know if you'll make it out alive.

The strap thrown over his shoulder, he made his way to the emergency access hatch. He climbed down nine decks towards shuttlebay two. Running into the launch bay, he was surprised not to see any other crewmen.

Making his way to the Runabout Tigress the ship was pitched again. Kellin fell into the starboard nacelle of his escape veseel. Pulling himself up he entered the craft, and slapped his combadge. "Kellin to all hands, anyone near shuttlebay two, I'm launching the Tigress."

No response came from his communicator. Sealing the hatch, Kellin fell into the pilot's seat. "Computer, initiate cold-launch sequence."

Bypassing the pre-flight checklists, the impulse and warp engines were brought online, and the Tigress powered up. Kellin tapped his fingers on the side of his chair madly. No one had come through the airlock yet. The ship was rocked again. She couldn't take much more of this.

Sighing heavily the captain engaged the thrusters. Tigress rose from the deck and angled towards the hangar doors.

"Warning," announced the computer, "remote sensors off-line. Shuttlebay doors are sealed."

Kellin slapped a hand on the controls. "Perfect! Just perfect." He happed a few more commands into the panel. Two bright orange phaser beams erupted from the forward emitters, vaporizing the shuttlebay doors.

Taking the ship to full impulse, the Tigress cleared the Saratoga at the moment she exploded. The antimatter shockwave caught the runabout throwing it on a mad course, out of control.

Kellin was thrown from his seat, his head impacting on the corner of the helm. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was John Tyler's smirking face in his minds eye.

In the deep recess of his mind, he heard a hiss. A hypospray. Kellin's eyes burst open. A human female in a Starfleet uniform stood over him.

To hands planted firmly on his shoulders, she spoke softly, "Easy Captain, you've got a concussion. Don't get up too quickly."

Kellin eased himself back down. "What ship?" he asked his voice hoarse.

"You're aboard the Enterprise," said Doctor Beverly Crusher.

"How many others?" Kellin demanded.

Crusher's eyes fell to the floor. "I'm sorry sir, your runabout was the only vessel left when we arrived. Captain Tokath's task force chased away the Dominion ships, but wasn't able to destroy any of them."

Kellin swung his legs off the biobed and stood up. "Sorry, Doctor, I've got to see Captain Picard."

Jean-Luc Picard, captain of the Enterprise sat in his chair behind the desk in his ready room. Kellin had just finished with his debriefing.

Picard rose from his seat, pulling on his uniform tunic, straightening it. "It seems hard to believe. Commander Tyler has served in Starfleet with exceptional loyalty. It seems almost inconceivable that he would defect."

Kellin also rose and walked towards the large viewport. "I agree, sir. I fear that he may have been coerced. Were you able to locate the Cardassian ship he was on?"

Picard reached to his desk, picking up a data padd. "My Operations Officer has been scanning the sector since we arrived. He thinks he may have found something near Orias IV. We're headed there now. I must tell you Captain, I am truly sorry about your ship and crew. I know it's going to be hard for you to deal with this on top of everything else you're going through. But Starfleet's going to need you now more than ever. You've known Commander Tyler for longer than anyone. You know how he thinks."

Kellin stood a little straighther, reigning in his emotions. "I'll do my best, Captain."

The two men exited the ready room and entered the bridge. Kellin had never been aboard a Sovereign-Class vessel before, and was overwhelmed by the size of its command center. At least 20 officers were on duty right now. Commander William Riker, rose from his seat and approached Kellin.

"Captain," he said softly. "Welcome aboard the Enterprise. I wish the circumstances were different."

Kellin waved him off. "Thank you Commander. I appreciate any help you can provide." He moved towards the command chairs, taking his seat on Picard's left.

"Data," said Picard addressing his android Operations Officer. "What's our eta?"

The gold-skinned android worked his controls rapidly, and turned his head back slightly. "Four minutes, eighteen seconds, Captain. The Cardassian warp trail ends eight hundred million kilometers ahead."

The Enterprise captain leaned forward in his chair. "Red Alert."

The lights dimmed, the klaxons began sounding, and the crew prepared for combat.

Minutes later, the Federation flagship went to sublight speed. On the main viewscreen, a large cylindrical object floated in space, tumbling slowly.

"Data?" Picard asked gesturing towards the object.

"It is a subspace mine, sir," Data said quickly. "It's generating a Cardassian warp signature. Captain! It is on a build up to detonation."

Picard snapped his head to the helmsman, "Full reverse, ensign," get us clear…"

The mine exploded. Enterprise was shaken violently.

"Damage!" snapped Commander Riker.

Chief Engineer Geordi LaForge, seated at his station read the displays. "Warp powers off-line. The nacelle's have been depolarized."

Picard seethed. "It's a trap."

Before he could continue, the ships tactical officer, Lieutenant Daniels spoke up. "Enemy ships coming in. Three Jem'Hadar fighters, two Breen cruisers and a Cardassian Galor."

"Hail them," urged Picard.

"The Cardassian is responding," stated Daniels looking towards the main viewscreen.

The screen winked to show John Tyler standing on his bridge. "Enterprise, you're warp engines are off-line and you cannot defeat my forces. Surrender."

Kellin took a step forward to verbally assault Tyler. Picard grabbed his arm, and spoke, "Commander Tyler, you are under arrest."

Tyler smiled coldy. "I'm not going to destroy another Starfleet vessel today, Captain. Take a message to the Federation and Starfleet Command. If you attack Cardassia, I'll devastate the Alpha Quadrant."

The viewscreen blinked off, and the ships surrounding Enterprise went to warp.

Jean-Luc Picard leaned forward against the conference table in the observation lounge.

"At 1300 hours yesterday Starfleet Security Headquarters was infiltrated by changelings. They escaped with Etana Karina in hand. A small ship was detected leaving Earth shortly after. Command was unable to track it."

Kellin, standing near the viewport, eyed Picards's senior staff, surrounding the table. Riker, Troi, Crusther, LaForge, Data and Daniels all looked grim.

Will Riker, leaned back in his chair, placing his fist on the table for support, spoke up. "Starfleet Intelligence has been able to obtain more information about her. Apparently, she was assigned to Bajor by the Obsidian Order just before the combined Cardassian-Romulan taskforce attacked the Founders homeworld in the gamma quadrant. Her mission was to worm her way in with a Starfleet officer. The plan was to gather information about Federation fleet deployments should the Dominion counter-attack. But the taskforce was destroyed by the Jem'Hadar and the Founders didn't respond. And later, when the Klingons invaded Cardassia, she was given the same orders. But then Cardassia joined the Dominion and her services were apparently no longer required. But after she met Commander Tyler, Dominion Intelligence drafted her to obtain information regarding the security perimeter around Starfleet Headquarters. She was the one who disabled the sensor grid just prior to the Breen attack last month."

Kellin leaned his head again the transparent aluminum window. "Do they have any idea why John would have betrayed us?"

Riker spun his chair around to face Kellin. "The only thing they can surmise is because Karina is pregnant with his child. And he feels a connection to Cardassia. A noble goal if we were not at war."

Picard, taking control of the meeting again, addressed his engineer. "Geordi. How much longer until repairs are complete?"

"At least seventeen more hours, sir," replied the young dark-skinned man. His blue ocular implants spun slowly focusing on the captain. "I've got triple shifts on the nacelle housings repairing the depolarized couplings now."

Picard grimaced. "Then it appears we will miss the party. This information does not leave this room: The Federation Alliance is finishing final preparations now. Tomorrow morning a taskforce, larger than any ever assembled will depart Deep Space Nine. Dominion forces have withdrawn to Cardassia Prime in preparation for a final conflict. Our forces will attack within two days. Either the Dominion falls or we do."

Four days later:

Brice Kellin sat at a table in the forward observation deck on the Enterprise. He held a small glass in his hand of Aldebran whiskey. His fifth one. He threw the glass back, and coughed slightly as the warm liquid fell down his throat.

He watched the stars stream by at high warp, as Enterprise was on course. They were en route to Cardassia. The reports he had seen had turned his stomach.

The Cardassian people had risen up against the Dominion in the last hours of the war. As a result the Jem'Hadar and the Breen had decimated the planet of Cardassia Prime.

Nearly one billion people were dead.

He turned his head back as he heard the doors hiss open quietly. Jean-Luc Picard entered slow and sat down across from him.

"You'll be happy to know, Captain, the peace treaty has been signed. The Founder who was in charge of the Dominion forces in the Alpha Quadrant will stand trial for her crimes."

Kellin nodded. Everyone had read the reports. Constable Odo, security chief on DS9 had convinced the Founder to surrender. He had given her the cure to the disease Section 31 had infected them with, and had agreed to return to the Gamma Quadrant to cure the rest of the changelings.

"That's good news," Kellin said quietly. "Any word on Tyler?"

Picard looked at the table for a moment and then looked back up. "I'm afraid not. Once we arrive at Cardassia, we may be able to pull the intelligence information from Central Command itself. Captain Sisko has had teams sifting through data ever since our forces landed three days ago. His people have the most experience with Cardassian computer interfaces."

"Bridge to Captain Picard," came Data's voice. "We are approaching the Cardassian system."

"Welcome to Cardassia Prime, young man. I hope your stay with us is a pleasant one. I'm afraid under the circumstances, I can't offer you much in the way of hospitality. My name is Garak."

Kellin nodded slightly to the Cardassian who greeted him in the transporter room of Central Command. As a former security officer on DS9, he knew all too much about the enigmatic Cardassian tailor\gardener\spy.

"Thank you Garak," he said softly. "I need your help. A Starfleet officer has defected. He's in league with a former agent of the Obsidian Order. Etana Karina."

Garak's eyes widened. "Fascinating. She was an aide to Gul Dukat during the Bajoran Occupation. She was in charge of selecting work details for the ore processing facility on Terok Nor."

Kellin smiled despite himself. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me, Garak. Can you help me find her?"

Garak moved towards a freestanding console under a large viewscreen. "According to this information her last known location was the spaceport in Lokarian City." He tapped a few commands. An image appeared onscreen, showing Karina, wearing a dark uniform similar to that of a cargo pilot. "This image was taken just prior to the launch of the warship Nevok. It doesn't say whether or not your friend was assigned to that ship or that she even boarded it. The Nevok is in the Tarigoff system, charged with the decommissioning of the Dominion shipyards there."

Kellin handed Garak a padd. "Can you load all of the information regarding the Nevok and Karina in to this?"

Garak did so, handing the padd back to Kellin with a smile. "When you catch up with her, Captain, please inform her that I was the one who helped locate her. She was a student at Bamaran, the elite intelligence institute where I was schooled while I was there. Tell her I told her I would catch up with her again one day."

"I'll do just that, Garak," Kellin said. "Right before I fire the quantum torpedoes."

Brice Kellin sat in his guest quarters aboard Enterprise as she headed towards the Tarigoff system at maximum warp.

He was just heading towards the replicator when the door chime sounded.

"Come in," he said knowing full well who would be entering.

Just as he had surmised, Counselor Deanna Troi stepped into his quarters.

"Captain," she said softly. "I thought you might want to talk. The past several days have been very difficult."

"Have a seat, Counselor," Kellin stated, moving towards the replicator. "Scotch," he told the panel. He removed the small glass and gestured at Troi. "Something to drink?" he asked.

"No thank you, sir."

"Wonderful stuff, synthehol. While imitating alcoholic effects, it can relax the mind and body and can be shaken off in an instant. Life doesn't work that way though, does it? Can't just shake off the problems when things get tough."

Troi smiled slightly. "Some people feel that way, others look at the future as something that hasn't been written in stone. They live every moment as it was their last, and that every problem has a solution."

"Confused people, Counselor, people who don't know what they want out of life. The rest of us live ours lives knowing what we want. There are those of us who dreamed of commanding a starship, exploring the galaxy with our best friend at our side to share in the adventure." Kellin downed the glass of scotch and headed back to the replicator, replacing his drink. "Then when life deals us a bad hand, we seize control of our surroundings, and are willing to move heaven and earth to make things right."

"Picard to Kellin: We're approaching the Terigoff system."

Kellin downed the liquid once again and winced as it made its way to his stomach. "And now if you'll excuse me, Deanna, I have to go make things right."

Kellin was seated on Picard's left on the bridge when the ship entered the Terigoff system.

Picard rose from his seat. "Mr. Data, begin scans for the power signature of the Nevok."

He was interrupted by a proximity alarm from the tactical station. "Captain," announced Daniels. "A Cardassian vessel is approaching."

Picard turned back to the viewscreen just in time to see the large orange colored Cardassian warship nearing Enterprise.

"We are being hailed," said Daniels.

At Picard's nod the main viewer came to life with John Tyler's face.

"Enterprise," he said through gritted teeth. "Brice. I warned you. I've read the sensor logs. I know you were at Cardassia Prime. You know what the Federation caused. A billion people were slaughtered like animals!"

Picard straighted, "Those people were killed by the Dominion. They rose up in the name of freedom, to destroy the iron grip the Founders had over them, and they were killed because of it. The Federation liberated Cardassia from the Dominion."

John glared at him. "If you call the wholesale slaughter of uncounted millions liberation, Captain, you have a very misguided since of the universe."

Kellin could no longer control his anger. "John," he snapped. "You and I were stationed together for a long time. You know what the Dominion was capable of. Karina must have known what Dominion rule of the Cardassian people meant for their way of life. You accuse the Federation of slaughter. What about the Saratoga? I was the only survivor. Kelso, Wheeler, Brixen, they are all dead because of you. And if takes me the rest of my life, I'll see you in prison."

"It was a necessary step in defeating the Federation. I'm sorry Brice. But ever since Karina and I met, she's helped me see what a danger you are. The human race has not evolved on a scale comparable with the rest of the galaxy. You're weak, and arrogant. You travel the universe imposing your ethical beliefs on the cultures you encounter. You want everyone to be a part of your great big universal club. But there are cultures out there, richer in history, and intelligence than the human race will ever aspire to. The Cardassian people will be the rulers of the galaxy. With my help, they will rebuild their empire and destroy the Federation."

The viewscreen blinked off to once again show the image of the Nevok moving slowly.

An instant later the Cardassian ship went to warp.

"Track them," snapped Riker, rising from his chair.

"They have scattered their warp field," said Data. "Sensors cannot locate them."

Picard, adjusting his uniform tunic, headed for his ready room. "Captain," he said to Kellin, "will you join me?" he asked gesturing towards the entrance. "Number One, set course for Deep Space Nine."

Kellin followed Picard in to his ready room. The two men took seats on opposite sides of Picard's desk.

The captain of the Enterprise leaned forward, palms flat on the black surface. "I think it best we head for DS9 to establish some sort of plan of action to apprehend Commander Tyler. This is the second time he's escaped. I am not eager for a third encounter."

Kellin nodded. "Agreed. I think I have an idea. It won't be easy to convince Starfleet Command though. The fleet took such heavy losses just a few days ago, it's going to be tough to find an admiral willing to risk another war with Cardassia."

Picard nodded, leaning back in his chair. "Which of course would be unthinkable. Starfleet cannot afford another conflict. I'm going to try and convince Command we need to immediately begin sending humanitarian relief to Cardassia as a show of good faith. We cannot risk Commander Tyler insighiting hatred against us."

"I thought the same thing, sir. If he's truly committed to destroying the Federation, he's going to turn the massacre on Cardassia Prime against us with a propaganda disply the likes of which we've never seen. We have to convince the Cardassian Union that the Federation is willing to be their friend and help them rebuild the civilization. If not, we'll be at war again within six months, mark my words."

With a hiss of escaping atmosphere, the large Cardassian airlock rolled open. Jean-Luc Picard and Brice Kellin stepped onto Deep Space Nine.

"Welcome to Deep Space Nine," announced Colonel Kira firmly.

Kellin eyed her. Kira Nerys had been his superior officer when he and John had been stationed here.

"Thank you, Colonel," said Picard. "I was sorry to hear about Captain Sisko. Starfleet's lost a great man."

Kira smiled softly. Captain Sisko had disappeared nearly a week ago in the fire caves on Bajor. According to his wife, he had appeared to her in a vision shortly after. "He's with the Prophets," Kira said quietly. "Well," she said firmly. "Admiral Ross is waiting for us in the wardroom. If you'll follow me."

"This is unbelievable," said Admiral Wiliam Ross. "Not only has this man commandeered Cardassian military equipment, he's responsible for the destruction of a Federation starship. We have to stop him."

Kellin rose from his seat from across the admiral. "I agree, Admiral. To accomplish this, I'm going to need the Defiant."

"What's your plan, Captain?" the admiral asked.

"The Defiant's the only Federation ship equipped with a cloaking device. If we were to send a Federation ship out to locate Tyler, we could use Defiant to track them without detection."

Ross looked at Kira. "Is the Defiant ready for a mission?"

Kira nodded. "Chief O'Brien insisted on completing her repairs before he left for his new post at the Academy. It's all up to Captain Kellin if he thinks he can capture Tyler. My crew's worked with the Captain when he was stationed here several years ago. The Defiant's all his."

Ross rose from his chair. "Very well. Put together a plan, submit it to me as soon as possible."

"You know Quark, if there's one thing I miss about the good old days on this station, it's got to be you're services." Brice Kellin through back a shot of Andorian ale and smiled.

The Ferengi bartender, standing behind the bar smiled broadly. "Always glad to be of service, Captain. Things are looking brighter every day. With the war over, more people will be coming to the station. Profits look promising for the foreseeable future."

Kellin leaned forward, settting down his glass. He was about to speak when his combadge sounded. "Nog to Captain Kellin. The Defiant is ready for departure."

Kellin rose from his seat. "On my way, Lieutenant." He turned back to Quark. "I'm on a mission now to make sure there isn't another war. Got to keep the profits up."

Cardassian Warship Nevok. Ventax System:

"Commander, target is bearing one-nine-seven mark one-five-five. Distance: 4 million kilometers."

Upon hearing his weapons officers report, John Tyler smiled. "Battle Alert, Condition One. All hands to stations. "Slow to warp two," he ordered. "Shut down the weapons and shields. Prepare the transporter room."

"You're absolutely certain this will work?"

Tyler turned and smiled at his wife, Karina. "Reasonably. The Yorktown is a recently commissioned ship. Captain Jefferies is inexperienced in combat. He's the son of an admiral, which is why he was assigned a Sovereign-Class ship." He rose from his command chair and observed the sensor panel on the helm.

"They've spotted us," said the tactical officer. "They've altered course to intercept."

Tyler pointed at another monitor on the side of the bridge. "Blow out the nacelle couplings."

The ship shifted violently. Her nacelle housings ruptured and the ship fell out of warp, tumbling end over end. Large plumes of plasma escaped from her engines.

Tyler held tightly to his wife, and the helm console as the inertia dampers worked overtime trying to compensate for the sudden deceleration and erratic maneuvers.

"Send out the distress call," ordered Tyler. "This is the Cardassian vessel Nevok, we've expereiced a failure in our warp drive control systems. Please assist."

"This is the Federation Starship Yorktown. We're headed your way, sit tight, we'll be there in less than a minute."

Captain Terrance Jefferies sat in his command chair aoard the Yorktown. She was closing on the crippled Cardassian warship.

"Full scan," he said to his science officer.

The young Vulcan, a lieutenant named T'Lara peered into his data readouts. "They have suffered complete destruction of their warp coils. Antimatter residue is flooding the nacelle housings. Their core will breach within ten minutes."

Jefferies sighed, rising from his chair and heading for the tactical station. "Mr. Klein, have security teams report to all transporter rooms. Prepare to beam the survivors aboard."

"Aye Captain," responded the burly security officer.

Jeffereies moved towards the mission ops station and engaged the monitor. A face of a young human male appeared. "Captain Kellin, we've acquired the target. They've suffered heavy damage to their warp engines. I'm going to beam the crew aboard."

"Just make sure you have adequate security measures in place. There's a pretty good possibility this is a trap."

"You don't have to remind me, Brice, I've got security teams at all possible locations."

"Good luck, Captain, we'll be there as soon as possible. Kellin out."

"Captain," came the voice from his first officer, Commander Artel, and very powerfully voiced Capellan. The commander stood at just above two and a half meters. "We're picking up a strange surge from the Cardassian ship."

Jefferies moved back towards the center of the ship. "What kind of surge?"

"They've emitted a thoron beam from their deflector dish!" snapped Kelin from tactical. "Shields are being overloaded. They've collapsed! Captain, I'm picking up transporter signatures!"

In the center of the bridge a large rectangular object appeared through a transporter beam. It fell to the floor with a thud.

And exploded.

"Captain, I'm picking up the Yorktown's warp signature."

Brice Kellin rose from the command chair of the starship Defiant upon hearing Lieutenant Dax's report. "Helm," he said to the young Ferengi lieutenant, Nog currently manning the conn. "Set a course to intercept, maximum warp. Mr. Bowers," he said addressing the tactical officer, "activate the cloak."

The lights on the bridge dimmed as power was diverted to the cloaking device.

From the science station, Dr. Julian Bashir turned and addressed the captain. "I'm picking up two hundred thirty-nine Cardassian life-signs and one human aboard the Yorktown, Captain."

Kellin felt like he had been kicked in the stomach. He made his way back to the command chair and fell in to it.

"Red Alert. All hands to battlestations. Prepare to drop cloak and divert power to weapons and shields."

"Commander," said the glinn manning the tactical station on Yorktown's bridge. "I'm picking up a tachyon surge directly behind us. A ship's de-cloaking."

John Tyler burst out of the captain's chair and snapped, "On screen."

The view screen blinked just in time to show a Defiant-Class ship de-cloaking. "The Defiant," he hissed. "Lock on weapons and hail them."

The screen blinked again to show Brice Kellin in the command chair in the center of the Defiant's bridge.

"Stand down, John. It's over. Starfleet is not going to let you start another war."

Tyler smiled. "Stop chasing me, Brice. You'll never understand why I am doing this."

"You've killed over one thousand innocent people, John. You have to stop."

"And the Federation is responsible for murdering billions. You're all going to pay for that. Fire torpedoes!"

The Defiant was rocked by a series of explosions along their forward hull.

"Hard to port, evasive pattern Delta." Brice Kellin rose from the command chair. "Target their engines, Lieutenant," he said to the tactical officer. "I want them disabled not destroyed."

The ship was rocked again, Brice grabbed the back of Lieutenant Dax's chair at the communications console. "Any another ships in the vicinity?" Kellin asked.

The young trill tapped madly at her controls. "The Wellington and the Sutherland are near. Less than 3 light-years."

"Send a message to them. Tell them to get here as fast as they can."

Another blast rocked the bridge.

"Shields at 75 percent," Bowers reported. "We're not making much progress against them. They're shields are still holding."

"Quantum torpedoes, maximum yield," ordered Kellin. "Fire at will."

The Defiant, diving hard to port, came about and fired on the Sovereign-Class vessel with her most powerful weapons.

An instant later, the Yorktown went to warp.

"Track them!" snapped Kellin.

"They're headed towards the badlands," said Bowers. "Bearing oh-four-four mark seven."

"Go after them," Kellin snapped to the helmsman.

Dax turned back from her console. "He's crazy. A vessel that size can't navigate the plasma fields. They'll be torn to shreds."

"He's outsmarted me three times now, Lieutenant. I'm not going to underestimate him again."

"Shields have buckled, ablative armor is gone, and weapons have been destroyed!"

Brice Kellin limped towards the command chair on the Defiant's bridge. The moment the ship had dropped out of warp near the badlands, Kellin realized that it was another trap. Eight Cardassian warships had come out of the plasma fields and attacked.

The Defiant was crippled, limping helpless in space and surrounded by enemy ships. The Yorktown had went to warp the moment the Cardassians attacked.

"Sir, sensors are picking up two ships approaching," stated Dax. "The Wellington and the Sutherland."

Kellin lifted his head to watch the main viewer. Two Nebula-Class ships went to impulse and began pounding the Cardassian warships.

"The Cardassians are pulling out," announced Bowers. "Looks like Captains Torona and Masterson took them by surprise."

"Send our thanks, Lieutenant," sighed Kellin, "and let them know we need a tow back to DS9."

Admiral Paris slammed a data padd onto the desk. "This is unbelievable!"

Seated in the large office in San Francisco, Brice Kellin had just finished his debriefing regarding the situation with Commander Tyler.

Paris, pacing across the office, continued. "First he destroys Saratoga, then attacks the Enterprise and then the Defiant. And now the entire Cardassian Union is turning against us again!"

Kellin frowned. He'd seen the reports regarding the propaganda that'd been transmitted through all of Cardassian territory.

They were blaming the Federation for the Dominions wholesale slaughter on Cardassia Prime.

Kellin rose to his feet. "I understand the situation, Admiral. Obviously we need to prepare defenses for a possible Cardassian attack. I respectfully request a new command. I'm sure I can make a difference out there, sir."

Paris gave him the response he'd been afraid of. "I'm sorry, Captain, but not to put too fine a point on it, you've lost Saratoga, crippled Defiant, and nearly cost us the Enterprise. It is the decision by the command council that you be given an administrative job of coordinating our forces from Starfleet Command."

Kellin was ready to explode in anger, but kept his emotions in check. "I understand a board of review is standard operating procedure when a ship is lost, sir, but these are extenuating circumstances. I was betrayed by my first officer. It won't happen again."

Paris smiled faintly. "That's not the issue, Captain, the issue is he knows you too well. We need to send people after him whom he can't trap." He reached for another padd on his desk and handed it to Kellin. "Your new orders, captain: Report to Admiral Bennett at Starfleet Operations."

"Here name is Kalita Neru. She was the best friend of Karina when John and I met them on Bajor. According to Starfleet Intelligence, she was a member of the Maquis. She assited Thomas Riker when he hijacked the Defiant several years ago. She was granted amnesty and spent the following year on Bajor. After John and Karina were married she disappeared. We think she may have been another Cardassian operative who had infiltrated the Maquis, and then met up with Karina a year later."

Kellin placed the data padd on the conference table and peered across at his team. Lieutenant Commander Brex and Captain Thomas Braxton. They comprised the elite team of individuals in charge of finding and capturing Commander Tyler.

Brex, a very vibrant Bolian, tapped some notes into his padd and touched a companel. The viewscreen on the far end of the room came to life with an image of Kalita. "We think we have located her on Rigel 10. I'm having her picked up and brought in for questioning."

Braxton, a veteran starship captain who had just passed his 100th birthday, leaned forward. "Who did you send to retrieve her? If she's been in hiding this long, she's not going to be easy to catch."

Brex smiled. "Only the best, Captain."

"Gods how I hate being the policemen of the galaxy." Mackenzie Calhoun, captain on of the Starship Excalibur leaned back in his command chair. Turning his head slightly to his first officer and smiled lopsidedly. "Don't you, Eppy?"

Commander Elizabeth Shelby, long accustomed to the idiotic nickname Calhoun had given her sighed. "She's a dangerous person, Mac. Intelligence says she's trying to procure a tricobalt weapon through the black market."

On the main viewscreen, Rigel X grew larger as the Ambassador-Class ship headed towards orbit.

Calhoun rose to his feet and surveyed the Bridge. "This wasn't our mission. Our mission was so patrol Sector 221-G to ensure the peaceful dissolution of the Thallonian Empire. Not to track down criminals on Rigel."

Shelby smiled. "It's your own fault, Mac. You're the one who did all that clandestine work for Admiral Necheav and her intelligence division. You're just too good at what you do."

"Yes, there is at the aspect of being overly qualified," Calhoun deadpanned. He turned back to the tactical station to Lieutenant Zak Kebron, the massive, nearly indestructible Brikar security chief. "Lieutenant, are there any suspicious vessels in orbit?"

The security chief grumbled, "I am suspicious of all vessels. Starfleet or otherwise. But there are no Cardassian or Starfleet ships in orbit if that is what you were asking."

Nodding, Calhoun clapped his hands together. "Well then, shall we get going? Mr. Kebron, Lieutenant McHenry, you're with me."

The young helmsman rose from his chair and walked at a leisurely pace towards the turblolift, followed by Calhoun and Kebron.

As the 'lift doors began to close, Calhoun called out, "Eppy, this is probably some sort of a trap on part of the Cardassians. Try to keep my ship in one piece."

Calhoun had always hated Rigel X. It was always snowing. His homeworld of Xenex was a very temperate place, so this was not an environment he was accustomed to.

The captain pulled his Starfleet field jacket closed tighter around his neck. Gesturing towards the entrance to the large trade complex, he addressed McHenry and Kebron. "Let's go, gentleman, our contact is a Ferengi arms dealer on Level 47."

The complex was a filthy mess of denizens from throughout the quadrant. Large displays of centuries old computer systems lined one side of the walkway.

Another display contained the pelts of some sort of animals, hanging upside down.

Calhoun, Kebron, and McHenry made their way through the crowd.

"Wonderful place," remarked McHenry. "Not the type of world we get to see all that often."

"We can leave you behind if you like," Kebron said softly. "I'm sure you could find a job selling junk to these people in no time."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Zak, but if it's all the same, I'd like to get the job done and get back to my helm."

"Gentlemen!" came a voice. "I can see you're men of power and wealth. And Starfleet officers no less by the looks of your uniforms."

A short Ferengi, dressed in a very plain suit, gestured for the three officers to approach him.

Calhoun jogged up to the Ferengi merchant and grabbed his arm. "Damn it, Krel, why don't you just announce our presence to the entire complex?" he hissed softly. "Now. You told Starfleet Intelligence you knew where Kalita Neru was located."

"Indeed I did," sputtered Krel. "She is on level 23 in the habitat section. But be careful. She's hired some of the best protection money can buy."

Calhoun smiled. "Thanks, Krel. I take it you're payment arrived?"

The Ferengi smiled broadly, showing a row of crooked teeth. "Of course, please tell your friends that I'm always glad to help for the right price."

"Come on," Calhoun told McHenry and Kebron.

The three men headed for the nearest turbolift. It deposited them on level 23. Calhoun led his team through the corridor, pulling a tricorder from his jacket. Flipping it open he began scanning for Cardassian life-signs.

The monitor on the small device blinked on. "This way," Caluhoun gestured. Reaching the doors, there were two very large Nausicans baring the way.

"Stop," growled the apparent leader. "You do not have permission to pass, Starfleet."

Calhoun smiled. "You're right, I don't. You see, I'm looking for someone. A Bajoran woman named…"

"Go away, little man," said the other Nausican.

"I was afraid it was going to be like this. Zak," he said to his security officer, "Break them."

"Gladly sir," said Zak stepping forward.

Before the Nasicans could draw their weapons, Kebron had grabbed both of them by the collars of their tunics and crushed their heads together.

The two aliens fell to the ground unconscious.

"Nicely done," said Calhoun, pulling his phaser out of its holster. Setting it to stun, he tapped the control stud on the door. It slid open with a hiss.

A bright yellow phaser beam buzzed past his ear. Diving to the ground, Calhoun fired blindly. The orange beam impacted on its target. Pulling himself back to his feet, he could see the young Bajoran woman lying in a heap on the floor.

Kebron and McHenry burst into the room phasers drawn.

"Is this her?" asked Kebron.

"Yes, I believe so," said Calhoun. surveying the room with his tricorder. He noticed something on the monitor and moved towards the closet. Opening the door revealed a basinet with an infant lying within. Half Cardasssian and half human.

"You bastard," came a muttered voice from the floor. "The Federation will be destroyed."

Touching his combadge, the captain said, "Calhoun to Excallubur: Mission accomplished. Four adults and one infant to beam up."

"The baby is healthy, Captain, and the genetic match is confirmed. She is the daughter of both Etana Karina and Commander Jonathan Tyler."

Calhoun, leaning against a biobed listened to Dr. Selar's report. "Thank you, doctor. This may have given Starfleet a bargaining chip to stop Tyler's attacks. Calhoun to Bridge: set a course for Earth. Inform Admrial Necheyev we've accomplished the mission."

Brice Kellin leaned against the bulkhead outside the brig of Starfleet Headquarters main interrogation area.

Kalita Neru sat in a holding cell on the other side of a glowing forcefield.

"So you were watching their child for them?" he prodded. "I take that to believe that they are somewhere dangerous that they didn't want to take her."

"Brice, you cannot believe that I'm going to give any information to you," she replied snidely. "Final preparations are being completed. Starfleet's going to have its hands full in the the next few days. John and Karina are going to be the worst of your worries."

"I don't know how much you know about some of the more shady areas of Starfleet Intelligence, but if I give the order, we'll scan your brain itself and pull the information out of it that we need."

Kalita's face went white. "You're lying. Starfleet's too weak to try something like that."

Kellin crossed his arms and smirked. "I'll leave you here to think about that for a while.."

His communicator chirped. "Braxton to Kellin. Come up to Operations immediately. There's a situation developing."

The turbolift deposited Kellin into Ops just in time to see a Romulan speaking on the main viewscreen. From the looks of it, he was standing in the main hall of the Romulan Senate.

"And so we were lead to believe that Dominion agents murdered Senator Vreenak after he departed Soukoura, shortly after discovering secret plans indicating the Dominion was going to invade Romulus."

Kellin approached Braxton and gave him a quizzical look.

Braxton sighed. "It's being beamed directly from Romulus. I think we're in serious trouble."

The Romulan praetor continued. "And so Romulus went to war against the Dominion. Three million Romulan soldiers were killed in combat. And now this information comes to light.

"The Tal-Shiar in cooperation with Cardassian intelligence sources has proven there were no secret plans to invade us. The information was fabricated by Starfleet. Captain Benjamin Sisko of Deep Space Nine forged the plans and handed them off to Senator Vreenak. After his shuttle departed Sisko's station it was destroyed. The data rod containing the Dominion plans was severely damaged in the explosion, so any imperfection was attributed to the damage it had sustained."

Kellin felt sick. Ever since the Romulans had entered the war, he had feared the alliance would not hold. However he couldn't believe what he was hearing. If Captain Sisko had actually committed this forgery, it was impossible to swallow.

"And now," continued the praetor, "Starfleet wishes to maintain our alliance. I say the Federation will pay for the blood of so many Romulans!"

A thunderous applause broke out in the Senate. "We will destroy the Federation!"

The screen blinked off to show the symbol of the Romulan Star Empire.

A young ensign manning a communications console turned to her controls and eyes went wide. "Captain Kellin! We're picking up emergency communications from several vessels. Romulan ships have been spotted near the border of the Neutral Zone headed towards Federation space."

Braxto turned to Kellin. "Tyler has to be responsible for this. He has had very high access within Starfleet Intelligence."

"Do you seriously believe that Captain Sisko could've tricked Romulus into war?" demanded Kellin.

Braxton's eyes fell to the floor. "It's true. Sisko approved the plan through the upper echelons of Command. You have to understand, Brice, the Federation was on an abyss. Betazed had been invaded, our shipyards were crippled and the Dominon was building up its fleets and legions of Jem'Hadar faster than we could imagine."

Brice pounded his fist on the console. And stormed out of Operations and headed for his office.

"Starfleet Security Channel Omega 31," snapped Kellin to the computer interface on his desk.

An instant later, Cole appeared onscreen. "I'm afraid its true Brice," he said immediately.

Kellin sighed, eyeing his contact. "So Starfleet betrayed the Romulans in order to get them to fight."

Cole nodded. "It was a tactical decision by the leading authority. Thirty-One had nothing to do with it."

"How did Tyler find out?" demanded Kellin.

"One of his contacts, a man named Lavelle gave it to him. He's since been taken care of."

Kellin sighed. How many more deaths was this madness going to bring. "Thanks, Cole, I'll be in touch. Kellin out."

Standing in the main command center of Starfleet Operations, Kellin, hands clasped behind his back stared up at the massive viewscreen. Several points of light, indicating the Federation fleet glowed softly.

"Captain," said a lieutenant carrying a padd, "a priorty message for you."

Taking the data padd and switching it on, Kellin's eyes brightened. He turned over his shoulder to see Admirals Paris and Ross conferring with one another about the impending battle with the Romulan fleet.

"Excuse me," he said to the two older officers. "I've just been given some information that may end this war before it begins." He held up the data padd. "Apparently a small group of special forces units have located Tyler's base of operations. It's on Utana. It's a small out of the way world about 200 light-years from here. According to my information, he's got an orbital repair facility, a large number of Cardassian, Breen and Romulan ships, as well has a heavily fortified base on the planets surface."

Paris took the padd and reviewd it himself. "This is quite an impressive defense screen he has. We'd need a fleet the size of the one we're sending to intercept the Romulans in order to penetrate it. And we don't have one available at the moment."

"I realize that, Admrial. Which is why I think we should divert that fleet to Utana. Don't you see? The Romulan fleet so brazenly crossing the Neutral Zone? Uncloaked? The Romulan Praetor himself making his so called intentions clear on all subspace channels, letting the Federation know they're coming?

"The Romulans don't act that way! They're cunning, secretive people, who work in the shadows. I say the fleet coming at us from the Neutral Zone is only a diversion to engage our forces, so they are unable to respond from the threat coming from Utana. If Tyler launches an assault from there, he'll wipe out every world from Coridan to Andoria before we even know what's going on."

Paris looked to Ross, who in turn reviewed the data. "How'd you obtain this information, Captain?"

Kellin hesitated for only a moment. To hell with it, he thought, the Federation is at stake here. "It came from Section 31. They've infiltrated Tyler's organization and have started sending out tactical information."

Ross didn't look convince. "And if we do divert our forces from the Neutral Zone, send them on a three-day high warp excursion to Utana, what happens if the Romulan ships coming from the Neutral Zone aren't a diversion?"

"Trust me, Admiral," urged Kellin. "Tyler's fooled me several times now. I know how he thinks. He's grandiose and thinks he's all-powerful. Which is why the Romulans are coming at us uncloaked. He's daring us."

Ross and Paris turned to look at one another and held each other's gaze for a long moment.

"Very well," said Paris, and Ross nodded his agreement. "We'll divert the fleet."

"Thank you, Admiral. Request permission to lead the attack."

Paris' eyes widened. "Quite the request, Captain."

"With respect, sir, I lead several large fleet assaults during the Dominion War. I'm capable of doing this. I need to do this."

Paris held his gaze, and then eyed a console with tactical data being displayed. "Very well. You'll have to leave immediately. The only ship available right now is the Hood. She's been in drydock for several months undergoing a refit, but she's ready for launch whenever you are."

"Thank you, Admiral, please have its crew recalled. I need one more favor as well. I need Kalita Neru and Tyler's child onboard with me. I may be able to use them as a bargaining chip to avert a catastrophe."

Brice Kellin stood in the center of the bridge of the Excelsior-Class USS Hood.

The combined Starfleet\Klingon taskforce had just dropped to sublight speed outside the Utana system. They were now proceeding with caution into the area.

"Sir," came Lieutenant Taynar from tactical. He looked up from his controls and reported. "Our scouts have picked up several Romulan, Cardassian and Breen vessels near the seventh planet."

Kellin sighed, eyeing the frist officer of the Hood. The majority of the crew had acclimated well to his sudden promotion to Kellin's commission as captain. However, the first officer, Commander Sanders had obviously taken objection to it.

He had probably assumed he would take command after Hood's former captain, Robert DeSoto had retired. Kellin had urged Sanders that this assignment was temporary, but wasn't certain the commander actually believed him.

Kellin moved towards the command chair, and keyed in his security code, opening a fleet-wide channel. "All ships, this is Captain Kellin. Assume tactical formation Beta-1. Prepare to engage the enemy."

The planet of Utana 7 grew larger on the viewscreen. "Full scan," Kellin ordered.

Ensign Markus from Ops operated his console. "No life-signs, Captain. The planet's deserted. Also, I'm no longer picking up energy emission from any other vessels. There's a residual photonic signature in orbit."

"Holograms!" snapped Sanders. "It's a trap!"

Markus' face went white. "Captain, I'm picking up a massive explosion from the sun!"

Sure enough on the main viewer, the giant star in the center of the system had burst. An enormous shockwave was spreading across the system.

"All ships, emergency," shouted Kellin. "The suns gone nova. Get the hell out of here!"

The fleet broke into hundreds of sections, every vessel attempting to escape the approaching wave of destruction. Dozens of vessels collided with one another, exploding on impact. Several more were crippled by the shockwaves.

Kellin jumped towards the helm console, "Go to warp," he snapped to the young ensign, whose hands were sweating.

The ship began trembling as the leading edge of the wave approached. An instant later, the warp engines engaged and the Hood was clear.

They made it a quarter light-year before the warp engines stalled.

The ship came to a violent drop to impulse power. Several conduits overloaded, sparks erupting.

Kellin rose from his chair coughing at the smoke. "Damage report."

Commander Sanders was reviewing the engineering readouts. "Warp core has been fractured. We're going to have to dump it."

Kellin felt sick. Without warp power they were helpless. "Do what needs to be done, Commander." He turned his attention to Taynar at tactical. "Lieutenant! Did any other ships clear the system?"

The tactical officer was tapping the controls furiously. "It doesn't look that way, Captain. Sensors aren't picking up anything and the communications channels are empty."

Kellin's stomach turned. He moved towards the engineering console. "Has the warp core been ejected?"

Sanders nodded quickly. "Yes, it's three thousand kilometers away and increasing. It's going to explode any second. I think we're too close."

Kellin turned to the helm. "Ensign Reed, full impulse power, get us clear."

The young human female frowned. "Sorry, sir. Impulse and thrusters are off-line."

An instant later on the viewscreen the Hood's warp core, floating directly behind the vessel, exploded.

The hum of an engine was the first thing he heard. Drifting back to consciousness, Brice Kellin's eyes flew open. He sat up quickly, banging his head on a low hanging bulkhead.

"Easy, Captain," came a voice.

Kellin turned to see Lieutenant Taynar operating the controls of the small vehicle. Glancing around again, he realized he was on an escape pod.

"Lieutenant, what the hell happened?"

Taynar signed. "The warp core breach ruptured the hull of the Hood. We had to abandon ship."

"How many others survived?" Brice demanded.

Taynar's eyes wouldn't meet the captains. He looked out the viewport at the stars. "There were a few other pods that made it out but they were destroyed when the impulse reactors overloaded."

Kellin, fury barely under control, grabbed a support rail and pulled himself into the small seat along the side of the pod.

This was the second vessel that had been destroyed under his command due to Tyler. Between the incidents with the Defiant and the Enterprise, he doubted Starfleet would ever give him a command again. Tyler would be someone else's problem as long as he was in Starfleet.

"Where are we?" the captain asked.

"No where at the moment. I received a message a couple of hours ago from the Klingon vessel N'gara. They'll be here any minute. They'll take us home"

The Federation was devastated. The Romulan fleet that had crossed the Neutral Zone met no resistance. They swept through 15 Federation sectors before any response could be mounted.

The Starfleet\Klingon taskforce had been nearly completely decimated by the supernova at Utana.

The Romulans were now advancing through Federation space, conquering entire worlds with little resistance.

Cardassian forces had now opened a second front, accompanied by the Breen. Starleet was attempting to repel the invasion with little success.

Brice Kellin stood on the grounds of Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco.

The place looked like a military command center.

Several anti-spacecraft weapon emplacements were littered throughout the area. Hundreds of Starfleet Security officers patrolled the area in full combat gear, carrying Type IV Phaser Rifles.

Earth's entire solar system had been fortified. The enemy fleets were approaching. Starfleet had assembled a huge fleet, comprised of thousands of ships brought from across the Alpha and Beta Quadrants.

So many hundreds of millions had been killed in the past 4 months, it turned his stomach. Planets like Risa were razed. The Romulan ships littering the planet with plasma torpedoes. There was no word on survivors yet.

The Cardassians had landed on Vulcan. It had been a bloodbath.

Mount Selya had been destroyed. The sacred Katric Arcs had been incicnerated under the barrage. The ancient temples had been ravaged, and the population enslaved.

It was almost unthinkable to believe. Even Quonos, homeworld of the Klingon Empire had been attacked, even though the Klingons had managed to repel the attack, at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives.

And Kellin was helpless.

After returning to Earth after the defeat at Utana, he'd been stripped of any possibility of ever commanding a starship again. If the Federation wasn't on the brink of defeat, he probably would've been drummed out of the service, possibly even brought up on charges of treason.

So now he had resumed his duties at Starfleet Operations. Under very limited access to sensitive data. He was blamed throughout the fleet for the destruction of the fleet at Utana. It had been a trap especially designed for him.

The most damning thing of all though, was that Kalita had been killed when the Hood exploded, as well as Tyler's only child, whom she had been caring for. He wondered if Tyler knew this. If he did…

"You know, when they said you'd been busted in responsibility, I didn't believe it, but the way you're sulking I'm starting to."

Kellin spun around, a smile on his face. He faced a petite female lieutenant in a blue Starfleet Medical Uniform.

"Doctor Elizabeth Lessa. Heard a rumor you'd graduated from medical school."

She approached Kellin and grabbed his hand. "It's good to see you too, Brice."

The two of them embraced.

The two had known each other since they were teenagers. They'd had a four-year relationship while Brice had been at the Academy.

When he'd shipped out on the Enterprise they'd lost track of each other. Now she was a doctor with Starfleet.

Lessa pushed him back and looked up at Kellin with a smile on her face. "Chief Medical Officer on the U.S.S. Proxima. We're here as part of the defense force." She looked at the ground. "I just wish I wasn't going to be so busy in the next few days."

"How have you been, Elizabeth? I haven't seen you in four years."

They began walking along the path of the grounds of headquarters.

"After you left on the Enterprise I really didn't know what I was going to do with my life. I floated around. Worked for a Ferengi gaming ship." She smiled and shook her head, thinking back on those memories. "After that my father was adamant that I forge a career for myself. When he found out you'd been promoted to captain and taken command of the Saratoga, he pushed me that much harder. So I went to med school and all these years later, here's Doctor Lessa."

Kellin smiled faintly. "You know, I hear you paired up with Lieutenant Owens of the Gage. Not really your type was he?"

Lessa rolled her eyes. "I forgot how good you were at obtaining information, Brice."

"I like to keep my ears open. Like when I found out you were cheating on me when we dated. A Starfleet conn officer from the USS Thunderchild. Very impressive. It took me almost 2 years to get over that."

Lessa's smile fell. "Brice, please don't do this."

Kellin smirked. "I've waited years to see you again. You were the first, you realize? The first one to betray me. I never saw it coming. Then I found out years down the road that you were with someone else all along. The time I wasted on you almost got me kicked out of the Academy. My grades were slipping drastically. If it hadn't been for the incident on the Avenger I would never have graduated.

"Now after all this time I see you again, and once again you're the sweet little innocent, carefree individual. Sorry Elizabeth. I'm not here to be your friend. First you, now John. These betrayals won't go unanswered."

Lessa's eyes began to well up with tears. "Brice, you're scaring me. I never meant to hurt you."

Kellin grabbed her wrist. "Actions speak much louder than intentions, Elizabeth!" he shouted.

With her free hand, she slapped her communicator. "Lessa to Security. Emergency!"

Kathryn Pulaski, head of Starfleet Medical turned away from the monitor. Deanna Troi was standing next to her, arms folded across her chest.

"Deanna" she said softly. "Thank you for coming. You served with Captain Kellin, I thought you could give us some insight. His psychographic profile indicates he's extremely unstable."

Deanna Troi turned away from the former chief medical officer of the Enterprise-D and looked down the hallway towards the ward where Brice Kellin was currently being held.

"He's been through so much in such a short period of time. From the statement given to Security by Dr. Lessa, this final reminder of betrayal in his life has finally sent him over the edge. He lost his ship, his best friend, was blamed for the destruction of a fleet, and now he confronts the person who broke his heart. Frankly, I'd be more concerned if he wasn't unstable."

Pulaski nodded, "Perhaps you should talk to him. This man has been through more in the past month than most Starfleet captains endure throughout their entire career."

Brice Kellin, fully lost in his own thoughts didn't hear the doors hiss open.

"Hello, Brice," came a soft slightly accented voice.

Kellin turned his chair away from the window he had been staring through and smiled softly. "Hello, Deanna."

"I thought you might need to talk. The last time we saw each other you were telling me that you were going out to make things right."

Kellin chuckled. "Didn't exactly work out that way, Counselor. Millions of people are dead and it's all because of me."

"You can't possibly believe that," Troi remarked.

"I convinced the admiralty to divert the fleet to Utana. I was the one who lead the assault. I was one of the only ones to survive!"

"And when you saw Dr. Lessa, it brought up all of the hardship you've endured throughout your life and you couldn't contain your anger any longer."

Kellin rose from his chair and moved towards the bed. He fell into it, face in his hands. "You have no idea what its' been like, Deanna. The entire Federation is going to collapse and it's my fault! And to make matters worse, I finally lose my cool simply by confronting and ex-girlfriend who cheated on me!"

Troi said nothing. She simply waited for him to continue.

"So now," Kellin continued. "I've been institutionalized. I'll probably be kept here forever, or at least until Tyler turns Earth into a smoking cinder!"

He was cut off my the comm. system piping through the speakers throughout the facility

"Attention. All personnel. This is not a drill. Enemy forces have entered the system. Take emergency stations and prepare for further orders."

Within the depths of Starfleet Medical, Brice Kellin was barely aware of his surroundings as the walls shook under the assault.

The attack had been going on for two days. All patients and staff had been evacuated to this underground bunker deep within the bowels of Starfleet Command.

It was several hours later when the bombardment ended. Two burly security officers pulled their weapons from their holsters and began to head for the exit.

Kellin jumped to his feet. "Gentlemen, let me come with you. I can be of use."

"Sorry, sir," said the shorter of the two. "We have orders to keep all patients secure within the facility."

"Damn it, Lieutenant, I'm still a Starfleet captain. God knows what we're going to find up there waiting for us."

"Fine. Just stay in our sights, sir. We're not going to chase you down if you try and make a break for it. We will shoot you."

The three men began climbing the several levels of steps, which lead to a non-descript entrance on the grounds of headquarters.

The door creaked open and the harsh sunlight poured in.

Shielding his eyes to the light, Kellin pulled himself out of the bunker.

He fell to his knees.

San Francisco was gone. Every structure had been leveled. Huge craters were still smoking where they had stood.

The Golden Gate Bridge was nothing but a tattered remnant of steel and cables.

The two security officers next to Kellin looked sick. Their faces pale in horror.

Only wearing a medical jumpsuit, Kellin did not have a communicator. "Lieutenant," he said to one of the guards. "Try contacting… anybody."

The young man touched the insignia on his chest. "This is Lieutenant Lokerim to anyone receiving this transmission. Please respond."

Several long seconds passed, and Kellin stared off in absolute terror.

"Lieutenant, it's good to hear your voice, this is Captain Picard on the Enterprise."

"Captain, we're just outside emergency bunker 2-1 at Starfleet Headquarters. We're protecting several patients that were housed in Starfleet Medical."

"Prepare them for transport, Lieutenant. Things have not gone well."

The turbolift doors hissed open, depositing its occupants onto the bridge.

Kellin stepped in, once again attired in his uniform.

The bridge was smashed. Several consoles had exploded. Two crewmembers were lying on the deck, with what looked like severe burns. Two medical technicians were hovering over them.

Jean-Luc Picard was standing next to Lieutenant Daniels at tactical.

"Captain," snapped Commander Riker, moving away from the engineering console. He had a large gash along his forehead, the blood still dripping. "Geordi's got the warp engines back online."

Picard signed and rounded the console, heading for his command chair.

Data turned back from his console. "Sir, the enemy reserve fleet is approaching. They will be in weapons range in three minutes."

Falling in to his seat, Picard looked towards the conn officer. "Ensign, go to maximum warp, rendezvous' point Gamma One Seven."

Kellin moved towards the captain. "Sir?" he asked.

Picard turned to him. "Captain Kellin. Welcome aboard. I understand you've had some difficulty. But the situation is dire at the moment and we're just going to have to trust you can keep things under control." He gestured for Kellin to take the seat on his left.

"How bad is it?" Kellin asked.

"Desperate," Picard said softly. "The entire fleet was decimated. They broke through our lines, and started bombarding all the planets in the system. The enemy fleet consisted of nearly 3,000 vessels. We were outnumbered 4to1. Enterprise withdrew and hid within the Oort Cloud to effect repairs. When we returned to orbit, Earth was gone. So were the Utopia Colonies on Mars. The orbital stations of Jupiter. Everything within the system has been obliterated.

"Our scanners showed at the most three hundred thousand life-signs on Earth. Our transporters were heavily damaged. When we made contact with your group we brought you onboard."

Kellin turned the chair slightly towards the viewscreen, to watch the stars stream by at warp. "What happens now?"

Picard sighed. "We're on our way to one of our fallback positions. Starfleet Command was evacuated just prior to the orbital bombardment. They'll meet us there when we arrive." His eyes then fell to the deck. "I'm afraid it gets worse, and I trust you'll be able to keep things under control."

Kellin nodded, not wanting to hear what Picard was about to say.

"Doctor Elizabeth Lessa was beamed aboard the Romulan flagship during the battle. She's working with Tyler. She's developed a biogenic weapon, which was used on Mars. It killed the entire population in thirteen hours."

Kellin smiled. "Don't worry, Captain. I've come to the conclusion that nothing is going to surprise me anymore. All I want now, sir is revenge. I'm going to end this war and bring my enemies to justice no matter what it takes, regardless of the cost."

Two years later:

"You know, Captain, sometimes I miss the Delta Quadrant."

Captain Kathryn Janeway smiled faintly at her helmsman, Lieutenant Tom Paris. They were both standing in transporter room 2 of the Starship Voyager.

They had returned to the Alpha Quadrant nearly a year ago, through a Borg transwarp conduit.

They had returned to a Federation that had been nearly destroyed. The Romulan\Breen\Cardassian Alliance, lead by a former Starfleet officer, had been sweeping through the two quadrants destroying everything in their way.

Starfleet had been falling back for months. Voyager was now docked at station Deep Space Nine. Their current mission was one of the greatest importance.

"I know what you mean, Tom, but at least we're here to help set things right."

She turned back to the ensign manning the controls. "Energize."

A column of transporter energy took form on the pad above. A young Bajoran woman in a Militia uniform materialized.

"Colonel Kira: Welcome aboard Voyager."

"Thank you, Captain," Kira replied. Stepping off the pad, she shook Janeway's hand. "How soon until we get underway?"

Janeway's smile faded. "We're ready now, if you'd like to accompany me to the bridge."

The group of three exited the transporter room and began walking down the corridor.

"How certain are you this is going to work?" Janeway asked Kira.

The Colonel looked towards to floor and hesitated. "I'm not sure. We haven't had any contact with them for over two years. I just hope I'll be able to convince them."

The turbolift doors parted open and the officers entered.

"Bridge," snapped Janeway.

The turbolift came to a halt and the doors parted open.

The bridge of Voyager was a very spacious, rectangular-shaped command center.

Paris made his way towards the helm, and took his seat. Janeway moved to the lower portion of the deck and stood in front of her command chair.

"All stations," she said firmly. "Confirm departure status."

From Operations, a young man of Asian decent spoke up. Kellin recognized him as Lieutenant Harry Kim. "Ops ready, Captain."

"Tactical and defensive systems nominal," came the reply from Commander Tuvok, the Vulcan security chief.

B'Elanna Torres, the half Klingon half Human chief engineer spoke up. "Warp and impulse engines online. Thrusters powered up."

"Helm standing by," came Paris' voice.

"Astrometric's ready," came the reply over the comm. from Seven of Nine, the former Borg drone who had been liberated from the Collective.

"Ship is ready for departure," said Commander Chakotay, Voyager's first officer.

Janeway gestured to the empty seat on the right side of her command chairs. Kira took her seat.

Janeway smiled and turned to Chakotay. "You know, the last time Voyager departed DS9, we were on our way to the badlands to hunt your Maquis ship down and arrest you. Instead we wound up being swept into the Delta Quadrant."

Chakotay smiled back and placed his hand on her arm. "And now we're heading out again, and purposefully leaving for the Gamma Quadrant."

"Fate has always been a fan of this ship," Janeway replied. She sat back up straight. "Take us out, Tom. Let's go to the Gamma Quadrant. Tuvok, once we're there, began transmitting our request on all subspace bands."

Engines coming online and systems being brought up to full power, the Intrepid-Class vessel cleared from the upper docking pylon of DS9 and came about. A few moments later she entered the blue swirling mass of the Bajoran wormhole.

Kira was pacing the aft section of the bridge. Voyager had been traveling deep in to the heart of Dominion territory for 35 hours. She was very apprehensive as to what they would find once they arrived at their destination.

A beeping began emitting from the helm.

"Captain," Paris spoke up. "We're approaching the coordinates."

Janeway rose from her command chair. "Go to impulse and take us in to orbit." She looked up at Kira. "Colonel, this is your show."

Kira sighed. "Here's hoping our luck holds. Frankly I'm surprised we've made it this far into Dominion territory without being challenged."

On the forward screen, a large brown planet was increasing in size.

"Captain," snapped Tuvok. "Seventeen vessels are approaching. They are Jem'Hadar strike ships."

Janeway turned to the Vulcan and gave him a curt nod. The screen blinked to show a Vorta supervisor, headset wrapped around his head, resting on his elf-like ears.

"Colonel Kira," he said politely, clasping his hands together. "What a surprise."

Kira hissed under her breath. "Weyoun," she said. "Thought the Founders were out of your clones."

The Vorta began chuckling. "Ah, Colonel, I have missed you."

"I take it you've received our message," Kira said, side-stepping the smug little Vorta's comments.

"Yes, yes we have. The Founders are of course, very suspicious. Odo himself says he will meet with you at your convencie."

Kira's heart skipped a beat. It had been over two years since she had seen Odo. "Good. We're sending transporter coordinates now." She looked at Janeway, who nodded to Harry Kim.

"Excellent," Weyoun remarked. "He will be there shortly."

The screen disengaged to show the Founders homeworld and the surrounding Jem'Hadar attack ships.

"Captain," Kira said, "request permission to greet Odo alone."

"Go ahead," Janeway said softly.

Kira had dismissed the transporter chief and stood alone in the transporter room, hands dancing over the controls.

As the transporter beam coalesced, her eyes stung as the form took shape.

Odo stood there, surprisingly attired in his Bajoran Constable's uniform. She smiled broadly and ran to him. Locked in each other's embrace, tears ran down Kira's cheek. "Odo," she whispered.

"Nerys," he replied back quietly.

They separated and stared at each other, eyes locked. A passionate kiss completed their greeting.

"Come on, Odo, we need your help."

Brice Kellin stood in the operations center of Deep Space Nine. He was standing atop the stairs directly outside the station commanders office.

Two years. It'd been two years since this nightmare had began.

He'd bounced around one meaningless task throughout what was left of the Federation. The fleet had been falling back against a concerted enemy advance. The Romulan\Breen\Cardassian alliance had wreaked havoc across the quadrant.

The Klingons had withdrawn to within their borders, fortified their positions and were preparing for a fight to the death. The Federation 3rd, 5th, and 10th fleets were assigned to the Bajoran sector where Starfleet had relocated their base of operations.

According to intelligence estimates, enemy forces would be sweeping the Bajoran system in the next few days.

The scouts Starfleet had sent out had failed to return, confirming that the enemy fleet was out there on its way.

And Brice Kellin had been given temporary command of DS9 while Colonel Kira was in the Gamma Quadrant pleading for help.

He turned to see Lieutenant Nog approaching, carrying a padd. "Sir," said the young Ferengi officer. "Weapons array is fully functional. All stations are at peak efficiency."

Taking the padd from the young man, Kellin smiled. "Thank you, Nog. I'll read this in the Colonel's office."

"It's not looking good. We've got the entire fleet spread across four sectors, on alert. We've got a total of eleven hundred fifty-three ships. Best estimates show we're outnumbered three to one."

Brice Kellin leaned back in his chair behind the desk in Kira's office. Admiral William Ross sat across from him. The Admiral's face had been weathered harshly over the past two years. His once brown hair had now gone almost completely gray.

"Any idea when we can expect the attack?" Kellin asked.

Ross shook his head. "We're not sure. We've lost contact with ten more systems since yesterday. Our intelligence units on enemy occupied worlds are sparse. The messages we are getting out of enemy territory are extremely dated. But our last projected analysis placed the enemy fleet massing near Berengaria. If that's true, they could reach Bajor fifty hours from now. The Command Council and the remaining leaders of the Federation Council are preparing to evacuate Bajor. They'll be relocating to Deneva."

Kellin dropped his feet from the desk and stood up, automatically adjusting his uniform tunic. It had several frays along the bottom edge. The harsh reality of limited replicator power. He'd been aboard DS9 for the past eight months, preparing the system for possible invasion. This had once been the farthest reaches of Federation territory. Now it was one of the last safe havens.

"Let's just hope Kira is successful," Kellin remarked. "If she's not, I think it's over."

Ross signed, also standing. "Let's not start talking like that, Captain. This war has had terrible repercussions throughout the galaxy, but we'll survive. One way or another, the Federation will return."

Kellin smiled. "Ever the optimist, even after all we've been through?"

"It's my job, to put on a good face for the troops," Ross remarked.

"Admiral…" Kellin hesitated, heading towards the computer terminal. "I do have a plan. It's extremely dangerous and goes against everything we stand for but..." he tapped several keys and an image of a large stone object appeared. It was an illuminated cylinder standing within the ruins of what looked like an ancient city.

Ross's eyes widened. "You can't be serious."

"If Kira fails, this may be our last hope, sir. To go back and stop this war from ever starting…" he was interrupted by the beeping of his communicator.

"Ops to Captain Kellin. Sir, please come out here."

Kellin and Ross bolted in to the command center to be greeted by the red alert klaxons, and the bustling activity of the crew as they went to be battle stations.

"Sir, " Nog remarked, heading up the stairs towards his station. "Our listening posts have picked up the enemy fleet. Four thousand enemy ships are headed this way. They'll be here in forty-six minutes."

Kellin grabbed the railing on the upper level of Ops to support himself. He felt as if he had been kicked. Turning to Ross, the Admiral nodded and headed for the turoblift. "I better get back to my ship. I'll transmit the recall order to our forces. They'll be here in minutes." He placed his hand on Kellin's shoulder. "Good luck, Captain."

Kellin mustered a small smile. "To all of us."

Ops was smashed. Four crewmembers lie dead on the deck. Brice Kellin, gripping the Ops table for support as the station pitched under his feet again, turned to Lieutenant Bowers.

"Damage report!"

The tactical officer, face caked with blood held on to his console as the station was pitched again. "Shields are buckling. Weapons are off-line."

"Captain, neutrino levels in the wormhole are spiking. Something's coming through!"

Reacting to Nog's urgent report, Kellin slapped the controls on the Ops table activating the main viewscreen.

The blue\white swirling mass of the wormhole flared in to existence. An Intrepid-Class vessel came speeding out.

"Voyager," Kellin said expectantly. An instant later the wormhole closed.

The station rocked again. Several conduits exploded. A white mist of reactor coolant began spilling out of the damaged bulkheads.

Kellin grabbed the table to keep himself from falling to the deck.

Defeat. After such a hard struggle, it was over. And Tyler would destroy the Alpha Quadrant.

He stared back up at the viewer. The wormhole opened again.

The tides of war had turned.

John Tyler stood on the bridge of his flagship, the commandeered Federation Starship Yorktown. She'd been a worthy ship throughout his campaign against the Federation.

Now victory was at hand. His forces had entered the Bajoran sector, the last vestige of what remained of the Federation.

He turned slightly to the seat next to the command chair. Karina sat there, eyes fixed on the main viewer, and the enormous battle waging outside.

Ever since Kalita and their daughter had been killed by the Federation, she'd grown cold and malicious. Brice had actually brought Tyler's newborn daughter aboard the USS Hood at the battle of Utana. She had died when the ship exploded.

Ever since that day, Karina had vowed to make Brice suffer.

Tyler would make sure her promise was fulfilled.

The ship shook lightly under a torpedo salvo.

The turbolift doors at the rear of the bridge hissed opened and their doctor entered.

"Captain," said Elizabeth Lessa. "I trust the fight is going well."

"Very well," Tyler confirmed gesturing towards the screen. "Once we take care of Deep Space Nine and the ships guarding it, we'll be ready to deploy your weapon on the surface of Bajor."

Lessa smiled, heading for one of the science stations.

"Captain," said a young Romulan officer working the tactical controls. "The Bajoran wormhole is opening."

Sure enough on the main screen the blue swirling mass winked in to existence. A lone Federation ship exited, speeding towards the protection of Deep Space Nine.

"Registry identifies it as Voyager," Kalita said. She snorted. "Bet they wish they were still in the Delta Quadrant."

Tyler smiled moving slowly towards his command chair. Taking his seat he looked up just in time to see the wormhole open again. His jaw dropped in horror.

Thousands of Jem'Hadar fighters, battleships and destroyers began pouring out. They began heading for Tyler's forces.

He jumped to his feet. "How many?" he demanded to his tactical officer.

"Three thousand six hundred fifteen," the Romulan replied, his face ashen.

"Sound the retreat," Tyler whispered. "We're out of our league."

Suddenly the Yorktown was pounded with several volleys from the lead Jem'Hadar force.

"Now," yelled Tyler. "All ships: Fall back to Cardassia Prime."

"On behalf of the entire Federation, and the free people of the Alpha Quadrant, I thank you for your help."

Brice Kellin stood next to Admiral Ross, as the admiral was addressing the Dominion delegation.

The group consisted of former security chief Odo, a Vorta supervisor named Weyoun, and a Jem'Hadar first, at rigid attention, plasma rifle draped across his chest.

"It's the least we could do," stated Odo. "The Dominion has been reflecting its actions these past two years. It's our way of paying reparations for the damage we caused."

Ross smiled. "Well, I'm just glad Colonel Kira was able to convince you to marshal your forces. You may have just saved the Alpha Quadrant."

Weyoun smiled broadly, rubbing his hands together. "Gentlemen, at your leisure we can begin assembling a new plan of action against these rebellious factions."

"Our forces are advancing substantially," said Commander Riley Torona. He manipulated the controls on the main operations console. The viewscreen switched to show a grid of the space between Bajor and Cardaassia. "We should be able to strike Cardassia Prime within two weeks."

The assembled leadership consisted of Admirals Ross, Paris and Janeway.

Brice smiled at Kathryn Janeway. Upon her successful mission to the Gamma Quadrant, she'd been promoted and taken her place in the group in charge of reclaiming the Alpha Quadrant.

Next the Starfleet brass stood General Kortag, Captain Kevak, and Captain Tige. The made up the entireity of the Klingon delegation.

Odo, Weyoun, and the Jem'Hadar First Kla'Takin made up the Dominion representation.

Brice stood on the upper level of Ops next to Colonel Kira. The briefing of their advancements had just been completed.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," began Paris. He moved towards the Ops table. "We've got hundreds of thousands of people who have been displaced from their homes. We're facing food and medical shortages on a level we've never seen. Providing for these people should be the highest of priority."

General Kortag snorted. "The only reason Chancellor Martok agreed to take part in this offensive was to defeat these habida before they reached Kronos. We are not concerned with feeding and caring for week humans when there's a war to win. I say we press our attack and end this war now."

"I'm afraid the General makes a good point," noted Janeway. "If we hold ourselves back now and start trying to rebuild the colonies we've retaken without defeating our enemy, they'll simply regroup, rebuild and come back at us stronger than ever."

Brice nodded in approval at Janeway. He knew there were still Admirals within the fleet not comfortable with fighting a war. He just hoped they all listened to reason. They were so close to ending this damned war. Soon, Tyler, his wife, and that traitorous Elizabeth Lessa would be in prison.

"Our forces are committed to doing whatever is necessary to put an end to this conflict as rapidly as possible."

Odo's gruff voice had broken the silence left by Janeway. "However, if we don't move soon, the death toll on both sides is going to rise. We vote to assemble our forces, neutralize the enemy within Cardassian territory and demand the unconditional surrender of Mr. Tyler and his associates."

Brice smiled despite himself. Odo always was a man of action.

Three hours of heated argument later, the allies had agreed on a course of action.

U.S.S. Yorktown. Orbiting Cardassia Prime:

John Tyler stood in his ready room reading the tactical updates on a data padd.

The enemy fleet was massing at DS9 in preparation for a final assault. He sighed heavily turning around to stare out the viewport.

Hundreds of his follower's ships surrounded the Yorktown.

The door chime sounded.

"Enter," he said, moving towards his desk.

Karina entered.

"John," Karina started, "all our forces are ready. The enemy fleet will be here in nine hours."

Tyler nodded and moved towards the sofa, taking a seat. "Good. Who would have ever thought the Dominion would have joined forces with the Federation?"

Karina smiled faintly, taking a seat. "It's Colonel Kira. Our agents report she was able to convince Odo and the rest of the Founders to send help. We've also heard reports that the Federation is preparing to send ships to the Gamma Quadrant to begin surveying worlds to establish colonies when they are finally defeated. They'll evacuate as many people to the Gamma Quadrant as they can and mine the entrance to the wormhole."

Tyler shook his head. "They're such desperate people." He gestured towards the world spinning below them. "Just look at Cardassia. Even after two years, it's really nothing more than a husk of its former self. Sometimes I wonder if we're doing the right thing."

Karina's eyes widened. "Don't start getting squeamish on me now, John!" He voice had risen drastically. "I didn't plan this operation just so you could lose your nerve on the eve of victory!"

John bolted to his feet. "I'm not losing my nerve. The Federation needed to be destroyed. Take your pick: The destruction of Cardassia, the antaganation of the Dominion. Sisko tricking the Romulans into war. Picard's meddling in the installation of the former Klingon chancellor. They've meddled in more cultures than we can even begin to imagine. They were a cancer that need to be cut out of the galaxy!"

Karina smiled, taking her husbands hand. "Then let us go out there and destroy what's left of them, and begin rebuilding the galaxy."

The D'deridex-Class Romulan warbird dove to port, her warp nacelles ablaze with plasma fire.

Three more beams of poloran energy ripped into her green hull. Conduits exploded, several Romulan soldiers were blown in to space.

Suddenly, her power systems died. The artificial singularity, powering her warp engines was breached, and the ship was sucked in to the black hole.

The three Jem'Hadar crusiers pressed on.

The Allied fleet had turned the tide.

U.S.S. Faraget. Allied Command Ship.

"Admiral, enemy ships are pulling out. They're going to warp."

William Ross turned his command chair to his right to eye Brice Kellin who smiled. They had pressed the attack against Tyler's fleet at Cardassia Prime. The battle had been waged for nearly eleven hours now. With the help of their new Jem'Hadar allies, they had annihilated nearly half of the enemy fleet.

"What about the Yorktown?" Kellin asked.

The tactical officer, a young looking Andorian sighed. "I'm attempting to scan through all the debris and radiation, sir." His console beeped at him. "Got it. Bearing oh four four mark one seven nine. Ninety million kilometers away and heading out of the system."

Ross leaned forward in his seat. "Helm: set a pursuit course."

"One hundred thousand kilometers," Kellin confirmed, tapping madly at the controls on the auxiliary console.

Ross pounded a fist on the arm of his chair. "Fire at will, target their engines."

On the main screen a spread of torpedoes and bright beams of phaser energy lashed out, impacting on the warp nacelles of the Sovereign-Class vessel.

A large explosion erupted on her port engine. The ship was pitched to starboard, and began tumbling away.

Brice bolted to his feet. Finally. They had him. He turned back to tactical. "Tractor beam! Lock onto any human life-signs and transport them to the brig!"

The tactical officer eyed his sensors. "We've got Tyler in the brig. The tractor emitters have been damaged…"

He broke off. On the viewscreen a large Romulan warbird came in, plasma torpedoes escaping from her forward launchers. Then exploded along the hull of the Farragut.

"Reactivating shields!" announced the tactical officer. A moment later on the main screen, the warbird locked a tractor beam onto the Yorktown and went to warp.

Ross also stood, heading towards the rear of the bridge. "Come on, Captain. Let's go have a talk with our guest." The turbolift doors parted at his approach. Turning back he ordered, "Helm, take us back to rendezvous' with the fleet. Have all ships begin securing the system."

Brice marched up to the rear of the bridge and entered the lift.

The large double-sealed duranium doors to the main brig slid open with a whine.

Kellin marched in, a small smile on his face.

John Tyler stood within the center cell.

"Welcome aboard the Farragut, John."

"Brice," Tyler hissed. "You know this isn't going to change anything. Without me, our forces will still destroy you."

"After the pasting we just gave you, your forces aren't going to be much of a threat to anyone for a long time. You've got the deaths of billions on your hands, John. It's time you faced up to your crimes."

"Crimes? You want to argue about crimes? You brought my daughter on your fool-hardy mission to Utana!"

"John, you blew up that systems star! You caused her death."

Tyler drew his arm back and threw his fist directly ahead, impacting violently on the forcefield holding him in. The bright blue electrostatic shield flared to life, sending a current of energy into Tyler's arm. He drew it back just has quickly. He was about to speak again, then stopped, turned, and took a seat along the bench of the cell. "I have nothing to say to you, Brice. Do what you have to do."

Kellin was taken a little by surprise to hear the voice of Ross, who had been keeping a respectable distance. "You've been corrupted by an Obsidian Order agent for the past two years. She was merely using you because of your Starfleet training. She only cares enough about you to respect your talents. Your wasted talents, if I do say so myself."

Tyler turned away, silent.

"Bridge to Admiral Ross. Sir, we've reassembled the fleet. The Allied leaders are requesting permission to come aboard."

Odo stood at the end of the conference table in the main observation lounge. The leaders of the allied attack had assembled.

Admiral Janeway smiled faintly at him. "I understand your position, Mr. Odo. And we can't thank you enough for your help. But if you think it's best of your forces to return home, we can't stop you."

Odo inclined his head slightly. "We have decided, with your permission of course, to leave a delegation behind to help further establish diplomatic relations between the Alpha Quadrant and the Dominion."

General Kortag, nursing a ruptured right arm grunted. "The Klingon Empire still reviles the Dominion and their duplicity from the last war. But we are grateful for the honor you have shown. We owe you a great debt."

Admiral Ross, who had remained relatively quiet, placed a data padd on the table. "Our reports show the enemy fleet has withdrawn to the Uneffra system, on the far side of the Cardassian Union. They only have a few hundred ships left. We're not going to pursue them. With Captain Tyler in custody we have the leverage to put this war behind us. I believe victory may finally have arrived."

One Year Later:

Three shuttles streamed overhead. The roar of their engines rattling the structure near the command post.

Brice Kellin, standing atop a large hill overlooked the remnants of San Francisco. Over the past year the Federation had been trying to rebuild the damage caused by Tyler's rebellion.

It had been a quiet universe since Tyler had been captured at Cardassia. The Romulan\Cardassian\Breen taskforce had withdrawn to within their borders.

Unfortunately, Starfleet was still too weakened to press the attack and defeat the enemy forces.

With the wide-scale destruction throughout the Federation, all of their resources were stretched to the limit.

Kellin had been charged with overseeing the reconstruction of Starfleet Headquarters. They had finished yesterday.

The structure stood exactly as it had before the previous structure had been reduced to rubble my enemy weapons.

"Quite an accomplishment it's been, to have the planet rebuilt so fast."

Kellin spun around, and his eyes widened. "Cole," he gasped. "Been a long time."

Agent Cole nodded curtly. "My organization has understandably had to go deeper the past couple of years. We've been behind the lines "acquiring" some useful information."

Kellin sighed. He thought his relationship with Section 31 had come to an end after the disaster at Utana.

"What kind of information have you found?"

Cole smiled, pulling a padd from his pocket. "Troop movements, ship deployments. The usual thing. But the most disturbing piece of information we have found was a colony near Galordan Core within the Romulan Neutral Zone. A small colony has been completely wiped out by a metagenic weapon."

Kellin froze."I'm not familiar with this..."

"Metagenic devices are powerful biological weapons outlawed by most major governments.. A metagenic device is a genetically engineered, airborne virus that destroys all DNA it encounters, and is capable of destroying entire planetary ecosystems within days. A force armed with such a device could introduce it into a target planet's atmosphere to rapidly eliminate all life - and resistance - while leaving all infrastructure intact. Within a month, the metagenic virus itself becomes inert, leaving the planet and its facilities free for conquest."

"Who developed this weapon?" Kellin asked already knowing the answer.

"Your old friend, Doctor Lessa," Cole confirmed. "You need to go in and eliminate her and her weapons research."

Kellin was struck. "You can't be serious. Isn't that what your organization is responsible for doing? The things that Starfleet can't?"

"Like I said, our people have had to go very deep. We no longer have the resources to accomplish this mission."

Kellin took the padd. "I'll see what I can do. How long do I have?"

Cole's eyes fluttered a moment. "Ten days."

Kellin marched his way down the corridor. This was unbelievable. He had no reason to believe that Starfleet would allow him to undertake this mission. Ever since Utana he'd been given very menial tasks to complete.

Reaching the doors of the quarters he sought, he pressed the chime.

The doors hissed open.

"Captain Picard," he said stepping in brandishing the padd. "We have a problem."

He began telling Picard of his encounter with Cole and the information the man had provided.

Picard sat back in his chair, a very uncomfortable look on his face. Sighing heavily, he leaned forward.

"Are you familiar with the incident at Minos Corva several years ago?" asked Picard.

Brice thought a moment, then his mind provided the information. "Yes sir, Enterprise had been sent there to negotiate territorial disputes with the Cardassian Empire. Turned out the Cardassians were planning an invasion and Commander Riker was able to mine their ships hiding within a nebula just before they could strike. If I remember correctly, sir, Captain Jellico had been temporarily command of the Enterprise at the time."

Picard nodded. "Yes. But what was left out of the official record was that Dr. Crusher, Lieutenant Worf and myself had been dispatched to Cardassian space on a strike mission to destroy a metagenic weapon the Cardassians had apparently developed. Turned out, it was merely a ruse to capture me. I was tortured for information regarding fleet deployments in Minos Corva. Fortunately, Jellico used the mining of the Cardassian fleet as a bargaining chip to have me released. So you can see my doubts about sending a team into Romulan territory with this kind of history."

Kellin rose to his feet and sighed. "I understand your concern, Captain. But if I volunteer to undertake this mission, the risk is worth it. What if the Romulans have developed this weapon? It would destroy everything we've rebuilt since their defeat at Cardassia."

Picard nooded, also rising to his feet. "I'll speak with command on your behalf, Captain. But in the meantime, there might be a way to insure the successful completion of this mission. You're going to need help."

John Tyler passed the plasma cutter across the rock face and flinched as the ore was separated with a resounding snap.

He wiped the sweat from his brow and looked up at the sky, shielding his eyes from the sun.

The Federation mining complex on Vega 9 was one of the oldest establishments humanity had created.

He'd been a here a year, mining dillithium as part of his sentence, carried out after he had been captured.

He picked up the lose hunk of dilithium and placed it in the cart next to him, which would later be sent to the refinery and the crystals would be shaped and molded, and eventually sent off to the nearest Federation shipyard.

It grated him that as his punishment he was helping rebuild the Federation.

There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't long to see Karina's face. To receive some word from her as to how the war was going.

It'd been so long, their contingency plans would be coming into effect soon.

"You know, after your trial I promised myself I would never speak to you again."

He spun around in shock to see Brice Kellin standing on the ridge above him, hands folded across his chest. "Brice," he said softly. "What brings you out here?"

Kellin sighed, dropping down the ridge and approaching Tyler. "I need your help."

Tyler laughed. "You can't believe that I would help you."

"John," Kellin said firmly. "Elizabeth has created a metagenic weapon. She's going to deploy it against the Federation. Billions will be killed. You have to help me stop her."

Tyler turned back to the rock face and began pulling free another piece of dillithium. "Sorry, I'm busy."

Kellin pulled a data padd from within his tunic. "You have a son, John. Karina had just gotten pregnant before we caught you. She gave birth 4 months ago. His name is Jatal."

Tyler dropped the plasma plasma cutter. Taking the padd from Kellin he fell to the ground onto his knees. "How do you know this?"

"Friends of mine," was all Kellin would say. John knew that meant Section 31. "John, if they launch these weapons, Starfleet will have to respond. Karina and her baby could be killed."

Tyler hesitated, eyes falling back to the padd. "Fine. I'll help you stop the weapon and I'll get Karina to stand down."

Placing the suitcase on the bed, Brice Kellin moved back towards the closest. Pulling his phaser out of a compartment he hooked it to his belt. The chime suddenly went off.

"Come in."

The doors hissed open to reveal Deanna Troi standing in the corridor. "I thought you'd like to talk before you left."

Kellin smiled, dropping a few other items into his bag. "Come in, Deanna, have a seat."

She did so. "I hear you've convinced Commander Tyler to join you on the mission."

"I really didn't give him much of a choice. Besides, we've learned that Karina has had a son. He has a vested interest in making sure we end this war before they are both killed."

Troi's eyes focused on him. "But you've spent the past two years hating him and pursuing him across the galaxy. And now you've agreed to work at his side."

Kellin grinned lopsidedly. "Fate, maybe, I'm not sure. All I know is that I can't accomplish this mission alone. If I have to work with him so be it."

"Just be careful. I'm sure you know this, but he cannot be trusted."

"Believe me, Counselor, there is one thing foremost on the top of my mind, and it's the fact that he'll kill me if I give him the chance."

"This is Kellin: Runabout Amazon ready for departure."

"You're cleared for launch, Captain. Good hunting."

Kellin smiled at Picard's voice over the com. He activated the thrusters and the small ship cleared the Enterprise's shuttlebay and went to warp.

"On course, Enterprise," Kellin said in to the com receiver. "I'll transmit the retrieval signal when we accomplish the mission."

Cutting the communication, he leaned back in his chair and watched the stars stream by at warp. "We'll be at the Sentara system in five hours. I suggest you get some rest."

His passenger grunted and turned to face him. "Brice, I know you don't know why I did what I did. But you have to understand what I was faced with. I had fallen in love with Karina. Starfleet was going to destroy the Cardassian Union. I couldn't let that happen."

Kellin turned to face Tyler as well. "So instead, you launched one of the most devastating attacks against the Federation that the civilized quadrant had ever witnessed? John, I can never understand what you did. You've caused so much death, and for what? What was your intention? What was your objective?"

Tyler frowned. "The Federation is the biggest obstacle to peace within the quadrant. They've flexed their muscles for the past two centuries. Hundreds of worlds have been absorbed, losing their culturual idenity."

"Whatever twisted philosophy she whispered into your ear, it doesn't matter," Brice said. "You betrayed Starfleet, the Federation and me. And when this mission is complete and you're little rebellion has been destroyed, I'll be very happy to see you in prison for the rest of your life."

"Let's get one thing straight, Captain, I'm only doing this because I want this war to end. I'm not willing to risk the life of another child. I'll get you into Sentara Five, and I'll help you stop those weapons. Then that's it."

Sentara Five lie directly ahead. It was a hellhole of a planet. High winds, and neural disrupting atmosphere littered the planet.

"There's a small facility in the northern hemisphere," Tyler indicating eyeing the sensor panel. "There's a landing pad connected on the west end."

The runabout headed in.

Pulling on his dark field coat and securing it tightly, Kellin flipped open his tricorder. Tapping a few keys the binders around Tyler's wrist disengaged and fell to the floor.

Rubbing his arms, Tyler stood and headed for the exit. "You know, this would be easier if you simply pretended to be my prisoner and I could lead you directly through the facility."

Kellin laughed. "I'm sure it would." He pulled his phaser out of its holster, set it to maximum stun, and then gestured towards the hatch. "After you."

The hatch slid open and they headed out.

The made their way down a three hundred meter corridor.

The walls were a dark green, and pretty much standard Romulan design.

"Is security always so lax?" asked Kellin.

"It's a top-secret facility, the security forces are placed within the biolabs themselves. External infiltration wasn't much of an issue due the location of the planet, and the inability to find the facility on sensors due to atmospheric disturbances."

They reached an intersection with a large door. The script labeling the room was listed in Romulan script.

"This is it," Tyler said. "The main biolab. No doubt there several dozen guards in there."

Opening his tricorder, Kellin scanned the area. "No doubt. I'm reading forty Romulans beyond this entrance."

Tyler moved towards a bulkhead and pulled loose a panel. Tapping at the control pad within an alarm sounded.

Kellin jumped to his side and grabbed him by the wrist. "Are you insane?"

Tyler turned back to him. "Trust me, Brice, I've initiated a security alert on level fourteen." He gestured back to the door. "Go ahead. Scan the lab again."

Reopening the tricorder, Kellin eyed the display screen. "Only four left. Not bad, John." He pulled out his phaser and slapped the door release.

As it hissed open, Kellin aimed his phaser and hit the remaining Romulan guards with four quick blasts.

Two Romulan scientists and a young human were standing near a control station.

The human woman spun around. "Brice! John!"

Kellin gripped his phaser tighter. "Hello, Elizabeth, did I come at a bad time?" He gestured to Tyler towards the main control interface. "Destory this thing."

Tyler smiled and crossed his arms. "Sorry, Brice. I'm afraid you'll have to drop your weapon. You see," he tapped a control on a panel, "things are going according to plan."

Suddenly the room filled with dozens of Romulan guards, weapons drawn and aimed at Kellin.

The door behind Tyler slid open. Karina stepped in, cradling a small infant. Embracing Tyler she turned back to Kellin. "Hello Brice. Nice of you to bring John home. Guards, take him to the brig."

Kellin squeezed the firing stud on his phaser, impacting squarely in main computer control interface. It exploded in a dramatic display of sparks.

Kellin then slapped his communicator. "Kellin to Amazon: Energize."

Two seconds later, the blue swirling vortex of transporter energy grabbed him and pulled him out of the room and back to his ship.

Jumping off the transporter pad, and fell into the pilots seat. "Computer, send a distress call to the Enterprise."

The computer confirmed the message had been sent. He then tapped at the controls. "Computer, power phasers and load torpedo launchers."

He then manipulated another set of controls and the impulse engines came online. He pulled the ship away from the facility and began climbing high into the atmosphere.

He then brought the ship about and brought the targeting scanners online. Taking a deep breath he reached for the weapons array. Beofre the phasers could fire, the ship was rocked hard to port by a powerful explosion.

Eyeing the aft sensor grid, he could see a vessel approaching. From the power reading profile, it was a Romulan fighter craft.

"Warning," announced the computer. "Port nacelle has been damaged. Imitating emergency shutdown of engines."

Kellin's eyes widened as the small craft began falling towards the surface. He tried madly to reach for the weapons controls, but he was too late. The Amazon made contact with the barren rocky surface of Sentara Five.

Jean-Luc Picard stood on the bridge of the Enterprise near the starboard science station.

Data was currently manning the station, scanning the sector ahead of them. After picking up the distress call from Captain Kellin, the Enterprise was on its way towards the Sentara system at maximum warp.

"Theta band emissions are increasing, Captain," Data suddenly announced.

Picard's eyes widened at the sensor readouts. Theta-bands were the carrier waves used to activate metagenic weapons.

"Then we have to assume Captain Kellin has failed. We'll simply have to destroy the facility from orbit."

Riker, walking away from the tactical console moved to Picard's side. Speaking softly he said, "Sorry, Captain. Weapons won't be able to lock on in that kind of atmosphere. That's why our best option was to send in such a small team, to destroy it from within. I'd like to lead an assault team once we reach orbit. We should be able to blow the place to hell and try to find Captain Kellin."

Picard nodded. "Prepare your team, Number One."

Riker nodded and headed for the turbolift.

Eyes bolting open, Brice Kellin surveyed his surroundings. He was in a cell. A three-walled room closed in by a forcefield.

Two Romulan guards stood outside, distruptor rifles draped across their chests.

The doors to the facility then opened. Tyler stepped in smiling.

"I just wanted to tahnk you for brining me back, Brice. Jatal is beautiful."

Kellin pulled himself to his feet. "I'm taking this was your plan all along?"

"We had dozens of contingency plans in place depending on when we needed to move. I'm sorry to tell you, you're little display of pyrotechnics back in the lab were futile. The weapons array is back online. We've targeted thrity worlds within Federation space. The carrier waves will be transmitted soon."

Kellin moved towards the field. "You know Enterprise will be here soon. They're going to blow this place to hell."

Tyler nodded. "Of course I know this, that's why I'm leaving. I just wanted to say goodbye. We'll probably never see each other again."

He turned his back on the forcefield, gestured to the two guards to follow him and headed out.

Kellin sighed, sitting down on the ledge of the cell.

Face falling into his hands, he sighed heavily.

An explosion suddenly rocked the facility.

The doors to the brig reopened and Will Riker burst in, phaser rfile in hand, sweeping the area.

"Captain!" he snapped, moving towards the cell. Tapping the commands, the forcefield disappeared.

"Commander, thanks for showing up. Commander Tyler just left."

Riker frowned. "I know, he beamed aboard the Yorktown and went to warp. We had to stay behind and planet the charges. This place is gonna blow in five minutes." Tapping his combdage he requested they be transported directly to the Enterprise bridge.

"Captain, you've done a great service to the Alpha Quadrant. It's my pleasure to offer you the captaincy of the Phoenix."

Kellin's eyes widened at Admiral Janeway. "Thank you, sir. I'll do my best not to disappoint you."

Kathryn Janeway, seated behind her desk, swiveled the computer screen around. "Turns out Commander Tyler has withdrawn began redeploying his forces. He's fortifying the Romulan Empire and the Breen Confederacy."

"How soon can we expect an attack?"

"We're not certain," Janeway admitted. "We're going to hit the Breen first. Tyler will be expecting an attack on Romulus, but we're going to try and get them off balance. Which brings us to you. I'm placing the Phoenix on detached service. I want you to distract him. Even if you can't capture him, I want him watching his back while Starfleet marshals and attacks the Breen."

Now…

"Captain Kellin, welcome back to Deep Space Nine."

Stepping down from the airlock, Kellin gripped the hand of Colonel Kira Nerys. "Thank you, Colonel. It's good to be back."

Standing next to her, Jean-Luc Picard offered his hand as well. "Good to see you again, Captain."

The three officers made their way towards the wardroom. Once there, they were seated and Brice gave them the information provided by Sal-Ton, the Orion information dealer.

"After all these years," Picard said, leading forward in his seat, "what makes you think the capture of John Tyler and his wife will make any difference in this conflict?"

Kellin leaned forward as well. "John and Karina are the leaders of this situation. When they consolidated power with the Romulans, Breen and Cardassians, the major policitial leaders of those governments were eliminated. They've taken far too much power for themselves. If we remove them, this rebellion will wither."

Picard nodded. "Are you simply considering an all-out assault on this facility? Based on the information provided, the defensive grid in the Rigel system is very impressive. We'd need a fleet to break through. I'm not sure what you think two Federation ships can accomplish."

Brice hesistated. "My only concern is destroying the Yorktown."

The captain of the Enterprise turned his chair and rose, moving towards the viewport. "Then you're talking about a one-way trip."

Kellin stood on the upper level of the Promenade outside of Quark's bar. He stared up at the upper docking pylon. His ship, the Galax-Class USS Phoenix was berthed there.

He smile softly. Too rarely did he get to see his ship from the exterior. He eyed two small workbees as they hovered above the port nacelle, patching a small rupture.

The Phoenix had been in a lot of action the past two years. They'd been operating behind enemy lines, keeping their supply lines distrupted and their communications arrays in turmoil.

Once of that added benefits of the Phoenix was that she was equipped with a cloaking device, and an experimental weapons array. She'd proven herself over the last several months.

"Captain Kellin?" came a voice.

Kellin spun around to see a familiar person heading towards him. "Dax," he said to the short Trill woman approaching. "Been a long time. How have you been?"

"Busy," replied the young officer. "DS9's been a busy hub of activity for the war effort. The Seventh Fleet's been on station here for the past nine months. I hear you're heading out soon."

"Hopefully in order to end this conflict, Ezri," he said, slowly walking down the Promenade, Dax falling into step beside him.

"I take it you mean you're going to find Tyler."

"That's right. Between him and Elizabeth, they have to be stopped."

Dax looked up at him. "I never told you this, but when we were at the Academy, I really do think Elizabeth loved you. She never gave any sign that she had any malice towards you."

Kellin snorted. "Except that she betrayed me, the Federation and her own people."

Dax turned her head away for a moment. "Has it occurred to you yet, that she and Tyler may have been coerced into joining the enemy?"

"Every day. Tyler was my best friend, so I simply I can't be objective. I take it too personally. But yes, I do think they've been 'programmed' to fight against us. That's why I have to destroy them."

The spacious bridge of the Phoenix was like coming home. Kellin had commanded several ships in his career. Saratoga, Defiant, Hood. But he had never felt at home like he did when he came aboard this ship.

Maybe it was simply a sense of poetic justice that his first posting was aboard a Galaxy-Class vessel, and very like he last command would be aboard the same class of ship.

Kellin tapped the intercom on the arm of his chair. The ship-wide intercom flared to life.

"All hands, this is the captain speaking. I need to let you know. We are currently preparing to depart Deep Space Nine. From here we will proceed under cloak to the Rigel system. Our mission is to destroy the rebel leader's command ship. The force we will be attacking is one of the most heavily armed in the enemy's fleet. There's a fair chance we may not survive. I just wanted you to you know, serving as your captain has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life."

He cut the com line and rose from his chair. "Helm," he said to the Andorian Lieutenant, Thelev, "clear our departure and take us out. Proceed to Rigel at maximum warp."

The officer acknowledged and piloted the ship away from DS9.

Turning to the tactical station, he smiled grimly at Lieutenant Commander Reed. The stout Englishman was a hardened veteran, who had survived many campaigns against the enemy. He also had an illustrious family history of service within Starfleet.

"Mr. Reed. Activate the cloak. Also perform level-three diagnostics on all defensive arrays. We're going to need to be ready."

Taking his seat again, the bridge lights dimmed as power was routed to the cloak. Turning his head slightly to his first officer, Commander Elizabeth Shelby, formally of the Excalibur. Ever since that ship had been destroyed by a Romulan ship in the Battle of Andoria, she had been floated through several different assignments.

When he had been given command of the Phoenix, he had personally requested her. She had been the lone survivor of the destruction of that vessel. He felt an immediate connection after being placed in her position several times.

"Commander, send a message to the Enterprise, advise Captain Picard to hold position four lightyears from Rigel. We'll head in first under cloak and send a message to him when we're in position."

Shelby nodded, and spun her auxiliary console around and began transmitting the message.

Grabbing the sides of his command chair, Kellin pulled himself out of his seat. "You have the Bridge, Mr. Reed," he said, addressing the tactical officer. "Commander Shelby, come with me."

The two entered the captain's ready room and took their seats on either sides of Kellin's desk.

"Commander, I take it you've had enough time to give our mission a great deal of thought. What is your opinion of success?"

Shelby hesitated, placing her hands on the desk and lacing her fingers. "Not good, sir. We'll no doubt be able to infiltrate enemy territory under cloak, but once we're inside, getting to the Yorktown will be the tricky part. We can only get so close before they pick up our engine emissions. And even if we can destroy her, we will then be surrounded. Escape won't be possible. Even with Enterprise running interference for us."

Kellin reached to the desktop monitor and tapped a series of commands. "Several years ago I presented this idea to Admiral Ross, just before the Dominion helped us stem the initial invasion. He denounced it as too risky. But things are different than they were back then." He brought the screen to life and showed the image to Shelby.

She gasped audibly. "You can't be serious, Captain. How would you even accomplish this?"

Kellin smiled. "The planet's remained extremely classified, I'm sure we could make it to this planet with little problem and utilize it. I've had several years to plan this. This is our next course of action if we fail at Rigel."

"Captain's personal log, stardate 56852.5. Seven years ago as young lieutenants Johnathan Tyler and myself crash-landed on the surface of the planet Bajor and the history of the galaxy was changed forever. Meeting a Cardassian spy disguised as a Bajoran, Tyler was corrupted to lead a rebellion against the Federation. Now, seven years later, I am leading one final assault to destroy him.

The star of Rigel appeared on the main viewscreen.

The ship stood at red alert. Her weapons were standing by and all hands were at the ready.

As a calm in the storm, Brice Kellin stood in the center of the bridge, hands clasped behind his back.

"Sensors?" he asked.

Reed, manning tactical, reported. "Several hundred vessels, Captain, it's taking me a moment to isoloate the engine emissions..." he broke off. "Found it. The Yorktown is in a repair facility bearing oh nine three mark one one seven."

Kellin inclinded his chin. "On screen."

The screen changed orientation and magnified on a large orbital space dock. Appearing there was the Sovereign-Class USS Yorktown. Her running lights were dimmed and her warp engines were offline.

"Minimal power readings, sir," announced Reed, "and only a couple of dozen bio-readings."

Kellin cursed silently. He had hoped with the time since they had met with Sal-Ton, that the Yorktown would be repaired and her commander back on board. "Sounds like we're going to have to do this the hard way. Commander Shelby, please contact the Enterprise. Advise them that we're heading in."

He moved towards his command chair and dropped into it. "Helm, take us in, one quarter impulse." The helmsman acknowledged his orders and Kellin tapped the com switch on the arm of his chair. "Bridge to Engineering. Commander Torres, we're heading in. I trust you've made all necessary modifications to avoid detection?"

"Aye, Captain," came the engineers reply. "We've sealed the plasma vents to hide our engine emissions and have powered down all systems except for defensive arrays and propulsion."

"Very good, Commander. Bridge out." Tapping the switch again, he watched the screen as his ship eased into the enemy star system.

After nearly forty minutes, the spacedock loomed ahead, filling the entire screen.

"Captain," said Reed, "I am detecting human life-signs aboard the Yorktown. One male, one female."

Shelby jumped to her feet. "Tyler and Lessa?" she asked.

Kellin nodded. "Most likely. Mr. Reed, lock on all weapons, target their main reactor as well as their nacelles. We're only going to get one shot at this."

Reed nodded curtly, going to work at his controls. "Not a problem, Captain. I'll reduce that ship to dust in seconds."

Kellin flinched at the remark. This was John after all.

"Sir," came O'donnel from OPS. "Three vessels approaching, Romulan warbirds. They've begun sweeping the area with anti-proton beams."

Kellin jumped out of his command chair. "They know we're here! Hail the Enterprise. Tell them to begin their attack!"

The three warbirds began coming closer on the main screen. Suddenly, five white projectiles flew in at incredible speeds and impacted the vessels, jolting them violently.

Seconds later, the Enterprise swooped in over them and let loose with their main phasers.

The lead Romulan vessel was split open, her crew being exposed to the hard vacuum of space.

"Reed! Drop cloak, raise shields, and power weapons! Lock onto the Yorktown and fire!"

Reed's hands flew across the tactical array. The lights on the bridge came up to full levels as the power was transferred. "Firing!" he snapped.

The viewscreen switched to display the Yorktown. Her running lights had come online, as well has her engines. She had begun moving out of her docking berth.

The torpedoes and phasers flying away from the Phoenix impacted harmlessly against their shields.

Kellin stared at the screen in disbelief. "It was a god damned setup! Helm, get us out of..."

He was stopped as the ship was thundered from all sides. Conduits exploded, crewmen were pitched to the deck.

Kellin was thrown to the deck. He looked at the main screen just in time to see Enterprise. Her warp nacelles were venting plasma and her shields were no longer flaring against enemy fire. She'd been crippled. Suddenly, dozens of enemy torpedoes impacted her dorsal section. The ship erupted in a massive fire. Her hull plates began incinerating and her superstructure began breaking apart. Mere moments later, the mighty flagship of the Federation erupted in a massive fireball.

The shockwave shook the Phoenix violently.

"We are being hailed," said Reed, voice barely above a whisper.

Kellin pulled himself up and placed his hands on the seat of the helmsmen. The enemy barrage had stopped for the moment. Dozens of enemy vessels had surrounded them and were closing in for the kill.

"On screen," said the captain.

The viewer blink and Johnathan Tyler appeared on the bridge of the Yorktown. "Hello Brice. Heard a rumor you were coming to destroy me. Clever trick. Had you arrived ten minutes earlier, you may have succeeded."

Kellin actually smiled. "Funny you should say that, John, because time is the one thing that's going to be your undoing." He reached down to the helm console and tapped in a series of commands.

The ship angled away from the enemy fleet and began accelerating. The ship was shaken again and again by a spread of enemy weapons.

"Shields are down to forty percent," announced Reed, "enemy ships are in pursuit."

Heading back to his command chair, Kellin looked down at Shelby. "Commander, prepare to separate the ship. Make the necessary preparations."

Shelby's eyes widened. "Sir?"

The ship was pounded again. The aft stations erupted in a shower of sparks. The crewman manning them was pitched to the deck, burns covering his body.

O'Donnel spun his chair around from the Ops station. "Port nacelle has been reptured. We're venting plasma."

Kellin looked back to Shelby and raised his eyebrows.

The commander jumped to her feet. She rounded the tactical station and headed into the aft turbolift.

"Helm, initiate evasive patten Theta-5. Mr. Reed, what's the status of the cloak?"

The ship shook again. Reed grabbed the console to avoid being thrown to the deck. "Offline sir, as are the weapons. Enemy vessels are closing to forty-thousand kilometers."

Kellin cursed to himself. He jumped out of his chair the moment the green swirling beams of transporter energy filled the bridge.

Romulan soldiers appeared, distruptor rifles at the ready.

"Secuirty alert, all decks!" snapped Reed, pulling his phaser and firing.

Two Romulans were dropped to the deck.

Kellin leaped forward and tackled a Romulan. Falling to the deck he planted his fist squarely in the soldiers face.

Rolling over on his back he pulled his phaser free and squeezed off three shots, dropping two more Romulans.

Slapping his combadge, he shouted, "Kellin to Shelby: Get our people the hell out of here."

Pulling himself to his feet he rushed up to the tactical station. Reed had just finished disarming the unconcoious Romulus.

"Shield generator three on dock twenty nine has been destroyed. We have a gaping hole in our defenses."

Reed rushed up to his side, fingers dashing across the controls. "I'm rerouting power from generator two." A beeping sounded from the console. "Got it. Shields up."

The ship was rocked again.

Kellin turned back to glance at the engineering console. They power spikes in the power arrays were off the scale. "Kellin to Shelby. How much longer?"

"We've evacuated everyone into the saucer section, Captain. Ready for your order."

"Mr. O'Donnell," ordered Kellin, rounding the station and walking down the ramp. "Being separation sequence. Deploy our secondary nacelles."

O'Donnell was pitched forward in his chair as the ship was rocked again. "Captain, you should know we've never tested those engines under extreme circumstances."

"No time like present," replied Kellin. "Get us clear."

Tapping the necessary commands, O'Donnel looked up. "Seperation sequence in progress."

Three loud audible clanks were heard thorugh the ship as the saucer section was separated from the primary hull.

On the underside of the saucer section, two warp nacelles were deployed and locked into position.

Kellin sighed. The secondary warp core. It was a new feature on Federation ships which could separate. Hopefully, they could get clear.

The starboard wall on the bridge suddenly erupted in flames. A forcefield flared to life and extinguished it immediately.

On the main screen the stardrive section of the Phoenix was tumbling away. The saucer section began accelerating under constant enemy fire.

Turning his head back, Kellin noticed Shelby reentering the bridge.

"Mr. Reed," commanded the captain. "Lock phasers on the stardrive. Fire on the warp core."

The young commander nodded curtly and maniupliated his controls. The bright orange phaser beams lashed out, ripping into the dorsal section.

"Direct hit," snapped Reed. "The hull is breaching."

Kellin bolted from his chair. "Helm, ahead warp six."

The instant the saucer section jumped into warp, the secondary hull exploded. The shockwave crippled the pursuing the enemy vessels."

"Holding at warp six," O'Donnel reported. "Warp engines are operating within normal parameters."

"Engage cloak," snapped Kellin. As the lights dimmed he returned to his command chair. "Helm, adjust course to one eight seven mark one three five, maximum possible speed. It's time we put an end to them before it even began."

"Captain, I am afraid I cannot authorize this mission. It's ludicrious."

Kellin stood in the conference room off the main bridge. Admiral Kathryn Janeway's face was presently on the main screen.

He lift his hands in an apologetic manner. "Admiral, with all due respect, we've lost this war. The Federation has been defeated. We've lost nearly 500 billion people. Tyler hasn't even been slowed down. He was waiting for us at Rigel. He's got the entire quadrant under his grip. We have to stop this."

"I'm sorry, Captain. We can't risk it. There's no telling what kind of damage that could be done."

"But Admiral…"

"Captain Kellin, I'm rerouting Phoenix to the Romulan front to bolster the defense perimeter around Solvon III. I'm sorry, my hands are tied, Janeway out."

The screen blinked out. Kellin leaned against the long table and crossed his arms. Staring out the viewports, he watched the stars streak by at high warp.

Hell with it, he thought. I'm going to end this.

He exited the conference lounge and stepped on to the bridge.

Shelby rose from the command chair, and approached. "What's the word?" she asked in a hushed voice.

Kellin smiled. "The word is no. However, we're going anyway." He moved to his seat and addressed the conn officer. "Increase speed to maximum warp, Ensign. Mr. Reed, I'd like to discuss a mission with you."

"Approaching the coordinates," reported Lieutenant O'Donnell.

Kellin, standing next to Reed at tactical looked at the main viewscreen. The barren planet was increasing in size as they approached.

"Assume a standard orbit. Away team: Report to transporter room five."

The ship was suddenly lurched to port.

"Weapons fire?" asked Shelby, addressing O'donnell.

The operations officer shook his head. "Negative, Commander. They are temporal distortions."

The lift doors hissed opened and Kellin and Reed entered. "Means we're in the right place, Commander. You have the bridge."

Two blue transporter beams formed within the desolate wastes of Forever World.

Solidifying, Kellin pulled his tricorder from the attachment on his belt. Flipping it open he scanned the area. No other life-forms.

"Come on," he said to his team.

Commander Reed followed him up the path to the top of a steep hill.

There it stood. The circular stone formation, more than 6 billion years old. The Guardian of Forever.

Approaching it, Kellin placed his hand on the surface. "Guardian, can you hear me."

"I am on the Guardian of Forever," it boomed. "State your destination"

Kellin smiled. "I want to avert the war that has engulfed the quadrant. Can you send me to the right time to stop it?"

"I am capable of these things."

Suddenly his communicator beeped. "Captain Kellin, this Shelby! We're under attack! Six ships lead by the Yorktown have dropped out warp. We've lost shields!"

The line was cut. Kellin's eyes darted to the sky, where he could see a flaming streak of fire, falling across the horizon.

Reed pulled out his phaser. "Captain, if they've destroyed the Phoenix, they'll be coming for us…"

Suddenly a disruptor beam tore into his back. The Commander fell to the ground, a smoking wound visible in his back.

Kellin, pulling out his own phaser, fired six quick shots at the approaching Romulan soldiers. "Guardian! Send me to the proper time!"

As the images on the Guardians screen began flashing an incredible speed, Kellin leapt through it.

Kellin, pulled his eyes open and forced himself to wake up. He surveyed his surroundings. Enterprise. These were his quarters, when he was stationed here. This was nine years ago. He'd somehow replaced his past self. But he was back too far. He thought the Guardian would send him to DS9 right before the mission where he and Tyler had met Karina.

He jumped out of bed and rushed towards the mirror. The lines around his eyes were gone; the gray in his hair had reverted back to the sandy brown of his earlier years.

"Yellow Alert," came the voice of the computer. "All hands to duty stations."

Pulling on his uniform, Kellin asked, "Computer, what's today's date?"

"Stardate 48648.3."

Kellin's heart sank. He ran to the viewport and peered out. The planet of Verdian III spun beneath them. This was the day the Enterprise-D had been destroyed. He was due to be on the bridge as a backup tactical officer.

Rushing out of his quarters he ran for the nearest turbolift. He only wished he could inform Captain Picard that the Klingon sisters, Lursa and B'tor would destroy the Enterprise in a matter of hours. They had sabotaged Commander La Forge's VISOR and had used it to gain the Enterprise's shield frequencies.

The 'lift deposited him onto the bridge. He took his station at Mission Ops II, directly behind the newly promoted Lieutenant Commander Worf.

The bridge was a buzz with activity. Commander Riker sat in the command chair. Captain Picard had just beamed to the surface to try and convince Dr. Tolian Soran from destroying the Verdian star.

Tapping a few commands on the sensor panel he sighed. The Klingon Bird of Prey holding position thirty thousand kilometers directly ahead, had just fired a photon torpedo.

The green-glowing ball of energy ripped through the Enterprise's shields and impacted squarely on the main deflector dish.

"They have found a way to penetrate our shields!" thundered Worf.

Turning back, Riker ordered, "Lock phasers and return fire."

The Enterprise began pulling away from the Klingon vessel, her phasers lashing out, impacting harmless on the enemy ship's shields.

The helm console exploded, pitching the conn officer to the deck. Riker turned to Troi, seated on his left. "Deanna! Take the helm, get us out of orbit."

"Hull breach on decks thirty-one through thirty-five," shouted Commander Data over the explosions.

Riker rose from his command chair and headed up to Worf at tactical. "Mr. Worf! What do we know about that old Klingon ship? Any weakness?"

The Klingon grabbed the station for support as it was shaken again. "It is a Class D-12 bird of prey. They were retired from service due to defective plasma coils."

The first officer muddled the information. "Plasma coils? Is there any way to use that to our advantage?"

The ship was shaken again. "I do not see how," replied Worf. "The plasma coils is part of their cloaking device."

Riker made his way down the ramp to the Operations station, currently manned by Data. "Data, would a defective plasma coil be susceptible to some sort of ionic pulse?"

The android cock his head, processing the information. "Yes, yes! We could send a low-level ionic pulse, which activate the coil and trigger their cloaking device! Excellent idea, sir!" he added, thumping Riker on the chest.

"As their cloak begins to engage, their shields will drop," added Worf.

Riker looked back to Data. "They'll have two seconds of vulnerability… Mr. Data! Lock on the plasma coil!"

Data bolted from his chair to the starboard side of the bridge, pulled a bulkhead loose and began to manipulate the controls.

Riker made his way back up the ramp. "Mr. Worf, prepare a spread of photon torpedoes, we'll have to hit them the instant they begin to cloak. We'll get one shot at this, target their primary reactor!"

"I have accessed their coil frequency," shouted Data. "Initiating ionic pulse."

"Make it quick," Riker ordered.

Kellin, engulfed in what was going on around him, was not paying attention to his console. Suddenly, the station exploded. He was hurtled over the tactical console, rolled over the captain's chair, and collapsed to the deck.

"Easy, Ensign, don't get up too quickly."

The voice sounded miles away. Kellin's eyes popped open. Beverly Crusher hovered over him. "You've got a concussion and fractured arm."

Kellin looked around. He was in a Starfleet sickbay. "Where am I?"

Crusher frowned. "You're aboard the Farragut. Enterprise was destroyed. The saucer section crashed on the surface of Veridian III."

Kellin's head fell back on the pillow. "How long was I out?"

"Forty one hours," she replied.

Kellin's stomach twisted. Things had not gone this way before. He'd already altered the timeline drastically. "Where is Ensign Tyler?"

Crusher shook her head. "I believe he's aboard the Grissom, one of the other vessels sent to rescue the Enterprise survivors."

"How soon until you can let me out of here?"

Crusher smiled. "You'll free to go in the morning, Ensign, get some sleep."

Seated within his guest quarters, Brice Kellin began tapping at the controls of the computer interface. Entering his command codes, he accessed information not normally available to a mere ensign.

The screen blinked to show the service file of one Elizabeth Lessa. Currently a fourth year cadet at Starfleet Academy. She would be graduating in eight weeks, and if history repeated itself, would float around the quadrant under various forms of employment, until she entered medical school. She was currently assigned to the training vessel Musashi, an old Constitution-Class vessel conducting research in the Qualor sector out near the Klingon border.

"Computer, download all information regarding the mission of the starship Musashi to the attached data padd."

The computer beeped indicating the download was completed. He pulled the data padd away from the docking interface and switched it off.

He checked the chronometer on the desk. 2108 hours. He was running late. Stepping into the corridor, he raced down the hall towards the nearest lift.

"Thought you weren't going to show," exclaimed John Tyler, raising glass at Kellin's approach.

"Sorry, was busy," Brice replied taking his seat and gesturing towards one of the servers.

"It's ok, I'm still having a little trouble dealing with this. We only spent on a year on her, but this was the Enterprise, Brice, not your run of the mill ship."

"True," confirmed Kellin, "but she's in august company. The original Enterprise was retired after ten years of service and helping found the Federation. Kirks two Enterprises both ended their careers helping save millions of lives. The 'C' was lost at Narenda III saving a Klingon colony, thus strengthening our alliance. And now the 'D' has been sacrificed in saving 230 million people on Veridian IV. Besides, there'll be another Starship Enterprise."

Throwing back his drink, Tyler smiled. "Wonder what she'll be like, the Enterprise-E? Anyways, I've been thinking, Brice, now that we are free to post for new assignments, any idea where you'd like to head towards?"

Kellin, taking the drink off the tray of the server standing next to him, took a sip of the scotch in his hand. "I've been thinking about staying in Security and requesting a transfer to Deep Space Nine. With contact with the Dominion Starfleet's going to need to need sharp officers out there."

"Ambitious," said Tyler. "I think I'd like to see Bajor." He extended his hand across the table.

Kellin hesitated only a few moments, and shook Tyler's hand. "Deal."

San Francisco had never looked so beautiful.

Brice Kellin made his way across the grounds Starfleet Headquarters watching the comings and goings of hundreds of Starfleet officers.

Looking up at the sky, the sun had almost completely set.

Making his way down the main thoroughfare, he approached the waterfront.

He was waiting for him.

"Cole," he said.

"Lieutenant," the agent said in return, with a smile.

Kellin had received his promotion shortly after the Enterprise had been lost three weeks ago.

"Cole, I need your help. And I know you can keep a secret. I'm actually from the future. About nine years from now."

Cole smiled. "So am I, Brice. I followed you back once I heard you jumped through the Guardian. Thirty-One figured you'd need some help. There have been some disturbing incidents in the past few weeks. We believe the Federation has been infiltrated by temporal agents.

"The Department of Temporal Investigations has taken several people into custody who've traveled back in time, from distant points in the future. They've been unable to ascertain what their mission is. Thirty-One has managed to quietly question a few of them. So far they've been unwilling to talk."

Kellin was put back on his heels. "Cole, this may sound crazy, but are you familiar with Captain Johnathan Archer?"

Cole nodded. "Our thoughts exactly. The captain of the first Enterprise made some very controversial comments before the Federation was founded about agents from the future fighting a 'temporal cold war.' Thirty-One thinks something similar may be taking place now. We have to figure out the source of the problem."

"So how do we stop what happened in our timeline?" Kellin urged.

"We're not sure. The only thing we can suggest is to proceed as close to the original timeline as possible. I take it you're going to be heading for Deep Space Nine soon?"

"Yes, Tyler and I will be leaving together in the morning. But I had planned on making a detour to the Qualor sector."

Cole almost laughed. "I figured as much. Miss Lessa is out there, isn't she? We also have to be prepared for Etana Karina. That incident is due to take place in 9 months."

"Do you think she could be the focal point? An agent sent back to destabilize the quadrants?"

"It's a very real possibility. The only way we're going to be able to stop this, is to let things proceed as they did before, but since we both have knowledge of things to come, we'll be able to prevent them. It's just a matter of picking the right time."

"The best way may be to take both Lessa and Karina into custody," Kellin suggested. "We could bring them to the Department of Temporal Investigations and have them scanned for temporal displacement."

"The problem with that, is that they would discover that you and I do not belong in this time, and would take us into custody as well."

Kellin turned and began pacing. "I'm open to suggestions."

Cole placed a hand on his shoulder. "Easy, Captain. Proceed normally. If you feel taking Lessa into custody, I can prepare the proper documentation authorizing it."

"Thanks, Cole, I'll stay in touch."

The stars in the main viewport streaked by at warp seven.

Brice Kellin watched them pass, all the while keeping a watchful eye on his co-pilot. John Tyler sat in the co-pilots seat of the runabout Tigress.

The two of them were en route to the Bajoran sector to their new post as special Starfleet security detachments to Deep Space Nine. Given their extensive engineering backgrounds, and advanced tactical training, they were going to be quite an asset to the stations security force.

But not yet. Brice leaned forward. "John, I'm sorry, but I have to alter our course for a few hours." He tapped at the helm controls and the ship suddenly angled forty degrees to port.

"Brice? Where are we going?"

"Qualor sector. I need to see someone."

Tyler turned his seat to face Kellin. "Brice, we're due at DS9 in thirty hours. You're little detour will take atleast 60 hours."

"I know, John, but it can't be helped. You remember Elizabeth Lessa? I'm under strict orders to take her into custody." He pulled a datapad from the storage compartment beneath the port console. He tossed it onto the main panel.

Picking it up and activating it, Tyler reviewed the information on it. "You're going to arrest her?" he asked. He read more. "Collaboration with Romulan weapons dealers?"

"Starfleet Intelligence thinks she's been trying to procure a biological compound called Ithorian-Seven. It's a very deadly agent, which has been outlawed on most civilized worlds. They're sending us to get her. She's aboard the training vessel, Musashi."

"I have a bad feeling about this," muttered Tyler, turning back to his controls. "What happened with you two, anyway? You just drifted apart one day."

Kellin sighed, tapping the helm controls. "She was cheating on me, John. Turns out she was seeing an officer from the Thunderchild. Then one day I got a message in my private database back at the Academy and she simply said she was tired and wasn't happy anymore. I did some checking and found out about the other man."

"I'm sorry, Brice. I knew you were pretty down for a few months afterwards, but you never told me what exactly happened."

Kellin smiled. "Stiff upper lip, I suppose." Turning his attention back to the controls, he said, "We're going to find stop here though, John. The security of the Federation is at stake."

The Constiutution-Class vessel Musashi angled away from the plasma streamer it had been studying.

The small runabout sat down with a loud thud on the deck of her main shuttlebay

Stepping out of the hatch, Kellin dropped down to the deck and headed for the airlock, Tyler falling into step behind him.

The doors parted open and a Vulcan officer in a red command uniform entered.

"I'm Captain Solkon. Welcome aboard the Musashi."

"Thank you, sir," replied Kellin, supplying the datapad to the captain. "Lieutenant Brice Kellin, Starfleet Security, ths is Ensign Johnanthan Tyler."

The captain took the padd and reviewed it. "I must confess, Lieutenant, this is highly unusual, arresting a criminal in this manner."

"I understand, sir, I'm simply acting under orders from my superiors," replied Kellin.

The captain turned and gestured towards the exit. "Very well. If you'll follow me, I can take you to Cadet Lessa."

Making their way down the corridor, and after a short turbolift ride, the three officers stood outside the quarters assigned to Cadet Lessa.

Solton tapped his security code into the panel, the doors parted with a hiss.

The room was empty.

Solton's eyebrows shot up. "This is impossible." He tapped his combadge. "Solton to bridge. Red Alert. Raise shields and scan the ship for Cadet Elizabeth Lessa."

"Captain, this is Lieutenant Maxwell, sensors are not detecting her aboard the ship, and the security logs are not showing how or when she left the ship."

Kellin sighed heavily. "Captain, I need access to a secure communications terminal."

"Cole, this is bad. I'm not yet ready to panic, but where the hell could she have gone?"

Standing in the captain's quarters, Kellin stood facing the viewscreen on the wall.

"I'm not sure, Brice, I've been doing some digging around in Thirty-One's records, and I cant locate any ship that has been in that sector."

"Wonderful, then we have to assume she is a temporal agent. That's one down. I think now our best option is for Tyler and I to head to DS9 and proceed with our mission, and meet up with Karina in 9 months."

"Good luck, Lieutenant, I'll keep in touch Cole out."

Brice sat down in the chair on the opposite side of the captain's desk. Face falling into hands, he sighed. This has turned into one hell of a mission. Lost in time with little chance of success.

"Kellin to Tyler: report to the shuttlebay, we're heading to DS9."

"Welcome to Deep Space Nine, I am Major Kira Nerys, and this is Secuirty Chief Odo."

Lieutenant Brice Kellin and Ensign Johnathan Tyler stood at attention.

Nodding curtly, Kellin said, "Thank you for welcoming us aboard, Major."

Kira smiled. "At ease, Lieutenant." She gesutred towards the main viewscrene, which currently showed a map of the Gamma Quadrant side of the Bajoran wormhole. "Tomorrow morning, the starship Sarajevo will be departing the station for a week long mission in the Gamma Quadrant. She's a specially modified vessel equipped with the latest infiltration technology. They will be attempting to obtain tactical information on the Dominion border outposts."

Kellin's stomcch feel. This isn't how its supposed to go. When he had first arrived on DS9, their first mission had been on the runabout Rio Grande Doctor Reese. They'd traveled to Bajor and picked up medical supplies and a new deflector array from the shipyards in Okana. His only recourse was to proceed as normally as possible.

"Understood, sir, what are our orders?"

The Bajoran major handed him a datapad. "The Sarajevo will be deploying a series of listening posts. You're job will be to help install them."

Tyler peered over Kellin's shoulder, skimming the pad. "Why isn't the Defiant leading this operation? With her cloaking device, we'd be virtually undetectable."

Kira smiled. "Unfortunately the Defiant is leaving in the morning for the Tzenkethi border. There's been a coup de tat on the Tzenkethi homeworld. Captain Sisko's been ordered out to the border to show the flag."

Kellin nodded, knowingly. It was all flooding back to him. Defiant would depart the station with Ambassador Krajenksi aboard. The ambassador had actually been replaced by a changeling. He would sabotage the Defiant and send her into the Tzenkethi system on a mission to destroy their homeworld. The hope was to start a war that would destabilize the Alpha Quadrant, leaving it open to a Dominion attack.

"I understand, sir," Kellin replied smartly. "If there's nothing else, we'll prepare for departure."

"Well hello there," came a high pitched voice from a distance. "I must say it's always a joy for a humble host to welcome new customers."

Kellin smiled at the approaching Ferengi.

"My name is Quark, owner of this establishment."

Kellin nodded. "Brice Kellin." He turned his head slightly to the left. "And this is John Tyler."

"Welcome to Deep Space Nine," Quark said politely. "What can I get for you?"

Tyler smiled at the barkeep and headed for a table. "Aldebran whiskey."

The two men took their place at a table near the Dabo table.

"Quite a place," Tyler remarked.

Kellin nodded, taking in the bar. In relative time, it'd been a fewyears since he'd been to Deep Space Nine. Not since they'd driven Tyler's forces back into Cardassian space wit the help of the Dominion.

Eyeing the entrance to the bar, his eyebrows shot up as Chief O'Brien and Doctor Bashir entered. He smiled as the two men, after briefly speaking with Quark, ascended the stairs to the second level, to the holosuites that were housed up there.

"It's certainly become a hub of activity the past few years, since the discovery of the wormhole," remarked Kellin.

"So," Tyler said soflty, leaning forward on the table. He was then intereupted by another Ferengi waiter approaching their table with two green drinks.

Nodding to the waiter, Broik, Tyler lifted the drink to his mouth and threw back the cold beverage. "Any word yet on Elizabeth?"

Kellin shook his head. "Unfortunately not, the sensor logs on the Musashi weren't able to pick anything up. I spoke with Cole. He's sending a few agent outs to the area to scan it, and try and track her down."

Tyler's eyes widened. "Thirty-One is involoved now? She must really be dangerous."

Kellin grunted. "You have no idea." He picked up his drink and swallowed it all in one smooth stroke.

The Nebula-Class starship, USS Sarajevo angled away from Deep Space Nine and entered the Bajoran wormhole.

Standing in the forward crew lounge, Kellin stood, arms crossed, and watched as the vessel went to warp. They'd arrive at the designated coordinates in just under an hour. He and John were to take a shuttlecraft to an asteroid belt and deploy the sensor drones.

He had a very apprehensive feeling. Things were not going the way they had before. He had to be very careful to not distrupt the timeline anymore than it had been.

"Quite a view, isn't it Lieutenant?"

Kellin spun around to see Commander Lorissa Manning, first officer of the Sarajevo.

"Commander," he said stiffly to the beautiful young woman.

She was a relatively short, yet powerfully built, officer, long blond hair, just touching her shoulders. Her green eyes met his and twinkled.

"At ease," she said softly, gesturing to a table.

The two of them sat across from one another.

"I just wanted you to know," said the commander, "my father was Captain Trevor Manning."

Kellin smiled. Captain Trevor Manning had been the commander of the USS Avenger. He and Tyler had rescued Manning and the rest of the crew from the Breen just a copule of years ago from this point in time.

"He's a good man," said Kellin. "He taught me a hell of a lot about command."

Lorissa smiled. "When you enrolled in Starfleet Advanced Tactical and wnet aboard the Enterprise, he was very proud. He's told me a great deal about you. He hopes one day you'll change to command. He says you'd make a great starship captain."

Kellin smiled despite himself. "Well, he is a good judge of character."

Lorissa placed her hand on his. "I just wanted to thank you. You saved my father's life. I'll always be in your debt."

Placing his hand on hers, Kellin was overcome with emotion. One of the most beautiful women he'd ever encountered was sitting less than a meter away and holding his hand. He'd been betrayed by Elizabeth and John, and here he was, setting himself up again. "Least I could do, Commander."

"Lorissa," she corrected.

"Lorrisa," he replied back, rolling the name around in his mouth.

"So why have you stayed in security?" she asked. "You're obviously a born leader."

He lifted his drink from the table and smiled. "Well, it's been a hard road getting this far. Maybe a few years at DS9 will hone my skills and prepare me for that captaincy."

Smiling back, Lorissa moved closer. "I wouldn't mind getting to know you better, Lieutenant."

"Brice," he said with a smile.

"Brice…"

Suddenly the red alert klaxon sounded.

Bursting onto the bridge followed by Commander Manning, Kellin took his postion at the tactical station.

For this mission, he'd taken the position temporaily. John was working in the engine room with Commander Carlisle.

Tapping the controls, he scanned the sector. Nothing unusual jumped out at him.

Captain Thomas Hudson turned to face him. "We're nearing the first location. I didn't want to take any chances."

Kellin let out a breath. Moving his hands across the security board, he sent a quick text message to the shuttlebay to have his equipment prepared. "Long-range scanners show no signs of any vessels, Jem'Hadar or otherwise."

Hudson nodded. "Is your team ready?"

"Yes, sir," Kellin replied. "Ensign Tyler will meet me in the main shuttlebay."

Commander Manningn approaching the captain. "Reuqest permission to join them, Captain. They might need a good pilot at the helm."

Kellin was about to protest, then thought he woun'dt mind spending a few more hours with the commander in a confined space.

"Granted, Commander," remarked Hudson. He looked back up to Kellin. "Lieutneant, once you depart the ship, we'll head to sector 31215 to deploy the second set of drones in the Ansala nebula. We'll meet you there when you're done."

Tapping another set of commands in to the security board, singalling for a relief officer to report to this station, Kellin met the captain's stare. "Understood, sir."

He then moved away from the console and followed Lorissa into the turbolift.

The specially modified shuttlecraft, Cochrane, exited the main shuttlebay of the Sarajevo and headed into the dense asteroid field.

From within the cockpit, Kellin stood behind Commander Manning, who was piloting the vessel. Staring out the window, he watched as the Sarajevo came about and went back in to warp.

Seated next to Manning, Tyler operated the sensor array. "I've charted the safest course into the field. The deployment point is aboard eight hundred million kilometers away. Bearing one-one-nine mark elven."

Manning nodded, and brought the shuttlecraft around, and headed in. "We're on our way. I've plotted a spiral descent course through the field. We should be there in about two hours." She looked over her shoulder at Kellin. "We should start the diagnostics, and prepare the drone for launch."

Kellin, pulling an engineering padd from the console next to him, plugged it into the small sensor drone. For the next several minutes, he calibrated the subspace amplifier and the subspace sensor countermeasures.

He then turned back to watch the asteroids, flying at incredlbe speeds through the belt, several colliding into one another in a spectacular display.

Finally, after what seemed like days of slying through shear rock, Manning tapped the impulse controls, bring the ship to a relative stop. "We're here, gentltemen," she remarked.

Kellin smiled and actiavated the transporter. The sensor drone disappeared in a beam of blue light. It materlized 10 thousand kilometers directly ahead.

"I'm getting a strong signal," remarked Tyler from his station. "I'd say we're donehere."

"Good," said Manning, bring the shuttle around. "I hate flying thorugh this godforsaken maze."

A beeping suddenly erupted from Tyler's board. "Commander!" he nearly shouted. "Long-range scanners have picked up two ships, half a billion kilometers away and closing at warp five."

Kellin spun his chair around to his own console and actiavated the sensors. "Jem'Hadar fighters," he sighed. "They'll be here in eighteen minutes."

Manning turned back to her board. "All right," she said. "Send an encrypted message to the Sarajevo. Let them know we've run into trouble."

Kellin activated the communications array and sent out a tightbeam subspace signal. Several seconds passed.

"No response," he said needlessly.

"What do we do?" Tyler asked. "If we make a run for it, they're going to detect us. If we stay we here, we may be able to avoid them."

Manning sighed, turning back to her status displays. "I say we make a run for it. We have a signifigant head start, and we can make make warp eight. I say we clear the field and run like hell. The Cochrane's been modified with the same type of sensor countermeasures as the listening posts."

Kellin readjusted himself in his seat. "Agreed, Commander. I say we go. If we head along oh-four-eight mark two-one-seven, we can clear the field in seven minutes."

Manning nodded, taking the craft to full impulse. "Hang on."

Roughly six minutes later, the Cochrane cleared the asteroid field and went into warp.

"Jem'Hadar didn't see us, Commander," Tyler remarked in disbelief.

"Countermeasures did their job," she replied. "Changing course to the Ansala nebula."

Nearly nine hours later, the Cochrane slowed to impulse.

The Ansala nebula filled the viewport.

"I'm not picking up any sign of the Sarajevo," said Tyler. He was studying his sensor display carefully. "Wait, I'm picking something up, bearing two-three-nine mark four."

"Changing course," remarked Manning, easing the Cochrane closer to the nebula.

"Debris," said Kellin. "It's a duranium fragment, roughly seven meters in diameter."

He rose from his seat and placed himself between Manning and Tyler. "There," he said pointing.

Directly ahead of the shuttle a gray piece of hull spun in space.

"It's definitely from the Sarajevo," stated Tyler. "From the radiation signature, this is a piece of the housing surrounding the main impulse engine."

"I'm not reading any other debris," said Tyler. "The fragment has a poloran signature surrouding it."

Kellin's stomach twisted and he looked at Manning.

The commander began manipulating her control panel. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Jem'Hadar use poloran weapons."

Kellin sighed, taking his seat at the auxillary console. "I'm afraid so." The proximity alert suddenly sounded.

"Ships coming from the nebula," said Tyler. "Five Jem'Hadar ships. They've powered weapons and are heading this way."