CHAPTER 3

Back on the Hornet, Cadet Yates had finished unpacking her belongings, and realized when her roommate for her quarters showed up, it was Traci, after she'd answered the door chime.

"Traci!" Amy shouted with delight. "We got quarters together?!"

Amy could not keep her joy down at all, and appeared very hyper.

Traci smiled and hugged Amy. "You better believe it," she said in a similar joyful manner, nearly matching Amy's little display. "Did you hear? I got assigned to be your first officer for this mission!" she continued in a gleeful manner.

"No way! Are you pulling your best friend's leg here?"

"I am not joking, Amy." She handed Amy a PADD showing her the post assignments.

Amy looked in awe at the assignments. "Are you telling me that for once someone followed a request of mine for crew assignments?" she asked.

"It would appear so," replied Traci, with a smile.

Amy finished setting up her holophotos of her parents, grandparents, friends, as well as one of her pet kitten. Traci looked at it. The kitten in the picture had tan colored fur with a water-like pattern in the colors of its fur. Traci loved how this cat looked.

"Oh! She's so cute!" she told Amy. "What's her name?" she asked.

"Amanda," Amy answered.

Traci looked at the photo more, smiling. She had wished that she had any pet that was so adorable. She had heard about Captain Kirk's fiasco with the tribbles on Space Station K-7. In addition, Cadet Third Class Nog had told her about a tribble breakout on Deep Space Nine, which was nearly as bad as what had happened to the first starship Enterprise, over one hundred years ago.

"Traci," said Amy, "why don't you unpack, while I get some exercise in the ship's gymnasium."

"Sounds okay to me. Just don't forget what the captain said, about meeting with him to discuss our mission," Traci reminded her.

"How can I forget? I was told that by Admirals Brand, Hill, Soval, as well as two captains," she replied, "so tell me how I can forget something like that?!"

Traci just shook her head, and rubbed the spots along her temples, in order to relax herself from the apprehension she felt coming over her.

"Have a good time, Amy," was all she could think of saying.

"I will. Maybe tomorrow, time permitting, we can get in some time on the gymnastics floor," suggested Amy.

"Sounds like fun. Just don't kick me if I manage to beat you again on the unevens," Traci said with a rather suggestive smile.

Amy just frowned before leaving their quarters.

Traci sat down by the replicator and ordered a steaming cup of tarkalean tea and planned her schedule for the next couple of days, not forgetting her new duties as first officer of the Hornet.

"This will be an interesting challenge for me," she said to herself. "I'm looking forward to what this has to offer."



* * *

After a rather rigorous workout, Amy chose to make her first captain's log entry.

"Captain's personal log, stardate 52153.8. This is to be my first of several log entries to provide a record of the Hornet's mission while under my command as well as what happens as far as personal feelings with myself and those shared by the crew. The cadets have already received new uniforms that match those that the officers of the Hornet wear, which is good. They are very comfortable. Perhaps when we get up and into space, I won't be as scared as I am now. I've gone over every last part of the Hornet's specifications, and find her to be a very worthy vessel. Heaven knows she can stand her ground in combat. From what I was told by Commander Terry Mathison, Captain Enor's first officer, this ship has seen more combat than a full squadron of runabouts can even begin to handle. I seriously hope we do well here, yet I cannot shake off this feeling that we'll end up seeing a sample of combat like what this ship has already seen....."

Amy contemplated her log entry, before telling the computer to save it under her new directory for the Hornet. She read over the Hornet's abilities, and about jumped out of her skin when she found out the ship has a phase cloak, which according to her reading on Admiral Pressman's case of a cloaking device on the USS Pegasus, was in violation of the Treaty of Algeron. She hoped that maybe Captain Enor will explain that one to her.

"Computer, access schematics on this.... quantum slipstream drive, please," she asked.

"Level six or above voice authorization required to access requested information," said the feminine voice of the computer.

She recited her command code to the computer, like she had in practice. "Authorization Yates, gamma one-zero-five-seven alpha."

"Authorization accepted," replied the computer.

On the monitor, came another schematic of the Hornet, but showing mostly the engine room as well as the warp nacelles and, surprisingly, the main deflector dish. Amy looked at this in awe as a recording of Captain Enor's voice was speaking to her.

"The Hornet's quantum slipstream drive is a very experimental new form of propulsion. It is capable of taking a starship at a speed that is approximately one hundred times the maximum warp velocity of our fastest vessel," his voice said, as an exterior view of the Hornet appeared on the screen. "Specify what further information you want to know from the following: engineering logs, practical use of slipstream technology, performance of the quantum slipstream drive aboard the Hornet, modifications made to the Hornet to accommodate the slipstream drive, repeat introduction, or continue guided tutorial."

Amy paused, uncertain about what to choose. "Oh...... Let's continue the tutorial," she finally said.

"The Hornet is the first known vessel in the Alpha Quadrant to ever explore the possibility of slipstream technology. Captain Picard of the Enterprise has looked over the specifications of the slipstream drive and believes it is related to the transwarp drive in use by the cybernetic lifeforms known simply as the Borg. Just like the Bajoran wormhole is capable of transporting ships between the Alpha and Gamma Quadrants, the slipstream drive, although lengthening the travel time, will do the same. It is estimated that a vessel that has entered slipstream drive, can travel the seventy thousand light-year distance to the Gamma Quadrant in approximately two and a half months. Although this hasn't been proven fact, it is likely a starship crew can make it that long without too much of a problem....."

His explanations of the slipstream drive continued for a solid thirty minutes, until Amy decided it was time to stop for the day.

"Save my place in the tutorial and end," she told the computer.

After the computer confirmed her place to be saved, she went into her closet, after Traci had left for the bridge, and got into her new uniform. She stood in front of the mirror and admired how pretty she looked wearing the newer uniform. She also did her hair so she looked extremely presentable, and left her quarters for the bridge, to meet with Captain Enor about the current mission at hand.

When she got to the nearest turbolift, Amy found herself face to face with her counterpart on the Hornet.

"Captain!" she said, startled, and went to her familiar attention stance.

"At ease. I'm sorry if I scared you, captain. I'm running a little behind schedule myself," he explained, hoping he could make her feel better and not so scared. "I want to go over the mission with you personally, then with the cadets along with my senior officers in about ten minutes. Do you think you can 'round up' your comrades by then?" he asked rather jokingly.

"Aye sir. Permission to speak freely?" she replied.

"Always," he said to her. "Computer, halt turbolift."

The turbolift smoothly came to a stop, just a few levels below the bridge.

"Sir, I will not pretend to fully understand the seriousness of what is going on here, but I am curious as to why this ship has a cloaking device, which is supposed to be banned by the Treaty of Algeron. Why is that?"

He thought for a minute.

"I'll tell you, but it's confidential and what I am going to tell you, is not to be discussed with any of the other cadets or the Hornet's crew," he replied.

Amy nodded, showing she understood.

"During the recent Klingon war we had, which I still think was a complete accident, Starfleet Intelligence began work on a way to get ships to the battlefields without the enemy seeing them coming. The Hornet was the testbed for this new project, and we've had a lot of success with it. Now, with the war with the Dominion, it is my understanding that Starfleet wants to equip more ships with this cloaking technology, introduced by one, Eric Pressman. It is believed that this will keep the Dominion from seeing our fleet deployments, and thus giving us a serious tactical advantage, since they won't even see us coming. We've got hopes that this will give us the momentum we need to drive the Dominion back to the Gamma Quadrant, and hopefully, allow us to make peace. Granted, at the moment, peace doesn't appear to be anywhere in sight, but that is a long-term goal of this."

Amy nodded. "Ok.... So how far are they in this project of equipping ships?"

"This is only rumor now. I've heard that the Enterprise-E, the Sutherland, and the Excalibur have been outfitted with these cloaks, but I cannot confirm or deny that. I just received new authorization codes last week, with no explanation as to why," he said. "My guess so far is, that it has to do with some other projects going on, that are way in the middle of what I call 'Top Secret Hell.'"

"I see," she said, smiling at the nickname.

"Is there anything else, captain?" he asked.

"Yes sir. While I was getting my physical, I heard a couple of people in sickbay talking about setting up all seven cargo bays for flooding with some sort of fluidic compound. May I ask what that's about?"

"Ahhh....... That has to do with our mission. We'll continue that in my ready room," he said. "Computer, resume turbolift."

The lift started moving again, and stopped at the bridge. As the doors opened, Amy saw that her 'troop' of cadets were already working with the Hornet's bridge officers, and would continue to do so throughout their mission. Lieutenant junior grade Kell Perim was at the helm, instructing another Trill cadet about the quirks of the Hornet's navigational system. Terry Mathison, the Hornet's first officer, was walking around with Traci, talking to her about some things. Kelly Mathison stood at the tactical station with a young, yet beautiful Bajoran woman, pointing to the different indicators and explaining their functions. Ensign Jason Shepard was at the operations station, trying to show a young Trill female what to do and when, as if he were a 'know-it-all.' The bridge itself was identical to the holographic representation of the bridge of the USS Voyager, during the dedication ceremony that was broadcasted on all Starfleet and Federation channels, just five years before. The main viewscreen at the front of the bridge showed the Starfleet Academy complex, which was directly in front of the Hornet, yet at a distance of approximately twenty-five kilometers. Captain Enor strode off of the turbolift onto the bridge, and escorted Captain Yates to his ready room.

"Can I get you something?" he asked her.

"Tarkalean tea, extra hot and extra sweet, please," she replied.

Chris went over to the replicator and told that to the computer, and also ordered a strong herbal tea for himself. The replicator's transport chamber instantly came to life, humming and lights swirled on the pad as the two drinks materialized. Once the cycle was complete, he took both drinks, and handed the hotter of the two to Amy, along with a small, yet cool towel, so she would not burn herself. She smiled and took the towel with her, and sat down with him on the couch, by the window, as a couple of birds landed on the edge of the windowsill outside. Chris took a sip of his tea, then turned to Amy and began to tell her about the mission at hand.

"First off, I will confirm what you heard about the cargo bays. In essence, we are going on a terraforming mission to the moons of Trill, in order to find a suitable location for the increasing surplus of Trill symbionts. The underground breeding pools are over-crowded, and thus need to be partially relieved. It is estimated that when the next breeding cycle comes, somewhere around twenty-five percent of the symbiont offspring will die, just because of not enough room for more to live."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa...." said Amy. "Are you saying that these things have just gone into breeding overdrive?"

"Not quite, but it sounded more like tribbles than symbionts," he told her. "The Symbiosis Commission knows of this, and called the only Trill starship captain to see if there's a way to keep from losing so many symbionts. The problem right now is, that too many are not mature enough for Joining."

"I've only heard about complications with what is called an 'improper Joining' with consequences of possible rejection and likely permanent psychological damage to both host and symbiont, but I've never heard anything about the symbionts needing to reach a maturity level prior to implantation with the first host," she explained, "but, then again, I've never completely understood all the nuances of symbionts or Joining." She took a drink of her tea, and almost burned herself.

"I get the picture, and I'm not trying to force heavy research on you. All I'm doing, is simply trying to give you a little background information. I can tell you nearly anything you want to know about being Joined, since I am a host."

Amy looked a little puzzled for a couple of minutes, then decided to ask one of her questions in another way. "Sir, are we planning on setting up liquid tanks for the symbionts so we can transport between the actual pools and the ship?"

"Yeah, that's what I hope we can do, and then post security around all entry points to the cargo bays, for the symbionts' protection," he said.

"That sounds easy enough. When do we begin?" Amy asked

"Just as soon as we confer with the senior staff and your crew members," he told her.

They finished their drinks and proceeded to the observation lounge, where Captain Enor explained the situation to the senior officers and to the cadets.

Lieutenant Perim was speechless over what was said, sharing the captain's reaction when he first found out. Doctor Alyssa Ogawa found herself only able to think about saving the symbionts at any cost. Commander Kelly Mathison proposed using the alpha security teams around the cargo bays, which the captain approved on the spot. Cadet first officer, Traci McLoughlin couldn't utter a word without crying at the prospect of losing so many of the sacred lifeforms that she respected so much.

"Sir, we'll have those tanks ready by the time we get there," said Commander Cory Mathews, the Hornet's chief engineer. "If we have to, I'll pull all the engineering teams together on this one," she said.

"Good. We have a three day journey ahead of us, if we can hold maximum warp. I intend to make sure we can get this task done, so we can save a lot of those symbionts, if we can't save them all," he said, solemnly. "Dismissed."

The senior officers as well as the cadets stood and left the observation lounge, and went onto the bridge, assuming their stations. Captains Enor and Yates went to the bridge as well. Captain Enor sat down in the captain's chair, and opened the shipwide intercom channel.

"All hands," he began, "this is Captain Enor. Upon entering Earth orbit, I will be turning command over to Cadet Captain Amy Yates, for a training cruise." He closed the intercom channel. "Commander Mathison, signal landing control. USS Hornet ready for lift-off," he said to Kelly Mathison.

"Aye sir," she replied, working the tactical console.

"USS Hornet, lift-off clearance granted. Your escape vector is clear of all traffic. Have a safe voyage, Captain Enor," came the dockmaster's voice.

"Hornet acknowledges," he replied to the dockmaster. "Blue Alert. Set inertial dampeners to flight configuration. Stand by on atmospheric thrusters and impulse engines," Enor told the bridge crew.

The bridge lights dimmed and a low pitched tone sounded, as light blue lights flashed where the red ones would when at Red Alert. This alert status told the crew to prepare for either ground lift-off or surface landings.

"All decks report Condition Blue, captain," Kelly Mathison said, from tactical.

"Very well. Lieutenant Perim, take us up gently. Atmospheric thrusters only, and put us into Earth orbit," Enor ordered.

"Aye sir. Atmospheric thrusters firing," she replied as she entered the commands.

As the thrusters fired, the Hornet shuddered slightly as the landing struts began to come up off of the landing platform. The Hornet's ascent went so smoothly after the initial jolt that nobody onboard could feel it. About midway up, the landing struts came back into the hull and the special doors hiding them slid shut.

"Orbit in 30 seconds, sir," said Perim.

The Hornet kept gaining altitude, and went up to where they could see the tops of the clouds. Amy gasped at this sight, in pure awe, as did the other cadets. As the stars suddenly came into view, Enor thought that this would be soon enough for him to go to his ready room, but rather decided to remain in the "big chair," as it is called by many starship commanders.

"Entering standard orbit, captain," announced Perim, from the helm.

"Stand down from Blue Alert. I am now turning command over to Captain Yates," Enor said as he got up from his seat.

The blue lights stopped flashing, and the bridge lights came back up to full illumination.

Amy came around and nodded, an evident gesture of saying "Thank you." She then turned her attention to the helm.

"Take us out of the system, Emony," she said to Perim's trainee.

"Aye captain," came her reply.

The Hornet's impulse engines came to life and the ship went smoothly out of orbit, taking a trajectory out past Pluto, and out of the Terran System. Cadet Emony Tzjan plotted the course on the main viewer, so they could see the intended course.

"When we've cleared the system, lay in a course for Trill. Warp seven," came Amy's next order.

Emony nodded and went back to focusing on the rather touchy navigational controls that the Hornet had.

Captain Enor chose that moment to head off to his ready room, and do some archaeological research he had been putting off for so long. When he entered his ready room, his monitor was beeping at him, saying he had an incoming call. He strode over to his desk and read the information about the caller.

It read: "To Captan C. Enor. Commanding officer USS Hornet NCC- 74657. From: Commander Star Madison, Earth Orbital Starbase. Code: Personal."

That surprised him, but seeing it came from one of his close friends made him feel better. He sat down in his chair behind his desk, and opened the channel. A young human female's face replaced the transmission information.

"Hi Star," he said in recognition. "How are you doing?"

"I'm just fine. A little too fine. I've been trying to find out for you why you got all those new authorization codes, since I got a similar set just yesterday," she explained.

"Let me guess... No explanation in the transmission as to the function of these codes?"

"Not so much as a hint. But, I will say one thing. This is the first time I've ever heard of a "Delta" command code," she said.

"You aren't kidding there. We're in the same shuttle as far as that goes," he said, trying to make a joke of it. "Maybe it has something to do with this mission the Hornet was assigned on, mostly at the request of the Symbiosis Commission. Maybe we'll both find out soon. In the meantime, if you somehow manage to figure out why we both got those codes, and their purpose, contact me on a secure frequency."

"I promise. You'll be on the top of the priority list," she said.

"If you want to join us for this mission, you still have enough time to catch up to us with a runabout. We'll be leaving the Terran System within twenty minutes," he suggested.

"I wish I could," she replied, sadly. "I was asked up here with a group of engineers, and still no idea what for. Hopefully I'll be able to tell you later, after you get back from Trill."

"I hope so too," he said, apologetically. "Enor out."

The transmision channel closed, and he went over to the replicator.

"Ichoberry juice, ten degrees Celsius," he said to the replicator computer.

In an instant, his requested drink appeared on the pad. He took it, and started to sort through the endless pile of PADDs on his desk and on the coffee table. The first set had to do with crew assignments, which he approved most of. The second set had information from his recently received transmissions from Starfleet Command, his mother, his friends around the quadrant, and one that caught his eye that was from his fiance.

"Computer, what was the time index and stardate of sending for this message from Commander Williams?" he asked.

"Stardate 52151. Time index 2147 hours," came the reply.

"Thank you," he said to the computer. He then tapped his commbadge. "Enor to Mathison. Get me a secure channel to Deep Space Nine, please," he said, hoping it got through to the Mathison at tactical.

"Aye sir," came Kelly's reply. After a brief pause, she said, "Channel open."

"Thank you commander. Enor out."

He then turned on the monitor sitting on his desk. After he entered his security clearance, he was able to get through to DS9.

"Deep Space Nine. This is first officer Kira Nerys."

"Colonel, good to see you," he said, in greeting.

"It's good to see you too, captain. What can I do for you?" she asked.

"Is Commander Williams available, colonel?" he replied with another question.

"I can find out. Stand by," she said as she went over to another console nearby in the operations center of the station. She then tapped her Bajoran communicator and said, "Kira to Odo."

"Odo here," came the reply of a partially deep voice. "What can I do for you Kira?"

"Odo, have you seen Commander Tatie Williams yet today, for your security rounds?" she asked

"Not yet. But then again, the rounds start in half an hour," he said. "May I ask why?"

"She's got a call, and she's not responding to my signal," she explained.

"Well then. I'll probably be better off looking in Quark's. She seemed to take a liking to the bar," he told her.

"Thank you constable. Kira out."

She came back over to the transmission screen, where Enor's face looked on, with a puzzled expression.

"I suppose I can just call later," he said, with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"I'll tell her you called, sir. She's due to turn in her Starfleet Security reports to the constable, Commander Worf, myself, and Captain Sisko by 1400 hours," she informed him.

"Thank you major. Eh..... Colonel. I am having a hard time remembering you got promoted," he said to her.

"You aren't the only one. Captain Sisko caught himself after calling me by my former militia rank of major, while at a senior staff meeting just this morning," she said, on the verge of laughing.

"I see. Well, let's hope I can avoid another slip of the tongue."

"May the Prophets help you remember," she said, almost as a prayer.

The transmission ended, and Enor thought to himself for a while, before heading off to his quarters to prepare for a special concert that evening.

On the bridge, there seemed to be a little confusion on Cadet Leila Quipiry's part, regarding what is done at ops.

"No, no, no..." complained Ensign Shepard, who was trying to train her, but was being a total and complete idiot about it. "Decks two through seven are where the crew quarters are. Everyone is issued a commbadge here, so we can keep track of the crew, as well as their children..." He muttered to himself, "I'm going to get it from the Mathisons for not being able to find their daughter who keeps wondering through the ship..."

Terry was walking by the ops station and thought he caught that part, and figured it would be a good idea to go see if Kathy was okay.

However, at this time, young Kathy Mathison had found her way out of her parents' quarters, and had found herself with Jeffrey Kallandra, son of Captain Enor and Commander Williams, and were in the mess hall on deck two. There was a bright flash from just outside the windows, as the Hornet made the jump into warp drive.

On the outside of the ship, the upper two nacelles went up while the lower two stayed where they were. The field grills flared with a bright blue pulse and the Hornet sped forward as she had exited Earth's solar system.

Jeff and Kathy looked out the windows in awe, as it was the first time either of them had seen that spectacular aurora-like display of pastel lights.

"Pretty!" squealed Kathy. She jumped as she had said that.



Deep Space Nine was a hard place to keep security on. Commander Tatie Williams strolled down the Promenade with her favorite phaser at her side - a Type-two Starfleet-issue personal hand phaser to which her initials and those of her fiance had been engraved just above the power setting monitor. She strode down toward the tailor's shop, owned by the only "friendly" Cardassian in the quadrant, the one called Garak. She admired the clothing on a sterling silver rack just outside the shop.

"I think Chris would like to see me in this..." she whispered to herself as she was feeling the material of an evening gown made of one of the softest fabrics she had ever encountered. She then saw a bikini, and thought about how much she liked to swim. "Definitely this," she commented, smiling to herself.

"Can I help you?" asked a very friendly voice.

Tatie jumped and turned to the sound of the voice. She found herself face to face with Garak.

She pointed to the gown. "What material is this?" she asked very politely.

"Why, my dear, that is Tholian silk. One of the best fabrics to make ladieswear from," he replied.

"It's so pretty! How much, Mister um......?" she asked.

"My name is Garak. Plain, simple Garak. And for you, my dear, that will be ten strips of latinum," the Cardassian replied.

"That's a fair price. What about the bikini? What material and how much?" she asked.

"That is a Risian fabric, the name of which is unpronounceable, even to me," he explained. "And that is on sale, since there isn't much traffic to Risa from here. Three strips, and it would compliment your Trill markings," he suggested.

"I think you're right. What else do I need to do before I make a purchase?" she asked.

"Normally, I'd get the individual's measurements and make alterations if necessary, to accommodate the person's appearance, measurements, and most often, for the favorite color of the individual in question," replied Garak.

"I see," she said. "Well, I guess I need to get measured for that, so I can talk my sweetheart into a trip to Risa."

"A very good destination, my dear," commented Garak. "Well, if you would kindly come with me so we can fit you for these lovely pieces..."

Garak led the way into the tailor's shop, and went over to a shelving unit and produced a small Cardassian scanning device, which he had modified for getting measurements for clothing. Tatie followed, a little scared, but excited about the clothes. It was the first time ever she had been fitted for clothing by a Cardassian, but he seemed friendly enough to her.

* * *