"And so you want to go home?" Dukat smiled.
"Look, we don't want to stay here, but we will fight for right. You will have the assistance of our ships on two conditions; the first is that you give us your Starfleet prisoner. The second is that you aid in the repairs of the Stragger. If you accept these, we will join your alliance as long as we are here." Starwind said candidly.
"You have told your crews of this?" Toval asked.
"Not yet." Starwind replied.
"We agree to your terms Captain." Dukat nodded, "Your Stragger is free to dock at lower pylon three for repairs."
"Thank you, Gul." Starwind stood and tapped his comm. badge, "Destiny, beam me to the conference room, I'm late for our staff meeting." Starwind said as he dematerialized.
When he rematerialized, he stood before his department heads. Chief Engineer Greg Bronski, a pudgy fellow, but not a bad guy, sat in the first chair to his right. Next in line was the Bajoran doctor Valorn Rit, a dark-haired fellow with a single earring, like most Bajorans, and the Cardassian presence here made him remarkably uncomfortable. On Starwind's left was Commander Talara, his Andorian pilot, and in VonBach's absence, acting first officer. To her left was Amy West, ship's councilor and a half-Trill, though her spots were pronounced enough you'd think she was full-blooded. Three seats were empty after Starwind sat. One was the science officer Tom Watson's seat. Another belonged to the chief operation's officer, a position left open by the critical injury of Henry Rega. The last was VonBach's.
"We have come to terms with the Zeon people." Starwind reported, "In exchange for Joseph and repairs to the Stragger, we must aid Zeon in their struggle against a far more oppressive Federation."
"You trust these people?" Valorn spoke up, "They work with Cardassians!"
"Mister Valorn, put your biases aside. We need them to help us, so we help them. It's that simple." Talara said.
"Thank you Commander." Starwind pressed a padd on the table putting on ship-wide intercom, "All hands, this is Captain Starwind. Although we are in another universe, we are still officers of Starfleet, and, therefore, I must inform you of our course of action. We are going to take up arms against this universe's Starfleet, which oppresses its member worlds. Any opposition to this action will be noted in my log." He turned off ship-wide.
A silence followed.
"How does Watson with finding a way home?" Starwind finally asked.
"Last time I checked, not well." Talara reported.
"Bridge to Captain Starwind," Starwind's comm. blipped, "Starfleet has just send general orders across all their encrypted channels calling for the forming of a fleet in the Amagosa system."
"Inform the Enterprise of this development, and tell the Normandy to lay in a course. Normandy and Destiny will join the fleet while Enterprise and Stragger stay here. We'll sabotage the fleet from the inside." Starwind announced.
"Shouldn't we consult the Marshal?" Talara asked.
"No time. Starwind to Transporter Room Three, do you have VonBach?" Starwind hit his comm. badge.
"Yes, sir." The voice replied.
"Dismissed." Starwind rushed out and headed for the bridge.