Quietly, swiftly, efficiently, Constitution glided through the infinite blackness of space, hurtling towards its destination at the almost unimaginable speed of Warp Nine, or roughly sixteen hundred times the speed of light.
Sixteen hundred times the speed of light: almost two trillion kilometers per hour. An extraordinary speed, but then, Constitution was an extraordinary ship. Built as the flagship of Project Resurrection, she was the showcase for skills and imagination of a dedicated group of engineers and designers, people who had put five years of their life into the task of breathing life into old ships. Ships that in a more gentle age would be long since retired. Ships that were way past their original warranty period.
Most of the ships in the task force were rebuilt by Project Resurrection. There was the Sagittarius, a Constellation-class vessel, as well as Bonaventure, a Miranda-class vessel, and Halifax, an Excelsior-class ship. These were older ships rebuilt after a considerable period of service in Starfleet. Bonaventure had been mothballed entirely.
Constitution was special and well-known because she was a brand-new spaceframe to which the principles and new technologies of Project Resurrection had been applied. There was a lot of pressure on the ship, the crew, and Josh personally to perform well.
For this reason, he had taken considerable care in selecting his crew, even more so than the usual painstaking process Starfleet captains go through. The ship could be the best in the galaxy, Josh believed, but it was nothing without a great crew.
He had deliberately chosen officers who had not served with him previously. He wanted a clean slate and a diverse group of experiences, perspectives, and philosophies. In general, he looked for officers with a track record of speaking up, officers who weren't afraid of a little vigorous debate – but also officers who weren't too stubborn to admit when they were wrong or when someone had a better idea.
There was Commander Ivan Zhukov, his First Officer. A giant of a man, and a twenty-year Starfleet veteran, Zhukov was known by his nickname, "Ivan the Terrible", and it suited him. Cool, distant and all business, Zhukov didn't care whether his crew liked him or not – so long as they respected him. Demanding and even a bit of a taskmaster, he gave his all and expected nothing less from his crew. In addition to all this, Josh had picked Zhukov because of the big Russian's painstaking attention to detail. Josh was a delegator by nature and wanted someone who paid close attention to details, someone he could trust to take care of business. Zhukov fit the bill perfectly.
Lieutenant Commander Visch j'Ordan, a Bolian, served as Security Chief and second officer. Like Zhukov, Visch was utterly devoted to his ship and crewmates, and would willingly lay down his life for any Starfleet comrade anytime, anywhere. Unlike Zhukov, Visch was more aggressive by temperament and more inclined to take risks and advocate courses of action that weren't entirely by the book. In addition to being a first-rate security officer, Visch was the kind of officer people liked serving under, and Josh also felt he would make a good counter-weight to the cautious, by-the-book Ivan Zhukov.
Lieutenant Renar Saben served as Chief Engineer. Although Saben – a joined Trill - was eccentric and a bit of a snob, Josh had chosen him as Chief Engineer because of his obvious talents and because of the fact that Saben had spent nearly ten years in the Galaxy-class design project. Few engineers anywhere in Starfleet knew the Galaxy-class vessel as well as Lieutenant Saben. Despite his social quirks and less-than-perfect personality, Josh felt that Saben was the obvious candidate to serve as chief engineer.
The Operations Manager position was held by Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Navat, a J'Naii. Unlike all of the other senior officers, Navat was a rookie, fresh out of Starfleet Academy. That was the reason Josh had selected Navat;
Doctor Julie Kramer was one-quarter Betazoid, three-quarters human and one hundred percent Australian. Like Navat, Kramer was young, barely thirty-three years old, but was considered one of the finest doctors to graduate from Starfleet Medical in some time. Unlike the sober, serious, workaholic Navat however, Kramer was notorious for her bizarre sense of humor and served as the ship's self-appointed Chief Practical Joker. Her goofy, irrepressible personality made it impossible to dislike her, and she worked well with any team of people. In addition to her formidable medical skills, Josh liked the idea of an empath as one of his senior officers – one never knew when such skills would come in handy. Kramer was also supremely self-confident; she had applied for the job when a posting for Chief Medical Officer, U.S.S. Constitution, had come up. In her covering letter to Josh, she had simply written "I am the best medical officer you will find", and she had been right. If most anyone else had tried such a stunt, Josh would have dismissed it as sheer arrogance – and Kramer was in fact a bit arrogant – but there was something about her personality that led one to overlook such conclusions.
Finally, there was Jylana, ship's counselor and a Ullian by birth. Cool, mysterious, gentle and ethereal, she was probably the most intriguing of Josh's senior officers. Her background was a bit of a mystery, but Josh knew that somewhere along the way she had had a falling-out with the Ullian government and was considered a "dissident". This didn't affect her status in Starfleet – Jylana was merely a noteworthy critic of the Ullian government, not a political exile – but nonetheless, in the ever-harmonious Federation, a citizen publicly at odds with her government was rare. It was, in fact, what had caught Josh's attention and the reason he had selected her, Jylana's qualifications as a counselor aside.
As a whole, they were an outstanding unit. Each one of them was quirky and a bit eccentric in their own ways, but Josh felt this was a positive thing – people with their own odd habits could be expected to be more tolerant of such quirks in others. And each was absolutely a top-notch officer in their chosen fields. They had earned their way to the top, and to a position in the senior crew of one of the Federation's leading starships.
The position of Chief Science Officer was still open, but Josh had plenty of applicants for the job and he was sure he'd have the position filled within days. But with the mission to Pemra-3, he had simply been too busy to pay it much heed at the moment. When he got back he could take care of it.
Now, as Constitution and the rest of the task force approached the Demilitarized Zone (the "DMZ") on the Cardassian/Federation border, they were all on duty, the ship at Yellow Alert. With their cloaking technology, the Klingons could appear anywhere, anytime, and the Starfleet ships had to be ready for that possibility.
"Status, Mr. Visch?" Josh asked, transferring his thoughts back to the here and now.
Answering immediately, Visch replied, "We have crossed the border into the DMZ and are on course for Pemra-3. Estimated time of arrival: sixty-three hours."
Josh already knew that. "Any sign of the Klingons?" he asked quietly.
Visch consulted his instruments, then replied, "Negative. All ships in the task force report that their sensors are clear."
Josh nodded. He knew the sensors were not really 'all clear': the Cardassians were desperately attempting to hold the line against the Klingon onslaught. But at this moment, there were no Klingon vessels that posed a threat to the task force, and that was all that counted to Josh.
Zhukov, seated next to Josh in the command area of the bridge, spoke up. "Sir, I suggest we run a series of continuous battle drills. We should be prepared to engage the Klingons at any time."
Josh nodded. A scientist by training, he hated the notion of battle drills and all that they represented, but as a Starfleet captain he knew they were necessary. Aloud, he replied, "Very well, Mr. Zhukov. Schedule your drills. Keep me informed."
"Aye, sir," the burly Russian answered. Getting up, Zhukov lumbered to a nearby workstation.
Just then, the shrill sound of the Red Alert Klaxons broke the silence. "Report!" Josh demanded.
Visch consulted his instruments and replied, "Three Klingon Birds-of-Prey have decloaked less than five thousand meters off the port bow."
"Shields up! Battle stations!" Zhukov ordered instantly.
"Mr. Visch, what is the status of the Klingons?" Josh asked. He found it odd that the Klingons would decloak so close when they were outnumbered and outgunned. "Are they preparing to fire weapons?"
Visch shook his head. "No, sir," he replied. "They appear to be scanning us."
"Navat, open a channel to the lead Klingon vessel."
The J'Naii did as ordered. "Open, sir."
Josh said, "This is Captain Joshua Travis of the Federation starship Constitution to Klingon vessels. You are operating under cloak in Federation territory. Please open communications and explain your intentions."
Josh waited for a moment. Silence. "Klingon vessels. You are in violation of Federation territory. If you do not open communications I will be forced to conclude your intentions are hostile. Be advised we will take the steps necessary to ensure…"
Visch cut him off in mid-sentence. "Sir, the Klingons have re-cloaked. They're gone."
Josh glanced at his first officer. "Reconnaissance mission?" he asked.
Zhukov nodded. "Undoubtedly. Even the Klingons would not initiate a fight when the odds were so heavily against them."
There was an urgent chirping sound, and Navat said, "Captain Travis, you have an incoming hail from Admiral Quinn."
"On screen."
Quinn's image appeared on the viewscreen. "Well Captain, I see the Klingons sent a greeting party out to meet you. Are you all right?" The question was, of course, purely rhetorical.
"Fine sir," Josh replied. "They didn't seem interested in fighting."
"Any idea why they decloaked so close to you?" Quinn asked.
Josh shrugged. "We did detect a sensor scan after they decloaked, but that doesn't make much sense. Unless I've completely forgotten Klingon technology, they can use sensors while cloaked."
"Maybe they didn't want to take the chance of revealing their position under cloak with no weapons or shields," the admiral speculated. While sensors would function under cloak, their use could reveal a ship's position to an alert enemy. Ships traveling under cloak didn't have enough power to run the shields or weapons, and was,
"Well, one thing's for sure," Josh said, "They know we're here now."
The Admiral didn't seem concerned. "We all expected that. Perhaps if they got a good look at us they'll be reluctant to engage such a powerful group in battle." Although it was tough to do, the Admiral was clearly trying to find some good in the situation.
Josh was unconvinced, but didn't let on. "Hopefully, sir."
Admiral Quinn signed off and the screen went blank.
Zhukov thought, Or perhaps it will encourage the Klingons to send an even larger battle fleet against us to ensure a 'glorious battle'. Wisely, however, the first officer kept his thoughts to himself.