As Admiral Janeway would say, "It's crunch time, Mr. Kim!"
Star Trek: Absolution
Chapter X: Wake Up Call
Geordi was piloting Worf's shuttle when they finally arrived at their destination. Ahead of him on the forward viewscreen he carefully kept his eye on a growing blotch of starless sky with patches of bright blue radiation sprinkled throughout. Most of the nebula was composed of invisible dark matter, but the intense gravity of the larger objects inside was constantly changing and they inevitably collided with explosive results. At any given time, something was being torn apart in the gravitational turbulence and the destruction of that matter constantly emitted visible electromagnetic radiation that lit up the entire area. For a man who had recently regained his eyesight, the view was spectacular and he sat there for a moment simply admiring it.
His three companions were asleep in the rear of the shuttle, getting some rest while time still permitted it. He took a deep breath and decided to eat something before the others woke up. Reaching into one of the cockpit's storage compartments the Enterprise chief engineer pulled out some sort of nutrition bar. Removing the wrapper he noted that it was green and hard and had red chunks of something in it. Taking a bite he cringed at the taste and decided almost immediately that the next mission he volunteered for would involve an uncloaked Federation shuttlecraft with a working replicator.
"I'll never make fun of Starfleet rations again," he commented wryly as he swallowed the bite of Klingon food. Next to him on the tactical panel a warning light flashed. Switching his attention immediately to the sensors he noticed that four Breen ships were systematically positioned along the perimeter of the nebula, directly ahead of them. "Hey guys," he said softly, turning his head to the three people resting behind him. "We've arrived at the tough part of this mission. It's time to wake up and earn those fancy uniforms."
Not surprisingly Worf was already awake. He had been lying on his back deep in thought and thus was the first to reach the cockpit. The huge Klingon brushed by Geordi and sat down in the co-pilot's seat. Riker followed him up with a sleepy-eyed Dr. Crusher at the rear. The cabin lights around them went dark and most of the consoles shut down as Geordi and Worf cut power to all non-essential systems.
"As far as I know, the Breen cannot track a cloaked ship," LaForge commented.
"The smaller the cloaking shield the better," Worf said. "If we were a heavy cruiser I would be more concerned, but I sincerely doubt that they will be capable of detecting us."
"They've certainly got the front door guarded well enough," Riker noted as they moved past one of the large Breen starships. He spotted several smaller vessels floating in the empty space next to it and tapped Geordi on the shoulder. "What are those?" he asked.
"I don't know, give me a second to check them out," the engineer replied. He pulled a Federation tricorder from his belt and interfaced it with the Klingon sensor system.
"What is wrong with my library computer?" Worf asked, sounding a bit slighted.
"I don't think anything is necessarily wrong with it, but it sure hasn't identified those other ships yet," Geordi responded. "You might want to mention to Chancellor Martok that Starfleet still keeps better records than the Klingons do."
"I will be sure to mention it to him the next time I visit," Worf said irritably, listening to the tricorder whirring next to him. "Perhaps he will be in a good mood and spare my life."
"Our records identify the configuration of the smaller ships as Xindi," continued Geordi with growing excitement. He glanced back at the Commander with a look of concern.
"Xindi," Dr. Crusher said with a bit of astonishment evident in her tone. "We certainly haven't heard from them in a while."
Riker thought the matter over carefully for a moment. "If I remember my history correctly," he said finally, "There are five species of Xindi and they each build ships using technology that is unique to their specific culture. Can you identify which are involved here?"
"I'll try," Geordi responded, carefully checking the tricorder results. "We haven't got any current records on the two species that left the Federation hundreds of years ago, but the power signature on those ships out there very closely matches our historical records of the reptilian vessels that rebelled against the rest of the Xindi and tried to wipe out Earth."
"Reptilians," said Riker. "Well, we've located one of those two missing species."
"What are the odds that they're doing something constructive in there?" Crusher asked.
"Zero," Worf snarled. "We must discover their intentions."
"I'm way ahead of you," Geordi said with a smile. "Just sit back and enjoy the ride." He eased them past another Breen starship and neatly between two of the Xindi support vessels. The last of the stars around them vanished and the small shuttle entered the outer event horizon of the Dark Matter Nebula. "Passive sensors are active," he noted. "We won't be able to conduct a detailed survey without using the main sensor array, but that would be detectable through the cloak. Even without them, we should be able to safely navigate through all of the invisible matter floating around in here and still make a detailed survey of the entire nebula."
"Why don't we just start with that," Dr. Crusher suggested, brushing back a mound of her long red hair as she pointed toward the right side of the view screen. Geordi's eyes widened as he saw the small golden orb of a tiny sun appear in the area she indicated. Thousands of variable-sized twisting red ribbons of scarlet radiation trailed outward, at first glance appearing to originate from the center of the star itself. Their shuttle shuddered a bit as something unseen struck the limited navigation shields in place beneath their cloak.
"Holy Hannah," Geordi gasped, watching the sensor console carefully. His tricorder was still connected to it and immediately began beeping for attention. "The radiation coming from that star is off the scale… it's interfering with our sensors, sub-space – everything." Again the shuttle rumbled as more turbulence pounded its hull. "I'm slowing us to one quarter impulse."
"What is that?" Riker asked.
"The catalogue – Federation catalogue that is…" he said, glancing with annoyance at Worf, "Identifies it as a star system numbered DNX-920. It's one of the few that has managed to survive amongst all the intense gravity of the nebula and still has one M-Class planet in orbit." He carefully double-checked the tricorder readings. "The Federation probe that surveyed this area fifty years ago did not record any trace of the radiation surge we're currently moving through."
"Will all that energy pounding against our hull allow them to see us through the cloak?" asked a concerned Riker.
"Commander, the entire area is a communication specialist's nightmare," Geordi told him. "We can activate full sensors right now and our sub-space transmitter too. But unless one of those ships is close enough to actually see us they're not going to detect anything through that mess." He pointed to the twisting red panorama that now covered the entire view screen.
"It works both ways," Worf added. "We can't detect them either."
"So that's why they've got the blockade set up around the edge of the nebula," Dr. Crusher pointed out. "Because once someone gets by them there's no way to track them."
"We can certainly use that to our advantage," the Commander decided. "Mr. LaForge, set a course toward that star system. Let's see what they're hiding in there."
Another twenty minutes brought them within visual range of the DNX-920 star. Its gravity held only three planets plus an asteroid belt, and it was immediately apparent to everyone that the source of all of the active radiation streams was actually the surface of the M-Class planet. Geordi angled their small shuttle toward planet number two and they detected two more Breen starships patrolling the area as they slid neatly into a high orbit above them.
"Whatever they're up to down there, it isn't environmentally friendly," Crusher commented. "No wonder they picked this place to set up shop."
"No kidding," Geordi acknowledged. "The huge amounts of gravity from the invisible matter inside the nebula are soaking up all of the excess radiation that they're generating down on that planet. If they were trying whatever it is they're doing down there anywhere else it would be detectable for dozens of light years in all directions. Some of that energy is aggravating sub-space and traveling faster than light."
They stared in awe at a very normal looking planet with more land mass than water. As they continued to orbit, the source of the radiation became visible. On one of the planet's continents a huge funnel of scarlet radiation was pouring upward from a tiny point of dark red on the surface. As the funnel rose through the atmosphere, eventually reaching space, the radiation it carried was seized by the multiple sources of excess gravity within the nebula and torn into the thousands of multiple streams that stretched off into the distance as far as they could see.
"The reptilians left the Federation almost two hundred years ago," Crusher said with a look of wonder. "They could have been working on this project with the Breen for years… maybe even decades."
"I don't think so…" LaForge disagreed. "They may have had a plan outlined and all ready to go, but they didn't have all of the technology they needed to power it. Not until the Breen captured those Dominion power plants, that is."
"Are you still certain they can't detect a full sensor scan?"
"Commander I could get on the sub-space radio and holler at them on any frequency you choose and they won't hear us," Geordi said confidently. He activated the shuttle's main sensor array. "Beyond a few thousand meters the readings become completely distorted and totally unreadable. Klingon opera is easier to decipher."
"Perfect," Riker said in reply. "Let's head slowly into the atmosphere, begin a gradual descent, and start mapping the terrain down there."
"You make it sound like we're going to land, Commander," chuckled Geordi.
"We are, Mr. Laforge."
Another half hour found the small shuttle settled firmly on the surface of the planet at the base of a tall rocky hill. The cloaking device was still on, so anyone coming near them would continue to have a tough time detecting the scouting party from the Enterprise. Worf opened a weapons locker and began taking out Klingon phaser rifles until Riker noticed and glanced over at him. He was used to the Klingon's tendency toward overkill and shook his head negatively.
"Our hand phasers will do just fine on this mission Mr. Worf," he decided. "This is what we call an information gathering detail, not a war." He turned his attention to the Doctor. "Beverly, how much of a health hazard does that radiation represent to us?"
"There's definitely a lot of it in the area," she said with a frown, opening the shuttle's outer hatch and scanning the area with her tricorder. "But as we noticed from orbit, they're venting most of it directly into outer space." She opened the med-kit in front of her and pulled out a hypo-spray. "I'm going to give each of us a shot just to be certain, but I think we'd be safe here for a week or two." Smirking at the Klingon tactical officer she commented, "Except for you Mr. Worf. You could probably stay here for an entire month without suffering any ill effects."
"Naturally," he replied, folding his arms in front of him as her hypo hissed against his left shoulder. "Klingons have always been the most durable."
"Worf, Geordi and I will make a quick survey of their base," Riker ordered as the Doctor gave him a shot too. She turned and administered an injection to Geordi as well before turning the hypo on herself and completing the procedure. "Dr. Crusher, we'll need you to stand by here at the shuttle in case we need a contingency plan. Give us twelve hours to return."
"Why would we need a contingency plan?" she asked, ignoring the irritated glance that he gave her. She moved up into the cockpit and took a seat, re-activating the shuttle's limited sensor capability. "Dr. Crusher, you have the bridge," she said with a wry grin.
There was very little plant life in the area so the three officers from the Enterprise were grateful for the cover provided by the rocky hills and rough terrain despite the difficult hike required. What plant life remained was rapidly wilting away from long-term exposure to the artificially generated radiation source ahead of them. After walking for nearly an hour, they paused at the crest of a high ridge and could see a huge military base in the distance beyond. Pausing to take a closer look at the large encampment, Riker whistled softly. Worf growled and said nothing while Geordi simply stared at the layout of the alien base with the appreciation only an engineer would understand.
Half a dozen large metallic domes measuring nearly a hundred meters in diameter and at least twice as tall were evenly spaced in a circle. At the very center of the base was a very thin, extremely tall metallic tower spraying a long tendril of dark red radiation high into the atmosphere from its peak. Scattered amongst a dozen or so larger structures were several lengthy buildings obviously set up as troop barracks. They were also able to pick out plenty of makeshift, hurriedly constructed warehouses along the perimeter of the base camp, obviously used for storing weapons, supplies, parts and whatever else the inhabitants felt they needed. On the outer edge of the camp farthest away from them was a landing pad with several shuttles and a squadron of atmospheric fighter planes… all sitting idle.
Geordi took a deep breath and paused, carefully reviewing the data on his tricorder. "The six domed structures contain the stolen Dominion power plants," he pointed out. "Quite probably the industrial replicators are also located inside at least three of them, hooked directly to the output of the power systems. That Dominion equipment alone is capable of supplying all of the power this base needs, but whatever is causing that massive reaction at the base of the central tower is powered by a huge, underground anti-matter core. They're firing a thin particle beam out of the top of the tower and using it as a conduit into space so that they can use it to vent all of the excess radiation that they're generating from the reactor at the bottom."
"Okay, so they used the replicators and the power plants to create all of that tower equipment that they're using to house the reactor," Riker concluded, scratching his head. "So the question remains, what the hell are they doing down there?"
"I can't tell… we're still too far away," Geordi said. "But it will be dark soon and we can move in then for a closer look." He settled down for a brief respite behind a large rock, making certain he had plenty of room to observe the camp while continuing to study his tricorder readings. Taking a cautious look up, he noted the dark orange tint of the late evening sky on the horizon and wondered idly if it was the planet's normal twilight view or simply an artificially created atmosphere contaminated by too much of the unfiltered radiation.
"Fine. I guess we wait a couple of hours until night time," the Commander decided. "Then we go down there and get some answers."
A night without stars and moonlight provided exactly the cover that they were looking for. The radiation pouring from the huge tower created a very sinister-looking scene around the center of the base and provided enough light for them to move in closer to a series of tall metallic poles that were evenly spaced apart and circled the entire encampment. It didn't take them long to determine that the complex structures generated force fields between them, creating a protective outer fence line to protect against intruders. As they approached, Riker and Worf also activated tricorders and all three of them began carefully recording everything they could.
"That central tower in the center of the base is over six hundred meters tall," Geordi whispered to the other two. "And the way they're pressure venting the radioactive exhaust like that I'm sure that most of it reaches escape velocity and spills out into space before it can dissipate into the atmosphere." He took several deep breaths and paused. "It's easy enough to do with that particle beam they're using. As you can tell, the gravity here is significantly lower than Earth normal and this planet has a much thinner oxygen-nitrogen mix then we're accustomed to."
"How high does that force field reach?"
LaForge glanced at his tricorder. "Approximately 25 meters."
"We've got to get through that force field barrier so we can figure out what they're doing in there," Riker said, carefully watching two Breen guards patrolling the area near the fence line. "Once we take out those sentries, we have only a limited time before they'll be due to check in with their command and control so we'll have to hurry." He glanced over at Geordi. "Can you shut down power to one of those force field towers so we can enter the camp?"
"Sure I can, but they'll notice that even faster," he said. "I'd prefer to take out the guards first… at least one of them should have a remote control of some sort to shut down just one section of the fence line at a time. If we find that, then I don't have to waste most of our time finding a way to tamper with the grid's control system."
Carefully they moved in closer to the fence and took cover behind a small hill. The pulsating red and white light from the radiation flow atop the tower covered everything in a flickering, sinister glow that was constantly changing and more than a little bit unnerving.
Doing his best to remain hidden, Worf casually tossed a couple of rocks toward the fence and all three of them rocked back on their heels, waiting patiently. There was no immediate response and a couple of minutes later the Klingon tossed a larger rock after the first two. It didn't take long for one of the Breen guards to walk toward the noise and peer curiously through the invisible force field that separated him from the terrain outside of the base.
With a brief flash of gold energy a segment of the force field between two of the fence poles disappeared. The Breen guard cautiously walked outside of the enclosure with his disruptor rifle at the ready. He activated a security lamp on the top of his weapon and began a detailed, professional survey of the immediate area. The other guard had also grown curious and began following the first soldier. The light on his weapon also flashed on and both guards began carefully surveying the territory immediately outside of the fence perimeter.
With phasers set to heavy stun Worf and Riker popped out of hiding and shot the two Breen guards. Working quickly, they dragged both of the fallen bodies behind the small hill where Geordi was still crouching. All three of them rapidly began searching the two aliens, quickly disarming them and tossing aside their communications equipment. Worf had even started pulling off their boots and was checking inside of them when Geordi – shaking his head as he observed Worf's thoroughness – waved for attention.
"I found it Worf," he said softly, pulling a small device off the left wrist of one of the guards. He studied the piece of equipment briefly, rose to his feet and hastily practiced activating and deactivating the closest barrier that the first guard had originally shut down. He nodded at Riker. "Like you said, Commander, we'd better be quick about this."
The three Federation officers entered the alien camp, pausing just long enough for LaForge to reactivate the force field in order to avoid drawing undo attention toward it. Taking great care to remain quiet, they moved between two of the huge domed structures, passing by a large securely locked warehouse. They had to stun two more guards on their way in and finally ended up concealing themselves alongside one of the barracks. With the base so safely tucked away in the Dark Nebula and supposedly hidden, security was definitely present but thus far it was much lighter than they had expected.
"I still can't tell what's happening at the base of that central tower," commented a frustrated Geordi. "It's some kind of a massive tear in the fabric of space-time that also affects subspace too, but other than that the readings are off the scale."
Worf tapped the Commander on the shoulder and leaned down next to his ear. "I do not think we can risk moving in any closer and still avoid detection," he said as softly as his deep voice would allow. "We have the tactical advantage. If we leave now there may still be a few questions to answer, but if they discover us then our mission here will be pointless. Captain Picard needs to see these tricorder readings."
"Agreed," Riker said, nodding to the Klingon. "It's time to fall back everyone."
They moved hastily toward the rear of the barracks and were ready to head for the fence line when they suddenly heard voices. All three of them dropped flat on the ground and watched a pair of huge reptilian Xindi emerge from a brightly lit doorway in the building next to them and slowly walk toward the central area of the base. Both of the broad-shouldered aliens were at least two meters tall and carried heavy duty rifles.
"Those guys look tougher than you Worf," Geordi whispered with a soft chuckle. He heard the Klingon next to him growl in reply. Carefully they stood up, listened for activity and then resumed their trek across the short distance that separated the rear of the barracks from the fence line. Unfortunately they only got a dozen meters or so before a brilliant flash of bright green disruptor fire tore a huge smoking hole in the ground in front of them.
As a large spotlight focused directly on the Enterprise crew members, they turned and saw three Breen standing at the ready behind them along with two more of the reptilian Xindi. An armed pair of humans also emerged from the group and walked toward them, motioning menacingly with their hand weapons. All three of the Federation officers dropped their own phasers and slowly held up their hands.
"I told you we should have brought rifles," Worf said scowling.
The Commander cast an odd look at the humans. "Surprised to see us?" one of them asked with a sneer. He was tall and thin with short gray hair. "You didn't expect to find humans working with the Breen on this project?" He smiled confidently at them and gestured to the elderly dark-haired woman standing next to him. "My name is Malib and this is my wife Bemuu. We are former residents of the Volan colonies in the demilitarized zone."
"What are you doing here?" wondered LaForge curiously. "Why are you helping them?" He was rewarded with an angry frown from Malib.
"That is none of your concern," the man replied acidly.
"How did you know we were coming?" asked Riker, pointing to the area surrounding them. "Minimal guards, low security, an easily-obtained force shield control…" he took the device from Geordi and handed it to Malib. "You lured us in and then simply closed your trap."
"Really sir, you are a Starfleet officer," Bemuu said with disdain. "Did you seriously think a cloaking device was all that you needed to penetrate our defenses?" Her long brown hair was pulled tightly back into a ponytail which flopped from side to side as she glanced first at Malib and then Riker while chuckling with amusement. "These three so-called Federation officers passed right through the tachyon detection grid connecting the ships in our blockade and they never even knew it."
LaForge groaned loudly, then turned and punched Worf soundly in the shoulder. "That better be the last time you give me grief when I link my tricorder to your ship's computer. Those Klingon passive sensors of yours are crap… they can't even detect tachyons."
"My shuttle is not an exploratory vessel," the Klingon said somewhat defensively. "It was not built for comprehensive research missions."
"Speaking of ships," Malib said pleasantly. "Our guests still have one setting out there somewhere, my dear. Why don't you and the Xindi run back to the barracks and roust some of the troops from their slumber – they're going to have to work tonight. Have them take portable tachyon emitters and begin searching the surrounding territory for a cloaked ship. We may not find it tonight, but by tomorrow evening I predict that we'll have it in custody too." He walked over to Riker and looked him directly in the eyes. "Are there more of you out there?"
"No, our team was kept small to avoid detection," Riker said with his best poker face.
"It makes no difference to me even if you are lying," Malib informed him. "Anybody else out in the open will certainly be caught. If, on the other hand, they're hiding with your ship then they will be captured as soon as we pinpoint its location."
One of the Breen stepped forward. The helmet and mask he wore was part of the standard armored, environmental pressure suit specifically designed and worn by all Breen troops to protect them while they were away from their icy home world. The faceplate he wore was also rumored to contain a universal translator. If so, it was an extremely simplified version of the Federation's own technology. The Breen nodded at the three Federation prisoners and said something that sounded like garbled electrical noise.
"Oh, these three?" Malib shrugged, pointing at the prisoners. "Lock them in one of the storage sheds. Tomorrow we will interrogate them, find out what they know and then kill them." He laughed politely. "Perhaps we'll put off the execution until evening… we'll let them see just how hot it gets in those sheds during an average day on this wretched planet."
With no choice but to obey, Riker and his comrades followed the Breen to one of the nearby utility sheds. They were quickly and expertly scanned, searched and stood by helplessly as the troops removed all of their communicators, tricorders and hiking equipment. Finally, one of the Breen opened the door to the shed and they were roughly shoved inside. The door closed almost immediately and they could hear it locked securely from the outside. Geordi found a bare spot on the metal floor and sat down with a sigh.
"What do we do now?" he asked.
"We wait," Riker told him. "Our good friend Dr. Crusher has work to do."
It was a beautifully sunny, partly-cloudy day in the spaceport at Ropal city. Ro Laren casually walked down one of the streets past the assortment of cargo ships that were continually arriving and departing. The past twenty-four hours had been absolutely chaotic on all of the Volan colonies in the former demilitarized zone that still tentatively separated Cardassian space from Federation territory. The Breen troops had been searching and seizing at least some cargo from most of the arriving ships, and it made her feel good to know that the assistance Captain Picard had promised them was already having its impact. All of the people in the cities were growing very curious about the sudden extra security measures being used by the Breen to confiscate supplies from so many of the incoming vessels.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she heard one of the freighter Captains yell at a Breen commander. "Do you know how much money taking away all of this cargo is going to cost me? These are medical supplies meant to help these colonists. Not only are they expensive to buy even at discounted wholesale prices but if I don't sell them for a decent profit I'm going to lose my business."
The Breen commander on duty said something in his uniquely jumbled electronic language. One of the spaceport employees glanced helplessly at the Captain. "He says you're transporting an unstable medical substance that, until refined, could be used to manufacture explosives," the man said nervously. "He has no choice but to confiscate your cargo." He watched the Captain's face grow red with anger and shrugged. "I have to agree with him. That stuff you're carrying is almost as unstable as infernium… it just doesn't have the added danger of radiation that infernium carries with it."
"You won't see me bothering to do business on this planet again," the Captain snarled, turning his back and walking angrily back toward his ship. He stood next to a couple of his crew members and watched helplessly as a dozen Breen troops entered the open hatchway to his freighter and began unloading his cargo. Ro sized him up and instantly liked the look of the ship's Captain, and that surprised her a little bit since she had traditionally been hesitant to trust those whom she didn't personally know. The man also happened to match the description she had been given. He was a stocky, tough-looking native Earth American with a prominent tattoo over his left eye. She casually walked over to him and couldn't help but smirk.
"Are you having a difficult day?" she asked him.
"You could say that," the man replied. "Business has definitely been better."
"Don't the Ferengi have a rule of acquisition that supposedly states that war is good for business?" she said with a casual laugh.
"They also have a rule stating that peace is good for business," the Captain replied. "My name is Chakotay, and I'm very pleased to meet you."
"Ro Laren," she said, smiling in welcome at the man as she shook his hand. "Why don't you let me buy you lunch, since you're obviously going to lose your shirt on this trip."
"How can I refuse such a generous offer?" he said with a warm smile. He glanced back over his shoulder and took one last look at his ship. A dark-skinned Vulcan was standing next to the hatchway with a data pad, carefully keeping track of all inventory being seized by the Breen. "Tuvok," he called out. "You're in charge… I'll be back in an hour or two."
"Yes Captain," the Vulcan replied before promptly returning to his work.
The two of them walked away from the spaceport and moved gradually toward the market place at the center of the city. There were lots of shops and restaurants on both sides of the paved road they walked along but everywhere they went Chakotay noticed armed Breen soldiers stationed on both sides of each intersection. Most of the humanoid civilians went about their usual business and did their best to ignore the troops, although occasionally one of them was stopped at random, scanned and searched for contraband.
"I've been here many times before," he told her. "Although not recently. The place has changed quite a bit." He watched a man who had been detained and searched being led away for no apparent reason. From what he could tell, they had found absolutely nothing on him.
"They've been doing that more and more lately," Ro told him. "They search people, take them in for questioning and then we don't hear from them again." She shook her head. "I carry a knife with me all the time now… if they search me and find it I guess I really don't care any more. Whether it's forced labor they want us for, sexual favors or something else it doesn't matter. I've decided that at least one or two of them are going to die before I do to pay for what they're doing to the homes that we've built here."
"The abductions are precisely why we've advanced our time table," said Chakotay with a concerned expression on his face. "Your most recent report to Captain Picard was particularly troubling. The Breen have spent months confiscating virtually everything that could be useful to them from these planets and yet they're still here. What else could they possibly steal from people they've left with so little."
"They're starting to steal the people," Ro said angrily. "At first it was just the ones who spoke out that disappeared… lately it's whoever they randomly select."
The two of them walked into a brightly decorated restaurant and placed their food orders at one of the replimats. Once the food finished materializing, they each picked up a tray and sat down at an empty table to begin eating their lunch. Ro studied the newcomer carefully, trying to determine his angle in all of this.
"I know your name, but who are you?" she asked curiously.
"I used to command a Maquis ship in the Badlands," he said after briefly wiping his mouth with a napkin. "While fleeing from a Cardassian patrol cruiser we were swept into the Delta quadrant and met up with the starship Voyager. My ship was destroyed almost immediately after our arrival there and the survivors from my crew joined Admiral Janeway's. I served as her first officer during our entire voyage home."
"So you're from that ship too," she said with a warm smile. "And you were also a member of the Maquis. So how come I've never met you before?"
"My ship was normally deployed deep within the plasma storms in the Badlands and was only around for a short time before we were transported halfway across the galaxy. Remember that Vulcan first officer I left in command of my cargo ship back at the spaceport? He also served with the Admiral as Voyager's tactical officer." Chakotay smiled with confidence. "If you've managed to get the word out to your fellow citizens as well as your progress reports indicate, we're very close to giving the Breen a surprise they won't soon forget."
"I'm going to hold you to that Chakotay," Ro said firmly. "Enough good people have already been taken from their families. No one knows whether they're alive or dead."
He took a bite of his sandwich and neither of them spoke for a few moments. They just watched the people drifting by and the expressions of concern that they wore. The day was a cheery one, mostly sunny and bright with fresh air all around, yet the mood of the civilian residents was extremely depressed. It was most definitely a population in need of help.
"I think you should lose the knife," decided Chakotay. "If you are captured and taken away with the others then we'll have someone with Starfleet training on the inside of their kidnapping network. It won't do the people who have already been abducted any good if you're killed before you can help us locate them."
"I'll get rid of it as soon as I go home," she promised him. "What else do you need?"
"A way to get out of the city after dark," he responded. "You and some of your trusted friends are going to have to assist Tuvok and myself in breaking curfew for a few nights." He held up a hand after noticing the worry etched into her expression. "Relax," he reassured her. "We've entered the final stage of our plan. Undercover Federation and Cardassian operatives are doing the same thing on the rest of the colonies in the DMZ. We have to be ready by Admiral Janeway's deadline so that everyone can act at once. The Breen will never be able to handle a well coordinated simultaneous uprising on all of these planets."
"No, they'll just bombard us from orbit and be done with us," she said bitterly.
"Like hell they will," Chakotay disagreed. "You've obviously never served with Admiral Janeway. She knows how to play for all the marbles." He stood up and tossed his napkin onto his plate. "Thanks for the lunch," he said. "Leave your address with Mr. Tuvok at the spaceport and we'll rendezvous with your group tonight at your place after it gets dark. I will be out and about for a while yet… I have several other contacts here to check in with."
"Thank you Chakotay," Ro said, feeling more comfortable than she had in a long time.