CHAPTER 2

USS INCURSION

SOMEWHERE IN CARDASSIAN SPACE…

Captain's log, stardate 54851.1

Disguised as a Cardassian warship, the USS Incursion entered Cardassian space over a month ago to determine the reason for the attack on the Starship Columbia.

We have recently discovered a wormhole deep in Cardassian space. We cannot enter it until another ship passes through, however, because we do not know what lies on the far side, and it is important that we remain undetected. We do not even know if the far side is located in the Milky Way galaxy, and I don't want to take the risk of becoming another Voyager, lost in space with no quick way home. If there is wormhole traffic, we may be able to find out where it comes from, and we could even slip into the wormhole undetected. For now, we are conducting scans, as we have been for the past few days, to determine the nature of this wormhole, and whether it is stable enough to pass through.

Captain Marcus Refelian stretched as he stood up from his swivel-chair in his ready-room. He would have called it a day and settled down for an 8-hour nap, but for some reason, he just couldn't sleep. His shift had been over for 2 hours now, and in one hour, it would be ship's night. At that time, all of the hallway lights on the small starship would dim to simulate the nighttime conditions on a planet.

STARFLEET COMMAND

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA EARTH

ADMIRAL NOLOTAI

The admiral re-read the latest intelligence report from the Incursion, as he contemplated his next order. This wormhole might be the route that Cardassian ships used to cross Federation space undetected. The admiral made up his mind: the Incursion would have to go through. In the meantime, however, he would also need to dispatch the necessary ship to rescue the Columbia's hulk, lest the technology aboard fall into the wrong hands. His awareness of the recent Klingon/Cardassian conflict seemed to be a shortcoming at first… "ah, yes," the admiral muttered to himself. He first commanded his computer to run a search of every starship that was under his command, then he activated his communications console and opened a secure subspace communications channel to the Federation embassy on the Klingon homeworld Qo'nos. A Klingon's face appeared on the screen.

"What do you want, Starfleet?" He gave the admiral a rude look to express his disappointment. The Klingon fleet had had to take over for the Federation when the Cardassian forces led by Gul Kentar had ambushed the Starfleet reserve fleet. Peacekeeping is not a popular role among Klingons, and it had become something of a joke in the Empire that the Federation couldn't watch its own back. The better-informed Klingons who knew how bad the Borg threat really was were less entertained by the joke, but nonetheless grinned at the thought here and there. With the Borg threat flaring up again, the warriors of the empire disapproved of the Federation's temporary non-aggression treaty with the Borg even as they rebuilt their forces behind the scenes.

The admiral chose to ignore the bait and cut straight to the point. "I must speak with Ambassador Worf."

"Have the Borg done something to displease you, Starfleet? Maybe you should negotiate again and declare a peace settlement. Or have the Borg proven their disloyalty to anyone that gets in their way? The Empire will not support a p'tak that cannot choose his battles properly!" The Klingon laughed at his own joke, but Admiral Nolotai kept his cool, knowing that showing his emotions would only serve to delay his conversation.

"I have no time to fool around with a mere clerk. If the Empire wishes to take action, then it is for the Chancellor to decide, not his peasant-class undersecretaries. Now, get me the Federation's ambassador."

The insult worked. In seconds, Worf's face appeared on the screen. "Greetings, admiral. How can I help you?"

"Ambassador Worf, are you familiar with the USS Columbia?"

Worf pondered the question, but he came up blank. "I am afraid not, admiral. Is she in trouble?"

"Quite a bit of it, ambassador. She was attacked by Cardassian forces a few weeks ago in the Beta Quadrant, and we have only heard from her once since then."

"I am sorry to hear about this, Admiral, but I assure you that the Cardassian threat is no longer. Is there a reason that you put off contacting me about this?"

"No, there isn't, ambassador. I am simply curios about a Cardassian presence in the Beta Quadrant. Are you absolutely certain that this threat has been completely vanquished?"

"I can ask Chancellor Martok if that would make you feel better, admiral."

"Ambassador…" Nolotai hesitated, contemplating whether he would be allowed to tell Worf this. He decided he could. "… I work with Starfleet Intelligence, and I suspect that the Cardassians have a base out there, somewhere in the Beta Quadrant. Might it be possible for a squadron to be dispatched to assist the search for a possible Cardassian base.

"'Assist?' Did I miss something, sir?"

"The Federation will also be sending a small fleet to recover the wreckage of the Columbia."

"Just where, exactly, is the wreckage of the starship?"

"Columbia crashed on a class-M world located twelve light-years beyond the Federation's remote Beta Quadrant border."

"I will discuss this issue with Chancellor Martok, admiral. Thank you for telling me. Qo'nos out."

That done, Admiral Nolotai turned back to the search interface and accessed the results of his search, and he selectively narrowed the list down to this:

SHIP NAMEREGISTRYCLASSCURRENT LOCATION PRESENT STATUS

USS SAGITTARIUSNCC 51766 PROMETHEUSNEUTRAL ZONE – SECTOR 22(Omega) PATROLLING NEUTRAL ZONE

USS ROMANIANCC 63774 ISTANBULBETAZED ASSISTING RECONSTRUCTION

USS DOOLITTLENCC 22544 MIRANDASTARBASE 211 AWAITING ORDERS

USS ALEXANDRIANCC 74559SOVEREIGNRIGEL VII SHIPYARD UNDER REPAIR

USS LEAHYNCC 63448AEGIANSECTOR 001 – SOL SYSTEM STANDING BY

USS JOHN F. KENNEDYNCC 74876GALAXYSIRIUS SYSTEM CONDUCTING STELLAR SURVEY

USS INCURSIONNX 74808DEFIANT (variant)CARDASSIAN SPACE AWAITING ORDERS

USS URIAH P. LEVEYNCC 64927NEBULASIRIUS SYSTEM CONDUCTING PLANETARY SURVEY

USS SICILYNCC 54662ISTANBULBETAZED ASSISTING RECONSTRUCTION

USS PHILADELPHIANCC 65536EXCELSIORREGULUS I STANDING BY

USS AQUARIUSNCC 54467AMBASSADOREN ROUTE TO STARBASE 217 EN ROUTE TO RENDEZVOUS

USS GUNTHERNCC 65432AKIRASECTOR 001 – ALPHA CENTAURI SYSTEM STANDING BY

USS ENFORCERNCC 62219AKIRAEN ROUTE TO NEUTRAL ZONE EN ROUTE FOR PATROL DUTY

USS SKYLARKNCC 48522OBERTHM45 PLEIADES OPEN CLUSTER CONDUCTING PLANETARY SURVEY

USS ANNAPOLISNCC 68532NEBULASECTOR 001 – NEARBY BLACK HOLE CONDUCTING RESEARCH PROJECT

USS GARRISONNCC 65189INTREPIDSECTOR 001 – NEARBY BLACK HOLE CONDUCTING RESEARCH PROJECT

USS PHARRISNCC 44285EXCELSIOREUROPA NOVA COLONY ASSISTING RECONSTRUCTION

The admiral picked the ships that he thought were best suited for this mission. Before one hour was up, all of the appropriate captains had been notified and the ships were en route to the rally point at Starbase 1, in the Oort Cloud of the Sol System. Once that was done, the admiral then waited for Worf to contact him. This didn't happen until nearly one full day had passed. Worf said that the Chancellor would send five K'Vort class birds-of-prey, three Vor'cha –class attack cruisers, and two support ships. All these would be under the command of Captain K'thpak, who would bring his own Negh'Var battleship and honor guard in addition to the previously mentioned fleet.

It was time to rescue the Starship Columbia.

A/N: DISCLAIMERS

The "USS Pharris" is a salute to my favorite author Tom Clancy, and his book Red Storm Rising. The Pharris' registry in my story is the license-plate # of the car whose driver likes to park in front of my house during the school year.

The "USS Leahy" is a reference to Leahy Hall, where the usual hero of Mr. Clancy's novels goes to work.

The "USS Uriah P. Levey" is a salute to the man who put an end to flogging in the US Navy. I hope I spelled his surname correctly.

The "USS Doolittle" is a salute to the commander of the famous "Doolittle Raid".

The "USS John F. Kennedy" is a salute to this former American president.

The "USS Annapolis" is named for the capital of the state of Maryland.

The "USS Gunther" is named such, because I picked a random word off the top of my head, and I thought "gunther" sounded cool.

The "USS Romania" is named for this small country in the Balkans region of Europe.

The "USS Sicily" is named for the island off the coast of Italy.

The "USS Sagittarius" is named for this summer constellation. The center of the Milky Way galaxy lies directly behind it.

The "USS Alexandria" is named for at least one of the many cities that have this name.

The "USS Enforcer" is another name that I thought sounded cool, and I thought it an appropriate name for a patrol cruiser.

The "USS Incursion" is the main starship in the PC game "Star Trek: Away Team" and it is a trademark of Activision.

The "USS Philadelphia" is named for this city in the state of Pennsylvania.

The "Akira" –class is named for the anime TV show, and was first seen in "Star Trek: First Contact."

Admiral Nolotai is a character in "Star Trek: Away Team" and is a trademark of Activision.

That said…

There is a black hole somewhere just beyond the outer edges of the Sol System. Astronomers detected its presence because of its affects on Pluto's orbit.