Chapter 6 - Trouble

08:30 - Ops - DS9

Sisko emerges from his office,

"Alright everyone, we are going to have guests here in 30 minutes " He glances round to make sure that all of his senior staff, except Worf, are present which they are. " We might make a new friend, or an enemy today. I want you Dax, Major Kira and Doctor Bashir to be at docking port 8 in 25 minutes. Be sure to be in dress uniform"

" We will then meet this Captain Hunt, Worf and any officers that he brings along and proceed to meeting room 3. Chief, you Odo and Martok will be waiting for us there. Then we'll see where we go from there. I know that we would all prefer to have a first contact team to do this, but as we are still cut off, that leaves it up to us. Dis.."

" Captain " O'Brien calls out interrupting him. All heads look to him, he points to the view screen, on it the DS9 crew get there first look at the alien ship, which according to Martok is called the Andromeda Ascendant. As it rounds the asteroids, the light from Bajor's sun catches the Hull

" That is one big ship " breaths Kira under her breath.

Sisko drags his eyes away from the viewer " Chief, I know that its really Worf's job, but could you give me a tactical analysis. " He asks, aware of O'Brien's past post as tactical officer on the USS Rutlidge .

" Aye Sir " says the Chief as he bends over his console. " Sir, similar but a lot more advanced than the smaller ship, obviously more massive. I can not make out any warp drive on this vessel either, but saying that, its hull is not being penetrated by the stations active scanners. Of course, these aren't Federation scanners, just what the Cardassain's left behind. However, If I had to guess I have no doubt that this ship is a pure warship. I seriously doubt that we could even make a dent in the ship, let alone take it out "

" So we are left with the same information as the passive scans from the Rotarran " Sisko says, more to himself than anybody else. " Ok people, dismissed "

**************************************************************************** *********

Docking port 8

Sisko stand with his back to the wall facing the docking port, Kira next to him with Dax and then Bashir making the line up complete. A quick glance at Kira and Sisko knew that she, like him, didn't like wearing formal dress. Dax and Bashir both looked completely at ease.

Ops had just contacted the welcome party to say that the ship had assumed an orbit around the station, and was sending a smaller ship across. It was the same ship that had departed the station the day before.

They all stood in a line abreast as the gears on the airlock door started to cycle and then the door rolls aside to reveal Commander Worf leading a procession out of the airlock. He waits for the procession to come to a halt

Worf stands to attention and says very formally:

" Captain Sisko, allow me to present Captain Dylan Hunt, Captain of the Commonwealth starship Andromeda Ascendant. Captain Hunt, this is Captain Benjamin Sisko, Commander of Space Station Deep Space Nine. "

" Welcome Captain " Sisko says " allow me to present my officers.. This is Major Kira Nerys, my First Officer here on the Station, as well as liason to Bajor, the planet below.. This is my science officer, Jadzia Dax, and the station Doctor, Julian Bashir. " Sisko introduces as he goes down the file of waiting officers.

" Greetings, this is Trance, my environmental and medical officer, Seamus Harper, Ships engineer and finally, I believe that you have already met Rommie "

" Please to meet you all " Sisko says, in full diplomatic mode " If you will all come this way, I have a meeting room set aside where you can meet the remainder of my senior staff, and we can commence talks. "

As the group set off they divided into pairs for the short walk to the meeting room.

" I understand from Mr Worf that I could of handled General Martok slightly better, but it was my first time dealing with a vessel of prey operating in stealth mode " Hunt started saying as the two Captains lead the procession through the interior of DS 9.

Sisko smiled before responding.

" A lot of people have that problem. My peoples first contact with Klingon's went even worse, and we have had decades of mistrust and two wars with them, but they are the Federations strongest ally in the current war " Sisko pauses " Once you get Klingons on your side, they are a force to be reckoned with... "

Right behind Harper was trying to avoid answering any of the questions the Jadzia Dax was asking him about the Andromeda itself, not sure if these people were yet to be trusted. Although Worf had seemed to prefer the company of Tyr, the previous night despite the original face off between then two in the hanger bay the previous day, Harper still wasn't ready to blindly trust them

Instead he tried to turn the conversation toward the wormhole, and access to any research Dax may have stored.

Following just behind them Bashir was taking to Trance, with Kira, Worf and Rommie following the at the rear of the group. Kira was not being very talkative, content to let Worf speak to Rommie with the ease born of knowing somebody for more than 5 minutes. She got the impression that Worf had a great deal of respect for the short woman, and Kira was eager to find out why.

Suddenly Kira felt a light pressure on her arm, and realised that it was Rommie trying to attract her and Worf's attention. Just then they were passing a view port with a view of Bajor.

Worf saw the opportunity at the same time as Kira, and paused by the port to allow Rommie a view of the Planet. Kira started pointing out the continents in sight, as luck would have it, including her own. Rommie waiting until the rest of the group were out of sight.

" Last night Worf explained about the current war and the shape shifter problems, " Rommie told Kira. " Why are you letting one move around so freely ?"

" Odo isn't a part of the Dominion " Kira replies, "I thought that Worf would of explained that to you "

" Not Odo, but Dr Bashir " Rommie replies " He is not human "

" How can you tell ?" Kira enquires " He was replaced once, but that was some time ago "

Without having the time to explain the concept of being an avatar right now Rommie just says " He is not breathing "

" Yes, he does. " Was Kira's first, automatic response.

Rommie just cuts her off " He gives the appearance of breathing, but the air that comes out is the same that is going in, the same levels of O2, CO2, etc "

" And just how can you tell that " Kira demands

" Major, I will explain later, all of the Andromeda's crewmen are aware of the situation " Rommie cut in " What countermeasures do you have ?"

" Transporters and force field's" Worf said " I will go to the security office, and monitor the room. As soon as Doc.. the changeling is isolated, I will activate the transporters and containment field "

**************************************************************************** *********

Sisko sat, watching the door for Kira, Worf, and Rommie. The Andromeda crewmen knew of the delay, Rommie was able to inform them of developments regarding the changeling impersonating Dr Bashir though their implanted comm 's, but the DS9 crew did not. Suddenly the doors opened and in came Kira and Rommie. Kira proceeded to her seat, between Sisko and Martok, while Rommie stood at a parade rest behind Dylan, keeping a subtle watch over Doctor Bashir.

" Where is Mr Worf ?" Queried the Captain and General at the same time.

" He has just popped back to his quarters " Kira replied, not feeling happy about lying to her superior officer and friend, " he promised Mr Harper a manual of all un-classified federation subspace technology " she explained as she sat down.

The meeting progressed rapidly. Rather than explain a second time about Harper's theory of how Andromeda ended up in the Bajoran system, he played a recording of the briefing and discussion with Worf, from the previous evening. Dax requested a copy of the recording, and any available information on slip stream technology. The recording continued, explaining about the actual ship itself, but just before the briefing reached the section regarding AI's and avatars, Trance spoke for the first time since entering the meeting room. She spoke directly to Bashir.

" Could I have a glass of water? "

" Of course, just a minute " came the reply with the young Doctors typical eagerness, and he moved to the far end of the room where the replicator was mounted in the wall.

He covered half the distance when a transporter beam took hold of him

" What the hell " Sisko said jumping up as the rest of the room reacted

" Dax to Security "

" O'Brien to ops "

" Hold it " called Kira, as moments later Worf marched in the door

" Transport successful " He said to Kira, but she had started to explain what happened to Sisko, who was looking increasingly angry.

" On the way here, Rommie realised that Bashir was a changeling, but there was no way to inform you without alerting it to the fact that we on to it. "

" How the hell could you tell " O'Brien exploded " I have spent 2 or 3 hours a day with that ma...changeling, and have done for the last few months, I could not tell the difference. "

" You must understand that this is the second time that he has been replaced " Dax said, becoming slightly upset " How could you tell "

" Simply by the fact, although I could see him breath, the air had the same levels of O2 when he exhales as when he inhales " Rommie explained.

" And how could you tell that " Dax questioned, suddenly wondering if this could be a valid method of tracking and catching more changelings. But before Rommie could respond the station went to red alert

" Sisko to Ops - report "

" Ops here Sir. A Dominion task force of approximately 65 vessels has just entered the system. They are closing in on our position. ETA to weapons range is 6 minutes. "

" Status of the Defiant? "

" Being crewed as we speak, sir. Just awaiting a command officer "

Sisko gave Worf a look, and without a word he left for the warship. All the other officers started heading for ops. Martok followed Worf out of the room , heading for his ship, but before he left the room, he turned to Sisko

" The Rotarran is, as always, ready to stand by our federation allies. " The General then breaks out into a massive smile " It will be a glorious battle, Quapla " And then he was gone.

Trance stopped Odo as he was about to contact his security force.

" Could you show me where your medical bay is ?, maybe I could help. "

" This way "

Odo and Trance left heading the other direction. Hunt and Harper both got a signal on their sub dermal communicator.

" Dylan, this is Beka "

" Hunt here "

" There is a large body of hostile vessels on intercept. Andromeda has analysed their tactical abilities and believes that single handed we could handle the entire force. "

" Very well, go to battle stations and be prepared to defend the station "

" Understood . Out "

The three remaining Andromeda crew members follow the DS9 crew from the turbo lift into the operations centre of DS 9.

Hunt sees Sisko and Kira monitoring a display board in the middle of the room, Harper wanders right to O'Brien's station, and watches the chief, trying to figure out how the technology works so he could help O'Brien, if the need arose.

" Mr O'Brien, raise our defence shields, Dax, man weapons station " Kira calls, issuing orders to the crew when a second lift appears, full of off duty officers, who spill out of the lift and man auxiliary station throughout ops without a word.

Suddenly O'Brien goes white

" Sir the shields are not responding. I think that they have been sabotaged."

" Get them up chief, if you don't we are all dead men, Dax, Tactical team, do your best to keep them away with the long range salvo's, fire at will "

" Captain " Dylan calls, not wanting to interrupt Sisko, but with the stations defences down options were becoming limited. " perhaps we could be of assistance ?"

Sisko just nods at the Andromeda's captain, who in turn nods at Rommie.

" Defiant and the Rotarran away " reports Kira, moving to the weapon console, taking over from Dax who dives over to aid O'Brien. Harper stands there helpless. He taps O'Brien on the shoulder

" Where's your uplink socket ? "

O'Brien doesn't takes his eye off his console, or slow down as his hands fly over his control panel.

" Up link socket ?What the bloody hell are you talking about ?"

" What a time for a crash course " Harper mutters to himself.

Suddenly the view on the main screen changes as the Andromeda springs into motion. The mighty Starship spreads her battle blades and bears down on the rapidly approaching enemy vessels undaunted by the fact she is outnumbered 65 to 3. The approaching force, mainly Jem Hadar vessels, respond by splitting into three groups. The largest of which head straight for the Andromeda, the second group of 15 vessels flank to starboard and 5 flank the warship to port.

**************************************************************************** ********* On board the Defiant Worf is about to speak when ensign Nog interrupts him.

" Sir, Incoming transmission from the Andromeda, routed to both us and the Rotarran "

" On screen "

" This is the Andromeda " Worf sees a picture of the Andromeda's AI appear on the screen " Defiant and Rotarran, engage the group of 5 ships flanking to my port side. "

" Understood " Worf replies, relieved that it wasn't the group of 15. 5 to 2 odds were acceptable, 15 to 2 were not, he reflected. Without any prompting the helm officer altered course to intercept their assigned targets, with Rotarran flanking them to their port side.

The screen reverts to a view of the oncoming ships, Worf turns to the sensor officer,

" Record everything that ship does. " Indicating the Andromeda, he was curious what the ship could actually do, after the tour of the ship and the history of the high guard, Worf was sure that it would be a hard lesson for the Jem Hadar.

"Aye Sir "

" Rotarran has assumed position, all systems report battle ready " The officer manning the tactical station reported.

" Very Well " **************************************************************************** *********

Kira looks up from the weapons console

" Incoming transmission from the Andromeda "

Sisko straightens

" On Screen "

A picture of Tyr appears on the main view screen, after scanning the room, he focuses on Dylan.

" Captain Hunt, we are about to engage, however, it is doubtful that we will be able to engage the flanking squadron before it reaches the station, unless you wish for us to deploy slip fighters "

" Deploy them as see fit "

" Out "

**************************************************************************** *********

Dylan moves across the command centre to stand next to Sisko, who is looking at the tactical display in front of him and his crew frantically trying to raise the stations defences.

" Who knows what else that changeling did to the station " Sisko mutters, more to himself then anyone else.

" Captain " Dylan starts, but pauses until Sisko looks at him.

" Captain, perhaps you could transmit a copy of the enemy vessels specs to the Andromeda, so that they can target any weaker areas ? " he asks, not very happy about his ship battling so many unknown warships without him being on board. Before Sisko can respond, one of the crewmen at the tactical stations calls out

" Andromeda has opened fire "

All eyes turn to the main screen