Act Five: "View From Afar"

Kira sat on edge on the bridge of the Defiant with good reason. After their departure from the Bajoran Wormhole, the mystery and darkness of the Gamma Quadrant spilled over Kira and her crew. She took comfort in her friends, but felt uneasy as to what would happen now.

"Yellow alert. Nog, lay in a course for the Dominion homeworld. Warp Seven."

"Aye Captain."

The Defiant spun around in space and then blasted up to Warp Seven towards the Founder's home planet.

Kira leaned back and crossed her legs, pressing her fingers together and eyeing the viewscreen as the stars soared by. Her mind was racing a thousand light-years a minute. There were thoughts beginning to crack through her mental defenses and there was one fact that she some how refused herself to accept.

Odo.

Neryes sighed and pushed him far from her mind. She had to keep strong and tough through all of this. The possibility of seeing Odo again was likely, but she knew that there was no way she could endanger anyone for personal reasons.

No matter how much it pained her.

***

"NO!" shouted B'Elanna Torres as she worked her way around Engineering. "No no no no no NO!"

Scotty grumbled. "What now?" he replied.

The Engineering Section of Voyager was filled with dozens of staff workers - all attempting to adapt the Kelvan's Engine to the ship's systems. This involved, of course, loading a gigantic Engine into the Engineering Section.

"The Plasma reaction will be too great for the modulator!" Torres responded harshly.

"Then we will adapt the systems, lass," said Scotty. "I know what I'm doin'."

"It's impossible to continually adapt the systems IF THE REACTION IS WORKING AT FOUR THOUSAND TIMES A SECOND!"

"Lass. The modulator can be rigged to support that kind of a reaction."

"No it can't!"

"Aye. It can. If we modulate the modulator with five modulators of its own."

Torres smacked her head. "Insane! Completely - certifiably insane!"

"It'll work, lassie!"

Just then, the twin doors on Engineering opened and in walked Data and Geordi LaForge.

"Scotty!" greeted LaForge.

"Captain Scott," followed Data.

"Ah, hello lads. Good to see ya. If ye willin' to help me, this modulator seems to be acting up. It seems the Plasma reaction will blow it kingdom come if it doesn't adapt correctly."

"Hmmm," Data pondered, looking at the screen that displayed the simulations. "It seems the Plasma reaction will be working at four thousand times a second."

"Yeah. And the modulator is not near strong enough to handle that," LaForge said.

"That's exactly what I've been saying," Torres insisted, looking scornfully at Scotty.

"It's quite the pickle, lads," said Scotty.

Geordi suddenly snapped his fingers. "You know what would probably work? If we connected modulators to the modulator!"

"Yes," said Data. "I believe five of them would be needed to process the reactions safely."

Scotty looked over at Torres and just grinned. She grumbled and looked away. Scotty leaned over and shook her shoulders jokingly.

"What'd I tell ya, lass?!" he laughed. "This'll work just fine."

***

Worf sat in the Captain's Chair on the bridge of the Defiant, eyes fixated at the viewscreen ahead. It was late and Kira had gone to her quarters for the evening. Everything on the ship was quiet. Too quiet, in fact.

"Ambassador," said one of the crewmen, "I'm detecting some sort of debris field about eight light-year away."

"Bring us to a full stop," Worf commanded. Hesitate as he was to wake the Colonel, he recalled her orders to do so if something like this came up.

He didn't have to worry. Colonel Kira was having a hard time sleeping anyways. She kept mulling thoughts over and over in her head.

"Bridge to Colonel Kira."

"Yes, Worf, what is it?" she asked.

"I am sorry to wake you, but we have just detected a debris field some seven light-years away."

Kira paused. "Lay in a course and assemble the senior staff. I'll be up there in a few minutes."

"Understood. Worf out."

Kira made it up to the bridge and soon found herself surrounded by her peers. The feeling on the bridge was dark and mysterious. The debris field was now in complete view of the Defiant. She couldn't help but feel a chill up her spin.

Worf glanced back at her and stood.

"We have reached the debris field. We are not detecting any life-signs," he reported.

"That doesn't mean there aren't any," said Bashier. "We may not be close enough to detect them."

"He's right," said Dax.

Kira glared at the screen. Everything seemed too lifeless to really do much about it. She pursed her lips and leaned back in the Captain's chair.

"I'm afraid we don't have much of a choice. We must continue on."

A wave of rebellion passed through the crew. Kira felt it too in the depths of her stomach. But she knew they had no choice. She was a bit pleased when no one said anything about her decision.

"Nog, prepare to return our course to - "

"Kelvan vessel coming about!" shouted Worf.

"SHIELDS!" ordered Kira, leaping to her feet.

She was too late. A beam of energy fired from the monstrous Kelvan attack cruiser. It sired across the hull, erupting explosions and fires in its wake.

An explosion blasted through the bridge, throwing much of the crew from their seats. Kira grasped hold of her chair and pulled herself up.

"Damage report!" she commanded.

"Hull breach. Decks four and five, sections 15-16," Worf replied.

"Shields?"

"At 10 percent," O'Brien called over.

Kira glanced to the helm and saw Nog on the floor, blood gushing from his forehead. "Doctor!" she ordered. Bashier rushed over and pulled out a tricorder. "Ezri! Take the helm!"

Dax rushed over and began to recall information from her past hosts - mainly Jadzia and Torias. She immediately used evasive maneuvers.

"Pattern Delta!" shouted Kira.

Dax moved the ship side-to-side, flying through the debris field.

"Colonel," said Worf, "I believe that first fire was a warning shot."

"I figured as much," said Kira.

"Do you want me to take us out of the debris field?" asked Dax.

"No. Stay in it. We'll use this as a shield. The Kelvan ship is large, but probably quite slow. Take in between pieces of debris."

"Gotcha. Aye."

Dax's fingers pressed on the correct keys and she carefully guided the Defiant passed the remains of a Jem'Hadar destroyer. She was just in time, too. A much stronger beam of energy had just been fired and barely missed the Defiant.

The Defiant soared through space and practically danced through the field. But even after two and a half years on being bonded to the Dax symbiont, Ezri was still not completely confident in her abilities nor had she mastered the skills of recalling their memories completely.

Even so, when she angled the Defiant incorrectly - a voice in her hand screamed that it was wrong. Indeed it was. A beam of energy bore down on the Defiant's port nacelle. The entire ship roared as it spun from its current position.

"Weapons are gone!" exclaimed Worf, hanging onto his counsel.

"Colonel, we're losing dozens of systems! Whatever they hit us with, it held quite a punch!" shouted O'Brien.

Kira swore in Bajoran and tried to retake her seat. "Can you get the viewscreen back on-line?"

O'Brien pressed a few keys and the viewscreen - albeit fuzzy - flickered on. The Kelvan ship was right above them, preparing for another attack.

But then - right as a second energy beam was about to be fired - an explosion appeared from the Kelvan's weapon array.

"What the hell . . .?" wondered O'Brien aloud.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, dozens of Dominion ships appeared and began to unleash their weapons on the Kelvan ship. This gave Ezri enough time to move the Defiant out of the debris field and away from the Kelvan vessel.

Just as the fires from the now-exploding Kelvan ship began to show, a large Jem'Hadar warship appeared by the Defiant's side.

"Colonel, they are opening a channel," said Worf.

Kira held her breath and nodded.

The flickering screen went to clear when a female Vorta appeared on it. "Greetings. You must be Colonel Kira. My name is Veela. How can we help you?"

"Help us?"

"Yes. We are allies now, are we not?"

Kira looked to the rest of the crew, then back at Veela. "I suppose."

"Then, please, how can we help you?"

***

Admiral Janeway stood on the bridge of Voyager and grinned. It had been such a long time, hadn't it? She sighed as she moved her hand across the railing behind the Captain and First Officer's Chair. It had gotten a bit dusty in here.

"Ross to Janeway," said Admiral Ross through the comm-line.

Janeway pressed her badge. "Janeway here."

"We've just received word," said Ross from Ops on DS9. "A fleet of Kelvan vessels is gathering at Nimbus Prime. They'll be here in three days."

Janeway paused for a moment. "Understood. I'll get back to you, Admiral. Thank you. Janeway out."

The female Admiral quickly made her way down to Engineering, where she discovered the entire staff working hard on the Kelvan Engine.

"How much longer?" she demanded immediately from Torres.

"Four - maybe five days. Why?"

"You have two," said Janeway.

"WHAT?!" shouted Scotty as he slid down a ladder from the Engine. The Engine sat right in front of the Matter/Anti-Matter Chamber and reached out passed the second level.

"Mr. Scott, the Kelvan - "

"The Kelvans can wait! This is going to take a long while, Admiral! We cannae push this any further than it already is!"

Janeway looked like she was about to kill him. "You have my orders, Mr. Scott."

"But Admiral - "

She turned around headed out the door. "My orders, Mr. Scott. Follow them."

Geordi strode over and sighed. "Well," he said, "looks like we've got our work cut for us. We better get back to work."

"Aye. I suppose so."

***

Colonel Kira and Ambassador Worf walked down the long corridor leading to the Crew Lounge on the Defiant. Large pieces were being swept away quickly be damage control teams. Dr. Bashier had just reported that five persons were dead and ten were severally - including Nog.

Kira sighed and Worf grunted when they reached the Crew Lounge. There were two security guards keeping watch of the door.

"How long have they been waiting?" Kira asked.

"Ten minutes."

"That should be long enough," said Kira, turning to Worf. "Shouldn't it?"

"Yes. I would think so," he replied, looking to her.

The door opened and Veela sat at a table in the middle of the room. Two Jem'Hadar stood next to her.

"Greetings Colonel. It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Meet me?" she asked.

"Yes. The Founders whisper your name."

Kira seemed a bit shocked by this information, but wanted to appear strong. "Eavesdropping on your gods?" she asked.

"Never," Veela replied, feeling a bit insulted.

"Well, I won't be the judge of that," said Kira. "But let's get down to business. You said something about an alliance?"

"Yes. The fact of the matter is, Colonel, we need your help as much as you need ours. The Kelvan Empire can into the Gamma Quadrant in secret and immediately struck three of our outpost before we even knew who our enemies were. The Founders ordered immediate retaliation. We have done so. But our war grows worse. The Kelvans are without remorse."

"Strange," Worf noted. "The Kelvans have used subterfuge with many of the other galactic powers. It is odd that they would not with the Dominion."

"We have a history of being much more . . . strict with our officers. There are very few we do not know in our empire," Veela explained. "But returning to the matter at hand. We are willing to send a fleet of our ships to the Alpha Quadrant to help the Federation Rebellion to fight back the Kelvans. Because if the Alpha Quadrant powers, then more ships will come through the wormhole and destroy. Trust us, Colonel, neither of us has any choice."

"I . . . I'm not sure," said Kira, concerned. She stood up, Worf following in suit. "Give us time."
"Time? Time is of the essence," said Veela, standing as well.

"Well, we'll just have to think fast, huh?"

Worf and Kira began to walk to the door, when Veela spoke again. "One more thing, Colonel."

Kira turned around. "What is it?"

"I has told to tell you that it was the Founder named Odo that devised this plan."

"What?" Kira asked, shocked even more so now.

"He told me it would help gain your trust. I hope it has worked," Veela said. "And we Vorta do not misunderstand the Founders."

"No. I suppose not," said Kira.

"Then, Colonel Kira, do we have a deal?"