11 Star Trek SID Catalyst

Douglas sealed the inner airlock and then overrode the system and rolled the outer airlock open. The explosive decompression sucked her out into space. She activated her emergency transponder as she ostensibly cleared the inhibitor field. Sentinel's transporters locked on to her and she was spirited away before the hard vacuum of space could inflict permanent damage.

Kalana ordered maximum impulse and the Sentinel lurched out of Serenity's vicinity. The Defiant made to pursue but the Section 31 escort immediately jumped to warp speed. Tenmei broke off to recover Ro. The Obsidian entered transporter range at that point and Serenity's transporter chief beamed Macen and Rockford back to their ship.

The Obsidian and the Defiant set out after the Sentinel together. When Douglas had lit her emergency bacon, Nog and the Defiant's Science Officer, Lt. Grozzit, had implemented a failsafe program they'd created in case of such an event. A subspace signal had been transmitted to Douglas' beacon. Now, even in its standby mode, it transmitted a low level signal. A signal the Obsidian's enhanced sensors could easily track.

Bashir had listed the mission as originating from Izar. But as the situation at P'Jem had illustrated, Section 31 was very good at abandoning bases they felt were compromised. They had track the Sentinel to its current destination in order to be certain of where it would end up.


Bashir awoke from the anesthezine haze when he was injected with a stimulant. He blinked a few times and saw an unknown doctor hovering over him as well as Douglas. His heart leapt when he saw Douglas until he saw her angry visage and the burst blood vessels all over at the surface of her skin.

"When did you encounter hard vacuum?" he croaked.

"Never mind that!" Douglas snapped, "When did you tell Ro when I was coming aboard Serenity and how did you do it?"

"I was told of how you discovered my transmissions to Captain Ro," Bashir informed her, "So you should know what I said."

"You're lying!" Douglas angrily tore into him, "Why was she waiting for me at Serenity's reactor control room?"

"You've served under Ro all this time but you really haven't figured her out, have you?" Bashir asked. Seeing Douglas' confusion, he elaborated, "You severely underestimated her. It's as simple as that."

"I doubt it," Douglas said dismissively, "I think I rather underestimated you. Our base on Izar was constructed when Starfleet's Advanced Tactical Training Center was built in 2250. Thanks to you, we have to abandon it. You may have been given a reprieve from dying with Serenity Station but you will certainly be killed when we blow our facilities on Izar."

"Something to look forward to then," Bashir quipped.

"Is this all a joke to you, Julian?" Douglas demanded to know.

"No, I find my life to be quite precious," Bashir acknowledged, "But I also find Section 31 to be a cosmic joke."

Douglas's hand flashed across the space to slap him but Bashir caught it, "I may not be as brilliant as you are, Sarina. But my particular forte is hand-eye coordination. You'd best remember that."

"Good point," Douglas admitted, "Bind his wrists."

The two security guards moved in from the side of the exam table. One held a phaser on Bashir while the other slapped a pair of binders on him. Douglas nodded her approval.

"Very good," she said for the guards' benefit, "Leave them on while he's in his cell."

The guards ushered Bashir back to the brig and Douglas reported to the brig. Kalana saw her slip back to her Mission Specialist station, "L'Haan wants to have words with you."

"Right," Douglas sighed, "I'll be in the secure comm room."

"Good luck!" Kalana called after her.

I'll need it, Douglas thought ruefully as she exited the bridge.

"Captain Kalana has put your ETA at just over eight standard hours," L'Haan informed Douglas, "Most of the agency's activities on Izar will have ceased by then. The bulk of our personnel have already begun transferring to other locations."

L'Haan silently gazed at Douglas for a few seconds before continuing, "This is the second base that Outbound Ventures has cost us within a week's time. This cannot be tolerated. And neither can further interference from Doctor Bashir."

"Are you ordering me to summarily execute him?" Douglas asked.

"No, but I am recommending it. For your sake if for no other consideration," L'Haan stated.

"I think Julian can still play a pivotal role as a hostage if Starfleet and Macen arrive during our final stages of evacuation," Douglas asserted.

"Their interference is guaranteed and has been accounted for," L'Haan assured Douglas, "Countermeasures are already in place to permanently deal with Captains Ro and Macen."

"I see," Douglas deferred to L'Haan's judgment.

"I shall require your assistance on the ground after you arrive at Izar," L'Haan informed Douglas, "Bring Doctor Bashir with you. We shall deal with him then."

"Ma'am," Douglas nodded her head in acquiescence. As the Vulcan terminated the transmission, Douglas's gut clenched. She knew full well that L'Haan would kill Bashir at that time. What should she do? Should she do anything at all? Douglas was in a quandary and knew she had no easy answers before her.


It took the Obsidian closer to twelve hours traveling at Warp 6 to arrive in Izar's home system. Ro had taken the Defiant and pushed ahead as soon as it was fairly well confirmed the Sentinel was on a direct, least time course for Izar. However, Ro hadn't reported in to Macen what she'd found upon arrival since it was assumed Section 31 was monitoring the local subspace communications buoys.

The Obsidian dropped out of warp and proceeded into the system at half impulse. That allowed the sensors to effectively map out the star system as the surveyor cruised to the third planet in the solar system. Dozens of freighters orbited Izar. There was an orbital shipyard as well, designed and intended for basic repairs of civilian craft.

The Obsidian's sensors registered a Ramses-class starship as it rotated around Izar. Daggit whistled, "So that's what the mother looks like."

"Jane's Starships database gave you a thorough view of it, Rab" Macen chided him.

"It's not the same as eyeballing it," Daggit sniffed.

"Captain Ro is waiting to speak to you," P'ris announced.

"Put it on speakers," Macen instructed.

"Brin?" Ro's voice came over the speaker system.

"I'm here, Laren," Macen assured her, "What's been going on while we've been traveling?"

"Nothing much," Ro reported, "I have to assume that some of the civilian traffic is actually Section 31 goons bailing as fast as they can."

"Safe bet," Macen agreed, "Do you have an Away Team prepared?"

"Yes, I'm leading a group along with Zivan Slaine to the surface. I'm guessing you'll be joining us." Ro wondered.

"Yup," Macen confirmed it, "See you dirt side."


Macen's team beamed down to the landing tarmac shared by Starfleet and Section 31. Rockford, P'ris, Daggit, and McMasters were the usual cast of characters that accompanied him. But Ziva Delain joined them now for her first mission. During the voyage back from Deep Space Nine, Rockford and Delain had been converting Rockford's shipboard office into a dual occupancy area so Delain could join her. Afterwards, Rockford had fully briefed Delain on the nature of Outbound Ventures' contracts with the SID. Needless to say, it was rather eye opening to Delain.

The Defiant decloaked before inserting itself into orbit. Delain found reason to be delighted by Ro's choice of a team XO. Slaine was equally pleased to find yet another Cardassian with the joint mission. Gorr Das Rekkit and Garesh Oksa Femor also represented the Cardassian Guard alongside Slaine amongst the unit.

The Bajoran Militia had provided security forces to Deep Space Nine. In keeping with the effort to utilize personnel untouched by Section 31, some of these officers had been tapped rather than tradition Starfleet Security crewmen. But, Sergeant Harb Tannin and Corporal Jari Renna were the Militia officers attached to the mission.

And select Starfleet Security personnel had been cleared by Commander Blackmer. Crewman Jess Downey and Chief Mick Farley had been assigned to the group as well. The last Starfleet officer attached was Lt. Lahna Rees. She was a Bajoran medical officer that had transferred from the Bajoran Militia to Starfleet after serving her enlistment period with the Militia. With Bashir absent, Lahna was the senior medical officer aboard Deep Space Nine so she'd been wrangled into coming with the Defiant crew.

The two teams travelled across the tarmac towards the second training camp. Finding it seemingly deserted, they followed the beacon signal until they came to the hidden bunkers. That was when the signal went dark.


The Sentinel broke orbit and cloaked. Forger ordered that the shields be raised. Miller immediately did so. Grace broke orbit as well when instructed to. Forger was making for the nearby Phobos-like moon. She wanted draw off the Section 31 vessel so that when, not if, it instigated a conflict it would be clear of the civilian traffic.

Parva and Gilan led a full engineering crew that had been brought aboard while waiting for the Sentinel to strike out at Serenity Station. A full science complement had been brought aboard as well for Galen 3 to lead. Tessa now had a medical staff so her department was braced for the advent of casualties.

With Radil out of the picture, and Delain's disinterest and lack of experience in shipboard environments, that left Miller in charge of security. She'd barely had time to meet and greet her new Deputy Chief of Security and her new detail. She would have liked to have been able to run at least one drill before a potential boarding action was threatening to occur. But then again, most of her team was ex-Starfleet or ex-Militia so she was confident in their abilities.


Tenmei ordered the Defiant to cloak as she broke orbit. Tenmei itched to be at the helm. She was a pilot first and foremost, not a bloody starship captain. Still, most of the senior staff was still aboard. She'd lost her captain, her Tactical Officer, and had been replaced by a lieutenant with more years at the Academy under his belt than at the CONN of a starship. But hey! Who wanted to live forever? Right?


A quantum torpedo struck the Obsidian's shields. As the ship shuddered from the energy bleed striking the hull, Miller swore, "Dammit! Those buggers pack a wallop."

"Do we have any modified photons prepped?" Forger asked as Grace threw the ship into a slingshot maneuver around the moon and out into the outer system.

"Gilan's on it," Miller replied.

"Why weren't there a pair already prepped?" Forger asked snippily.

"We didn't know if we'd face any conventional forces," Miller explained, "The gas sensors don't track by conventional means. Ergo, they're useless against a traditional opponent unless their impulse engines are running hot."

Consoles began to short out across the bridge as another quantum torpedo hit. Forger sighed, "How fast are the shields depleting themselves?"

"We're already below sixty percent with just two impacts," Miller grimly reported.

"Hannah, it's time to perform a miracle," Forger implored.

"Fresh out," Grace irritable replied.

Forger was surprised. Usually by now Grace would whip up some Kelvan magic. She said as much.

"Look, I'm kinda broken or something. I can't utilize any of my Kelvan abilities. I'm pretty much just human now," Grace complained, "So what do you want me to do? Get out and push?"

Forger almost said "yes" as the shields withstood another hit. Instead she addressed Zimbalist at OPS, "Signal the Defiant. We're about to give them their opening."

"Aye, ma'am," Zimbalist said crisply before he began to address the Defiant's crew.

"Hannah, implement the Immelmann," Forger ordered.

Grace engaged the starship in the infamous turn and looped above and behind the hidden Sentinel. As she trimmed out, Miller fired off the modified torpedoes. The flare effect upon the Section 31 vessel's pinpointed where she was.


The Defiant decloaked as the Obsidian utilized the Immelmann to get into firing position. Ensign Samantha Humboldt, sitting at Tactical in Slaine's place, snapped off two quantum torpedoes and then continuously fired more as the Section 31 ship reeled under the onslaught.

The Sentinel decloaked in order to funnel more power to her shields. The Obsidian joined in the torpedo barrage even as the Defiant's pulse phasers lit up. The Sentinel's shields collapsed under the weight of the firepower assaulting it. Explosions ripped through the Ramses-class ship and she was soon powerless and adrift.

Tenmei hailed the ship but there was no answer. Zimbalist alerted Forger and Tenmei to the fact that the antideuterium and deuterium pods' magnetic seals were collapsing. Both commanders veered their starships away from the resultant explosion. They returned to Izar's near space. And then they found themselves under fire from the ground based and orbital defenses.


When the SID and Starfleet teams reached the bunkers they encountered a security check point surrounded by pillboxes. Well aware of the gun crews in the pillboxes, Ro approached the security booth. She presented her orders from Admiral Nechayev with Admiral Jellico's countersignature. The gate guards were less than impressed.

"These orders aren't valid," the Security Chief informed Ro.

"Oh really?" Ro asked archly, "If the Starfleet Commander-in-Chief's authorization isn't good enough to get me past this gate, whose is? President Bacco's?"

"Sorry Captain, but even the UFP President couldn't get you in here," the Security Chief replied, "Now, my people are going to walk you back to the landing field. Will you go quietly?"

"Hell no!" Ro asserted.

"That's what I thought," the Security Chief said dourly. Security guards swarmed seemingly from nowhere and the Security Chief advised Ro, "I wouldn't resist if I were you."

The ground based Type VIII phasers began firing into the sky and everyone realized Section 31 had overridden them and their friends and family aboard their starships were now in danger. Daggit began to get restless and Macen intervened. Daggit was now a volcano of lethality ready to erupt. He knew Forger was trying to stand by her missing comrades but he really wished she'd break off and head out of range. Ro felt the same way about Tenmei.

After they were disarmed, the two teams were brought into the bunker complex. Led to large briefing room, the teams' members began to prowl about. The room almost had an auditorium-like feel to it. All the chairs pointed at a stage with a podium and an overhead viewer.

A bevy of guards entered the room and ushered the SID and Starfleet personnel to the seating portion of the room. Few, if any, actually sat down. L'Haan strode in at that point. Douglas was at her heels. Ro bristled as she recognized the Vulcan that had recruited Bashir for the Andorian mission.

"Your relative starships have broken orbit and headed out of range of Izar's defensive platforms," L'Haan informed them, "But that does not negate the danger they are in. More of our starships are en route to this location. To put it simply, you will simply be outgunned. I advise you order your crews to surrender."

"Is that your only demand?" Ro wanted to know.

"Hardly," L'Haan replied, "I also require your pledge that you will no longer interfere in Section 31's plans."

"Why don't you dive into the Fire Caves?" Ro retorted.

Macen had been quiet up until now, "Where's Bashir?"

L'Haan approved of the calm but assertive tone the El-Aurian employed, "Let me show you."

The overhead viewscreen flared to life and the image on it was that of Bashir tied to an "X" frame cross. Directly in front of the video recorder was a pair of Section 31 security guards who were armed with rifles. Ro's face darkened.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Ro quietly warned.

For the first time, L'Haan's unflappable certainty wavered. Macen added to the blow, "You really don't know what you're unleashing by attacking the Enforcers."

L'Haan actually blinked in surprise while Douglas' body visibly jerked. Macen elaborated, "Initially it did seem as though the plan was to lure the Gorn into attacking the Federation. But then it seemed that P'ris had learned of Section 31's and Sela's plans far too easily."

While L'Haan and Douglas tried to recover from their shock, Macen continued; "I had to ask myself, what did the Typhon Pact consider its greatest foe? Was it the Federation, which was a known quantity and had allied itself with the Star Empire twice, or was it something new? Something entirely unpredictable? Something that had driven the Typhon Pact to cooperate with the Khitomer Accords, if not entirely side with them. The Borg are no more. The Kazon, the Krenim, and the Hirogen are still too far out. That left the Enforcer Territories. They're next door and they're utterly unknown to every known power in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants."

"With that said, it just seemed par for the course for an entity such as Section 31 to want the Khitomer Accords powers to launch an all out offensive against the Enforcers with the Typhon Pact as our allies. Better to keep the foe you know within dagger's reach then the foe you know nothing about beyond arm's length," Macen concluded his summary.

"Well done, Commander Macen," L'Haan congratulated him, "Very astute. But then again, she said you were quite clever."

"Who is she and why should I care?" Macen wondered.

"Sarina, bring in our Chief of Operations," L'Haan instructed.

"There was silence while Douglas was out of the room. Then she returned with another Vulcan in tow. A Vulcan most recognized.

"Hello T'Kir," Macen said with a great deal of disappointment. Beside him, Ro struggled with her surprise at this turn of events. Rockford gently took hold of Macen's hand and held it.

"Greetings Captain," T'Kir said emotionlessly, "It is an unfortunate happenstance to see you again."

"I take it joining Section 31 was the logical thing to do?" Macen inquired.

"Quite," T'Kir agreed, "My memories and skills are rather rarified yet a valuable commodity. Since affiliating myself with the Special Investigations Division would result in greater percentage of encounters with you, I chose to seek out Section 31. Their mission is essentially the same yet they have an even higher rate of success because they are less...squeamish. I have found my place in which to make a contribution to a larger universe."

"Pretty words but they're just lies," Macen countered, "The kohlinahr masters found your writings. You don't want a place in the SID because you simply want Celeste and I dead. You don't feel you can be completely restored to life until we're removed from this plane of existence. Joining Section 31 enhances the odds of making those aspirations come true."

T'Kir recoiled and Macen gave her a cold smile, "I hate to remind you that my first wife tried to kill me as well. Do I even have to bother to go into what happened to her?"

T'Kir restored herself to a semblance of logical calm, "Indeed not."

"Then learn from Arinae," Macen advised.

"Commander Macen, Captain Ro, may I reminded you that in recent history the Federation and her allies have been struck by the Borg, the Argyn, and the Enforcers," L'Haan interrupted, "The Caelier assimilated the Borg into their gestalt. Detective Rockford paved the way for the Argyn to withdrew to their own, as of yet, undiscovered territory. But the Enforcers dealt both the Khitomer Accords group and the Typhon Pact nations a severe blow. The Typhon Pact is ready and willing to assist us in permanently dealing with the threat they pose."

"And how do you justify that?" Ro asked sharply.

"The Khitomer Accords members are reeling from the multiple invasions. Most of their frontline forces have been obliterated. Over a trillion casualties occurred in the Federation alone. There are billions of refugees and dozens of devastated worlds that are now unsuitable to support humanoid life," L'Haan listed off, "The Typhon Pact nations were similarly afflicted. Each and every stellar power has reactivated their reserve fleets. Even the Dominion War paled in comparison."

"Surely you see for yourselves that the Enforcers prey upon the weak?" L'Haan wanted to know, "If we present ourselves as being vulnerable then the Enforcers will be upon us before we can mount a reasonable defense."

Seeing she still wasn't getting through to her audience, L'Haan tried one last tack, "The Enforcer Territories are filled with oppressed beings that are ready to rise up against their masters. All they require is assistance. The Typhon Pact is willing to aid us in being that assistance."

"Agent L'Haan, you're well aware that most of us present have fought in wars for most of our lives," Macen replied, "There doesn't have to be a continuation of that trend. We have a spirit of detente with the Enforcers right now. So does the Typhon Pact. Starfleet and its allies are vulnerable, as you suggested, so why create a conflict with a power whose strength rivals that of the two alliances combined?"

"If we strike now we shall have the element of surprise and that is our sole advantage," L'Haan proclaimed.

"I don't buy it," Ro decided, "Right now we have a neutral border patrol supported by all three sides. We have an opportunity to rebuild our fleets and train new recruits to operate them. And you want to flush all that down the san. So no, I don't believe the ghoststory you're weaving here."

"It is a pity," L'Haan admitted, "You could have been useful to our plans."

L'Haan turned to the guards, "Summon reinforcements. And then escort Commander Macen's SID team to the sublevel detention center. Captain Ro's crew is to be held with Doctor Bashir in the training camp."

"What about Macen and Ro?" T'Kir inquired.

"They shall be transported to the Stronghold," L'Haan decided, "We can then interrogate them en route to meet our Typhon Pact allies."

"And after the interrogation?" despite T'Kir's newfound discipline in the arts of logic, there was a note of hunger in her voice.

"Then they shall be executed," L'Haan said simply.

A smile threatened to break out across T'Kir's face.