The Hour of The Wolf
Chapter Four

Apollo pulled his recon viper around and flicked the scanner switch. The fleet was quite a distance off and scattered. As if they'd been running at full speed. 'Recon Viper One to fleet, report.'

'Green Four reporting. Captain Apollo. We were approached by a unknown ship. Lieutenant's Troy and Dillon landed on it several centons ago. They haven't reported back yet.'

Apollo looked back at his screen. There was another contact off to one side, the computron identified it was a Federation ship. It was also trying to contact him. 'Understood Green Four. Bring the fleet to a halt and back into formation, I'll contact you with more information in a moment.' Changing frequency to what he knew was the Starfleet bandwidth Apollo picked up their transmission.

'Federation Starship Enterprise to unknown vessel…' A woman's voice said and Apollo smiled. Hanson had told his father that he had diverted a ship to the fleet's location. What he hadn't expected was the civilian fleet to panic.

'Enterprise, this is Strike Captain Apollo of the Colonial Fleet. I was dispatched from the Galactica, our command ship, with orders to confirm both your and our fleet's status.'

'Understood.' Elizabeth replied after a moment she seemed to come to a decision. 'We're holding position while your fleet is moving away at full impulse, we were just about to move closer. Our orders are to survey the fleet for humanitarian aid.'

Apollo let himself grin. 'That's fantastic Enterprise and thank you. Whatever support the Federation can offer will be more than welcome. Permission to land and meet up with two of my warriors already aboard your ship. I'll also need to speak with your Captain.'

'Permission granted Captain Apollo, our main shuttle bay will be open. I'll inform Captain Riker you are on your way. Enterprise out.'

Apollo watched his scanner as the Federation ship's engines came to life. He switched back to fleet comm scramble. 'Green Four, come in.'

'Green four here Captain.'

'Inform fleet Captains that the approaching ship is friendly. They are offering what aid they can and preparing to deliver more supplies where needed.'

'Thank the Lords!' she gasped.

'Have the fleet come to a complete stop. I'll be sending a message in the clear to all ships as soon as I can.' He ordered, wondering just what he could and could not tell his people.

'What about Commander Adama and the Galactica?'

He sighed. Green four was young and inexperienced, but from what he could remember she had good instincts. 'The Galactica's fine Lieutenant. The Commander is just negotiating a few things with our new friends. I've got to do the same. Contact you again in seven Centons.'

'Yes Captain.' She responded and he cut the transmission.

As the Federation ship passed his position he waited and checked his sensors. It had a small but powerful engines for it's size, like most Federation ships. It's general design was the same as well. They appeared almost delicate, if it wasn't for the energy fields the Federation seemed to have mastered he would have said they were too fragile.

Once it had passed he re-engaged is thrusters and headed for the open bay near the top of the ship. He could tell it wasn't designed with vipers in mind, but it was still big enough. Inside the Federation ship he saw several support vessels. Amongst them were Troy and Dillon's vipers. They'ed been landed expertly and Apollo manoeuvred his own viper in formation with them. A young man, not even twenty, with short hair and a red uniform came out of an ascension tube nearby.

'Captain Apollo?' He asked looking at the viper more than the man he was supposed to be meeting.

'Ensign?'

'Crusher, Wesley Crusher.' The boy stammered, finally noticing the Colonial Warrior and then the laser pistol in his holster.

'I take it weapons aren't allowed on board?' It was a standard security measure onboard most ships, so standard that he should have thought of. Taking it off and storing it in his ship the Strike Captain climbed down. 'Anything else?'

'No sir.' He nodded back and went into the accession tube. Once they were both inside he called out 'Bridge.' And they headed up. That they were already near the top of the ship told Apollo that their command, or bridge, must be in the dome he saw at the centre of the saucer.

He was right. Stepping out into their command Apollo saw that it was a wide open room, almost overly lit with a high ceiling that ended with a transparent view port. The front of command was another large view port, with what he would have guessed were two navigation stations facing it and a semi-circle of high backed chairs behind them. A large wooden rail separated the seats in the lower half from a bank of consoles at the back.

From the way people were standing the rail also had controls built into it. An attractive woman with curly blonde hair was standing by the seat at the very centre of the room. She was talking to a tall, powerfully built man with dark hair and a beard.

'How is the Councillor?' the woman, Elizabeth, asked the man.

'Feeling better, she was overwhelmed by the emotions she felt from the fleet out there.' He turned to face Apollo and offered his hand. 'You must be Strike Captain Apollo. Commander Shelby was just bringing me up to speed. Captain William Riker, USS Enterprise.

'Strike Captain Apollo, Battlestar Galactica.' he clasped the Federation officer by the wrist, which surprised him. 'Something wrong William?'

The other Captain moved his grip so that it was their palms that met directly. 'Traditionally we shake hands like this.'

It felt strange, but it wasn't really a problem. 'I see. William, I know that Admiral Hanson diverted you here to find our fleet but I have to ask what do you plan to do now?'

'You mean our survey? The Enterprise alone could never provide enough supplies for your fleet, however we do have the resources for emergency matters. With your fleet's help we can deal with any pressing issues before contacting the Admiral.'

He turned to the boy that had escorted Apollo to the command; 'Mr Crusher, given what we know about the fleet already calculate the nearest Federation world with the resources needed.'

Crusher sat at one of the navigation consoles and began tapping on the screen. It reacted to him and after a moment he read off the results. 'Earth sir.'

Apollo was afraid of that. 'Captain William, please before we go any further I ask you not to reveal that to the fleet.'

That confused him. 'Is there something wrong?'

'Quite the opposite. Our people have been searching for our lost brothers for nearly seven decades, ever since the Colonies fell. I'm afraid my people wouldn't be able to restrain themselves if they knew that Earth was so close.' he explained.

William stroked his beard for a moment. 'With the threat of a Borg attack Earth would be on high alert and we've already had several false alarms already from panicking civilians. Right now an unexpected fleet would just cause panic.' William nodded sharply. 'We'll follow your lead on this.'

'Thank you Captain.' Apollo thought hard for a moment. 'It might be best if I hail the fleet from here. Update them directly and before rumours spread too far. The question is just how much we can tell them right now.'

Sheba sighed and sat up in her cot. It should have been a lot easier but her current condition got in the way, it had been doing that a lot lately. She looked at the small crowd of med-techs at the far side of the sickbay. They were whispering urgently about something and casting glances out the window. 'What's wrong?' she snapped.

There were three women and two men, all of them looked guilty. They should have been. She'd been trying to get some sleep while she could. 'You shouldn't be up.' The lead doctor said. Well he called himself a doctor, truth was the real doctors were on the Galactica and she'd be damned to hades if she was going to let her husband hover over her.

As much as she loved him he could be over protective to a fault. especially to her right now. 'I'm pregnant, not sick.' She reminded him with a tone of voice that could have come from her father. 'What's happening?'

'The Galactica flew away, there's only one squadron of Vipers out there to protect the fleet!' A young medical trainee blurted out. 'Then another ship came out of nowhere, the fleet was trying to get away, but now we've stopped!'

Sheba took half micron to understand what the panicking woman just said before throwing off her covers. 'Where are my boots.'

'Captain, you have to stay in bed…'

'The fleets in crisis and I'm a warrior. Get me my boots.' Sheba ordered, but before the doctor could argue with her the communication monitors came to life.

It was Sheba's husband, standing in some sort of brightly lit strange room, it didn't look like any ship in the fleet. Too much wasted space and far too clean. 'This is Strike Captain Apollo to the fleet. As you were told the Galactica left to respond to a distress call we received from a then unknown source. A local alliance of races from across this region of the galaxy, known as the Federation, were under attack by a threat known as the Borg. With our assistance they were able to defeat these Borg and in gratitude have offered their aid.' Sheba let out a sigh. She'd missed a battle, from the sound of it an important one.

Apollo nodded to a man standing next to him. He wore a strange black and red jumpsuit and looked remarkably human. 'People of the Colonial Fleet. I am Captain William Riker of the Federation starship Enterprise. We are currently on course to you. While the Enterprise is a Galaxy Class ship there is no way we can provide enough supplies for the entire fleet. To help us we ask that you prioritise medical and mechanical emergencies and contact us with them first. Once we've got them out of the way we can contact local Federation worlds for assistance' He pointed at someone off screen for a moment. 'One more thing, I understand that you are in search of Earth.' Sheba's heart skipped a beat, it couldn't be. 'I can tell you that Earth was one of the founding members and is the political centre of the Federation. You made it.'

On the screen Apollo grinned almost as much as he had when they were bonded. Sheba couldn't believe it. A couple of the med-techs around her began laughing as other patients began sitting up, asking questions. She knew that across the fleet word would be spreading like wild fire.

It was impossible, too good to be true, but the proof was there. Standing next to her husband, a man from the thirteenth tribe.

She had to talk with Apollo.

Troy ascended back to the top of the ship, the bar manager had come with them. After he had told her what had happened the dark skinned woman had just nodded sadly. It was shortly after that they got called to the command, or bridge as they called it.

Stepping onto their command centre he was surprised to see another warrior on the ship. 'Father?'

'Troy, it's good to see you.' Apollo pulled him into a hug. 'We made it son. We found Earth.'

'I know Father. I know.' Troy grinned. 'I can't believe it, after all this time we've finally made it.'

'Not yet, the Commander thinks we still have far to go and I agree. There is so much we don't know about our brothers and much they don't know about us.'

The ship's Captain looked at them for a micron before Lieutenant Worf interrupted from what appeared to be his command station. 'Captain, we are being bombarded by hails from the fleet.'

'Looks like they couldn't restrain themselves.' The Captain shook his head. 'Mister Data, assist Mister Worf. Filter out what you can and focus on medical or emergency calls.'

'Dillon, you help' Troy suggested. 'He can identify those ships we know are in need of the most help.'

His father agreed 'Good idea, with your permission William.'

'Granted.' As the other warrior headed up the ramp to the back of the command the Captain gave them both a strange look. 'While we're waiting maybe you could explain. What did you mean by "Brothers"?'

Troy frowned, but it seemed Guinan was waiting for that. She stepped in. 'That is a long story Will, I don't think we have the time right now. Do you trust me?'

'Guinan?'

'Do you trust me Will Riker?' she asked again, intently. The Captain took a moment to nod. 'Then believe me now, These are people. Human, like you. Some are good and some are bad but all of them, all of them, try to be better than what they are.'

'Captain, we are being hailed by approximately one hundred and twenty five ships. Lieutenant Worf is identifying those ships and cross referencing them with Lieutenant Dillon.' The android supplied. Troy didn't fully trust the idea of a sentient machine. Perhaps he'd been been fighting the Cylons too long. Perhaps they all had.

'Good work Mister Data.'

'We are also being hailed by Admiral Hanson.' It, or rather he, finished.

'Put him through.' The Captain ordered. After a moment the large viewport at the front of the room flickered and was replaced by a man with grey hair that was thinning on top. His uniform was red, but was stylised to have an open front.

'Captain Riker. It's good to see you. What's your status?'

'The Enterprise is fully operational and beginning…'

The Admiral stopped him by raising his hand. 'Not over subspace captain, things are still sensitive here. I need a full briefing, but in person. Send your Security Chief here with a full copy of your logs. Don't broadcast anything until it comes past me. Understood.'

The Captain looked uncomfortable at that. 'Sir, we can't operate in the dark like this. You have no idea the scale of what we're dealing with here!'

The Admiral glared through the screen. 'I know, better than you Captain…'

'Initial scans show more than three hundred thousand people.' he interrupted. 'There is no way the Enterprise can continue this mission alone.'

His superior officer sat back, holding the bridge of his nose. He looked incredibly tired. After a moment he shook his head. 'Understood. Have Mr Worf report with a full briefing and what ship's logs you have. Including sensor records and any estimates you've made.'

'Yes Admiral. Before you go, I have to ask. Any news on Captain Picard?'

The Admiral sighed 'The Borg Cube was destroyed Will. We've scanned the wreckage but there are no life signs. Captain Jean-Luc Picard is officially recorded as dead. Killed in action. I'm sorry.'

'Sir.' A blonde woman in what Troy recognised as command red stepped up. 'Borg do not read as individual life signs when connected to their ship. If Captain Picard's assimilation was total, perhaps he and several others did survive and are repairing the Cube as we speak.'

'No, it's not possible.'

'But sir…'

'Commander, we are keeping a close eye on that wreck out there. If it even so much as hiccups there are a dozen ships ready to fire enough torpedoes to vaporise a planetoid. There are no power emanations what so ever. The Cube's dead Commander and so are all the Borg on board. If that is all, Hanson out.' The transmission stopped and the man was replaced with a logo of some description. A field of stars, three shinning brighter than the others, in a circle and what looked like a wreath around it. Beneath was the words United Federation of Planets.

The Enterprise Crew all appeared devastated, including Guinan. 'Who was Captain Picard?' Troy's father asked carefully.

'A good man, a very good man.' The bartender said sadly.

'So Jean-Luc, now you know the whole sordid story. What are you going to do?' Q asked with a smirk.

With what he had just been told, what he had learnt, it was a good question. Humanities origin, the threat that was coming and the shear scale of what was about to happen. It was galaxy altering, Changing things on a galactic, even universal scale. There was just one thing still unexplained. Why you Q? Why are you involved in all this?'

'Compassion, of course.'

'You are many things, none of them compassionate.' Picard pointed out.

'We asked the Continuum for help in this matter Captain.' John supplied. 'They assigned him.'

Q smirked. 'As the Continuum's expert on humanity. At least your aspect of it, naturally they decided I should…' He stopped as the smirk became a laugh. 'Honestly mon ami since our last encounter, after I was thrown out and they accepted me I've been kept on a short leash.'

Picard snorted and holdback his own laugh. 'While I doubt the rest of your kind are as corrupt and amoral as yourself…'

'Ahem…'

'…I don't see humanitarianism as a large part of their decision making process.'

Again it was John that answered. 'You're right, of course, Captain. However they didn't have much option. Neither, you see, do we. You are familiar with the idea that a small change, in the wrong place, can have massive unforeseen consequences. The smallest action from those of us on this plane of existence can cause devastation in yours, and of course the same is true in reverse.'

'What my learned colleague is trying to say Jean-Luc is that were something catastrophic to happen to your reality it can effect us in ways even we cannot predict. Of course major events there minor here, but…

'But the knock on effects could be catastrophic.' Picard put it all together. 'To everyone, even the Continuum.'

'Especially the Continuum' John corrected. 'That is Iblis's true plan, destruction of organic live in your galaxy will off set the balance here in such a way that he could defeat us. Were we, he, or the Q, to take a direct hand in matters the balance again would be disrupted. It is up to you and your people to save yourselves and by extension all of us.'

Q laughed easily, 'On the other hand you're used to responsibility, aren't you Jean-Luc?'

End Chapter Four