I don't own Star Trek or Stargate SG1, but I have changed a few details about the Asgard hyperdrive to be more scientifically accurate much like the wormhole from the movie Interstellar.
Please let me know what you think.
Rescue.
"What's our status?" Sisko asked as he stepped into the Odyssey bridge.
"Shields and defence systems are fully prepared, sir. Quantum and photon torpedoes in the modified missile tubes and the phaser cannons in the railgun emplacements are standing by and operational, Worf rumbled from his spot next to the command chair - Sisko had to admit that the forward layout of the Odyssey was certainly efficient; rather than having the tactical station so far away, it was right next to the command chair.
Jadzia gave out her own report as he settled into the command chair. "All systems are functioning and operational, sir."
"Hyperdrive and gravimetric engines are ready, sir," O'Brien added. "The Zero Point Module is still ticking over, but I have a couple of antimatter generators ready to be hooked up in case anything goes wrong with our current supply of energy.
"Right, thank you Chief," Sisko nodded, remembering from Dax's reports of her initial findings. She had discovered the hyperdrive of the Odyssey was powered by a power source called a 'zero-point module,' which tapped into a subspace pocket on a quantum level.
At the same time, Dax had made it clear to him and O'Brien that because of the ZPM's properties and how she didn't have any theories on how the device worked although the Asgard themselves had only a few ideas and nothing substantial to explain how they worked, that she didn't know how long the ZPM would last in this universe.
With that in mind, O'Brien had made sure to add some conventional Federation power sources to the Odyssey. They had an antimatter generator and a few fusion generators ready, but they had no idea how it would affect the hyperdrive's performances. The good news was they would be only travelling from one part of the galaxy to the other a little bit today before they headed to Earth.
Sisko shifted a little bit as he tried settling into the chair. It wasn't really comfortable with his larger build, but he knew this command was only going to be brief. "Are the food supplies stored?" He asked to distract himself from the feeling he was going to be thrown across the bridge only to cartwheel in an undignified manner until he hit the far wall where the HUD was.
"Yes, sir. All supplies are ready."
"Julians' ready, too, and he has sickbay stocked with supplies," Dax added.
"Okay, good," Sisko leaned back in a futile effort to make himself comfortable. He took a deep breath before he remembered the security team he'd wanted Odo to give him. "That's the medical side taken care of, what about the security team? If we're rescuing a group of people from an outpost I want to make sure they're prepared for anything."
While they might not actually need the security team they had never before needed to use Asgard beaming technology which acted like a very small, very basic wormhole in subspace which was powerful and refined enough to move through shielding ass if they weren't even there, but at the same time, Sisko wasn't taking any risks.
After everything that had happened in the past two years - the destruction of the Galaxy-class Odyssey, the xenophobic paranoia of the Changelings, the brutal efficiency they had employed when they had infiltrated the Tal Shiar all the way to the attempt to trigger a war with the Tzenkethi and the Federation before succeeding with the Klingons against both the Federation and the Cardassians, although Sisko wished the Klingons had the intelligence to forget their insufferable fighting instinct and wake up to what they were doing - Sisko was not going to take chances.
"Security is onboard, Captain," Worf reported.
"Good. Standby to get underway. Seal the airlock and release the docking clamp. Power up engines. Dax lay in a course for the Archanis sector. I want to engage the hyperdrive as soon as we leave the station," Sisko ordered.
"Course laid in. Odyssey has taken in the Federation navigational charts, no problem," Dax reported.
Sisko sat in his new command chair and watched as the Odyssey moved away from the docking pylon and moved slowly through space and gradually picked up speed.
"Engaging hyperdrive…now," Dax reported, pausing for dramatic effect.
X
The Odyssey had left the station slowly on thrusters before the sub-light engines kicked in and the ship began moving at a comparable speed to conventional impulse engines before the subspace window opened. A ball of glowing subspace energy appeared in front of the Odyssey and grew larger until it was big enough to engulf the out of place starship. Like a wormhole, the hyperspace window wasn't a one-dimensional portal, it appeared like a sphere, which was a circle in 3 dimensions and the Odyssey flew it into.
X
On the bridge, Sisko gaped at the beautiful blends of blues, purples, turquoises and greens as the hyperspace field shaped and formed the hyperspace conduit. Ever since the day he and Jadzia had discovered the wormhole 4 years ago, he had seen the inside of the wormhole many, many times and he couldn't help but compare this conduit to wormhole travel. Both of them were so similar.
The Asgard hyperdrive represented the greatest boon to Starfleet propulsion technology. It would take time but Sisko didn't see any reason why Starfleet wouldn't soon have access to Asgard hyperdrives fitted to all the next generation starships. This was how spaceships and exploration should be, using engines that were both quick and powerful and letting other engines that should give you the chance to explore space. The Asgard hyperdrive was many more times faster than a maximum warp and thanks to its intergalactic capabilities, there was the chance of Starfleet travelling to other galaxies in the next two decades, or so.
Sisko gaped at the brevity of the trip. By the ship's ETA clock which was on the HUD in front of him, they had only been in hyperspace for no more than 5 minutes. And yet, at maximum warp it would have taken a ship like Defiant hours to get there. From what Dax had told them, the intergalactic speed of the hyperspace meant they were capable of crossing 8,6805 light-years per second thanks to the Zero Point Module, a collection of glowing crystals that powered the hyperdrive. If there was another power source fitted, the conventional speed of the hyperdrive would be the equivalent of 1,9290 light-years per second.
"We're in the Archanis sector, Captain," Dax reported.
"Scan the area for nearby vessels," Sisko nodded as he absorbed the fact that an otherwise long journey had been shortened to almost nothing.
"I'm getting readings of ships. We've uploaded enough information into the database of every single ship and weapons signature in the Starfleet database, there are Klingon warships in orbit above the outpost. There are signs the ships have been in orbit for a while," Worf said.
"Let's see them," Sisko had barely uttered the order before the HUD showed the view. He mentally despaired when the sight of the Klingon battlecruisers, some of them very old K'tinga class battlecruisers, Vor'cha class attack cruisers and a number of Birds of Prey which were likely swooping down into the planet's atmosphere, bombing what was left of the outpost like the Nazis had swooped over London during Earth's Second World War.
"That fits with what Starfleet's been reporting. A Klingon armada in orbit above the planet, launching an orbital bombardment… bring the weapon systems online. Raise the shields. Mr O'Brien, bring up the Asgard transporters. If we're going to get them out, the Klingons will attack us," Sisko said.
His plan was relatively easy. They were going to draw the Klingon's fire and use the distraction to beam the survivors out. The outpost was fairly old, built in the last century where the war with the Klingons was a possibility. The Federation had taken advantage of the Klingon neutral zone to construct facilities like this to monitor and keep watch on the Klingons as a kind of early warning system. They constructed bunkers and underground shelters in natural cave systems and reinforced them. The possibilities of war were no longer likely…until now. That bunker had saved lives recently and the Klingons weren't going to kill anybody, the people down there were just a group of scientists. The outpost had been converted into a simple scientific laboratory but the Klingons, with typical logic, believed they were making weapons or spying on the empire.
At least, Sisko hoped that wasn't the case.
"Aye, sir. I've been looking forwards to trying out the Asgard transporters for a while now," O'Brien commented with a smile that was so infectious Sisko couldn't help but chuckle back. "I'm always pleased to make you happy, Miles. But do you think we can get them out?"
"Easily sir. The Asgard transporter technology doesn't work like ours, it uses a small wormhole to move one person to another location. With something like that shields are never gonna work," O'Brien explained.
Sisko could see the tactical implications there, and a part of him was worried about what it would do if Starfleet made some reckless and stupid mistake that let this technology out into the galaxy. Sisko hated to imagine what could happen if everyone developed the means to transport matter through a ship's shields. Some societies were privately happy that transporter beams couldn't beam through shields, and Sisko wondered what their reaction would be if they discovered the advantage was gone.
"Let's get started, sound the alert alarm. Open a channel to the lead Klingon ship, tell them we are on a mission of mercy so we can get our people," Sisko ordered.
"Message sent," Worf said, "but Captain, it is highly unlikely the Klingons will listen to such a message."
Sisko made a mental note to further Worf's education into command decisions and command protocol. He had to know they had to contact the Klingons and put it into their combat logs that they had given the Klingons the option to leave them alone. But before he could say anything Dax's console buzzed. "Captain, 3 Birds of Prey are approaching, their weapons are running hot."
"Let them take the first shot. Let's see just how good the Asgard shields are. When they've fired, target phasers and the plasma beam cannons on them," Sisko decided. On the HUD the Klingon ships were heading straight towards them, their algae green hulls and the menacing beak-like shape of their forward section as they bore down on them like raptors. The Klingon ships opened fire with their disruptors. The ship rocked under the impact. Once the Klingon barrage was over, Worf quickly opened fire.
The Birds of Prey quickly backed off when the Asgard beam weapon badly damaged their ships, but one of them didn't back off fast enough when a lucky shot neatly cleaved the BOP's neck and it exploded in a flash of flame as the oxygenated parts of the ship were destroyed before the vacuum of space sucked it out, snuffing it like a candle. Sisko had seen many Klingon ships destroyed over the years, but this was too easy and one thing was certain, the Klingons were going to be more cautious now.
"Good shot, Mr Worf. Target the other Birds of Prey, the less we have to deal with them the better," Sisko ordered.
"Aye sir, locking torpedoes," Worf got to work on his console at once while Sisko turned to Dax. "Dax set a course for the Vor'cha class attack cruisers. Let's give them a surprise."
Jadzia turned in her chair slightly, "Benjamin?"
"Open a hyperspace window. I want us to jump over to them but make them think we're heading towards them on sub-light power," Sisko explained his plan.
Dax caught on quickly and she gave him a dazzling smirk in turn. She quickly got to work. "Subspace window forming. Entering the corridor now," she reported. This time the trip was instantaneous, and they were right on top of the attack cruiser. Worf quickly targeted the plasma beam cannons and they scored direct hits on the neck, the warp nacelles and the forward section. The Klingon cruiser exploded before the Odyssey targeted the remaining cruisers which were already preparing for a counterattack.
"Dax open another hyperspace window, but I want you to get us closer to the Klingon warships bearing down on us," Sisko ordered.
"Aye, sir," Dax replied.
On the HUD, Sisko watched as the Odyssey's weapons battered the Klingon ships down from close range. The Asgard plasma beam weapons and the phaser beams broke through the Klingon shields and the torpedo barrages finished them off. With orbital supremacy established, the Odyssey moved into orbit above the planet.
"The surviving Klingon ships are broadcasting distress calls on all Klingon subspace channels," Worf rumbled.
Sisko nodded, mentally calculating how long they had. With this star system so close to the Empire's borders, it wouldn't take long for the Klingons to send a squadron to attack this system again but by then the Starfleet influence here would be non-existent. "Can we contact the survivors of the outpost?"
"No. It looks like their communications systems have been destroyed."
"Are you picking up life sign readings?" Sisko asked.
"Yes."
"Good. Get a lock on them and beam them onboard. Sisko to Bashir, we're beaming the survivors of the outpost up now," Sisko said.
"Understood," Bashir replied.
"We've got them, Ben," Jadzia smiled.
"Good. I'll be in the sick bay and talk to them and see if they've forgotten anything. I don't want to leave this system and find they have left behind anything important," Sisko stood up from his chair and stretched his muscles, pointedly ignoring Jadzia's chuckle when she saw what he was doing. He swore if she said anything he would put her on report. "In the meantime, set course back to DS9's general location; we'll go to Idran from there."
"Aye, sir," Dax replied as he left the bridge and headed down to the sickbay, wondering what he was going to say to the group that had been pulled up from the planet.
When he got there he paused. Julian and the three nurses he'd brought with him from the station were busy helping the group of survivors. There were only five of them, and all of them looked tired with blackened or damaged uniforms that were hanging off their bodies like rags although two of them had simply removed their jackets and slung them over their shoulders, one of them had simply tied the arms to their neck so it looked like a cape. 3 of them looked terrible with half treated burns and injuries while another had their arm in a sling. All of them were looking pretty shell shocked and were looking around the sick bay as if they couldn't believe they were here. Sisko could hardly say he blamed them, given how they had been shot at, forced too hide underground and had been barely holding on before they were rescued.
One of the groups, a woman who had a nasty cut in their forehead that was surrounded by a painful-looking bruise, saw him and hobbled over. "Commander Erin Trent," she introduced herself in a hoarse voice. Sisko didn't blame her, she looked like she was badly dehydrated.
"Captain Benjamin Sisko, Deep Space Nine," Sisko introduced himself.
"Yes, I've heard of you, sir," Trent said, her eyes lighting up with recognition at the name. "What brings you here? This doesn't really look like a Federation sickbay?" She said with a bluntness that Sisko was not sure about but it wasn't grating.
"It's a long story; the basics are a ship came through the Bajoran wormhole from a parallel universe with technology beyond our own. When Starfleet discovered how the engine worked, it answered so many problems as late such as how to rescue you. How long have you been under siege for?" Sisko said.
Trent chuckled bitterly and rubbed her eyes. "It seems like forever."
"They rampaged through the surrounding systems near Archanis," one of the other survivors, a man this time, spoke up; from where he'd been sitting he had been overhearing nearly every word so Sisko didn't call him out on his eavesdropping. "When they attacked, there were 20 of us. They beamed a large group of warriors down, they slaughtered them like animals! Which is fitting, because that's what Klingons are!" He yelled the last part hoarsely, his eyes spitting with hate towards the Klingon race.
Sisko took a deep breath, unsure how he felt about the possibility of these people knowing Worf was here on the ship. He didn't like the prejudice towards the Klingons, but he wasn't going to bring this up on a group who'd been shot at. "And then you found yourselves in the shelter?"
"That's right, we knew how to get down into them and hide from the Klingons but it didn't stop them from attacking us," Trent said, not saying a word of apology about her colleague's attitude. In fact, Sisko had caught a look of agreement on their faces. They had likely had to watch as their friends were killed.
"Did you leave any Federation property down there?" Sisko asked. He wasn't comfortable with the turn the conversation had taken. Now he had to find some way of getting these people back to Starfleet for debriefing and rehab without them meeting Worf.
"No. Much of what we had in the database was ripped out by the Klingons when they attacked," Trent looked down for a moment before she lifted her head up again, "We received the subspace report, of how General Martok was a changeling and yet the Klingons are still at war with us. Why? What's the point?"
When Sisko left sickbay after sending word to the bridge to lay in a course for a starbase deep within Federation space, his ears were ringing with the sound of Trent's angry questions. She was right, what was the point?
