12 SID Second Coming
The week had gone by hectically on Corvat. McMasters was committed full time to getting the massive, world-wide power system going. Parva and her Deputy Chief Engineer, Gilan, were in charge of charge of tending to the planet's warp propulsion system. Although it possessed traditional warp technology, it boasted transwarp conduit coils for travelling any distance and a gravitic lensing system for sublight travel.
Lt. Commander Mikeala Leishman, the Aventine's Chief Engineer and her crew, threw their weight behind Parva and Gilan. Commander Nog, the Defiant's Chief Engineer and the former Chief of Operations for DS9, added the starship's engineering team's effort to McMasters'. During breaks, Leishman caught up with Nog. Nog had been her superior when she'd been assigned to the station and they reminisced over some the quirks the adaptation of Federation technology to its Cardassian specs had brought on.
Leishman found herself slightly awed by Parva. She knew the usual about the Orion when they'd begun working together. Parva had brain damage and had come a long way in her recovery. However, the civilian engineer's familiarity with transwarp coils and gravitic lensing impressed her and a passing reference to time spent at Utopian Planetia sent Leishman on a feverish quest to discover all she could about Parva. The sheer number of walls listed as "Top Secret" that arose completely impressed her.
Likewise, Nog was utterly fascinated by McMasters. McMasters had been warned not to share any stories from his time with the SID so he recounted tales from his days with the Maquis. Nog had been a mere youth during those heartbreaking days. Serving alongside Ro, he developed a fanciful notion of the "romance" of the Maquis struggle. McMasters enjoyed showing off so he did little to disabuse his eager young assistant.
Ro and Dax oversaw the restoration but the heart and soul of the effort revolved around Macen and Taryn Argus. By this time, Argus had met Rockford and correctly deduced the nature of the relationship between Macen and the Angosian. She held her counsel for several days but now that everything was culminating to an actual test firing, she couldn't hold back any more.
"Really? You and the Angosian woman? While I'm glad that it's anyone but that Vulcan bitch, you really want to romance a mundane?" Argus asked.
Macen's eyes flashed fire, "The term 'mundane' was dropped from our vocabulary thousands of years ago, Taryn. You've been reading between the lines of too many history books."
"Brin, she'll be a crone while you'll barely be middle aged," Argus snapped back.
The look in Macen's eyes told her that she'd gone too far. For the first time ever, she was afraid of him. She realized that he could lash out at her and possibly kill her and that he'd be perfectly content to do so. She'd seen that spark in him during their time on the Yuros penal colony together but that essential force had been restrained. Now she was unleashing the beast and it was hungry.
"Don't tempt fate, Taryn," Macen warned.
His comm badge sounded and he stepped off. She made to follow but Radil intercepted her, "Let the man work."
Argus scowled and she went over to a portable replicator and got some coffee. Rockford moved in and squeezed Radil's arm. Radil began to smirk and gave the Angosian some berth.
"Hello Taryn," Rockford smiled, "I thought it was time we had a little chat."
Argus smiled victoriously, "You mean you want to warn me off your man."
"Nope," Rockford admitted. Seeing Argus' confusion she opted to go further, "I don't need to. What you're trying won't work."
Rockford could see in Argus' eyes that the El-Aurian doubted her word. She smiled even more brightly, "I don't have to worry because I know something about an 'empathic cascade'." Are you familiar with that phenomenon?"
Argus flinched and so Rockford pressed even harder, "Of course you do. It's natural to your people. You see, I didn't know anything about it until a couple of years ago. Now I'm intimately familiar with it. Stress on the word 'intimate'."
Rockford saw a hint of defiance in Argus' eyes so she decided to squash it, "I know how Brin feels about me. That's because in the cascade no feelings can be hidden. It's everything, good, bad, and ugly. I know every facet of Brin's feelings for me. Would you like to hear what they are?"
"Not really," Argus tried to bluster.
"Oh, I really think you need to hear it," Rockford's smile was glacial now, "He loves without preamble or precondition. It's total, all consuming, and totally free of prejudice. It's forgiving and all encompassing. He loves every part of me and some of those pieces aren't very pretty yet he loves them regardless."
"Did you know I tried to kill him?" Rockford suddenly chimed in, "On more than one occasion yet he took a gamble on me. Not only personally but professionally."
"I feel those ways about him as well. I had to relearn how to love but I grasp it in its immenseness by being loved by that man," Rockford concluded, "Now if you seriously think you can interfere with that, feel free."
Argus was startled, "You're serious."
"Completely," Rockford assured her, "But let's recall the past. You were Brin's first lover. Were you his first love? I don't think so. He would've fought harder if you were and I know you know this. Then came Arinea. She faked her own death and he didn't see her for almost two hundred years. When he did, he killed her. Then came Lisea Danan."
Rockford saw the startled look in Argus' face and she smiled again, "Didn't know about that one did you? They went their separate ways amicably because he wasn't truly in love with her. Who he was in love with was T'Kir, whom you met on Yuros. She literally died so that ended that relationship."
Rockford's gaze was steady and rock hard as she stared into Argus' eyes, "Now there's me. I can only hope to be his next great love. Will I grow old and die before he does? Yes. Is there a chance he'll leave me when I'm old to find greener pastures? Yes, but I don't think that will happen. Why do I think that? It's because he loves me wholeheartedly and without reservation. And when Brin loves, he loves for a lifetime, whether it be mine or his."
Rockford's gaze turned fierce, "So if you do anything to hurt him or betray him during our little 'mission' I will personally punch your clock and send you to the great beyond."
"What do you know of the El-Aurian afterlife?" Argus scoffed.
"A great wall, small gate, leads to the Fates and judgment?" Rockford sarcastically quipped. She adopted a knowing smile when she saw Argus blanch, "I know a little something. The judges in your belief system are known as the Fates. For humans it's God. What is a common thread between the two is that souls are judged into damnation or paradise."
Rockford waved aside Argus' expected protest, "Now I know that it's really a transmigration of the soul as the physical is cast aside and the soul transforms into a state of pure energy. That's the theory at any rate. What matters is no one knows what paradise looks like but they know something of the damnation."
Argus was squirming now and Rockford had to admit she was enjoying it, "You become living ghosts. Beings of noncorporeal energy that wander about the living world but unseen and unable to affect the physical world. Completely forgotten."
"I bet that thought terrifies you," Rockford guessed, "You want attention and to be noticed so badly it's a physical need. You want to leave a permanent mark on history. A mark so big every race in the galaxy will know of it. Does that sum it up?"
"Damn you," Argus hissed, "How can you know any of this?"
"Well, Brin told me a helluva lot," Rockford admitted, "But the choice bits about you? That was simple observation and deduction. That's what I do and I'm damned good at it."
Argus mutely stared at Rockford for several minutes. Finally she choked out, "That's good to know."
Rockford smirked, "Just keep it in mind."
With that said, she strolled off. Argus took a nervous sip of her coffee and found it had turned cold. Disgruntled, she placed in the replicator and adjusted its temperature. She gingerly approached Radil.
"Just who is she?" Argus conspiratorially asked.
Not wanting to give anything untoward away, she replied; "She's a private investigator. And she 's one of the best."
"I can imagine," Argus murmured.
Macen took a break. The engineering teams had called in their "all clears" and the system was ready for a test. The first system to be tested was the gravitic lensing process. They were moving Corvat out of its orbital track and into the outer system. Travel across the surface on foot or ground vehicle would become impossible due to the plunging temperatures.
Fortunately the crews had been moving via shuttle craft. While the Defiant team was utterly dependent upon their starship's transporters, the Aventine was equipped with Type-9 shuttles and Danube-class runabouts. The Corsair was on standby inside of the Obsidian. Grace had audibly wondered why but Macen simply told her that she would be needed at a moment's notice so she should remain at her station.
While Grace moved into the Corsair, the team within the control center was now dependent upon the seal placed over the open roof by Starfleet's previous A & A teams. The interior was heated and tents had been set up in antechambers as well as portable sonic showers and waste reclaimators for bodily waste. The replicators were in the chamber where the Cardassians had once hosted a security station. It was long gone and tables and chairs were set up in its place.
Macen sensed Rockford's pleasure. He grinned, "Finally had a chat with Taryn?"
"Who me?" she played the innocent.
"Celeste, you're eking satisfaction. Since you haven't much to do but review everything we know about our opponents, it has to have something to do with Taryn. She's irritated you ever since the two of you met," Macen confided.
"Can you blame me?" Rockford scoffed.
Macen's grin transformed into a warm smile, "No, I can't. Just what did the two of you find to talk about anyway?"
"El-Aurian metaphysics," Rockford popped off.
Of all the answers Rockford could have come up with, that one was the least expected; "Really?"
"Life after death. Transmigration and transmutation of the soul. Being a living ghost. All that kinda stuff," Rockford sweetly explained.
"Would any of this life after death talk have anything to do with your theory that Taryn craves attention, both in this life and in history?" Macen wondered.
Rockford's reply was cheeky, "Oh, you know me too well."
Macen gave her a knowing look. He queried the comm system as to the time and cursed, "We've only got ten more minutes until we test this monstrosity."
"Brin?" Rockford was suddenly subdued, "You always refer to the aliens we're fighting as the 'opposition.' Everyone else pointedly calls them the 'enemy." Why the deviation?"
"I know you really don't have access to Annika's memories but she could tell what an enemy is. These creatures don't qualify," Macen declared.
"Brin, they blew the hell out of several fleets and are attacking every ship, station, and planet they come across," Rockford accused.
"I know it sounds ludicrous but this is all because of a misunderstanding," Macen defended his position, "And before you protest, review the log records. These creatures opened negotiations and we stated our desire to prove peaceful relations. They simply replied that they would see and then they attacked."
"Which proves everyone else's point," Rockford insisted.
"I think we're missing something. They attacked because we wanted peace. Our counter attack triggered an insane response within them and we've been fighting ever since. What if we weren't supposed to reply? What if we were simply supposed to accept our fate?" Macen inquired.
Rockford's mouth puckered as she thought it over. She'd seen the same patterns that he had but had drawn a completely different conclusion. She'd seen the aliens' motivates as being standard for a known Alpha or Beta Quadrant race. It never dawned on her to think of them as an abstract that had developed a completely independent way of thinking. She admitted as much.
"If these beings are the creators of the Omicron, and the Omicron are at least 100,000 years old, then they may be one of the Elder Races that arose after the First Ones. We have fragmentary clues about that first species. They seeded worlds in order to pass on something of their genetic code into a variety of species. It's why so many humanoid species can interbreed. Next arose the Elder Races. They established great cultures and fostered life around them. At least some did. Others, like the Shedai, enslaved other less advanced cultures. Then there were those like the Preservers that established 'game preserves' for threatened cultures on certain worlds," Macen described the history of the galaxy, "We don't know much about the Elder Races other than most of them have died away or moved beyond this stage of existence. If these beings are really an Elder Race, then their way of thinking may be unrecognizable to us."
"Don't be a pessimist," Rockford admonished, "If these things are an Elder Race and if we've misread their cues, we'll figure it out."
"Let's just hope little ol' Corvat doesn't convince them otherwise," Macen mused.
Rockford scowled, "Maybe it's just what they need to rethink their strategy."
"We can only hope," Macen said darkly.
Five minutes later they were in the command center. Argus and Macen were manning the controls. Argus had control of the flight operations interface. She'd always been a better pilot than Macen and since they also wanted to keep her away from the guns, she was elected to pilot an entire planet.
Parva and Leishman reported in one last time. They gave a green light to engaging the engines. Argus pulled up the holoplot projected from an emitter array that took up the bulk of the command center's central space. What Starfleet considered a tactical display was shown. Danan had arrived to assist Argus with her navigational plots. As a stellar cartographer, the science officer was more than equipped aid Argus.
With Danan's participation, Argus set course for the outer system. There was a massive shudder as the planet shifted out of orbit. There had been many fears of massive earthquakes and volcanic upheavals as the tectonic plates endured the stress of the orbital shift. Fortunately, the creators of this technological terror had accounted for that and a damping field akin to an inertial damper alleviated the worst of the stress load.
The planet moved across the system at a rate of .9 c. That equaled maximum impulse in most Federation starships. They were headed for the 8th planet in the system. The primary had originally had 14 planets locked in orbit around it. Now it had 13. If all went well, there would be fewer than that by the time that Starfleet was done.
The 8th planet was a rarity in outer worlds. It was a world very similar to Ceti Alpha V after the destruction of its sister, Ceti Alpha VI. It possessed a weak atmosphere and was dominated by high winds and dust storms. It also possessed three nickel-iron moons varying in size between Luna, Titan, and Ganymede. Meaning two of the moons were 2x as large as Luna. The planet itself was larger than Earth, roughly the size of Uranus, or 15x the mass of Earth.
Argus parked Corvat 50 million kilometers from its targets. They were going to fire first at Scarab, the Luna sized moon, to calibrate the weapon. The second test would be a shot at Khalid, the Titan sized moon. The last moon to be used as a test range was Nile. Finally, the primary world itself would be targeted and theoretically destroyed.
"We're all set, Boss. You can start creating navigational hazards at any time," McMasters jested over the comm line.
Macen called up the holographic controls. They worked like a touchscreen with no physical screen to manipulate. Scarab was floating past in its orbital track. Macen toggled the "Capture" button and then tapped the 3D image of Scarab. He then touched the "Commit" button.
A shudder passed through the command center. And the video and sensor feeds from the pursuing Defiant and Aventine displayed great streams of energy erupting out of the sands of Corvat and coalescing into a single beam. That beam lanced out and struck Scarab.
Scarab shattered into billions of pieces but some of the energy bled off of it and struck Goshen below. Macen conferred with McMasters and he and Nog made some flow adjustments and then gave the "all clear."
Macen had to wait for Khalid to enter maximum firing range. Once the moon was in position, he repeated the process. The discharge effect repeated itself and the energy unleashed destroyed Khalid. The moon was nothing but rubble.
They repeated the process on Nile 30 minutes later. Finally, Goshen was utterly destroyed and the solar system had an entirely new asteroid belt to navigate through. Macen shut down the weapons systems.
"How long between impact and detonation?" Macen inquired of Danan.
"3 seconds," Danan reported.
"Seems to be a nice symmetrical number nowadays," Macen mused. He focused on Argus, "Can you get us to the Genesis Sector?"
"If Danan helps me find it, I can get us there," Argus boasted.
"I'll let the engineers a final warning and when they clear us, engage transwarp drive," Macen instructed.
"Yes, master," Argus quipped.
Macen gave her a longsuffering look in return, "You wish."
"Well, I have to admit…" Argus fell silent as she saw Rockford in the distance over his shoulder.
"You were saying?" Macen asked in a bemused tone.
"Nothing," Argus went back to conferring with Danan over her plot.
Parva and Leishman gave the transwarp coils a clean bill of health. They were nearly identical to the Borg designed coils that Voyager had brought back from the Delta Quadrant. A future incarnation of Kathryn Janeway had brought them. She'd been assimilated by the Borg Queen for her aiding the present crew of Voyager. A bitter irony was the fact that the current Admiral Janeway had also been assimilated by the Borg during the Federation's last stand against the murderous intentions of the Collective.
Parva's expertise with theoretical and exotic machinery was vital to the effort. Leishman's own expertise with slipstream drives and other advanced propulsion systems placed her in good stead to match wits with the Orion. Parva's own deputy, Gilan, was lost in the proverbial mist. He was accustomed to the prototype drive in the Obsidian. The Nova-class surveyor could easily exceed its rated maximum velocity of warp 8 and could instead reach speeds up to a maximum of warp 9.751 for up to twelve hours.
It was their combined efforts though that carried the day and the transwarp drive was cleared for testing. Argus found the appropriate star map with Danan expertly guiding her. The plot was laid in and Argus activated the drive. A transwarp conduit opened and the planet was whisked away.
"Captain," Delaney caught his CO's attention, "The Aventine is hailing us. She says that Corvat is now in position in the Genesis sector."
"Put Captain Dax on screen," McKinley ordered.
Dax's petite frame filled his viewer, "Hello Jim."
"Did the Aventine accompany Corvat through the transwarp conduit?" McKinley had to ask.
Dax broke into an impish grin, "No, we pursued using our slipstream drive. Ro and the Defiant assumed a tight orbit over the world and rode it out. Apparently it was quite bumpy. They'll be cleaning up the deckplates for a few hours."
McKinley could only imagine the scene aboard the Defiant, "Ouch. I'm glad I missed that one."
Dax twinkled, "I doubt even Prynn Tenmei will want to try again."
"Finally met her match has she?" McKinley chuckled. Tenmei's daredevil escapades were only rivaled by Hannah Grace. Like the fighter pilots aboard his own ship, the Defiant's XO had become fast friends with Grace.
"How is our favorite SID team faring?" McKinley inquired.
Ears across the bridge perked up. The team and the crew of the Obsidian were as much a part of their family as the crewmen aboard the Intrepid. Delaney was supposed to marry Grace next month, further cementing the bonds between the two crews. In an odd sort of way, McKinley owed his love life to Macen. If he hadn't become so jealous of Massoli's flirting with the SID Mission Commander, he wouldn't have made his move. It turned out that Massoli had silently returned his unspoken affections for some time now. Flirting with Macen had only been a gambit to force McKinley's hand.
"They had it pretty easy," Dax assured him, "The things inertial dampers are designed to withstand nearly limitless velocities."
"I guess I don't have to say I'm relieved," McKinley smiled.
"Your favoritism towards Macen's team is the stuff of legend, Captain," Dax teased.
"When you've traveled the paths that we have together, it's only natural," McKinley defended his crew.
Dax smiled brightly, "Have no fears. I feel the same way towards the crews of the Defiant and DS9."
"Only there isn't a station anymore," McKinley gently reminded her.
Sadness clouded Dax's features, "I know but Ro has assurances that it will be rebuilt."
"Not another Cardassian monstrosity I hope," McKinley said with disgust.
Dax laughed, "No, it's going to be a Bajoran design this time."
"Have the Bajorans ever built a space station?" he skeptically asked.
"It'll be their first," she mischievously replied.
"Well, since you're calling to tell me that Corvat is in position, I suppose you want us to be too," McKinley guessed.
"That would be nice," Dax drolly replied.
"Have no fears, dear lady, my comrades and I will draw the herd off of DS3 and rescue Captain Ro's true love at the same time," McKinley proclaimed.
"Why Jim, are you turning into a romantic?" Dax queried.
"Isn't every starship captain?" he retorted.
"I'm too busy," Dax deadpanned.
"More's the pity. We'll head out now so have everyone standing by," McKinley instructed.
"They will be so informed," Dax replied jovially.
The viewer returned to its star field. McKinley turned towards Delaney, "Hail the Hood, the Monitor, and the Merrimack. We're going hunting."
"Aye sir," Delaney buried himself fin his work.
McKinley commed, Johnson, "McKinley to Admiral Johnson."
"Johnson here," came a disembodied voice.
"We're underway," McKinley informed him.
"Corvat?" Johnson asked.
"Seems to be fully functional. They already have it in position," the CO informed his superior.
"So now we draw in the fleet," Johnson mused.
"Yep, playing sitting duck is our specialty," McKinley joked.
"Inform the group that I wish them Godspeed and good luck," Johnson instructed.
"Yes sir," McKinley signed off.
"Pedrossi, plot a course to DS3, best possible speed," McKinley ordered.
"This is where it gets hairy," The young CONN Officer remarked as he laid in the course.
"I have every faith in your keeping us from getting shot," McKinley encouraged him.
"Yay me," Pedrossi grumped.
McKinley ignored the comment, "What's our ETA, Mr. Pedrossi?"
"4 hours, 23 minutes," the helmsman answered.
McKinley turned to Stryker, "Jonathon, I'm going to take the next three hours of down time to myself. Keep me advised of our situation. If we encounter the enemy before we reach our destination, I want to be alerted immediately."
"Give my regards to Jennifer," Stryker smirked.
McKinley couldn't deny his intentions. Lt. Commander Jennifer Marie Massoli was his Intelligence Officer but she was also his girlfriend. She wouldn't have much to do during the warp transit so he thought he could steal her away from her office for a few hours.
McKinley decided discretion was the better part of valor and began to steal away when he was interrupted by Lt. Commander Elizabeth "Liz" Liefers, "Captain, will my people see any action this time around?"
As the Flight Operations Officer, Liefers served as CAG for the Intrepid's two fighter squadrons. She and her squadrons had sat out their last encounter with the Argyn. They were afraid they'd have to do so again.
"`Fraid so, Liz," McKinley gently broke the bad news, "We're engaging in a fleet action to draw the enemy after us. Our fighters are fast but they'd get left behind at the speeds we'll be travelling at."
"I knew you'd say that," Liefers grumped as she leaned against her station.
"Have Emily build you faster fighters," McKinley suggested.
"Permission to leave the bridge and report to Engineering," Liefers asked, "It's not like I have a helluva lot to do besides holding down my seat."
McKinley smiled, "Permission granted. And say 'hi' to Robert and Lt. Johnson."
Liefers blushed as she entered the turbolift with him. Robert Caplan was the ship's Chief Engineer. He was also Liefer's boyfriend. Emily Johnson was his Deputy Chief Engineer. Johnson was always looking for a new project. Retrofitting the fighter squadrons should keep her busy for a few days. At least that was the theory.