EPISODE II: ENEMY MINE

Chapter 11:

In War Nothing is Certain

Commander Tuvok enters an admiral's ready room aboard Star Base 3 in orbit around Earth. The large chair the admiral is seated in obscures his figure. With PADD at hand the admiral peers out of his hatch window and addresses Tuvok.

"I am authorizing the re-commissioning of the Enterprise-A for active duty," states the Admiral.

"The Enterprise-A?"

"Immediately,"

"May I ask why, sir?"

"Stafleet has lost over seventeen ships in our last engagement with the Breen. War has broken out on several fronts and we require every available ship in active service. Starfleet command can utilize the Enterprise-A to delivery key supplies to the front lines. The Enterprise-A will not engage directly in battle, but she is going to the front,"

Tuvok, unconvinced with the logic of the order, persists with verbal debate in a way natural only to Vulcans.

"Respectfully may I remind the Admiral, that the Enterprise-A is more than eighty earth years old and does not meet Starfleet's specifications for deep space operations,"

"And it is why commander you will personally oversee the refit to ensure the Enterprise-A meets those requirements,"

"May I further remind the Admiral that Captain Sisko is unable to take command of the Enterprise-A in his current medical condition and that all available executive officers have already been deployed,"

"Have you considered deploying the cadets that took command of the Enterprise during the engagement at sector 3-1-0. They demonstrated tremendous courage and erudition,"

"The cadets that you refer to have not yet received their commission as Starfleet officers, sir," says Tuvok.

"No time like the present commander,"

"Respectfully Admiral, the cadets that you refer to are still in training and ill equipped to take command of Federation Starship,"

"I understand that you are their training officer, I have the upmost confidence in your ability to bring them up to par,"

"Even then these cadets are inexperienced and their ability to perform under pressure is still questionable,"

The verbal sparring with Tuvok has depleted the Admiral's patience and he lowers his PADD in frustration and swivels his chair to reveal himself as Admiral Picard.

"I see," says Admiral Picard. "Commander this may come to you as somewhat of a surprise, but we're losing space to the Breen. Starfleet lost hundreds of ships, thousands of officers to the Borg and the Dominion conflicts and there hasn't been enough time to reconstitute the fleet. If we don't take a stand against the Breen now, there may not be a Starfleet to receive a commission from,"

"What about the new ships under construction, sir?" asks Commander Tuvok.

"They are our top priority commander. We must protect them until our engineers have completed their construction. We cannot allow them to fall victim to a Breen attack or allow the Breen to stage an attack on Earth. Therefore it is imperative that we support our forces at the front by holding the line,"

"You're asking them to risk their lives without completing their training,"

"Yes I am commander. You of all people understand that this is war and I assure you there will be many more hard decisions to be made and many more lives will be lost because of them,"

"Yes Admiral,"

"Recall the cadets, assemble the crew and commence a retrofit of the Enterprise-A immediately. See to it the Enterprise-A is ready for active duty commander,"

"Yes sir,"

Tuvok taps on his PADD and retrieves a data file.

"Admiral, you may wish to review the cadet crew roaster,"

Tuvok comes to Admiral Picard's side and hands him his PADD with the list. Admiral Picard takes the PADD and scans through the list of names. As Admiral Picard scrolls through the crew manifest, he notices Tuvok has highlighted a particular name. Admiral Picard reads the name carefully and releases a deep sigh upon the revelation. Tuvok takes notice, returns to the broad side of Admiral Picard's desk and stands at attention.

"Will that be all, Admiral?" says Tuvok.

"Yes," in a stoic voice.

Commander Tuvok takes leave of Admiral Picard to stare at the name in private.

Disclaimer: Star Trek, Star Trek: TOS, Star Trek: TMP, Star Trek: WOK, Star Trek: TNG, the U.S.S. Enterprise, all canon events and characters are the copyright and property of CBS/Paramount. All original story elements belong to me.

A/N - Thank you for reading this chapter and if you enjoyed it please review.