Star Trek: Absolution
Chapter XIII: Civil Disobedience
For the purposes of her latest update to Starfleet command, Kathryn Janeway had temporarily borrowed Captain Picard's ready room. She sat comfortably behind his desk and carefully studied the face of the man on the monitor in front of her. Admiral Owen Paris had contacted the Enterprise roughly ten minutes ago and requested a personal status report from her. So far the new Admiral's counterpart had nothing critical to say and Janeway looked upon that as a very positive sign. Paris was a confident-looking older man with a thinning patch of gray hair on his head and his expression was difficult to read as he considered her plan carefully.
"So you've already assembled all of the resources you need to cut off the Breen supply lines from the demilitarized zone?" Paris asked carefully.
"That's correct Admiral," said Janeway with a confident smile. It was her plan that they were going to use, but never being one to let ego get in the way of teamwork she had spent many hours working with Picard to improve its strategical design. "We've got a combined fleet of Federation starships, Cardassian heavy cruisers and Klingon warbirds standing by to cut them off once our preset deadline is reached. They've been blockading almost three sectors for months now, so we're going to establish our own safety net around them."
He took a deep breath and thought about the matter carefully. "I must point out that your decision to arm both the Cardassian and Federation civilians is a huge gamble. If you are successful in flushing the Breen out of the DMZ we could simply end up trading our new problem in for the old one." Paris shook his head with dismay. "You're also counting on the Klingons and Cardassians to fight side by side… that part alone could end in disaster."
"No one is more aware of those possibilities than the people on Deep Space Nine," responded Janeway. "I've spoken with Commander Hazelton, General Kira and Gul Mullis. They have all assured me that the Cardassian government is in no shape to antagonize the residents of the demilitarized zone in the same manner that it did back in the days of the Maquis. As for the Klingons, well… they're proven allies and will follow the orders of their Chancellor."
"The possibility still exists for disastrous results Kathryn."
"That it does Admiral Paris. But I've already spoken on several occasions with Gul Mullis. The days of the Cardassian ruling military class were fading rapidly even before they made their last ditch effort to team up with the Dominion. The civilians are taking even more control of their government with every day that passes. No one in their reorganized military holds a rank higher than that of a Gul. For the first time in their history, civilians make the final decision regarding the use of their troops and there isn't an egotistical Legate to be found."
"Their efforts to reform their government are admirable, I must admit." Paris decided. He carefully paused for a moment and mentally reviewed their conversation before continuing. "What assurances do you have that the military won't try to take back control – their soldiers play a central role in backing a serious rebuilding effort, after all."
"I have two reliable aces up my sleeve Admiral Paris. The first is the recently rescued Kai Opaka. She has journeyed to Cardassia to begin visiting with its population and plans to help them restore spirituality, peace and unity. Ordinarily I would have major doubts about a Bajoran traveling deep into territory that was so recently hostile towards her people, but if you've read my entire report then you already know what she was able to accomplish during her stay on that small moon in the gamma quadrant."
"I'll grant you that," conceded Paris. "She is a remarkable woman."
"The second ace we have is a Cardassian named Elim Garak. His background is quite remarkable and he used to be a major player in Enabran Tain's Obsidian Order – the Cardassian espionage unit equivalent to the Romulan Tal'Shiar."
"From the information that I've read on this Garak, he's an unpredictable maverick who traditionally puts his own ambition ahead of everything else. Isn't that one of the reasons he was exiled to Deep Space Nine in the first place?"
"Quite simply, I'm trusting General Kira on this matter. She still holds a Starfleet commission and knows the man better than I do. She worked very closely with him throughout the Dominion war, and tells me that since the death of Tain he has done nothing but work to improve the security of the Cardassian people. His ability to get nasty when he needs to is actually a plus for us, since he's running what's left of the Order. I have his personal guarantee that he will use that organization to impose new checks and balances on the military." She leaned forward in her chair to better emphasize her next point. "Admiral, I'm certain neither of us is naïve enough to believe that the Cardassian military will simply change overnight into an entity the Federation approves of. That's why I want someone watching them who has connections with us and can be just as devious as those who are still hungry for power."
Paris considered her words thoughtfully. "I trust the military and civilian branches of the government will also be placing some restrictions on this Garak's newfound authority."
"That's the plan Admiral," Janeway said with a hint of pride in her voice. "Once we bushwhack the Breen in the demilitarized zone, the Cardassian fleet will remain behind and keep the enemy ships we capture from moving to assist their friends in the blockade around the Dark Nebula. If everything goes as planned – and there's no reason it shouldn't – the Federation fleet will rendezvous with our new Xindi friends and flush the enemy out of the nebula as well."
"Now that's the part that may not go so well," Admiral Paris cautioned her. "The latest report you sent me still lists a lot of unknowns on this planned second stage."
"Agreed," nodded Janeway as she took a sip of hot coffee from the mug in front of her. She set the cup back on the Captain's desk and hugged its warmth tightly with both hands. "We have a few hours yet until we're scheduled to hear from the Enterprise team that volunteered to probe the nebula. Unless they run into trouble gathering the data that we've requested, we should be able to adapt our plan of attack as needed while en route. Neither the Breen or the reptilian-Xindi have any reasonable claim to that region after all. Since the Cardassian and Ferengi territories border it on two sides and the Federation frontier is on its third they're technically guilty of trespassing inside of it as well as the DMZ colonies."
"Ah but it's such an ideal hiding place to conduct secret and quite probably illegal experiments," pointed out Paris with a distinct note of sarcasm in his tone of voice. "What is your impression of the other three Xindi delegations that met you at Deep Space Nine?"
"Thus far they've been notoriously friendly and have delivered on every promise of assistance that they submitted with their initial proposal," said Janeway cheerfully. "Some of the humanoids and arboreals have even inquired about applying to Starfleet Academy." She smiled and took another sip of coffee. "It's only a matter of time before they join the Federation, too. You don't need to be a prophet to see that one coming."
"They certainly don't kid around when it comes to cleaning up pollution and hard radiation," Paris said agreeably. "What they've done in the former Delphic Expanse is truly remarkable. While you were stranded in the Delta quadrant we've been able to begin establishing new colonies on some of the star systems in that region. They've definitely done their best to make reparations over the years for their initial attacks on Earth."
"That's precisely why I think a few risks at this point are worth it," Kathryn decided. "With the Borg and the Dominion out of the picture, bringing Cardassia and three groups of the Xindi on board will help stabilize this region and protect the security of the Federation for decades, if not centuries." She could tell that the plan she had formulated with Captain Picard was winning him over, especially after hearing Paris' next comment.
"I like your mug," he said, pointing toward the cup on her desk.
She held up the coffee cup proudly and grinned at its simple message: 'Don't argue with the Admiral'. "This was a gift from your son Tom and his wife B'Elanna," she said with a cheerful smirk. "Your granddaughter Miral presented it to me shortly after I received word that I had officially been promoted."
"My son has always had a sense of humor, I'll give him that," Paris grinned. "I want to thank you again for looking out for him and caring about him so much while you were both so far away from home. Your experiences together really matured him and also helped me take a second look at our relationship. We both owe you a lot, Kathryn."
"Thank you Admiral Paris," she said, accepting the compliment with grace. "The next time I speak with Tom, I'll have him replicate you a mug of your own. Oh… and please be certain to tell Reg Barclay that I said hello."
Grinning cheerfully, she watched the work station's screen image change to a Federation logo with the words "End Transmission" emblazoned at the bottom. Standing up, she smoothed the front of her uniform and left the ready room in favor of the bridge. As she stepped out into the large Enterprise command center, Picard swiveled in his seat and cast a curious glance her way. She almost laughed because she could tell immediately that he was trying to read how well the conversation had gone simply by studying her expression.
"It's on Captain," Admiral Janeway said confidently just before she disappeared into a turbolift. She didn't need to see the look of approval on Picard's face… it had been obvious from their first meeting that they made an excellent team. The chance to command a major operation from the deck of the Federation flagship was the opportunity of a lifetime, but even so she was finding her old Captain's concern for crew hard to shake. Her primary focus in organizing the best tactical plan possible was aimed primarily at minimizing the loss of life for everyone.
Stardate 55419: 0700 hours Enterprise time… Zero hour
Janeway returned to the bridge promptly the next morning and immediately requested a status report from Picard. "The enhancements to our shield grid were completed as scheduled by the engineers on our night shift," he informed her. "Currently the Enterprise and twenty-two other Federation starships are concealed within the McAllister Nebula near Minos Korva. All you need to do is give us the word Admiral, and we're on our way. Aside from our survey team in the Dark Nebula, everything is set and everyone is ready. Commander Riker missed his scheduled check in time, and I find that great cause for concern."
"Are you confident that we can adapt our plan sufficiently if he doesn't contact us?"
"Absolutely," decided Picard. "But I need my officers back and you need every ship in this fleet. So I took the liberty of ordering the fastest vessel I could find to proceed directly to the nebula and provide assistance to my team."
She smirked at him… they were really beginning to think alike. "Commander Data?" Picard simply smiled back at her and they both knew that the situation was under control. "I can't blame you for doing that, Captain." Janeway commented.
"Thank you, Admiral. We'll just have to wait a little longer to debrief Tasha Yar."
Janeway stood silently at the rear of the bridge and took a deep breath, thoughtfully reviewing their strategy one last time before officially making the final decision to proceed with their carefully prepared sequence of events. "Signal Vice Admiral Nechayev on subspace," she ordered. "Inform her that she and Gul Mullis can begin moving his Galor-Class starships into position on the Cardassian side of the demilitarized zone. Then signal the rest of our fleet to move out of the nebula and set course for our side of the border."
Counselor Troi was filling in for Worf at the tactical station and curtly nodded in reply as she quickly busied herself with the subspace transmitter. Picard glanced down at Lieutenant Brian Thaire, who was seated in Data's normal position at the helm station. "Mr. Thaire, adjust our course as ordered and engage at warp five."
"Aye sir," he replied, making the necessary course adjustments.
"Messages sent," reported Troi.
"Hail the Breen," Janeway said firmly. "Send them our prerecorded message."
Stardate 55419: 0705 hours Enterprise time…
Thann Vladi had been the Breen commander of the occupation force located on the colonies in the demilitarized zone since the closing days of the Dominion war. His people's fleet had initially retreated there after the female shapeshifter officially surrendered and his people had been working steadily to bleed the planets in the region dry of resources ever since. Their government hadn't officially told the Founders about the additional project already underway in the Dark Nebula, and after the collapse of the Dominion presence in the alpha quadrant the Breen had moved as quickly as possible to seize the opportunity – and the equipment needed – to speed along the ongoing effort there.
He had noticed several minor oddities of late, one of which was the steadily increasing number of ships arriving with cargo that failed to pass their security restrictions. It wasn't an outrageously high statistic but it had certainly drawn his attention as abnormal, specifically after the months that they had spent defining to the Captains of those commercial vessels just what supplies were permissible and those that weren't. Thann had simply shrugged it off and continued coordinating his people's activity throughout the colonies. He had plenty of troops and if those Captains wanted to lose money by donating expensive supplies to his cause – despite the fact that they were specifically listed on the 'do not transport' list – then he really didn't care. They simply wouldn't stay in business for long.
Today had started off just like most of the others, with routine reports detailing enemy ship movements and periodic updates as major changes were noticed. Of interest to him were the higher than average number of Cardassian warships patrolling the Union's side of the DMZ. This was extremely unusual, to say the least, but Thann was unconcerned simply because he knew the Cardassians were famous for their use of intimidation tactics. Their government was in no shape to start a war in this region and everybody knew it – just like he knew the Federation would keep its hands off the situation as long as possible if their government felt it could achieve an eventual Breen departure from the area with patience and diplomacy.
It was late afternoon now on the Volan colony, and Thann continued to work at his desk in their highly-secured facility on the outer edge of Ropal City. As he kept busy, his subordinates continued to trickle in and out of his office with additional updates for him. Again he noticed something out of the ordinary on one of the reports, this time a list of statistics regarding increased civilian gatherings in public. His orders had made it perfectly clear that no more than three people were allowed to congregate at a time, and certainly not for longer than ten minutes.
Shaking his head, he noted with extreme dissatisfaction that the number of violations his squadron commanders were reporting was growing far too high. If things didn't change soon then he would simply order his men to begin arresting the offending civilians. The colonists were obviously planning some sort of uprising, but he wasn't really convinced that they could come up with any serious resistance while they were so completely isolated from the larger sovereign governments in the region. He was going to need to round up most of the humans soon anyway as they approached the final stage of their project and then the Federation would have no choice but to try and provide assistance.
He was still reviewing reports and congratulating himself on the efficiency of their plan when the work station on his desk beeped for attention. Thann activated its display screen and watched the image of Donis Dyl, one of his starship Captains, appear. Since both of them were wearing the standard helmeted armor necessary to their survival while away from their icy home world, neither man could see the other's expression. But the tone in Donis' electronic voice was immediate cause for concern. Grimly, the Captain relayed an incoming subspace message directly to the computer on Thann's desk.
Dyl vanished from the screen with a quick flicker and in his place was the image of a human female wearing a Starfleet Admiral's uniform. "This is Admiral Kathryn Janeway, representing the United Federation of Planets," she began ominously. "By my clock it is ten minutes after seven in the morning… I don't know how the Breen measure time but since you're occupying our territories and interfering with the lives of our colonists I'm certain that you have a way to convert the number." She paused for a moment and Thann watched her with interest. "Simply put, your time is up. Your sensors will tell you that a Federation fleet is currently moving past Minos Korva to intercept your starships. A Cardassian fleet is also forming on their side of the border and plans to assist us. All Breen personnel have thirty minutes from the start of this transmission to immediately evacuate to your ships – not one minute longer. Do not attempt to take hostages and do not take any of your equipment with you. Violation of any of these directives will result in severe consequences for your people."
As her brief statement concluded Thann watched the screen in front of him go blank with utter disdain. He practically laughed at the obvious bluff and immediately ordered the sentries posted at the door to his office to signal a battle alert. It looked like this evening was going to be a little different than usual after all in the former demilitarized zone.
Stardate 55419: 0712 hours Enterprise time…
Chakotay carefully stood next to Ro Laren's second-story apartment window and kept a wary eye on the street below. They could both hear alarms sounding in the distance and Ro laughed in the background as she carefully replayed the Admiral's recorded ultimatum to confirm its content. "She used the word 'convert' in her message," he heard her call to him from the other room. "We know they expect the Breen to try and take hostages, but that's the all-clear signal they promised to send and let us know that they've scanned the area around all of the confiscated cargo and found it clear of captured human and Cardassian colonists."
"I'm sure the Breen locked it all away nice and safe in their secure facilities," said Chakotay with a grin. He shouldered the phaser rifle he held carefully and waited for the inevitable appearance of the enemy soldiers. "Why don't you send them our message?" he suggested with a knowing smile. "After all, we wouldn't want them thinking they're in total control of the situation any longer, would we?"
Ro adjusted the transceiver in front of her carefully to a specific subspace frequency that Chakotay had provided to her earlier that day. "What do I send?" she called out to him.
"Anything," he replied. "Say 'hello' if you want. Just make certain that you transmit your message using the precise setting that I gave to you."
Ro Laren activated the transmitter. Tentatively she glanced into its visual pickup and said cautiously, "Hello… this is a test. Can anybody hear me?" The response was virtually immediate – in the far off distance they could hear the sound of several large explosions. Several seconds later, additional explosions rocked the otherwise quiet afternoon and more detonations continued to shatter the afternoon silence every few seconds for the next few minutes.
The transmission that Ro sent connected to another subspace receiver and a Cardassian female appeared on her screen. "Ropal City? This is Tannis Dane, governor of the Tuudzyn province. We hear you loud and clear." Once again, Ro could hear the sound of additional explosions on the Cardassian end of the transmission. "It works!" Tannis said with obvious glee. "We will contact the next colony and continue the chain reaction!"
Ro promptly shut off the subspace radio and joined Chakotay by the window in the apartment's other room. As he handed her a phaser rifle, she stared with utter disbelief at the clouds of dark smoke pouring into the sky on the planet's horizon just north of the city. If she looked closely enough, she could also see the distant flicker of flames at the bottom of each of the explosive blasts.
"Okay," she said with a definite hint of curiosity. "I get how you tricked them into moving unstable substances inside their military compounds. But how did you know the cargo would pass through their security without them detecting a detonator inside?"
Chakotay simply grinned at her. "I have access to these wonderful things called Borg nanoprobes," he said confidently. "They're very useful actually. They sat inside all that cargo looking microscopically harmless until they received your subspace transmission. Then they simply combined together into a detonator device appropriate to the substance they were in and – Whammo!" His thoughts drifted warmly to a recent memory shared with his girlfriend Seven of Nine and he made a mental note to thank her for the design with a romantic dinner once he returned to Earth. "It's a lot easier to sabotage someone if you can trick them into confiscating your bombs and planting them for you," he said with a chuckle.
"It's brilliant is what it is," Ro commented. "They did all the leg work for us. We didn't have to risk penetrating their security, evading capture, or inadvertently tipping them off before everyone was set." She continued to watch the fires burning out of control on the horizon.
"I predict the Breen will choose to be stubborn," Chakotay decided, continuing to keep his phaser at the ready while he watched the street below carefully. "Right now, they've been taken by surprise, but they won't panic yet. They're going to try and take us hostage, and that's where this plan of ours gets extremely dangerous. I hope your civilian friends are ready."
"They are," Ro promised him. "Anyone who doesn't know how to fight is staying with someone who does. So let's get on with this already." She and Chakotay both raised their phaser rifles and quickly stunned the two nervous Breen guards patrolling the intersection on the street below. Immediately a couple of men emerged from a building across the street from them and disarmed the soldiers, dragging their unconscious bodies indoors and out of sight. Cautiously, Ro and Chakotay hastily descended to the first floor of the apartment building and moved out into the street toward the north end of town. In the distance they could hear the distinct sound of phaser fire as other Breen soldiers within the city limits were stunned and taken into custody.
Stardate 55419: 0721 hours Enterprise time…
Thann Vladi briskly led a squadron of fifty armed soldiers south toward Ropal. Their primary military compound was currently burning in several key areas and he was angrier than he had ever been in his life. He had ordered his troops to set their weapons to kill and it was no longer his intention of taking everyone alive. The Breen had already suffered casualties this day and he intended to make the colonists pay for their defiance.
The first thing he noticed as they approached the city limits was that none of his guards stationed inside the city were replying to his repeated attempts to contact them. The second thing he observed were the several dozen red hot phaser beams that burned the ground in front of him as they attempted to move closer to the city. Extremely irritated, he motioned with his right fist for his men to spread out and begin an assault. As his team began to follow orders, additional phaser beams flared out from the windows and doors of the nearest buildings and instantly vaporized half a dozen of his men. The rest of them froze in shock.
"I thought these people are supposed to be unarmed!" one of his men yelled irritably at him electronically, obviously caught off guard just as he was. "Those sound like standard issue Federation phasers that they're shooting at us."
Thann angrily motioned for silence. He scanned the city in front of them carefully with the electronically enhanced visor in his Breen helmet. The citizens had planned their assault well… unless his men began systematically reducing all of the buildings to rubble or he ordered an attack from orbit their new enemy was very well concealed. He knew immediately that the first option was out of the question simply because his troops were caught out in the open, unprepared. He was debating as to whether or not to order an orbital assault when someone with a bullhorn began shouting at him from the city.
"My name is Chakotay," the human yelled to them. "Your dominance over us and your continued presence on these planets is over. This is not an isolated incident – it's happening all throughout the demilitarized zone on all of the colonies. You now have 18 minutes remaining to accept the situation and leave. Once Admiral Janeway's deadline passes, I guarantee you we're going to take back our cities the old fashioned way… and we're not going to be nearly this nice."
Reports were pouring in on the secure military channel wired into Thann's helmet as quickly as he could listen to them. Unfortunately for him the transmissions confirmed that the human was telling the truth and that the civilians were indeed revolting simultaneously on all of the other colonies. He was also receiving reports indicating that a sizeable number of additional military facilities had also suffered from unexpected explosions that seemed to originate out of nowhere. Having seen quite enough, the Breen commander furiously tapped his helmet and prepared to order an orbital assault on Ropal City. Perhaps if his starships destroyed a colony or two the Federation would learn that his people weren't kidding and end this foolishness.
Before he could send his message Thann heard an angry roar from the south. Curious, he and his men listened as the uproar – faint at first – continued to build in crescendo. As it grew closer and steadily louder he was able to determine that it was the sound of a lot of men all screaming together in unison. As they watched in utter astonishment a mob of angry Klingons poured onto the main avenue slicing through the center of town. Waving bat'leths, hand phasers and rifles, the dozens of Klingon soldiers pounded their feet toward the stunned Breen shouting at the top of their lungs. Even well-trained troops had their breaking point and Thann discovered that his men had reached theirs. They weren't up against untrained civilians any longer, but were instead facing highly trained Klingon warriors out for blood.
Behind him, most of his soldiers were already retreating and he turned quickly to join them. Several more of his people disintegrated in glowing flashes of sickly green annihilation as Klingon phaser blasts flashed toward their vulnerable position and caught them falling back. Feeling fear crawl through his body for the first time since Janeway had issued her initial message, the Breen commander continued to shout orders through his helmet transceiver, all while running back toward the north as fast as his feet would carry him. More of his men disintegrated or fell wounded as they ran and his shouts for emergency transport were finally answered as the rest of them disappeared in a surge of emerald transporter energy…
…and reappeared on a large platform up in orbit. Disgusted, Thann threw his disruptor rifle to the floor and left the room immediately, heading furiously toward the ship's bridge. It took him several additional minutes to traverse the distance to the vessel's command center and when the lift doors finally opened in front of him he stormed out of it and into the cavernous chamber beyond in search of Donis Dyl. "Target their cities and begin firing immediately!" he shouted heatedly at the ship's Captain. "Kill everyone on that planet whose life sign doesn't register as Breen!" His anger continued to build as Donis simply looked back at him without saying a word, then pointed across the bridge at the viewscreen.
The colorful, round shape of the planet took up the entire lower left portion of the screen, but between its cities and their own ship were five decloaked Klingon birds of prey. "The Klingons have obviously been down on the planet for several days now," the Captain told him. "That is no doubt how the Federation and Cardassian governments managed to supply weapons to their civilians, and it also explains why there are suddenly Klingon troops in the colonies. They kept themselves cloaked the entire time and landed outside the cities just opposite our bases while our soldiers were kept busy confiscating cargo from the merchant vessels."
"Lock on to as many human life signs as you can and beam them aboard as hostages," Thann said commandingly. "We've already got some of their people and we'll use them to negotiate our way out of this."
" The transporters are busy recovering our own people. You might want to seriously consider surrendering to them on their terms," Donis Dyl said angrily to him. "They're ready for anything we try to do and I've already lost a lot of my men today trying to follow your orders and resist them. I've been informed that the civilians are already holding some of our own troops prisoner." He pointed at the viewscreen and touched a control pad on his right arm. The image switched instantly from that of the planet to a tactical sensor overlay of the demilitarized zone. On it they could plainly see Klingon ships protectively hovering above each of the planets, with the Federation and Cardassian fleets rapidly spreading out along both sides of the border. "Admiral Janeway took advantage of our over-confidence," Donis told the Commander. "They have us trapped helplessly between them with the Klingons protecting their civilians. Unless you want to die today, this is over."
"I told those idiots in the Dark Nebula that we needed a tachyon detection grid here too!" Thann growled with growing defeat, even though his disappointment was not evident in his electronically enhanced voice. "But they insisted they needed the extra ships there to protect the project and conceal our alliance with the reptilian-Xindi. Now that decision has cost us our supply line." He stared helplessly at the screen, watching the enemy ships slowly but surely tightening their web around him. There were at least seventy enemy ships out there, and they had his eighteen starships neatly caught between them. "Can we at least warn Malib and Bemuu in the Nebula?" he asked warily, watching Donis shake his head in response.
"They established a jamming network the instant the first bombs began to explode on the surface. With respect, I think it's time to do exactly as we're told, Commander."
Stardate 55419: 0730 hours Enterprise time…
Picard and Janeway stood side by side on the bridge of the Enterprise, carefully watching the tactical sensor display on the bridge's forward viewscreen. "Deanna, please give us a status report," the Captain requested, his gaze shifting toward her.
"All coalition ships are reporting condition green," the dark-haired counselor reported briskly. "And we're receiving a hail from one of the Breen starships. They're asking for terms."
"Connect me to them," Janeway ordered, waiting for her to comply. Returning Picard's glance with assurance, Troi followed the order and nodded at them.
"Ready Admiral."
"This is Admiral Janeway," she said, feeling a surge of relief at the good news so far. "The Breen surrender will be unconditional. All ships are ordered to immediately lower shields and eject both primary and secondary weapons coils. You are also instructed to jettison all torpedoes and other explosive devices, making certain you leave them in an unarmed status. The starship Atlantis will move alongside the two ships that we scanned with colony prisoners aboard. You will allow us to beam our people aboard the Atlantis, at which time you will proceed directly to the Cardassian side of the demilitarized zone where you will be detained indefinitely."
Counselor Troi winced as a loud electronic protest sounded from the communications console. She glanced at the text translation in front of her and shook her head. "They don't like your terms Admiral," she said, not exactly telling Janeway anything she didn't already know.
"This is your last chance," Picard spoke up. "We have been patient and given you every opportunity to comply with our original message. Since you chose to try and take hostages those conditions have now been modified. Failure to comply with any of Admiral Janeway's orders will leave us no choice but to begin disabling the warp engines on each of your ships. I'm certain you will agree that this will cause you even more of a… delay."
Deanna watched her tactical console carefully for the next few minutes and finally smiled with approval. "The Breen ships are complying with your instructions Admiral," she reported with a sigh. "All of them."
"I wonder how many people we lost during all this nonsense," Janeway said with a bit of regret in her tone. "Considering the murderous disregard the Breen have shown for the terms they agreed to after the Dominion war, I firmly believe we had no choice but to send them the proper message today. They got bit by the dogs of war and it will make them think twice before trying their underhanded tactics in a war-torn region again."
"Counselor, may we have an update please?" Picard asked.
"All ships and colonies have reported in as ordered Captain," he said. "A few of the colonies do have some civilian injuries since the Breen shot down some of their buildings, but overall the surprise approach was a big success. The Klingons were late arriving at three of the cities due to the position of the Breen military compounds there. They took some casualties but are reporting that the enemy didn't stick around long enough to put up much of a fight. There are no casualties reported amongst the civilians and the Breen have all returned to their ships. As we speak, their vessels are slowly being squeezed between the Klingon and Cardassian fleets."
"Then it's a waiting game for now," Janeway commented. "We'll stay until we're certain that the Breen have complied with our order to disarm and can guarantee that the Cardassian fleet has them safely contained."
"Deanna, please contact the Xindi fleet and give them our rendezvous coordinates," the Captain ordered. "Ask them to wait for us as planned next to the McAllister nebula." He watched her nod as she began relaying the message.
"It remains to be seen whether the Klingons and Cardassians can be trusted to work together so soon after their past conflicts," Janeway commented. "That's why I think your suggestion to arm the colonists was a good one… they're not helpless bystanders any longer and will have a say in the matter this time."
"The idea actually occurred to me after reviewing the historical information on Data's mission to Stadia," replied Picard. "Captain Kirk's original intention there, once it became obvious that the Prime Directive had been violated, was to make sure that both sides were armed equally. He didn't want to simply fly off and leave a bully in charge of that planet."
"Once the Breen are allowed to return home, the Klingons won't need to stay either," Counselor Troi pointed out. "I think the long-term test for this region will be whether the Cardassians and humans can get along this time."
"Touché Counselor," decided Picard.
Stardate 55419: 0745 hours Enterprise time…
Chakotay lowered his electronic bullhorn and walked out to the center of the street where a group of colonists were already cheering and shouting over their obvious triumphant victory in the Volan Colonies. The only Breen left on the planet were prisoners being held in some of the city buildings, and their superiors hadn't dared try to beam them up while the enemy starship fleets had them surrounded. He breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the citizens celebrate and waited patiently for Ro Laren to return from her apartment.
When she finally did come back out onto the street she nodded and flashed him a grateful smile. "We did it," she told him with excitement. "I've been monitoring subspace for the past ten minutes and the Enterprise has signaled that everyone reported in as green… the Breen starships have all been captured and disarmed."
As she spoke a pair of Cardassians emerged from one of the buildings behind them. They were Darot and Meros, representatives from the city closest to Ropal. Both of them had worked closely with the Ro and Chakotay for the past several days, helping them pass along details of their plan to contacts on the other colonies. The citizens of Ropal had also appointed several humans to represent them in the neighboring city and assist with the overall plan for today's scheduled uprising. The exchanges had been kept small in order to avoid arousing suspicion with the Breen, gradually increasing until everyone received the supplies and information that they needed to defend themselves.
"I think we should organize several groups of people to visit the Breen military facilities and begin reviewing their computer files," Chakotay suggested. "Admiral Janeway and Captain Picard will need to know if there is any critical data stored there that can be used as proof of the criminal events that took place here."
"We also might be able to supply them with valuable intelligence," Darot noted. Both of the Cardassians were male and obviously handling the planet's late afternoon heat much better than Ro and Chakotay were. "The Breen do not do anything without a specific objective in mind… the people in our city have been trying to discover what that is for months now."
"First and foremost they wanted our resources," said Ro. She looked at the two of them and handed Chakotay her phaser rifle. "I sincerely hope that we can continue to work together. I think we've all learned the past few days that we have more in common out here on the edge of our respective governments' influence than we thought we did. We all have weapons again, along with the same choice that we did the last time – continue to build on the trust that we've established today or go back to killing each other."
"Some day I will play for you the message my father sent to me from my home world," Meros told her. "The damage that the Dominion did to the Cardassian people and our cities left us devastated. I think you will find that most of us – like you – are tired of all the killing that has gone on and will work with you."
"Some will never be comfortable with the spirit of cooperation," Chakotay observed. "That's why both sides need to work together and form our own governing body. We have the weapons we need, so once we establish rule of law in these territories those who break it can be tried, convicted and locked away."
"We already have prisoners to lock up," one of the humans behind him decided enthusiastically. "At least until Starfleet lets us know what is to be done with them."
"Indeed," Chakotay grinned. "I say we visit that Breen compound, release our people there, and confine the Breen soldiers in those same cells." He shook his head in disgust. "They treated everyone on these planets with such total contempt that we never even had to worry seriously about spies in our midst. Who could ever have trusted them?"
"It's nice to know you weren't kidding me Chakotay," Ro commented, slapping him affectionately on the back. "Admiral Janeway delivered when we needed help the most. We owe Starfleet an awful lot… so let me be the first to say thank you for all your effort here."
"You're welcome," he said with a hearty chuckle while keeping his eye on a rowdy group of Klingons who were busy shouting at each other near the far end of the street. "But I think we'd better go help my friend Tuvok… he appears to be having a tough time convincing the Klingons that the fighting here is finished already."