Kenyon paid no attention to Kirk's attitude. Kirk wasn't seeing what he was seeing. He continued counting aloud as he looked at his readout. "Twenty-three, twenty-four... whoa... that's a big one." He shook his head as Stephen's look of confidence started to wane.
"Where are they coming from?" Kirk demanded.
"Some were cloaked," Kenyon offered weakly, angry at himself for not having the foresight to perform a tachyon burst. "Others were hiding at the magnetic poles of Cardassia Prime. It looks like others were hiding on the far sides of their moons." He finally stood up and turned to face his commanding officer. "I count thirty-two ships in all. Most are Jem'Hadar, but there are some Cardassian warships, too. Several of them look really big including one that's about the same size as us."
"I guess that would be a lot of company," Kirk admitted while staring at the ground. Kirk had a lot of confidence in the ship he was commanding... but not that much. This was too much and too fast for him. His mind swam trying to consider options. It would seem the straightforward approach wasn't going to work.
Richards turned back to his displays. "Sir, those ships are locking weapons on us."
It was more instinct than anything else. "T'Nia, lock weapons on target. Lock onto the larger ships first. Put the cannons into whatever that big thing is."
"Aye, Sir," she replied calmly. She would never dare question her commanding officer at a time like this. However, thinking logically, in her opinion, this was a poor position to push. She made a mental note to discuss this tactic later, if there was a later. Obeying her orders, she locked the Warlord's main cannons on the gigantic Dominion battleship as it arced towards them in a high orbit around Cardassia Prime.
Ensign Bristol stared at the small tactical display on his navigation console. Despite his desires to fly to the rescue and navigate through impossible odds in a blaze of glory, he instictively gulped as the small outlines of enemy vessels drew nearer. He had already been shaken from the outburst the captain exhibited and the rather unusual way Commander Kirk and Colonel Prichard handled the situation. This made him even shakier. His hands nervously moved above the engine controls, ready to take evasive action at a moments notice.
Lieutenant Davies stared incredulously at the Cardassian on the front viewscreen. Her heart nearly leapt into her throat when Commander Richards gave the final enemy vessel count. She actually became flush and a bit light headed when she heard Commander Kirk's reaction. Why wasn't he running? Why wouldn't he try to negotiate? Couldn't he see that even in a ship as powerful as this one, there was no way to take on almost three dozen ships at once? Did he have a suicide wish? Was he suffering from the same problem as Captain Bolerov? It took all her concentration to keep from running through the turbolift and down into her quarters where she could clutch her favorite round, purple pillow. Nervously, she turned to her newly refound friend, Tony and was actually startled by his almost evil grin.
Lieutenant Moreau sat comfortably in his seat watching the drama being played out. He had watched this ship easily handle three Romulan warbirds without even exhausting the first volley of ordinance... and it wasn't even at full strength. He also decided, weeks ago, that he was going to have more confidence in his friend, Steve. If Steve thought they could handle this fight, then it wasn't the Warlord that was in trouble... it was the Dominion. He continued repeating that thought until part of him actually started to believe it. His initial look of concern twisted into a smile.
Lieutenant Kelly examined the faces of the others on the bridge. They were all absolutely stiff and virtually motionless. He couldn't help but feel a bit nervous himself. This fight would be their biggest challenge yet. Tom know what this ship was made of. He knew the power it wielded. Part of him was afraid this was too much, even for a dreadnaught. As he contemplated the possibility that they might not survive this attack, strangely enough, he found himself more worried about the ship than his fiancee, Corina.
The Warlord and its attackers floated silently in space for several moments; neither side making the first move.
On the forward viewscreen, another person walked into view. He was decidedly shorter than Ross Tegril, with elongated ears that ran from the crown of his head down to his neck. The dark hair, pale skin, and purple eyes gave him away immediately. He was a vorta. His smile was twisted and confident. "Commander," his low, sing-song voice began, "where is your captain?"
"He's busy," Kirk replied tersely. Mentally, he was still trying to figure out options... what to attack first, how to locate the delegation and get Picard aboard, whether to get Bolerov back on the bridge. No option was looking overly pleasant... or feasible. Open combat was among them. He decided to continue playing the 'strong arm' card. "I demand the release of our peace delegation." Kirk made sure to make eye contact with only Tegril. "If you want to re-associate youself with these... people... that's your business. I just want our people back."
"I'm afraid we can't do that," the Vorta replied with a look of mock disappointment.
Kirk's eyes slowly shifted their gaze to the pale humanoid. "And exactly who are you to make decisions for Cardassian policy?"
"I am Gelnon, Chief Councilman Tegril's liason to the Dominion. They are rightfully back under the Dominion umbrella of protection." Gelnon put his arm around Ross Tegril for effect. Kirk noted the look of near physical pain Tegril expressed with the gesture. "It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintence, Commander Kirk." He smiled widely.
"I'm sure," Kirk replied flatly. That was the final straw. Perhaps it wasn't entirely voluntary, but the end result was... the Cardassians were back in league with the Dominion. Kirk folded his hands. "Fine. Why won't you give us back our people?"
"We'll need to hold them as insurance for awhile, Commander," Gelnon replied with a tilt of his head. "I can't afford to have a vessel like yours running loose in Dominion territory. You may bring harm to countless innocent lives. No... we shall keep them for now. As long as you leave our space immediately and inform your Starfleet to stay away, they shall remain unharmed. If you return...well..." he smiled evilly, "you get the idea."
"I want to know their still alive, Gelnon." Kirk demanded.
"My, my... aren't we assertive. Well, in order to assure you of our sincerity, here." With a wave of his hand the image on the forward viewscreen changed to a large room with a series of screens on the front wall. In the room were, easily, sixty people; a good number of them Cardassian or Jem'Hadar. Curiously, the Jem'Hadar were holding weapons over the Cardassians. Near the center of the room, Stephen could make out the peace delegation; all five of them.
Kirk shot Kenyon a quick glance, which he picked up. Kirk's eyes darted from Richards to the viewscreen, then to his sensor station. Commander Richards interpreted that as Stephen's desire for him to attempt to locate where that was. He quickly turned back to his station and began scanning everything he could possibly see.
"There, you see?" Gelnon asked, his image returning to the main screen, "they are safe and sound for now. How long they remain that way is entirely up to you and your Federation."
Kirk's expression grew defiant. The thought of being fooled into leaving the delegation behind and unprotected sickened him. The feeling of helplessness made it worse. His eyes narrowed. "If any of them comes to any harm at all..." he started.
"Please," Gelnon scoffed, "spare me the heroic posturing and leave. The Dominion fleet is getting restless." His evil smile grew even wider.
Stephen was practically shaking in rage. He wanted to order T'Nia to fire anyway. Instead, he spun on his heel. "Turn the screen off." He demanded. Unsure what to make of everything, Elaine simply nodded and turned back to her console. Within moments, the faces of Tegril and Gelnon vanished, replaced by a partial image of Cardassia Prime and several ships in close proximity. Several displayed the golden, triangular shape of a Cardassian warship. Many others, however, beared the tell-tale colors and shapes of the Jem'Hadar, including an immense battleship staring directly at them. Kirk closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This was insult to injury, he thought... defeated without even firing a shot. "Bristol, set a course for Earth. Get us out of here." Kirk plumped himself down into the captain's seat.
"Yes, Sir," Tyler replied sadly. Almost unconsciously, he plotted the familiar destination into the navigation computer. When the display flashed the word "Locked", he put his hands to the maneuvering thrusters. "Breaking orbit, Commander." The viewscreen showed the partial sphere of Cardassia Prime fading away off to the bottom left. As the Warlord continued its turn, the bridge crew saw even more enemy vessels. At the same time, the crew realized they had been completely surrounded.
Stephen examined the defeated looks on his crewmember's faces. He needed something inspirational to say... he knew that much. "This isn't over, people," he said finally, "We'll be back." It even sounded stupid to him... but it was all he could think to say.
Silently, the Warlord gained speed as the impulse engines powered up to send it to the edge of Cardassian space.