Chapter 25 of the Phoenix and the Wolverine
The Romulan-Neutral border; USS Dunkirk, Ten Forward...
Lieutenant Commander Telev Shran entered the mess and headed straight for the bar. He needed something to drink.
He had just had a conversation with his counter-part of the Romulan Warbird Decius.
Speaking while choosing one's expression and words with care was a tiring task.
Especially when dealing with secretive Romulans.
He would rather beam into a black hole; now that was something he understood.
Shran accepted his drink with a grateful smile and turned to look for a table to sit at. It was not long before he spotted one familiar face.
Ensign Ihuoma Kadretti was sitting on her own; she looked a bit anxious and was sipping her drink while looking several times at the entrance to the mess.
Shran frowned; was she eagerly awaiting someone...or dreading someone's presence ?
The andorian was worried it was the latter. It took a few seconds before he made his decision.
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"Hey Oma; mind if I sit here?"
The ensign almost jumped at the sound of the tactical officer's voice.
"Eh sure Telev; please take a seat."
He looked at her as he sat down.
"Oma...are you alright?"
She stared at him. "Of course I am...why do you ask?"
Telev narrowed his eyes at her slightly high pitched voice. "Maybe because of the high pitch of your voice or the fact that you are checking the main exit of Ten Forward. You look ready to bolt."
The andorian watched as a series of expressions crossed her face; then she sighed.
"Is it that obvious ?"
Telev nodded. "I presume this has something to do with a certain klingon captain."
Oma winced and looked into her drink. "Maybe."
The senior officer's hand froze for a second before he took another sip of his drink. "I'm going to need to speak to Captain Singh."
Oma's head shot up. " No!," she lowered her voice when she noticed two officers at a nearby table looked up at the sound of her voice.
"No Telev...I really appreciate your concern and your offer to help.
But if I do not handle this myself; I will bring shame to my mother's house."
The senior officer frowned. "Oma; if he is harassing you..."
"It's not really harassment...that I can handle. It's much worse."
Telev raised an antennae. "Worse? Please explain."
Oma bit her lower lip. "This is so embarrassing...I think he's courting me."
Telev opened his mouth; then closed it in surprise.
"Oh yeah; that was exactly what I felt when he started sending messages, before I ran into him again on the corridor. He's being very civil."
The andorian felt himself blushing as he tried to ask the question that was at the tip of his tongue.
Fortunately for him; it appeared that Oma knew what was on his mind.
"And no, I am not attracted to him...it's just that how do I say that without causing a war between the Federation and the Klingon empire ?"
There was silence for several seconds.
"Oma, now I understand why you wish to handle this on your own.
But from personal experience...its best you tell him early before he starts getting ideas that maybe you are interested in him."
"I know but...," her voice trailed off when she saw who was at the door. Telev looked up to see Cassius and Shila entering
"Telev; please don't tell them or anyone."
He glanced at her. "Okay I won't; but if it's getting out of hand you need to tell me...is that understood?"
Oma turned to Telev, he looked very solemn. "Yes sir...I will."
The andorian nodded before plastering a smile on his face as their friends approached their table.
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Captain's ready room...
Oma walked into the conference room and the whooshing noise and the blur informed her that Cassius was already in the room.
He reduced his speed so that she could see he was setting up the holo-screen.
"About time you got here," he said with a nervous grin on his face.
Oma smiled wryly. "Calm down buddy; we've got at least 90 minutes before the meeting."
Cassius' grin disappeared. "Didn't you get the message ? It was brought forward by an hour."
"Why?" asked a surprised Oma.
"Because the Romulans were demanding results and one of the Tal Shiar wants to attend."
"What?" exclaimed the female ensign.
"Why do you think I'm hurrying," said Cassius.
Oma put down a small tower of epadds and began to place them hurryingly in-front of each seat. "Does Shila know?"
Cassius' didn't get a chance to answer as the doors opened. Oma turned and almost groaned in despair when she saw who it was.
Lieutenant Commander Klaus Flint. The brown haired human frowned when he saw the two of them.
"Don't tell me you are not yet ready?"
"We're on it sir," said Oma, not bothering to inform the senior officer that she had just found out the meeting had been brought forward.
"Where's Lieutenant Commander Atavi?" asked the male senior officer.
Oma glanced at Cassius and they both rolled their eyes; making sure Flint did not see them.
"I believe she's on her way sir," said Oma loudly as she stepped closer to the holoscreen emitter.
Flint frown deepened as the doors opened behind him once again. Oma released a sigh of relief when she saw Shila.
"Ah Mr Flint...you're early," said the orion breezily as she set a second small tower of epadds down on the table and passed some to Oma to distribute for the remaining seats.
"You're almost late," said Flint with a disapproving expression.
"Almost does not mean I am dear Mr Flint," said Shila calmly. Oma snuck a look and almost laughed at the severe expression on the security's officer's face.
He opened his mouth to speak but stopped when the doors opened once more and Captain Singh and his second-in-command walked into the room.
"Excellent, you're almost set," said the captain with approval.
"Yes sir," said Cassius " the screen is up and the pads are here."
Singh nodded. "Mr Shran will be bringing Major Solius and one of their science officers. Lieutenant Mirta will also be joining us as well."
Oma tried to hide her anxiety at the thought of the romulans attending the meeting.
"Is it really necessary to have both romulans and klingons in this meeting sir?" asked Flint with a sceptical expression on his face.
Singh smiled dryly. "Politics combined with science is not one of my favourite combos Mr Flint, but in this case it is highly necessary; any other way will upset our neighbours and thus waste time and resources."
The science officer did not say anymore but Oma had a feeling he was not totally convinced by the captain's answer.
"I hope everyone has read their subjects," said Singh in an encouraging voice "our allies will have questions...as will I."
Everyone nodded solemnly.
"Fine; then let's wait for our guests."
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Oma tried to watch Shila and the romulans at the same time.
She had managed to hide her relief when only Mirta came from the klingon ship. The ensign had been a little surprised when the female klingon gave her a little smile as if she knew something that Oma did not.
The female ensign tried not to dwell on what the klingon captain may have told his crew; but part of her knew she had to address it sooner than later.
Major Nveid Solius had barely glanced at Oma before taking his seat; he seemed preoccupied for some reason.
Oma was glad of that and prayed it would remain so until the entire mission was over.
Something Shila said had her tuning back into the presentation.
"As you can see on the screen and your epadds, the anomaly seems to have gradually enlarged to its present dimension and remained at this size for the past 3 hours.
Current dimensions are almost identical to that of the Bajoran wormhole."
Though this was common knowledge; there was complete silence as everyone paid attention.
"This anomaly measures 30,250 metres at the diametre; we're predicting that the inner aperture which will be the wormhole tunnel could be roughly 6,050 metres wide.
Enough space for more than 20 USS Enterprises to pass through side by side."
There were uneasy looks on everyone's face at this statement; no doubt they were remembering how the Dominion invaded the Alpha quadrant through the Bajoran wormhole.
The Starfleet science officer continued.
"However the levels of neutrinos and verterons are approximately fifty-fifty which is a sharp contrast to the readings the Romulans collected when they first noticed the anomaly."
Mirta's eyes narrowed. "What does that mean Lieutenant Commander Atavi?"
Shila smiled at her. "In a moment Lieutenant Commander Mirta," she clicked on her handheld device and the screen showing the wormhole changed to show a graph depicting a gently sloping curve that started from the bottom of the graph, rose and seemed climb before staying on an almost horizontal line.
"When we added the energy readings collected by the IKS Y'tem and combined it with readings from our ships computers and that of the Decius we discovering that there was a distinct pattern..."
"It's stabilizing." Everyone turned to look at a solemn looking Nveid.
His science officer looked more frightened.
"Why yes," said Shila, she was clearly not upset by the interruption, in fact she appeared excited "it's becoming a stable wormhole."
Her smile faltered when she saw that everyone did not appear pleased with the news.
"Have you sent any probes into the anomaly?" asked Nveid.
"No," answered Singh "that was my decision...we have no idea who or what may be behind that anomaly. The probe may be destroyed or it may pass through and be detected by another civilization and I would rather not risk such a contact causing problems."
Nveid and Mirta seemed puzzled by this explanation.
Oma exchanged a knowing glance with Cassius; Starfleet history mentioned a particular pre-warp civilization that had been affected adversely by a Starfleet probe.
Captain Singh had every right to worry.
"Which is why we are going with plan B," continued Singh "Ms Atavi has already used the ships sensors to collect as much data as possible.
The current data states it does not have a gravitational pull and none of the ships or probes that have approached it have been pulled in.
As satisfactory as that sounds; we need more data...so Lieutenant Commander Atavi will be taking a closer look."
Major Solius kept a blank expression as he stared at the Starfleet captain but Singh narrowed his eyes as he maintained eye contact.
"You're planning a manned flight to the anomaly?" asked the Tal Shiar officer, his voice calm.
"Yes; we will not attempt to enter it. However...is there anything else you would like to share Major?" his voice was also calm but for some reason the romulan science officer beside the Solius looked very pale.
Nveid kept his expression calm. "We have given you what data we have captain."
Singh looked at him for a while. "I see."
Oma shared a worried look with Cassius; it was obvious that a lot was not being said between the captain and the romulan officer.
"Excuse me," everyone turned to face Lieutenant Commander Flint "I would like to know who's going to be in the crew...I presume this is a shuttle we will be using?"
Shila nodded. "Of course; I will be one of the crew; with Ensign Kadretti as co-pilot and Ensign Cassius assisting..."
"If I may suggest something," interrupted a frowning Flint " but I believe this mission would be better suited to having two other senior officers with Ms Atavi."
Oma and Cassius had looks of dismay and shock on their faces.
Shila was no longer smiling. "Mr Flint; both ensigns have been very hardworking and this is a once in a-life-time opportunity for them to learn something..."
"With all due respect Ms Atavi," interrupted Flint "this is a risky mission."
Both officers glared at each other.
Mirta raised an eyebrow at the verbal conflict; while Nveid was smiling a little at the exchange between the two officers.
"Lieutenant Commanders," boomed Commander Caleb Bishop's voice.
"Both of you have valid points; however let us come to an agreement. One ensign and one lieutenant Commander will accompany Ms Atavi."
The two senior officers seemed to remember where they were as they both quickly broke eye contact. Both appeared embarrassed.
"Who would you consider Mr Bishop?" asked Singh.
Bishop was quiet for a short time.
"Ensign Kadretti will be the co-pilot...Mr Flint would you consider volunteering for the second post ? You do have some engineering ability."
The male Starfleet officer raised his head with pride. "Yes sir; I would be glad to take part."
Cassius looked disappointed; so did Atavi but she wisely kept quiet.
"Well since that is settled; are there any questions?" asked Singh.
"Yes...I would like to join this expedition so as to observe," said Nveid.
Oma opened her mouth and shut it quickly.
No, that was so not going to happen.
But to her worry she saw speculative look on the captain's face.
He looked like he was actually considering it!
"Captain; this is a joint endeavour... I only wish to assist and observe," Nveid's voice was calm and polite. It held none of the arrogance that the other Tal Shiar of the captain of the Decius showed.
Singh was quiet for a few more moments. "I guess that is acceptable."
Mirta's eyes widened. Clearly she had not expected that as well.
Oma felt her heart beating rapidly; she looked down trying to hide her fear.
It will be a short flight; don't panic, don't panic.
But Oma felt that her it was going to be impossible to be calm during that flight.
As they discussed when the flight would take place; she wished with all her heart that she could trade places with Cassius.
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In unknown space...
Two small vipers emerged from a jump; less than 5 seconds passed before a much bigger Defiant class ship emerged from warp.
Kara Thrace turned in her cockpit to look at the deadly strange ship beside her.
This was the first time that she had a chance to get a good look at the outside of the Xavier.
It was a beauty.
She swore someday she would get a chance to fly that ship; that was definitely on the bucket list.
"Lieutenant Thrace; you guys okay?"
Kara smiled dryly at Logan's rough voice and straight forward question.
"Yes captain; we're good. What's next?"
"Position your ships on either side of the Xavier...Q's going to attach tractor beams to your vipers."
Kara nodded; suddenly worried and eager at the same time. "Why, if I may ask captain? And what's a tractor beam ?"
"You may," the man from Earth sounded amused "we're going to warp very soon in order to get as far from our last position as quickly as possible.
Also; I do not want you using up your tylium early in the mission as well as taking the precaution that the cylons may also be able to track your 'jumps' the way we did."
Kara frowned at the assumption; if the cylons could do that they would have found them weeks ago. However she had to admit if the cylons had now developed a way to track 'jumps' then maybe this precaution was necessary.
Logan was still talking.
"Q has assured me that the tractor beams can hold your ships for up to 2 hours during warp.
We will only do it for an hour...I trust you are used to sitting in your ships for much longer ?"
Kara nodded; then answered when she realized he may not see her agreement.
"Yes."
"Good; once we get to the next destination, we'll pack your vipers in shuttle bay 3 then proceed to coming up with some sort of plan.
In the meantime; every discussion we will have with the others will be transmitted to you."
In his ship, Helo looked very startled.
Kara however was not pleased with the arrangement; but even she saw the logic in moving further away from their last location.
So much depended on this mission.
"We will appreciate that Captain."
"Ensign Q will get in touch with you soon and explain how the tractor beams work. Xavier out."
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Kara watched the other viper move slowly towards the other side of the Xavier.
As she slowly followed; she found her thoughts returning to the events of the last hour.
Once the small group of colonials officers , one earth man and one hologram had left the Admiral's office; they headed straight for the flight deck.
No chance to pick up any extra ammo or any of the frightfully few body armour that would be needed for such a recon mission.
She just hoped the Starfleet had body armour of some sort and that they were willing to share it.
Probably not ; if their Prime Directive was anything to go by.
On the Galactica flight deck; they had found Tyrol as usual busy with maintenance of over-used vipers which were sorely in need of replacements. The poor man had been bewildered when Lee demanded to know which two vipers were fuelled and ready for long flights.
Though stunned; Tyrol had a very good recovery time and he quickly pointed out two vipers.
One of them was a viper that had returned from Hera's planet more or less intact and the second one had been the one Helo had been flying recently.
Before Tyrol could say another word; Kara and Helo who were as per protocol already in flight gear climbed into the vipers and quickly began to strap themselves in.
Sharon, Anders and Rogers joined Captain Logan and the hologram as they walked back to the shuttle with Lee.
Tyrol had quickly climbed up Kara's left wing before she could close the cockpit.
"Starbuck! What the frak is going on?!" he asked in an anxious whisper.
Kara continued her pre-flight plan as she answered in a low voice.
"Can't really tell you buddy."
Tyrol's face paled. "You're going on something big aren't you? That's why you're leaving with the Xavier !"
Kara gave him a sharp look. "Do us a favour and keep it to yourself; I mean it bud, do not tell Cally."
The specialist swallowed nervously. "Fine...just bring back my babies in one piece. There are not that many left you know."
Starbuck smiled sadly. "Don't I know it, we'll try our best."
Tyrol looked at her for a long moment. "Also bring yourselves back safely you crazy pilot. May the Gods go with you." He climbed off the viper.
"So say we all," prayed Kara softly as she closed her cockpit.
Just before Kara manoeuvred her ship after the 'shuttle' , she had seen the frustrated frown on Lee's face as his gaze followed the specialist who was walking back to his station.
It was clear he was not happy with the turn of events and he must also be dying inside to find out what Logan had discussed privately with the old man.
Kara was also to keen to find out; but she was smart enough to know that piece of information may be forever out of her reach.
Unless she was crazy enough to ask Captain Logan about it.
It took her a few moments to realize that such a question may not be wise at all.
Kara firmly squashed her thoughts as she confirmed her position was lateral to the Xavier.
"Xavier; we're in position."
"Excellent Lieutenant Thrace and Captain Agathon," replied Ensign Q Junior "that was quickly done...now tractor beams are attenuated linear graviton beams used to control movement of external objects.
As Captain Agathon can attest to ; this was used on his viper in the last encounter with the cylons and he came through warp without any injury or damage to his vessel."
"Yes; that is true," agreed Helo when the hologram paused.
Kara felt some of her anxiety dissipate.
Q Junior continued speaking.
"Now in the past; tractor beams could only be used in sub-warp velocities; however the ship has modifications to tow much slower smaller crafts during warp for only short periods.
However,the longest that this can be done at warp 4.8 is 2 hours 9 minutes and 27 seconds. The higher the warp; the shorter the duration."
Helo frowned in his cockpit. "Why can't it go on for longer ?"
"Because of two reasons.
One, you do not possess a warp drive; if you could match speed with the Xavier we could do this for much longer.
Two; tractor beams place spatial stresses on specific parts of the ship it is towing to keep it fixed in place. The amount of stress increases exponentially relative to the warp speed and the duration of the warp journey.
The longer the stress builds up; the greater the risk of tearing the towed object to pieces," answered Q Junior patiently.
Helo felt light headed when he thought of how easily the Xavier had attached his vipers and those of Anders and Lee to it before they fled from the attacking cylons.
Kara found herself swallowing nervously.
"Anything else we should know, Q?"
"Lots."
Kara found herself smiling at his dry answer.
"For now please keep the following in mind; what- ever happens...do not attempt to jump your ship during warp. This could destroy your ship and yourself."
There was silence for a few moments as the two pilots tried to comprehend the astonishing and potentially lethal technology of the Thirteenth Tribe.
"However once all precautions are taken it is relatively a safe way to travel."
"Understood," said Kara and Helo at almost the same time; both colonials were trying to hide their worry.
"Fine; power down your engine to the level needed for life support; then I will attach the tractor beams."
Kara complied with his instructions; then after a few minutes she felt her viper move slightly then remain completely still.
"Prepare for warp...see you on the other side," said Q Junior cheerfully.
In mere moments the two vipers and one modified Defiant class simultaneously executed a FTL event.
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Several minutes earlier, the Xavier, en route to the bridge...
Sharon finally remembered to breathe when they got on board the Xavier.
Once they exited the shuttle; they found a young girl waiting for them in the shuttle bay.
Captain Logan's daughter, the cylon recalled that her name was Laura; just like the president's but that was the only similarity the two females shared.
Laura was wearing a dark blue t-shirt, black jeans and black boots. She had taken a long look at each of them then nodded to her father. She turned to speak briefly to Q Junior before he dashed off for 'engineering'.
Now that was a place that Tyrol would have loved to investigate.
Sharon was sorely tempted to pinch herself to ensure she was not dreaming.
She was quick to realize that the interior of the ship seemed different.
May be it had to do with the obvious fact that she was now coming on board it as part of a 'team'. Hopefully she would not end up in the brig or behind a force-field again.
She glanced at Rogers and Anders. Sharon smiled at the stunned looks on their faces as they tried and failed to avoid gaping at the interior of the clean strange ship.
"Welcome back Captain and Ensign Q Junior."
"Thanks Xavier, it's good to be back," replied Logan.
The two male colonials paled when they heard the 'smooth' electronic voice.
"Don't be afraid; that's Xavier. He treated us well," whispered Sharon in reassuring voice. She looked to see if Logan had heard but the man showed no indication that he was paying attention.
But Laura was staring back at her and something in her expression told Sharon that the captain's daughter did not trust them.
Somehow, Sharon understood, she just hoped she could prove that she would not betray their trust.
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Logan tried not to let his amused expression show when he heard Sharon's whisper.
Part of him was wondering if he was insane to consider having this group along for a possible suicide mission.
But he was running out of choices.
Logan looked back at a silent Laura who seemed to be watching the colonials like a hawk as they approached the turbo-lifts.
"How's Dr Grey?"
Laura looked at him. "She's well; what's our ETA?"
"Depends on the information we have available and necessary preparations.
For now we'll set off at warp 4.8 for an hour.
Once we get Lieutenant Thrace and Captain Agathon on board we can then discuss the recon mission."
"I will be joining you." Sharon felt her lower jaw drop and her astonished expression was mirrored in the face of the two men beside her.
The child could not mean to accompany them into a basestar ?!
Captain Logan did not look surprised but slightly weary.
"Laura; let's discuss this later..."
"I'm still coming along," said Laura firmly.
Her father just looked at her. "Later Laura," there was an edge to his tone.
The female teenager just smiled at him.
Rogers and Anders exchanged a worried look. Both of them were wondering why a girl who was basically still a child would want to take part in a dangerous mission.
Clearly she had no idea how risky recons in cylon territory was.
Or did she ?
"People we're going to the bridge; Lieutenant Starbuck and Captain Agathon will jump first and we will follow."
"What happens after that?" asked Anders when he managed to stop gaping at his surroundings.
"Then we put some distance between us and the next location before we get the two vipers on board and discuss with your team-mates on how to start this mission," said Logan as he ushered them into a turbo-lift.
"What exactly do you wish to know?" asked Sharon. She could barely feel the 'lift' begin to move.
Laura was the one who answered. "Numbers; what kind of defence do they have? Range of centurion models from their smallest to the largest.
Basically anything that you know...whether you consider it important or not."
Sharon stared at the smaller girl; her eyes were hard. The kind that had seen death and possibly dished it out as well.
"I'll tell you what I know Miss Logan."
The girl's eyes narrowed at the name. "My name is Laura Kinney."
Anders had a puzzled look on his face. "I thought..."
"The captain is my father...do not ask about my mother," Laura's frigid tone could have frozen planets.
Anders spared a quick look at the captain. His face was expressionless.
Something terrible had happened to Laura's mother; but for her to answer a different name than her father's must mean something.
Anders was smart enough not to pry; just the memory of those metal blades attached to Laura's fore- arms was very fresh.
"I apologize for the mistake," said Sharon carefully.
Laura did not reply.
The lift eventually came to a stop to Anders and Roger's relief.
They all stepped onto a CIC that they could never have imagined in their wildest dreams.
It was clean; uncluttered and currently had only one occupant.
Dr Grey.
She was wearing a light grey shirt with black slacks and black boots. She was also standing close to the view-screen which showed white lights streaking by. The doctor greeted them with a smile as she looked at each of them. Her gaze lingered for a brief moment on Rogers before she spoke.
"Welcome back captain and Lieutenant Agathon. Ensign Rogers and Junior Lieutenant Anders; welcome to the Xavier."
"Thanks Dr Grey," said Rogers and Anders almost at the same time. Jean's smile slipped at their slightly nervous reply.
"They remember our anger...that is good." Jean ignored the Phoenix's gleeful whisper and the laughter that followed it.
"How are we doing Jean?" asked Logan.
The doctor shifted her concerned look to the captain of the Xavier. "We'll be coming out of warp in less than 7 minutes. Apart from that we're good to go."
Logan nodded; then turned to see Roger's right hand was in the air.
"Yes ensign?"
"A...are we already in warp?"
Logan gestured to the screen. "That shows that we are. I gave the order for the ship to go to warp once we came on board."
"That was pretty quick," said Anders.
"Make no mistake...we're already hours behind the cylons. We need to have done this yesterday," said Logan in a solemn tone.
The expression on Sharon's face showed that she agreed.
"Anyway; before we start anything. Everyone who is going on this mission or has just come on board is having a medical."
The three colonials stared at Dr Grey in surprise. Logan just smiled; Laura's face was blank.
"Oh yes you are. I'm going to need full physicals done. I regret not getting your records from Dr Cottle but I understand the need for haste. Once Lieutenant Thrace and Captain Agathon get on board; they are getting theirs as well."
Logan noticed the uncomfortable looks on the faces of the colonials.
"Any objections?"
The three shook their heads; clearly recalling the Admiral's orders not to get out of line. They understood the need for physicals.
If their roles had been reversed; Logan and his crew would have been examined by Dr Cottle whether they wanted it or not.
"Glad to hear it," said Logan dryly "get seated and do not touch anything."
Jean took pity on their anxious expressions and showed them where to sit. Laura just kept watching them.
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Anders had been stunned by the inside of the Xavier. He had heard Sharon and Kara's description of the time they had been its 'guests'.
But that had not prepared him for this.
It was both alien and slightly familiar but completely different from the Galactica. The cleanliness was one of the many factors but the rest ranged from obvious advanced technology to the spooky sounding AI.
Just the thought of one on board the ship was doing fantastic things to his heart rate.
He could almost understand Lee's urge to attempt nuking the Xavier but he knew the CAG would have failed miserably and worsened matters even further.
Dr Grey looked at him and gave him a solemn nod before turning away.
Anders felt his lower jaw drop. Had she somehow knew what he was thinking about?
Kara had told him the woman seemed to know what they were thinking before it occurred. He had not believed it completely but had been wise enough not to point that out to his wife.
The pilot's thoughts returned to the present when he heard Laura inform the captain that they were emerging from warp.
Time had passed by so quickly.
He turned towards the view screen and was relieved to see two vipers already waiting for them. Anders kept quiet as Captain Logan gave Kara and Helo new orders and noticed when the turbolift doors opened to reveal Ensign Q Junior.
The hologram waited for his captain to finish speaking; then Logan looked at him.
"Warp drive is fine and I'm ready to use the tractor beam."
Logan nodded. "Good. Explain to Lieutenant Thrace and Captain Agathon the next phase of our departure."
"Yes captain," said Q Junior before taking his position before what had to be the helm. Anders glanced around and saw Rogers and Sharon was watching as well.
He hoped they were paying attention to details.
Like how Ensign Q Junior seemed to know so much; the absence of other crew and how Laura watched them as if they were a bunch of venomous snakes.
He could hardly wait for this to be over.
Anders concerns grew when he heard Q Junior describe how risky the tractor beams could be. He opened his mouth to object.
"You had no problems when we used it on your viper...Q Junior will take care in getting your friends to the other side.
You have nothing to worry about."
Anders frowned then turned to see Jean was watching him.
Had she just spoken to him in his head?
The female doctor smiled sadly before turning back to the monitor in-front of her.
The shaken viper pilot turned back to the view screen.
What had they gotten involved with ?
Anders barely registered when Q Junior told Kara and Helo that he was attaching the tractor beams.
"Prepare for warp...see you on the other side," said Q Junior cheerfully.
The colonial junior lieutenant looked up to see the live video of the vipers had been replaced by the streaking white lines.
Anders swallowed before approaching the hologram. He was conscious of the way Laura followed his every move.
"Eh...Q Junior," the hologram turned to look at him " I guess you have Kara and Helo on a monitoring system. Can I see? Please?"
Q Junior looked a bit puzzled. "Sure," he pressed a few symbols on his brightly coloured screen. "Here they are."
Anders moved closely and saw a graphic reading showing a symbol which resembled the Xavier with two smaller ships on each side of it.
The diagram looked like the three ships were in a tunnel with flowing lines on either side of the three ship convoy.
There were numbers around the two smaller ships.
Q Junior answered Anders' unspoken question.
"These figures are currently in blue; meaning the spatial stress forces placed on the two vipers are within safe parameters."
"How do you know if things go wrong?" asked an anxious Sharon who had approached them. Rogers was not long behind her.
"1st indication is if the figures go orange; if the colour changes to red...then we have a problem. However Xavier is keeping an eye on the forces as well so he will definitely mention something before it gets that far."
Anders and Rogers shared a worried look, while Sharon looked thoughtful.
They trusted the AI that much ?
"Yeah we do trust him," said Q Junior stiffly ; he had no problem interpreting the worried look between the two male colonials.
"I'm sorry...this is just...odd for us," said Sharon awkwardly; she had not missed the silent communication between her fellow pilots.
"I see," was all the hologram said. Anders could see that they had clearly upset the hologram but he had no idea what to say to make it better.
"Lieutenant Agathon; Junior Lieutenant Anders and Ensign Rogers...it's time for your physicals," called Dr Grey saving Anders from saying anything else.
The colonial officer was glad for the save.
"Yes ma'am."
He and the other two colonial officers turned to follow the doctor. Laura moved as if to join them.
"Laura," her father's voice stopped her.
"Stay behind...Q will accompany the good doctor in case she needs help."
Jean looked a bit puzzled then her expression cleared as if she knew something. Ensign Q Junior took one look at the solemn look on Logan's face and hurryingly left the bridge with the 3 colonials and Dr Grey.
As the turbo-lift left; Rogers had a good idea what the captain was going to discuss with his daughter.
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Laura was silent for several moments as she leaned against a railing and watched Logan.
"What's up old man?"
Logan said nothing for a while. "Why do you want in on this mission?"
"Oh...so that's what's eating you? You need me pops. This was what I was created for."
Logan hid a wince at the reminder. She sounded like it had been his fault that had happened.
And maybe in a way it was.
If he had not walked into the trap Stryker made for him centuries ago; maybe the 'organization' would not have had a chance to experiment with his genetic material and thus create Laura.
So many ifs; but no sure way of controlling his own destiny.
"Is that what you want to do with your life? Getting into dangerous situations that could eventually get you killed?"
Laura sighed. "We're already in one old man...we've got 5 colonials on board the Xavier...with one of them being a cylon and we are going to infiltrate a basestar to rescue her child.
What could be more dangerous than that?"
"You do not have to come along; someone has to stay here and watch out for Jean..."
"And who watches out for you then?" cut in Laura.
Logan's face showed surprise at her question. "Q Junior will be with us; I'm sure he will watch my back."
"Who watches his? And do you even have a plan?"
Logan felt a headache coming on. "As you can see we have not had time to go over what-ever intel Sharon has. Once we do that...then I can come up with something."
Laura shook her head. "Not good enough."
The man in-front of her sighed. "And you can do better ?"
"Oh yeah; first of all include me on the team. I have more experience that I can actually recall on how to infiltrate a hostile environment and I'm younger and faster."
Logan could not hide the brief discomfort he felt as she mentioned the massive 'gap' in his memory.
"I see," he said coldly.
He was more than a little surprised to see a little redness appear on her face at his cool tone.
"Alright...that was out of line. I'm sorry...but you will be making a big mistake if I am not on that team."
Forget surprise, how about astonished! This was the first time Logan had ever heard Laura apologize for anything.
He looked at her for a long time.
"Alright."
Laura's eyes widened. "So I'm in?"
"No...," Laura's face assumed a stubborn expression but Logan held up his hand "hear me out.
We need to listen to what Sharon knows first of all before we start saying who's in or not.
I do not doubt your ability to defend yourself but try to understand, we are in a very dangerous place right now and we have to be very careful.
I will include you in all meetings and value your contribution.
But please remember that you are a lot more than just a former assassin or infiltrator."
She looked at him for a long time with eyes identical to his.
"Yes pops. I will remember that." Laura looked away clearly uncomfortable.
"I need to get something to eat." She quickly left the bridge.
Logan leaned back in his chair with a weary sigh.
He had a bad feeling this was not the end of the discussion.
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Medical bay...
Rogers was feeling quite anxious as they followed Dr Grey and the hologram to the medical bay. To the obvious relief of Anders; Q had gone in front to walk beside the doctor.
Clearly he was nervous around the hologram.
Sharon was trying not to be obvious as she tried to look at everything at once.
As for Rogers; he was more worried about what waited for him at the end of the corridor. He had a feeling it had to do with his particular...'problem.'
It's not a 'problem' kid.
The ensign stopped dead and Anders almost ran into him.
"Hey Rogers you okay?"
Q Junior and the doctor stopped but the hologram looked back while Dr Grey just looked straight ahead.
"Em...I'm okay...just a little tired."
Don't worry; you'll soon see clearly.
Rogers felt himself go cold and he turned and gripped Anders forearm.
"Did you hear that?! Please tell me you heard that?!"
Part of Rogers knew he sounded and looked hysterical but that was the least of his problems.
Anders looking more worried by the moment. "Ensign Rogers, calm down what is it?"
Rogers opened his mouth to speak; he was about to proclaim his sanity. However the look on Q Junior; Sharon and Anders' faces claimed otherwise.
"You're not insane Rogers," said a firm female but gentle voice.
Everyone turned to face Dr Grey; she looked a bit tired and slightly guilty.
"He's not ?" asked Q Junior in a puzzled tone. Jean glared at him and his cheeks turned slightly red.
"No...he's not. Now let's get to the medical bay. We have very little time."
She turned away and resumed walking. The four people in the corridor looked at each other.
"We might as well get moving sir," said Rogers; some of the colour had come back into his face. Q Junior gave three of them a worried look before going after the doctor. Sharon and Anders stayed beside the ensign.
"Guys...we really need to go. I swear I'm fine...I have not had enough sleep since I broke this arm." To his ears that reason sounded lame.
"Uh huh" said Anders unconvincingly but the explanation still got him and Sharon moving again.
I'm fine thought Rogers, I just need to rest.
He found himself waiting for the dark female voice to speak again; but all that he could hear was silence.
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Dr Grey felt like swearing or punching something.
What the hell were you thinking?!
Well dearest I was only trying to make the young mutant comfortable...
By scaring him half way to death!? Yeah explain how that works!
Oh calm down ! No harm done; in fact I was doing you a favour.
And how? Raged Jean at the Phoenix.
Soon he will know what he is...you might as well get him used to telephatic conversations.
You're impossible!
I do try other-me. The Phoenix sounded positively gleeful.
Jean resisted the urge to reply; that would only encourage the entity within her.
I appreciate your assistance...but please give me fair warning next time and let me do the talking!
Whatever you say dear. The words were followed by a mischievous laugh.
Jean shook her head minutely as she entered the medical bay; she grabbed a light blue ward coat and put it on.
Once she was sure that her expression was calm; she turned to face the colonials.
"Now...who wants to go first?"
The three colonials looked at each other with varying degrees of anxiety ; while Q Junior tried and failed at hiding an amused smile.
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In the end Dr Grey started the medical assessment on Sharon while Q Junior started on Ensign Q Junior.
Anders stayed close to the ensign because despite all he had heard and seen; he didn't really think the doctor was a threat.
She was a doctor; a healer, just like Dr Cottle.
Q Junior on the other hand was something else...besides Sharon might not be keen for Anders to learn about certain parts of her medical history.
The colonial junior lieutenant tried not to stare as the hologram took a short past medical history and then moved on to the assessment part.
"What we are basically doing is making sure you're fit for the mission and if not; why and whether it can be fixed.
First is a full body scan, similar to what I did when I examined your left forearm.
The investigation is non-invasive and also gives us a detailed examination of your genetic material."
Q Junior paused. "Any questions?"
Rogers swallowed then looked nervously at the bio-bed he was leaning against. "Nope...go ahead."
Anders frowned but kept silent. Somehow the thought of being examined was something he wanted to avoid.
But how?
"Fine, please stand."
Rogers complied a bit puzzled; then was startled when a slim transparent bar 3 feet long extended from a bed, rotated until it was horizontal in front of him.
"Remain still," said Q Junior with a small smile on his face.
The bar began to show a bluish light as it moved from his head to his feet; then it assumed the vertical position and returned to the bio-bed.
Anders and Rogers stared at the hologram; the whole procedure must have lasted less than 2 minutes.
"That's it ?" asked the junior lieutenant.
Q Junior picked up an epadd from the bio-bed before answering.
"Yes; that's it...if this had been a trauma case, it would have been much longer. However I have already treated Ensign Rogers for his previous injuries so his history is somewhat known to me."
He looked at Anders. "However; you sir are a total mystery. So your assessment is probably going to be longer."
Anders felt himself freeze. A voice inside him stated he should be afraid...but why?
Q Junior turned back to his monitor; appearing to be more interested in what was in his hands than how scared the colonial pilot was.
"What does my report say?" asked Rogers with some anxiety.
"Well as to be expected...mild form of malnutrition, some form of radiation poisoning..."
Anders and Rogers shared an uncomfortable look. Radiation poisoning and sickness was the second highest ailment in the fleet right after malnutrition.
"...and...hmm..."
The two colonials looked at Q Junior who was frowning at his epadd.
"What...what's wrong?" asked Anders in a hard tone.
"Emm...your genetic material..."Q Junior looked like he did not really want to talk but had to "...it says you have the mutant gene."
To say the two colonials were shocked was an understatement.
"What did you say?" asked Rogers in a low tone.
Q Junior bit his lower lip. "It says that you are a mutant."
"That's not possible...you need to check it again," said Anders forcibly.
The hologram stared at him for several moments than sighed. "I don't need to do that...because this is the second time the mutant gene was detected in you."
It's didn't take long for Rogers to connect the dots.
"When you fixed my arm ? You knew then?"
"It was after I fixed your arm that I realized you had the gene," answered the hologram calmly. Roger's face was extremely pale.
"And you didn't say anything?!" asked Anders heatedly.
Q Junior did not back down. "Of course not; please explain how reasonable it would have been to announce to the entire world that Ensign Rogers is a mutant?
Especially in the midst of the most xenophobic race I have ever had the opportunity to meet!" His last words were almost delivered at a shout.
Anders found himself taking a step back at the anger in the hologram's voice.
"Boys...what is going on?"
Everyone turned to face Dr Grey; she had her hands in her pockets and an irritated look on her face. A worried looking Sharon was standing beside her.
No one answered her.
"Someone better tell me what is going on." The doctor was not in a good mood. She looked at each of them and concentrated on Q Junior.
The ensign swallowed then answered. "I...I was telling Ensign Rogers the results of his genetic profile."
Jean narrowed her eyes. "And what did you say?"
"He told me I'm a mutant," said Rogers in a faint voice.
Sharon's voice formed a wordless 'O'.
Dr Grey looked a bit resigned. "You both find this information distressful?"
"We..." started Anders then he spared a glance for Rogers who still looked shocked "I was asking Ensign Q Junior to run the test again and..."
"He told you this was not the first time he knew about Ensign Rogers having the gene?" completed the doctor.
"Yes," said Anders uncertainly.
"Was that the reason for the raised voices ?" asked Jean with a glint in her eyes that made the colonial pilot sweat.
"That would be my fault Dr Grey," said Q Junior to Anders' astonishment.
"I answered without considering the impact of my words. I stated that informing the colonial command about Ensign Rogers' mutant gene would not be wise considering the extreme xenophobic nature of the colonials."
The female doctor closed her eyes briefly in embarrassment.
Q Junior swallowed again; his face red. "Junior Lieutenant Anders, Ensign Rogers, Lieutenant Sharon and Dr Grey; I apologize for the distress my words caused. I meant no offense."
Rogers held up a hand. "No need to apologize Q Junior...I understand."
"Q's right," everyone turned to face Sharon who was watching the hologram with a bitter smile on her face. "It takes a long time before command decides to trust anyone who is...different.
Usually it's shoot first and discuss later."
Anders felt his face go red; he remembered the way Sharon had been treated badly on Caprica when she helped them escape.
Then on the Galactica when she came back with them.
In his mind; he could still see the chains and handcuffs they had placed on her neck and wrists and how she was almost attacked by Admiral's Cain's goons.
Not to mention the current mess involving her daughter's faked death.
"I also apologize for my attitude," said Anders "...it was uncalled for. I appreciate all the help you have given Q."
He struck his right hand out.
Q Junior stared at it for a few moments; then shook the colonial's hand.
Dr Grey smiled a little at the way males seemed to let bygones be bygones. Apparently males in whatever galaxy or universe had the same attitude.
"Fine; now that is settled. I need to speak to Ensign Rogers," she looked at the other two colonials and Q Junior.
"Do you wish to speak privately?"
Rogers seemed to struggle with the decision. "I think..."
Anders and Sharon looked at each other and made as if to leave.
"I think everyone should stay," completed Rogers.
Everyone looked surprised apart from the doctor.
She regarded for him for a while.
"Okay. Q, please pass me your epadd."
The hologram handled it to her quietly. She read it in silence for a several moments before speaking.
"In 2006; mutants made up less than 5 percent of the human population; numbering 30 million in a population of more than 6 billion.
This was before the Third World war which involved widespread use of nukes.
However presently; more than 87 percent of the human race in Federation territories are mutants.
If you're had a chance to read the articles we left with the Galactica; you will see that current high population of humans with the mutant gene is linked to the high levels of radiation poisoning and fall out of a major nuclear war that killed more than 600 million of our people when we lived on one planet.
That war was almost 300 years ago.
The survivors had a tough time but more of their descendants began to show mutant abilities. Theorists stated it was man's way of adapting to the radiation-poisoned Earth."
Anders and Rogers winced at the thought of a nuked Earth.
Jean kept speaking while looking at the screen of the epadd before her.
"However the mutant gene exists in two ways; dormant and active. Current Federation census states the 87 percent of humans have the active gene while the remaining 13% have the dormant gene."
She looked up at Rogers.
Somehow the colonial ensign knew what she was going to say.
"Your mutant gene is active; you have a functioning ability ensign."
Rogers opened his mouth to speak; but realized he could not find anything to say.
Then he heard another gleeful voice that did not seem so strange anymore.
"Welcome to the family kid. My name is Phoenix."
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Romulan Neutral border...
"Take us closer to 55,000 metres and maintain position Ensign Kadretti."
"Yes Lieutenant Commander."
The female Starfleet ensign obeyed Lieutenant Commander Atavi's order and edged the small craft forward while conscious of the silence of the two males behind her.
Major Solius, an observer and Lieutenant Commander Flint who was manning the second science station and keeping an additional eye on the shields of the Starfleet shuttle.
25 minutes ago; they had left the Dunkirk which was 125,000 metres from the anomaly.
The approach of Oma's shuttle was closely being monitored by the IKS Y'tem and the Decius; as well as the two Starfleet starships and the other 5 romulan warbirds.
So far everything had been peaceful and Atavi had eagerly recorded further reading of neutrinos and verterons. From her analysis the figures were stabilising.
It seemed like it was actually becoming a wormhole; the question on everyone's mind was when and how the stability would be certain.
As they said in the ancient Earth history; that was the million dollar question.
"Ensign Ihuoma Kadretti."
The calm male voice almost had Oma jumping out of her seat. She turned slightly to face the Tal Shiar.
"You pilot this craft very well."
Oma barely maintain a calm expression.
"Thank you Major Solius," she turned back to the helm.
"You have a unique name...Ihuoma is an ancient African name from an equally old country called Nigeria. It means many things but the one description that stands out is 'beauty.' The literal meaning of course is 'beautiful face."
Oma froze on the controls; filled with dread at his calm analytical voice.
It sounded like he was describing a unique rare discovery.
He knows; oh God he knows I'm a mutant, thought Oma anxiously.
She was barely conscious of the startled expression on Atavi's face. She had stopped her calculations to look at Oma and then at the Romulan.
But it was Flint who surprised them all.
"Major Solius; the aim of this joint venture is to study the stabilizing wormhole, not discuss the meaning of names.
If you consider names unique allow me to briefly explain the meaning of my ancient german first name 'Klaus'...which means victory of the people."
Nveid sounded amused when he answered. "I was only making an observation."
Klaus gave him an insincere smile. "I'm sure you were," he turned to the front to see Oma was now watching him and the Tal Shiar.
"Ensign, do mind the controls," his voice was a bit firm.
"Yes sir," said Oma in a calm voice as she turned back to the helm.
Part of her wanted to hug Klaus while the other half wanted to clobber him for the way he dismissed her.
Maybe he's just trying to draw attention away from you said a little voice in her head.
Atavi cleared her throat. Everyone looked at her.
"Well...I'm going to contact the Dunkirk. We have been at this position for 5 minutes and no change. I think we need to go to step two."
Flint's frown deepened. "Do you think that's wise?"
The female orion officer nodded. "Definitely; the IKS Y'tem emerged at 12,500 metres from the anomaly and did not experience any effects.
And that was more than 6 hours ago before the readings stabilized.
We're good to go."
Flint rubbed the lower part of his face. He was obviously concerned.
He looked at the romulan officer. "What do you think Major?"
The Tal Shiar did not waste time in answering. "It sounds like a good idea. I'm all for it."
Flint stared at him for a while then turned to Atavi. "Fine...I'll alert the captain."
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USS Dunkirk; the bridge...
Captain Singh tapped his left arm chair softly as he watched the viewscreen.
The delta flyer had gone closer to the anomaly and looked so tiny compared to it. The anomaly had also changed in appearance and looked darker.
Singh was not sure but he felt the anomaly was bad news.
For once he wished he had a crew member with precognitive abilities.
He glanced sideways to see Lieutenant Commander Mirta. He had been surprised when she requested permission to stay on board to observe.
Apparently Karath had given her leave to do so.
Singh was okay with it as long as she stayed out of the way.
"Captain; in coming transmission from the Delta Flyer Infinity," informed a Lieutenant at communications.
"Put them through Mr Namako; audio and video," said Singh.
The viewscreen changed to show Lieutenant Commander Flint.
"Captain; we're at 55,000 metres and have yet to experience any gravitational forces from the anomaly.
Permission to go nearer sir; for visual and sensor data collection."
Singh frowned. "What guarantee do we have of safety Mr Flint ?"
"Based on reports from the IKS Y'tem and the Decius; there was no effect at much closer proximity. However we are prepared to abort on your command."
Singh was quiet for a while; he could feel Flint's hidden worry but Mirta seemed puzzled by their reluctance to go closer.
However how would they get more data if they did not go closer?
It was not as if he was telling them to enter the anomaly.
"Fine; proceed with caution and at the slightest change in conditions you are to abort immediately."
The senior officer nodded. "Understood captain."
The viewscreen changed to show the anomaly.
Singh was silent for a while before turning to Telev.
"Mr Shran; inform the transporter room to maintain a lock at all times."
"Yes captain," said the andorian as he sent the message.
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Kara soon got bored at looking at the whitish lines which surrounded the vipers and the Xavier. She looked at her chronometer.
They had been travelling for 27 minutes.
Another 33 minutes to go.
Oh joy. She was going stir crazy.
She had flown long missions before but this was very different. Her craft was powered down and she was being towed by an alien craft.
Okay; make that a highly advanced craft of the Thirteenth Tribe.
She looked at the Xavier wistfully.
What would it be to fly something like that?
"Hey Lieutenant Starbuck; you alright ?" She was startled by Captain Logan's voice.
"Yes I am captain; any problems?" she asked with some worry in her voice.
"No problems to worry about," commented the captain dryly "unless you count what we're racing towards."
Kara had to laugh at that.
"Captain Helo; how's your side?" asked the captain of the Xavier.
"It's a pretty great view Captain Logan,"said Helo with some enthusiasm. Kara shook her head at the fellow colonial officer's friendly attitude.
Helo was a very amicable and highly honourable guy. Some guys who met him for the first time took that to be a sign of weakness; but boy were they wrong. Because that attribute was what made him the man he was.
Sharon was a very lucky woman; Kara sure hopped she realized that.
"Well; I'm glad you're enjoying the show. We will soon be stopping in about half an hour so it will be..."
Kara frowned when his voice was cut off by another voice that she had been dreading to hear.
"Emergency warp stop initiated; obstacle ahead."
That was the AI of the Xavier talking.
Kara could barely form a thought before the three of them stopped suddenly.
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The Xavier, medical bay...
Rogers was still staring at the doctor; he seemed stunned to silence.
"An ability?" asked Anders with a look of worry on his face. "What kind?"
Dr Grey looked at Rogers as if waiting for him to answer
The colonial ensign looked at her and knew she was aware of what he could do.
That could mean only one thing...Dr Grey had to be an oracle like his grandmother. He felt as if a great load was lifted off his shoulders.
He opened his mouth to speak.
"Emergency warp stop initiated; obstacle ahead."
Everyone looked up in alarm as klaxons began to blare.
"Q!" they all jumped at the captain's shout "get to the bridge now!"
"Yes Captain!" shouted the hologram as he ran for the door.
"Wait!" yelled Anders fearing the worst. He and Sharon shared a scared look and started after him; at the door the cylon turned back.
Anders kept running out the door.
"Rogers aren't you coming?!" asked Sharon.
The dazed ensign looked at her as if he had trouble seeing.
"I...I need to stay here." Dr Grey approached him with a frown on her face which changed to a look of concern when he appeared unsteady and had to lean on the bio-bed.
"Billy!" said Sharon in alarm; she was clearly torn in finding out what was going on and in staying back to check on the ensign.
Jean looked at her. "Go; I will take care of him."
The cylon looked at her for a few moments then nodded before running off.
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Anders was trying to catch up with the hologram who was frighteningly fast. He was close enough to Q Junior to hear him asking the ship's AI rapid questions as they raced towards the turbo-lift.
"Anomaly detected; 110,000 metres from the ship. Both vipers are undamaged and the occupants' vital signs are satisfactory."
"What's the anomaly Xavier?" asked Q as he dived into the turbolift; he was kind enough to wait for Anders to throw himself inside before closing it and calling for the bridge."
"Parameters unknown but it bears similarities to a temporal displacement in time and space."
Anders saw the ensign go deathly pale.
"That's not possible."
"What the frak is going on?" demanded Anders; then he realized Sharon was not with them.
"Where's Sharon?" asked the colonial pilot.
"She missed the turbolift by 5 seconds; I will direct her to the bridge once you arrive there," said the AI calmly.
"Eh thanks Xavier," said Q Junior absently; then he turned to Anders. "I need to see what stopped us; then I can answer your question however your colleagues are well..."
"I know ! Just get them into the Xavier now while they are still safe!" cut in Anders.
"That will not be possible Junior Lieutenant Anders," said Xavier.
"Why not?" demanded the colonial pilot.
"Lieutenant Thrace is currently approaching the anomaly."
"What?!" shouted the two males at the same time.
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Rogers could dimly hear the doctor encouraging him to take slow easy breathes.
His head felt so odd; light and at times heavy. He had felt this before when he had fought on Hera's planet and when he had shot down raiders.
Always knowing where the shot was coming from but not as intense as now.
At the moment he was seeing figures which faded in and out.
A greyish dark cloud; suddenly turning black with streaks of lighting. It was in space; it was trying to rip one small craft and 4 larger ones to pieces.
He could see the other side of the massive cloud as it grabbed a viper and a ship like the Xavier and shred the two ships to pieces.
Rogers suddenly had a moment of clarity. He recognised that viper.
Jean was startled when Rogers suddenly grabbed her right hand like a desperate drowning man.
"Get away...Kara...Xavier...flee...sh."
Jean looked at him in shock; the poor boy's voice was actually sounding slurred.
Let me help. Asked the Phoenix quietly.
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Anders and Q reached the bridge in time to hear a furious Captain Logan ordering Kara to stay away from the anomaly.
Laura was already at the helm; she too was staring at the view screen.
"Lieutenant Thrace, get back to the vicinity of the Xavier; we do not know what that thing is." He looked up as the two males entered the bridge.
"Q status report."
The hologram quickly moved to the science station after glancing briefly to the impossibility that was on the view-screen.
Meanwhile; Anders was frozen in place.
He could see what looked like a dark storm cloud in space; it was huge and the Xavier was just 110,000 metres from that monster?!
"How far away is Kara from that thing?" asked Anders with his heart in his mouth.
"45,000 metres," said Laura in annoyance.
"Kara; you need to turn the viper around and come back...please," pleaded Anders.
"Captain Logan; Anders; I'm fine...I just want to take a look at it. My sensors can't make out what it is," Kara sounded a bit irritated.
"Lieutenant Thrace; I would advise you to get back to the Xavier now...because I'm not sure what that thing is," said Q Junior to Logan's surprise.
The turbo-lift hissed opened as Sharon joined them breathing heavily.
"Where's Helo?"
"Right here dear,"replied the colonial captain "I'm still beside the Xavier...as for Kara," he sounded irritated " the view speaks for itself!"
"Q did I just hear you say you don't know what this is?"asked a surprised Kara over the com.
Q Junior had a look of intense concentration on his face. "Yes I don't know what it is exactly...but I know what it's trying to become."
Everyone looked at him.
"In summary that anomaly has the characteristics of a stabilising wormhole."
"Excuse me?" asked Logan.
"A wormhole is a tear in time and space connecting vast distances with a relatively short hyper-space tunnel.
In Starfleet history there is only one naturally occurring stable wormhole and it's months away from our current position."
"The Bajoran wormhole," said Laura.
"Precisely; the Bajoran wormhole has existed from more than 10,000 years and records showed it took millennia to form before stabilising."
"So what makes this different?" asked Sharon.
Q Junior looked up at the viewscreen. " I passed this section of space 3 months ago and it was not here.
3 months is way too short for a wormhole to be created naturally and further more I have just discovered the sensors I placed here during that time have been destroyed."
Anders felt ice form over his heart. "When last did you check on those sensors ?"
Q Junior's face was bleak. " 5 days ago."
"And you haven't checked since then?" Anders almost shouted.
Q Junior gave him a stony look. "In between being spaced and incarcerated plus running from marauding cylons and negotiating with paranoid colonials; it's a wonder I didn't have the time to do so!"
"Enough!" said Logan firmly " what's important is what we do now.
Laura take us closer to Kara's viper in case we need to pull her out of a fire and keep us at 75,000 metres. I'll get hold of Jean; maybe she can convince..."
"Logan; we have a problem."
It was Jean and she sounded concerned.
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"What's wrong?" asked Logan.
Jean looked at the Rogers; he was holding his head as if he had the mother of all migraines.
"I think Rogers is a precognitive mutant; he's warning us to get Kara and stay away from the anomaly in space.
I have tried using my ability and the..." she remembered in time not to say CMS "...enhancer to communicate with Kara; but something in that wormhole is putting out a lot of psychic interference which extends to Kara's current position."
Silence greeted her words.
"What do you mean by failure to communicate? I can hear her just fine and she can talk to us as well," said an anxious sounding Anders.
"Not that kind of communication," corrected Q Junior in an annoyed tone "Dr Grey is talking about telepathy; but something in that stabilising wormhole is blocking her.
That is not good."
"What do we do now?" asked Sharon.
There was silence for a while before Logan answered carefully. "I have an idea."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X
Kara stared at the anomaly; it was odd. She had never seen anything like it and it was also strangely beautiful. On her sensors it did not register at all.
Part of her warned her to be careful; but the crazier part that always won out wanted to have a closer look.
After-all this joint venture was one of observe and collecting intel.
If they were on the route to Earth; then this anomaly was very important.
She listened as Q Junior warned her that the thing before her could be highly dangerous but she felt the hologram was overacting.
Besides she was 45,000 metres from it; too far for anything to happen.
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Somewhere between dimensions...
General Q stormed into the new born star to find Q and Lady Q having a picnic.
"You!" he said with a lot of anger.
The Lady raised an elegantly shaped eyebrow.
"Why it's the old chap. Why are you here General Q? Here to tell us how naughty our son is?"
Q Just rolled his eyes and continued sipping his tea.
The general's jaw dropped in speechless fury for a few moments before he could finally speak.
"I have been searching for you for the stars-knows -how long and here you are having tea while your son wrecks the universe!"
Q frowned and looked at the furious general.
"If I recall; you forbade us to interfere and we did not. So we decided to have a much needed vacation. I don't really see that as hiding."
"So why could I not find you ?! Answer that! What tricks have you been up to?"
By now Lady Q was also frowning at him. "Wait, back up a second; you said you couldn't find us? Q; we have been in this star since we left the Xavier; feel the aura of surroundings and you will notice the duration of our stay here."
General Q bit back a retort and stretched out his senses.
What Lady Q said was true. When a Q visited somewhere an aura was left which eventually dissipated once the Q left but as long as a Q stayed there any Q coming could calculate how long the Q had been there.
It was one thing that could not be faked.
The General's face changed into one of puzzlement as he realized the couple had been telling the truth.
They had been here all this time; then why had he found it difficult to find them?
Q Junior's face became concerned when he saw the General go pale.
"General; what's going on?"
The Q looked at the two Qs before him.
"We need to leave right away."
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Kara was trying to record the dimensions of the anomaly before her when she got an incoming call.
"Kara this is Captain Logan...I commend your dedication in trying to observe this anomaly. However I need you to put on the communicator we're about to send you."
"What...?" began Kara but there was a small shower of white light and an 'X' shaped communicator appeared on her DRADIS monitor.
It was identical to the ones that she had seen on captain Logan and his crew.
"Q is concerned about the anomaly as are we all...put on the communicator in-case we need to beam you out. I promise not to beam you out unless it is completely necessary.
Consider it as an insurance plan."
Kara gave the 'X'shaped device a dubious look. "Captain; I don't think I need..."
"Because if you don't," cut in Logan "we will use the tractor beam and considering how different the hull of your viper is to Xavier's . There is the risk of possible structural damage in pulling your viper whilst it is being powered.
I do believe you wish to return it intact to the fleet."
Kara was silent for a while; then sighed as she pinned the 'X' com-badge on.
"Fine...I will soon be back; just let me get some final readings."
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Logan hid the relief in his voice. "Understood; we'll be monitoring your frequency." He did not bother telling her he had also sent one to Helo.
Q Junior looked at him. "She's put it on; I have maintained a transporter lock."
"We should just beam her out of the viper," said an upset Anders.
Logan stared at him. "At the slightest sign of trouble I will...but not before. We may need that viper for the mission; remember that."
Anders had a stubborn look on his face but he was smart enough to keep quiet.
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The three Qs were at the Romulan Neutral border at a snap of Lady Q's fingers.
"What the...?" started Q when he saw the stabilizing wormhole.
"Oh my," exclaimed Lady Q in mild surprise. She turned to see General Q staring at the anomaly as if it was his worst nightmare.
"General...I presume you knew about this."
Meanwhile her husband; Q was muttering to himself about the improbability of a wormhole appearing in a place it was not supposed to be and wondering who was the idiot that decided to create it at this particular location.
Especially when one considered that the Federation and the Romulans had fought a bitter war over this exact region centuries ago.
"I thought it was a side effect of your son's intervention. It was a small anomaly; barely significant...I wanted to show it to you...for you to understand this was his fault and yours."
Q senior stopped speaking to himself when he heard General Q's words.
"Wait...are you telling me that you noticed this thing when it was a mere speck then decided to wait until it became fully grown so as to teach us a lesson?!"
Q walked up to General Q with a furious light in his eyes.
"Have you gone stark raving mad?!"
"You don't understand..." started the general with a shout.
Lady Q walked away from the men as they screamed at each other. She tried to examine the anomaly with her senses. There was something very wrong with it...it almost seemed alive.
To make matters worse; it looked like the humans; romulans and klingons were also examining it quite closely.
That wormhole did not belong here.
"BOYS!" she yelled when she got tired of their shouting.
To her relief they stopped for a few moments.
"Do either of you know where this anomaly leads?"
Both men looked at her sheepishly.
"As I thought...we need to close it. I don't like the feel of it."
"Fine; well General Witless Q," started Q Senior acidly " since you found it...you close it. Because I'm certain this has nothing to do with Q Junior."
"Wait we need to..." started Lady Q but this time both men ignored her.
"Oh so this is my fault now ?" retorted General Q " well since Irresponsible Mr Q a.k.a you is not ready to do the dirty work.
I'll have to clean up your mess again. Again!"
Lady Q panicked realizing what the older Q was about to do as he raised his right hand. "No! Not now!
But it was too late; General Q snapped his fingers.
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Oma maintained the shuttle position at 25,000 metres. Not as close as the klingons but for her it was too close.
Even Atavi's excitement had turned to nervous energy.
The Tal Shiar had remained silent but a quick glance at him showed he was concerned as well. Mr Flint was keeping a close eye on the sensor readings.
"Ms Atavi. I think we have done enough for today."
The orion was silent for a while. "You're right; it's time to go home."
Oma released a small sigh of relief.
Shila looked at her with a mischievous smile. "Alright Ensign; prepare to..."
A bright white flash from the wormhole almost blinded the ensign before incredible forces grabbed the shuttle and began to shake it.
Oma saw the console coming up to meet her face and she instinctively triggered her 'ability' which stopped her from face palming the helm controls.
As Oma instinctively shut her eyes against the bright light; she heard Shila cry out in pain and heard a loud thumping noise. The Tal Shiar and the Lieutenant Commander Flint also shouted in pain and fear.
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The USS Dunkirk; the bridge...
Singh's eyes were on the screen when it happened.
One moment the dark swirling cloud-like anomaly seemed calm when a bright flash started from the middle of the mass and then large lighting-like tentacles seemed to reach out to grab the tiny shuttle in-front of it.
"Condition red; transporter room; tell me you have them!" barked Singh.
"Negative sir! There was a huge energy spike and I lost the trace. The shields are also in the way!"
Singh did not know when he stood up. "Mr Shran status report of the Infinity!"
"It's still here sir! It's...it's being pulled into the anomaly."
No,no. Thought Singh in dismay.
"Take us closer ! Lock on a tractor beam now !"
Lieutenant D'aran Tshula began to accelerate closer before the order was completed.
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Oma was not sure how she did it; but she managed to reduce the glare of the view –screen and eventually see clearly after blinking furiously. She also pressed several buttons and tried to reverse at top speed even though the vessel shook uncontrollably.
Wires were hanging down from the roof and sparks were flying from the helm.
"Shield integrity down to 50 percent. Proximity to anomaly 12,000 metres and closing."
Oma bit back a curse at the speed at which the shuttle was being drawn towards the anomaly. She tried to ignore the burns on the back of her hands from the sparks.
"Ms Atavi!" the cry died in her mouth when she saw her senior was lying on the floor. Green blood was pouring from her mouth and a nasty head injury. The orion had hit her head badly when the shuttle was grabbed by the forces that still continued to shake the small craft.
Oma could not tell if the orion was dead or alive; she glanced at the screen then looked back and was startled to see the Tal Shiar had managed to crawl to where the orion officer lay.
He also had a horrible bruise on his forehead. Apparently he had impacted a hard object when the ship had been violently shaken.
He touched the orion's neck. "She's alive; but she needs urgent medical care," shouted the romulan above the noise that seemed to fill the shuttle.
"Oma ! You need... to put out maximum power!" yelled Flint.
The ensign risked a quick look over her shoulder. The lieutenant commander was holding his right forearm awkwardly and he had a very bloody nose and a nasty bleeding cut on the right side of his head. He was also blinking furiously as if he had problems focusing.
The senior officer had impacted his station with the front of his face when the jerking had started and also hit his right forearm forcibly on a part of the shuttle. Oma suspected it was broken.
"I'm trying! It's not working."
"Shields down to 39%. Proximity to anomaly 10,000 metres."
"Why aren't they beaming us out?" yelled Nveid over the loud noise of the sparking consoles and constant shaking of the shuttle.
"I...," Flint awkwardly rubbed blood out of his right eye "my sensors are unreliable but I think the Dunkirk has approached us and...it's locked a tractor beam unto us!" Solius looked relieved.
"Sir!" shouted Oma. Both males looked at her. "We're still been pulled in!"
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"Oh no," General Q looked at the havoc before him "what have I done?"
The other two Qs looked at him worryingly.
"Qs," called Lady Q solemnly " we need to work together. We have to close this anomaly now."
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The Dunkirk shook noticeably as the lightening-tentacles that had grabbed the Infinity shuttle also extended to grab the saucer part of the Starfleet star-ship.
"Captain; we're being drawn closer to the anomaly, proximity is 40,000 metres. Shields down to 92 percent." said Tshula in crisp tones.
"Reverse course at maximum speed and get a lock on their signatures," said Singh calmly. The captain could barely see through the view-screen.
"Someone give me an analysis of those lightening tentacles."
"Captain," called Shran "10 percent of sensors are damaged ...however it appears the tentacles are draining the shield strength."
Singh did his best to remain calm; such news meant that the Infinity must be in a worse state than they were.
The andorian officer was still speaking.
"IKS Y'tem has attached a tractor beam to the rear of the Dunkirk. The USS Endeavour and USS Zeus have also joined Karath's ship."
Singh did not bother to ask about the romulans.
"Has that slowed us down?"
Shran responded quickly. "Yes sir; remarkably, but I am unable to ascertain the shield capability of the Infinity and sensors indicate that the gravitational pull from the anomaly is increasing. Current proximity of the Dunkirk to the anomaly is 39,000 metres."
"It's putting out energy patterns similar to that of a black hole captain," reported Mirta who had somehow ended up assisting the andorian Lieutenant Commander.
Singh hid the despair he felt.
"Chief McIntyre."
"No sir; it's Ensign Cassius O'Reilly. Chief had to get to engineering to get some more power out of the warp core. I'm in charge of the transporters.
I am also able to get a very weak lock sir; but once I attempt energising it's interrupted by the energy disruption from the anomaly and the shields.
My advice is beaming them out one at a time as quickly as possible. They will have to drop their shields for a few seconds and I will have to drop ours for a brief moment."
Singh hid his shock at the fact the ensign was in charge of the transporters ; then he quickly realized that for the chief engineer to trust him with such a delicate procedure was a sign of the boy's achievements and the advantage of his extra-speed ability.
A few seconds may be all they had to save the people on that shuttle.
"Tell us when Ensign," ordered Singh calmly.
"Yes sir." Answered the young man just as calmly.
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Oma tried her best to coax more speed out of the damaged shuttle as the computer read out the decreasing shield energy.
"We're slowing but...the energy from the wormhole is building up. If...we... we don't get torn to pieces we will eventually get drawn in!" shouted Flint.
He looked very pale; probably from blood loss and the head injury.
Nveid opened his mouth to speak , then stopped and looked at the combadge Starfleet had given him.
"It's the Dunkirk!," he paused to listen "they say they can only beam us one at a time. Ms Atavi goes first but we need to lower the shields!"
Oma and Flint looked at him in surprise but he ignored them and shouted into his combadge.
"Ms Atavi is badly wounded! Retrieve her on my command!" he looked at Oma who nodded and shut down the shields for a brief moment.
"Now!"
The seconds that passed seemed to last for an eternity; then slowly the transporter lights formed around the unconscious Lieutenant Commander and eventually disappeared.
Nveid listened to his communicator. "They got her!"
Oma and Flint shared a small smile; then the shuttle shook even more violently and Solius almost flew face first into the side of the craft. Oma quickly put the shields back on as another bolt of energy from the wormhole extended and latched onto the shuttle.
"Shield integrity down to 19 percent. Hull breech imminent. Proximity 6000 metres."
The remaining passengers shared a look of absolute horror.
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The Dunkirk; transporter room...
The medics and security waited anxiously for the body of lights to form fully.
It seemed to take forever but that was due to the energy levels from the anomaly that was affecting the transporter range but Cassius was using his mutant ability to compensate.
His fingers sped over the console at superhuman speed as he adjusted minute settings and finally the unconscious form of Ms Atavi lay on the platform. He waited impatiently as they carefully transported the patient then he tried to lock on the remaining survivors.
He ignored the increased shaking of the Dunkirk as he adjusted his readings repeatedly.
After a few seconds of searching he hurryingly spoke into his combadge.
"Bridge we have a problem!"
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The Bridge...
"Captain; despite the combined efforts of the USS Endeavour ; USS Zeus and IKS Y'tem; we are being drawn towards the anomaly once again. The Infinity is almost to the event horizon."
The shaking had gotten worse; and already there were reports of minor injuries around the ship. The Dunkirk was now 33,000 metres from the anomaly and more 'light tentacles' were being attached to the saucer part of the ship and extending to the main body.
Shields were back on but down to 81 percent.
"Divert more energy to the shields and tractor beam. Engine room; we need more power!" called Singh
"We're doing everything we can Captain... but the warp-drive canna take any more of the strain! The dilithium crystals are beginning to crack!"
Then the transporter room came online.
"Bridge we have a problem!"
"What is it Ensign?" asked Singh as he felt his heart sink.
"Ms Atavi has been retrieved but I have lost the transporter signals of the other three crew ! Sensors indicate they are close to entering the anomaly.
Dropping their shields any more may compromise hull integrity!"
Singh tried to ignore the startling fact that forces had dragged the shuttle tens of thousands of metres in mere seconds and were now threatening to drag the 3 starfleet star ships and one warbird into the anomaly.
"Sir!" he turned to face Shran. The andorian looked very worried.
"The tractors cannot hold for long !"
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"Shield integrity down to 9 percent; hull breech imminent. Proximity to anomaly 2000 metres. "
Oma stared at the viewscreen. So this was it.
No; it couldn't be, something was telling her she had forgotten something very important.
"Shield integrity down to 7 percent; hull breech imminent. Proximity to anomaly 1300 metres."
Oma made sure the shuttle was still trying to reverse before she crawled rapidly to Flint. He looked like he was about to pass out. The Tal Shiar was trying to stop the bleeding on the Lieutenant Commander's forehead; that was odd considering the fact that they might all die soon.
Oma grabbed the senior officer and gently tapped his face to Solius's shock.
"Sir! You're a teleporter! You need to get Major Solius to the Dunkirk now!"
Flint stared at her for a few precious moments; he was close to losing consciousness.
"Shield integrity down to 4 percent; hull breech imminent. Proximity to anomaly 1000 metres."
"Can't...need time...need focus...cannot leave...you."
Oma stared at him; then she knew what she had to do. A sudden strange calm filled her.
This must be what it feels like when you know you are about to die.
"You both must go. I will give you time. Tell my parents...I love them."
Solius looked at her as if she had lost her mind.
Flint was shaking his head as she stood up.
"Shield integrity down to 1 percent; hull breech imminent, proximity 400 metres."
Oma closed her eyes and shut out the computer voice and she opened herself up to the magnetic forces that she had felt ever since they got closer to the anomaly.
At first there was nothing then the power rushed in until she was overflowing.
Unbeknownst to her she was floating with her arms outstretched as she grabbed the 'forces'. At first she felt them trying to twist and escape but she held on firmly as sweat gathered on her brow at the effort.
Second problem...she was not sure what to do with them.
Then she recalled Magneto's book when he described what the force of magnetism felt like.
"It's a subtle force; unlike anything else I have experienced but if you have the ability you can mould it into anything...a weapon...a shield. But first you must have control."
Oma held on as the forces tried to escape her and for one brief moment she saw her parents watching her with pride and suddenly her hold was more secure.
She quickly envisaged a large shield and wrapped the 'forces' around the small craft.
Solius stared at her with his mouth open. "She's a mutant," he muttered to himself in shock.
He was still staring at her when a barely conscious Lieutenant Commander Flint grabbed him with his functioning left arm. He was repeating two words to himself.
"The bridge...the bridge..." he closed his eyes and concentrated intensely then he shouted. "The bridge!"
There was a flash of black bluish smoke and the two males disappeared.
Oma hung in the air hands outstretched on either side; with the shield around the shuttle as it slid further into the anomaly, seemingly oblivious to the computer which was now saying shield lost; hull breech imminent.
Then she brought her hands forwards and focused on the pure magnetic lightening-tentacles that were attached to the Dunkirk ; she cut each one rapidly ; whilst oblivious to the blood that was not running out of her nostrils.
Then she reached the tractor beam from the Dunkirk; she made a final cutting motion and the beam 'snapped'.
The delta flyer spun out of control and into the wormhole.
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Singh was calling the engine room for an update when there was a flash of bluish black smoke and a badly injured Mr Flint and slightly injured Tal Shiar appeared in the middle of the bridge right in-front of the captain.
The lieutenant Commander would have collapsed if not for the romulan holding him up.
Security rushed forward as Singh ordered someone to get a medic down at once.
Singh knelt down as the Romulan gently helped the Starfleet officer lie down.
"What happened?"
Flint was muttering. "Must...go back...Kadretti...Ensign."
Solius looked gravely at the captain. "She sacrificed herself for us captain...she's a mutant."
Singh's lower jaw dropped but he had no time to response.
"Captain ! The tentacles have been severed...as well as the tractor beam ! However the unexpected severance has not repelled as it should."
Normally a tractor beam used on a ship going in the opposite direction was like using an elastic band; once it snapped there should have been a recoil but for some reason it had not occurred in this situation. Singh did not have time to ponder on this strange occurrence.
"Put it back on!" demanded Singh.
"We can't sir," said Shran in a grave tone " the Infinity was drawn in...however despite the severance of the tentacle...we're still being pulled towards the anomaly. Proximity is 25,000 metres.
Singh stared at the screen. "Maintain full speed in reverse and tell our friends to do the same. Advice them to disengage their tractors..."
"Captain Karath is refusing to do so sir...as well as Captain T'Laina and Captain T'shar."
Shran looked at him. His blank expression said volumes.
Things did not look good.
"Thank you Mr Shran"
Medics came and escorted the two injured males off the bridge.
Singh sat down and waited; he will have to deal with the loss of a promising young ensign later. Right now he had to save four ships with very stubborn captains.
Then as suddenly as it started the wormhole flashed a brilliant light which almost blinded them despite the view screen being darkened.
"Sir! We're no longer being drawn in...and the wormhole is gone."
The Starfleet captain looked at the screen in shock.
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The Decius...
Captain Maelrok tried to keep calm as she watched the 4 ships; one klingon and 3 Federation try to save the shuttle.
She glanced at S'Tokkr. When it appeared the shuttle was in trouble; he ordered all warbirds to stand down and observe from a safe distance.
Even though a Tal Shiar was on board the Starfleet shuttle that was about to be torn to pieces.
Maelrok was so angry she could spit disruptors. She knew she was going to get blamed for this when Tal Shiar Solius died.
She might as well use a disruptor pistol on herself because she would be tortured long before they executed her publicly.
Maelrok closed her eyes briefly when the shuttle disappeared into the wormhole. From their sensors there had been only one transporter use of one person.
She could bet her last meal that it had not been the Tal Shiar.
S'Tokkr smiled and Maelrok was tempted to kill the bastard; at least she would take one of those pompous idiots with her to meet the Lords of the Underworld.
Everyone was silent and a bit stunned when the wormhole also disappeared as well.
"Well; that's that," said S'Tokkrr cheerfully " Captain Maelrok please write up a re..."
"Incoming transmission from the Dunkirk sir," said one of the communication officers.
"Oh so soon? To apologize for losing a valued member of the Tal Shiar and cousin to the Emperor? I wonder what excuse they will give."
Maelrok froze at the smug way the idiot spoke.
The romulan captain had not known the Major Solius was related to the Emperor; now she knew the reason the older Tal Shiar deferred to him even though Solius had been of a lower rank.
Forget her own torture; the Emperor was sure to hunt her entire family down and have them killed for this.
Maelrok swore that S'Tokkr was not going to leave this ship alive; she was definitely taking him with her when she died.
"This is Major Nveid Solius of the Tal Shiar."
The captain was pleasingly shocked to watch the blood drain from S'Tokkr's face. He had clearly not expected that.
"Due to the gallant actions of the Starfleet officers and the sacrifice of one of them. I am alive and well. I will be joining you shortly...after I send a message to the Emperor."
Maelrok did not bother to hide a vicious grin as the older Tal Shiar left the room.
It looked like she might survive after all; it was a pity that she would not get to be present when S'Tokkr had his head handed to him. Literally.
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The Xavier; the bridge...
Logan barely had a warning when the wormhole flared violently and a whitish centre appeared. Several tentacles were extended which latched unto Kara's viper and seemed to draw it rapidly towards it's aperture.
The unshielded viper seemed to break up in pieces as it was drawn closer.
"Q!" shouted Logan and Anders at the same time but the hologram's hands were already flying over his station.
"I have her! She's in the medical bay!" said Q junior with relief.
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Anders stared at him in shock. "What...are you sure...?"
"She's here Mr Anders," interrupted a clearly relieved Dr Grey " and in one piece."
Logan released a small sigh of relief as Anders started demanding to speak to Kara.
"Anders shut it!" yelled a slightly shaken and angry voice which obviously belonged to the crazy female pilot. "I'm fine...but frak I just lost another viper! Tyrol is going to kill me!"
Her husband looked like he was about to faint.
"That's great!...I mean you're alive and well... not that it's great you lost another viper..."
On the other side a shaken Kara rolled her eyes in frustration.
Anders turned to Logan. "Captain; permission to go to the medical bay."
The captain looked and nodded. "Go; Xavier will guide you."
"Thanks sir," said Anders with a grateful smile as he exited the bridge rapidly.
Logan turned to Laura.
"Reverse at full speed..."
"Already on it pops," interrupted the female teenager without turning round "current proximity is 100,000 metres.
At first; Q and I were having problems but we are gradually increasing our distance from that thing."
Logan went still. "What kind of problems?"
Q answered this time. "The anomaly seems to be trying to collapse on itself one second and trying to draw us in the next as if..."
"It can't make up it's damn mind," said Laura aloud as she concentrated on putting as much distance from it as possible.
"What of Helo? Is he safe out there?" asked a clearly worried Sharon.
"He's okay; I attached a tractor beam to him once that thing flared up and his hull integrity is intact," answered Q Junior.
"Then we need to leave this place at the safest fastest warp possible..."started Logan.
"Captain wait! Not yet!"
Logan paused at the new voice. It took a second to realize it was Rogers.
"Ensign Rogers; care to explain?" he asked warily.
"We need to wait a little longer...we go now and she dies!"
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In the medical bay; Kara and Jean stared at a distressed Rogers, even Anders entering the room did not distract them.
"Rogers are you okay?" asked Kara tentatively.
Jean looked at him for a moment longer and tapped her com-badge.
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"He's right Logan...Phoenix says he's right. There's someone coming."
Logan frowned at the doctor's words while Laura and Q Junior looked at each other briefly; then Xavier spoke.
"Sensors have picked up an object coming through the anomaly...it appears to be a Starfleet shuttle."
Logan stood up slowly and approached the view-screen.
"Magnify screen Xavier."
The AI complied and Logan saw what looked like a small space craft identical to what was in their shuttle bays; the marked difference was that it was heavily battered.
It was a miracle it was still intact.
"There is an unusual shield around it but it's losing power...mutiple micro and macro-fractures detected in the hull.
There is also the presence of a single weak life sign..humanoid female. The ship is in danger of dis-intergrating."
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In the medical bay; as Xavier spoke, Kara and Anders stared at Rogers as if he had sprouted wings.
"Oh Gods," gasped Kara with an expression akin to awe "you're a oracle."
A worried Jean tapped her com-badge once more.
"Logan..."
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"I see it Jean. Q beam the occupant to medical bay, Laura take us closer in case we need a certain transporter range. Dr Grey; expect a patient and be cautious please."
To his amazement and relief. The two teens obeyed without speaking.
Logan was worried the anomaly would draw them in; but to his astonishment it suddenly disappeared as they got nearer.
What the hell had that thing been?
"I have her sir...she's being beamed straight to medical bay." As he spoke the battered shuttle seen drifting in space exploded. The extraction had been done barely in time.
"And the anomaly?" asked Sharon in a worried tone.
"It's...it's as if it never existed," said Q Junior in a very concerned voice.
Logan spoke into the silence that seemed too loud and oppressive.
"Laura; I want you and Sharon to guide Helo's viper into shuttle bay three and once that is done take us out of here at warp 4.8."
His daughter turned to him. "Yes captain." For once her voice actually sounded respectful.
"Q ; you will need to assist Dr Grey in assessing the new arrival." He didn't know who he had just beamed on board but a threat assessment was number on the list right after urgent medical care.
"Yes sir," said a solemn ensign.
Laura, Sharon and Q junior left the captain alone with the now empty view-screen which suddenly seemed more threatening than when it was dominated by an unstable wormhole.
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In the place between dimensions...
Lady Q tried to calm her breathing as she and the other two Qs looked at their handiwork. She could barely stand and could feel her surroundings spinning round her. It was getting better but still very annoying.
General Q snapping his fingers prematurely had contributed to an exhausting struggle with the evolving worm-hole.
Closing the anomaly had finally worked but it had cost them a lot of energy.
It had taken a lot of will and effort to prevent it from sucking up the Starfleet ships and the Klingon Warship. A pity they could not save the small shuttle but 4 out of 5 saves was not bad at all.
The energy lost could be replaced of course but the last time she expended this amount of energy was during the Q Continuum Civil War which lasted months in Q time.
And this time the fight with the anomaly had lasted only a few Q minutes.
Now that was very worrying.
"What in the name of all the universe was that thing?" asked her husband in a raspy tone. He was flat out on the imagined green lawn and also breathing heavily.
General Q was on his knees; one hand supporting his weight from the floor as he too tried to catch his breath.
"I don't know...but whatever it was...I sincerely doubt your son had anything to do with it."
Q senior frowned at the older Q. "Well...that's reassuring."
General Q sighed at the sarcasm in the younger Q's voice.
"Gentle-men; we have a very serious problem," said Lady Q as calmly as she could as she sat down gingerly in-front of her husband and the older Q.
Q Senior raised his upper body with his elbows with a weary look on his face.
"What are you worrying about? We closed the damn thing!"
"Yes we did; but what if what or whoever created it decides to try again and attempt to stop us? We have lost a lot of energy already.
If this should happen again so soon...we will not be successful."
Both men looked at each other and the grave expressions on their faces showed they now understood.
"How do we proceed Lady Q?" asked General Q.
She looked at him and her husband. "We search and ask questions; who created it; where did that anomaly lead to and who was the idiot stupid enough to try to cause a damn war in this sector."
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Hi everyone; hope you don't mind the length. Wanted to end this chapter at the right place. Hopefully it worked. Will be working on the next chapter as soon as possible. Thanks so much for all your reviews and for reading the story.
Please enjoy and have a great weekend!
