Chapter Ten

One Year Later…

Over the past year, the USS Enterprise NCC-300-F had become something of a joke amongst the remaining Starfleet holdings, the once pride of the Federation at the forefront of Starfleet technology had been relegated too little but a Science Vessel patrolling the new frontier of the Gamma Quadrant with a crew which had been considered by many as the worst crew in Starfleet. No longer given the coveted position as Flagship, and the first choice of any Starfleet officer and Cadet, they where left with little more then the worst cadets and officers in the fleet. Originally, the vessel itself was an aging ship destined for either the mothball fleet or too serve out its remaining years as an Academy training ship for the dwindling numbers of Cadet hopefuls and commanded by a disgraced Captain and his command staff of rejects. Barely operational by the time Captain Riker had taken command, his staff worked around the clock too bring the joke of a ship upto specifications worthy of its assignment.

Following a much larger vessel commanded by his transporter twin, William Riker had almost given up hope of his new command but for the intervention of his first officer and chief medical officer. Quickly gaining weight and becoming healthy once more, his attitude towards his ship and crew had changed immensely as the officer sat with pride in his command chair. Still baring the scars of his illness almost a year ago, his beard had become almost silver and neatly shaven to a goatee beard. Since his recovery, he had refused to change the colour of his hair and beard, shaving his head almost bald in defiance of his receding hairline..

During his recovery, Riker had worked heavily in the ship's gymnasium too gain a powerful muscular body which he carried with pride, much too the annoyance of his junior and much younger officers. Holding himself tall and proud once more, he leaned forwards in his chair as for the first time in almost a year, the disgraced ship exited warp along side the much larger Flagship of the Federation, the USS Titan.

"In range now Will" His first officer and helm officer smiled.

"Alright, here we go"

"Nervous?" Steele laughed.

"Not really" Will said with pride in himself. "Open a channel"

"Onscreen now"

Appearing onscreen before them, his transporter twin looked around the bridge of the tiny ship until his eyes fell upon his twin as his jaw almost dropped as Will Riker stood and adjusted his uniform tunic with pride.

"Will? My god…"

"Hello Tom!" Will laughed.

"Jesus… you look…."

"Amazing!" Deanna said as she slowly stood and looked at Will with a smile.

"Hello Deanna… Tom, we have that report you wanted"

"You could have just transmitted it!" Tom said still in shock.

"And miss out on my niece and nephew's birthday? Not a chance"

"Will… you look… amazing!" Deanna smiled once more.

"Well, the reports should be in your system by now. Admiral Sisko has requested we return too the Alpha Quadrant… If you don't mind, I'll beam onboard and see your children before we set sail for home?"

"Of course, permission granted…" Tom smiled slightly.

Visiting his family on the new Flagship was much easier then he remembered, the last time he was onboard the Titan, he was a different man, frail and weak. Full of stories and life, the Captain of the disgraced ship entertained the youngsters before he returned too his ship and set sail for Deep Space Nine.

Arriving at the large and what had become the centre of all Federation activity in the shrinking Federation, with his head held high, Riker entered the office of Rear Admiral Sisko.

"Riker?" Sisko said with shock. "You look good"

"Thank you sir. Reporting as ordered"

"Good to see you back on your feet Captain, take a seat"

Sitting in the chair, Riker leaned slightly as Sisko spoke with a slight smile.

"We've found him Will…"

"Finally!" Riker smiled. "Where?"

"Remus Prime!" Sisko cringed slightly.

"Ouch!" Riker laughed. "How?"

"An old friend, Tomalak had almost given up hope of finding him. He'd been avoiding him for almost two years, but he made a critical mistake…"

"He made a grab for power" Riker smiled darkly.

"Exactly. Our intel reports, his coup d'état failed. He's on the run, last reports place him at a small area outside the capital city"

"I see" Riker smiled darkly.

"I thought you'd like that. Bringing him back would… go a long way back home"

"My ship can be ready in one hour"

"Enterprise would raise too much attention Will, you know that. You'll have to make an… alternate method of transport, I have an old friend standing by in deep space"

"Thank you" Riker smiled. "I owe you one Ben"

"What they did too you, was beyond belief… I saw what happened, I fought in your corner. It almost cost me my command"

"No offence, you came out of it okay… Rear Admiral" Riker sighed.

"You'd be surprised… my career with Starfleet will end in four years. After that, I am no longer welcome on Earth, the Bajorans have turned their backs on me… I am more of an outcast then you and your crew!"

"Then, Welcome aboard… Ben!" Riker smiled.

Knowing instantly what the Captain meant, Sisko smiled as he nodded slightly while a moment of clarity between the two officers filled the room. Standing slowly, the two officer shook hands as they both silently agreed on a vow to bring back their own personal honour and restore the Federation back to it's former glory.

Looking around his tidy office, Sisko reached for the intercom system on his desk as he activated the system and spoke with the authority of his limited command.

"O'Brian, Dax… report to my office"

"Aye Sir!" O'Brian and Dax replied.

Moments later, the door to the Admiral's office slide open as the two officers entered, as the door closed, O'Brian smiled slightly as he Saw Riker stood before him.

"Captain… I had no idea you where onboard sir. You look good"

"Hello O'Brian… Commander O'Brian?" Riker smiled.

"Yes sir, Sisko thought it would be a good idea to keep me inline by making me a Commander, annoyed a lot of Bajorans sir, I'm the new First Officer" O'Brian smiled with pride.

"Red suits you Miles. Hello Ezri"

"Captain" She blushed slightly.

"Commander, how long will it take to get the Enterprise ready for launch?" Sisko smiled.

"Sir? She's here?" O'Brian said with confusion.

"Hiding, close by" Riker nodded.

"Umm… half an hour sir?"

"Good, get it done. For the next few days, I'm going to need you both too cover for me…"

"Why?" Dax said quickly.

"No questions, Old-Man. If anyone asks… I'm in negotiations with the Bajorans for something… you can make that part up"

"Sir, the Bajorans will not see you…" O'Brian said abruptly.

"Exactly, they'll deny everything. O'Brian, you're in command while I'm gone. Have Lieutenant Nog run a full diagnostic on the long range Comms array while I'm gone" Sisko smiled.

"That will effectively shut down all communications, but short and mid range" O'Brian sighed.

"I know. Have the fleet on full alert, when I return, we may have a few friends behind us"

"Aye sir?" O'Brian said slowly.

"She's all yours Miles, treat her well. Dax, I have another job for you"

Quietly slipping away from the Spacedock, Sisko and Riker arrived on the Enterprise as her final equipment was beamed onboard secretly. Looking around the old and obsolete Starship, Sisko sighed slight as he followed Riker through his ship towards the main bridge of the vessel.

"I knew things where bad Will, but this is ridicules" Sisko said in shame.

"She has her charms Ben. Besides, we've made a few… upgrades during our service" Riker smiled.

"Ohh, do tell!" Sisko laughed.

"Enhanced Quantum Torpedoes forward and aft, rotary Phaser cannons forward and aft… ablative hull armour, double strength of course…" He smiled with pride.

"Of course!" Sisko mocked.

"A two stage cloaking device… stage two is really going too wet your lips Ben… Multi-phasic Shielding, upgraded shuttlecraft which now act as fighter escort… and she can make a damned good cup of coffee too!" Riker boasted.

"Multi-phasic shield? Two stage cloak? Are you making up words, just too impress me?"

"Hardly…"

Stopping at the turbolift doors, Riker turned with a smile as he continued.

"Multi-phasic shielding Ben, this ship can linger in a firefight longer then anything in the fleet. Her engines are capable of warp 9.5..."

"9.5? This ship is rated for only warp 8... 9 at a push" He said with shock.

"Upgrades. The cloak is a different story. Phase one, an upgrade too the standard cloak, she can fire anything while cloaked, with the exception of the rotary cannons. Phase two, the ship can… phase shift, in theory, we can hide inside any solid material for a duration of eight hours… after that, well it would be a mess"

"I bet!" Sisko smiled. "Why haven't you reported this too command?"

"A Phase cloak is illegal in the Federation Ben, our new shield system has yet to be tested. Theoretically, we can hide close too a star's surface for days if need be. Weapons fire will disperse easily. She maybe an old rust bucket from the outside Ben, inside… this ship is must sophisticated vessel in service"

"So much for the Prometheus Class!" Sisko smiled. "Did you know, before all this came out about you and the Enterprise, the near Enterprise would be either a Prometheus or Discovery class?"

"I was counting on something bigger" Riker laughed.

Finally entering the bridge of the old vessel, Sisko looked around as the Enterprise Command crew stood with respect while the first officer walked towards them both.

"Will… Ben!" He smiled. "What's going on?"

"Doesn't hail too rank, does he?" Sisko laughed.

"I'm an asshole sir… But I'm good" He said as he bowed, mocking respect. "Ohh! Admiral on Deck!"

"Ohh, shut up Jack!" Riker laughed.

Under cloak, the Enterprise entered warp towards their rendezvous with an as of yet, unknown friend. Gathered in the briefing room, Sisko and Riker gave the command crew the mission briefing.

"… So, after all that, we believe that he is hiding here… in an abandoned facility on the outskirts of the capital city" Riker said carefully choosing his words.

"It's possible, a well armed team could beam in and grab the bastard!" Replied Alison Crusher.

"No! this has too be surgical…" Steele replied. "Sorry Ally, this has to be quiet. Reman Patrols are all over that area. If we make too much noise, we're detected"

"And your point is?" She grunted.

"A small team of four, maybe six can beam in, get the job done and beam out… anything more… we risk bringing the Remans down on the Federation, what's left of it"

"Agreed!" Geordie smiled. "Starfleet can not protect the Federation from the entire Reman force"

"Then it's settled, I'll lead a small team too…"

"Whoa! Ease up Commander…" Sisko said aloud. "I haven't signed off on this yet"

"Sisko, you've gone AWOL. If we're discovered, you risk court-martial and… well I know what happens next. Once our friend is in place, I'll beam down with a small party of Romulans… capture the son-of-a-bitch and drag him back too the Enterprise…"

"Confidant isn't he?" Sisko laughed.

"Ben, I've done this before. I wasn't always a Starfleet Officer…"

Laughter came from the room as the Commander's file was well known around the ship.

"We know Jack!" Geordie sighed. "You tell us that all the damned time"

"Hasn't it worked in the past Geordie? Refresh my memory, who saved your ass from that group of…"

"I get the point!" He barked. "You swore you'd never mention that again"

"I haven't… Yet. Admiral… Captain, let me lead this mission. Sisko can command the Enterprise, Riker will remain with our friends with a full squad of…"

"We'll go with the Commander's plan" Sisko smiled. "We should rendezvous with our old friend in… one hour"

"Agreed!" Riker nodded.

"Sirs, one thing. I want Alison with me on this one" Steele said firmly.

"Alright, let's do this. The Federation is waiting for us too save it, dismissed!"