The Hour of The Wolf
Chapter Twenty-One

Tigh was rather uncomfortable, but apparently Benjamin's wife was relentlessness. Constantly pressuring Tigh's friend to arrange a time for this gathering. Tapping the large button by the door he heard the chime. A moment later and the door opened to reveal an attractive dark skinned woman.

'Hello, you must be Colonel Tigh.' She smiled. 'Please come in.' She stepped to the side and Tigh went inside. The habitation module was neat, clean and tidy. Like a well maintained barracks. He'd been offered one centons earlier, shortly after the Galactica arrived, but like most officers of the Fleet he chose to keep his quarters on his ship.

Only then did he catch the smell. It was delicious, someone was cooking something and judging by his senses they were very good at it. Jennifer led him to another room, inside Benjamin was standing over a cooking stove. 'Tigh, glad you could make it! Good timing. We're nearly done here, sit down it will just be a moment.'

'I'll get Jake.' Jennifer offered and left them alone. Tigh looked around and there was a table, well two tables that had been pushed together and a mix of different chairs put around it.

'Sorry about the, yeah.' Benjamin waved a spatula at the set up. 'Jennifer and Jake looked around, but there wasn't a table big enough. I'm just glad I was able to get this old thing salvaged from the wreckage of the Saratoga.' He rapped a knuckle on the side of the stove. 'I've had it so long it's part of the family!'

Jennifer came back, with a young boy following behind. 'Oh no, not the stove again!' She said jokingly.

'You of all people how much I had beg father to get this old beauty. He'd have disowned me if I'd lost it!'

'I assume I'm missing something.' Tigh asked carefully.

'Please sit, if Ben hasn't told you already it's going to be a long story.' Jennifer laughed. As they sat down Tigh noticed the boy was uncomfortable. 'Colonel this is our son Jake.'

Tigh nodded to the boy, who nodded back as Benjamin started ladling out the food. 'So what is the story of this family heirloom?' he asked

Benjamin laughed; 'My father is one of the best Creole cooks on Earth, although he'll say he's the best cook in the quadrant! When he got ill he nearly retired for good. When he started cooking again he had the whole kitchen remodelled and this old baby just wasn't big enough.'

'So Ben, when he heard, went home and begged his father not to scrap it. He said if Ben was so insistent he could have it, if he could find room on a ship.'

Benjamin chuckled, 'So I've carried this heirloom with me through three tours on three ships. Only problem is I've had to cook for whole crew's before today!'

Tigh let himself laugh at that. When Benjamin had finished putting out the food he sat down Tigh paused for a moment and didn't miss that Jennifer put a hand on Jake's arm.

She saw his frown and she apologised. 'I know some Colonials like to give thanks. A prayer before eating.' She offered.

Tigh shook his head. 'That's not a problem. I'm a Warrior, we don't have much time for that sort of thing.' It was true that a lot of the civilians had taken up offering thanks to the Lords. It had started during The Exodus, they'd started praying for guidance and protection. He told them that, and then he remembered something. 'My father was one of the few on Picon that still followed the old ways before the attacks. He was a farmer and didn't agree with me becoming a Warrior, but he was a good man. He died a couple of yarhen before the destruction of the colonies. When the peace treaty was announced I had already made plans to retire and take over his spread. Illilyiar, a girl I'd know since I was Jake's age, had already moved there. We were to be sealed after I retired. She died when the Cylons attacked. All my family heirlooms were vaporised when they dropped a fifty-megon load on the nearby spaceport.'

'I'm sorry.' Jennifer said sadly.

Tigh looked blankly at the table for a moment. 'I haven't thought about that for a long time. There's thousands of stories like mine out there, I guess I'm not the only one remembering them.'

'I wish there was more we could do.' Jennifer told him.

'The Federation has done more than enough already.' Tigh told her.

Jake spoke up; 'I heard there are some people that think we can do more. They want to go to Earth and live there.'

Tigh sighed. 'Yes, I've heard there are some that are talking about that. There are even rumours they want to hijack a ship and travel to Earth. We've increased security, but we're lucky it's only a small vocal group.' With that said he had a mouthful of food, and wasn't disappointed. It was as good as it smelt, Benjamin was an excellent cook.

'We are stretched to the limit and some things are falling behind. Maybe what their upset about is they're the ones slipping through the cracks.' Benjamin admitted. 'Well there's some good news; I got word this morning that the Akira will be here the day after tomorrow, with a number of relief ships.'

'They're late, should have been here nearly three Cycles ago.' Tigh remembered his briefing.

'The Akira is a new ship, a prototype with an experimental warp engine. I understand there were some problems. A couple of the ships they're escorting have had troubles too. Lucky there's a warp field specialist on board that's been able to keep them going, otherwise it would be longer.'

Deanna sat down 'I know you hate having to do this.'

'Believe it or not, it's getting easier.' K'Ehleyr admitted. Deanna could tell she wasn't really lying, but there was something not quite right about how her friend said it.

Taking a guess she lent back. 'It's not just because you're talking to me though is it?'

K'Ehleyr's smile wasn't a happy one, it was more predatory than that. As if they were playing a twisted game. 'Not just our talks, no. Worf and I have discussed things too.' Again a half truth.

Deanna wanted to believe it was something romantic, but the grim satisfaction she was picking up spoke of something else. 'Vengeance isn't the only way.' she warned.

'But it's a start.' K'Ehleyr snapped back and the Counsellor knew better than to push.

So she tried a different tactic. 'I can understand that. One thing though, I heard Worf actually asked for some leave. He's the only man on board that can't get enough work, other than Data of course.'

The grieving mother got a far away look in her eye and Deanna couldn't help put pick up on the chaos of emotion she was feeling. 'Worf want's us to go to Earth, bury Alexander there.'

'I didn't think Klingons buried their dead.'

'Not usually. But Worf wants to take him home.'

Deanna couldn't begin to guess what that meant, but didn't miss that both she and Worf seemed to think of Earth as home, more than the Klingon Empire. 'Did you ask him to do that?'

'I didn't have to.' This time the smile was real, but still sad. 'He… I should have told him long ago.' K'Ehleyr admitted, her voice breaking. 'They should have had more time together.'

'You did what you thought was right.' Deanna reminded her. 'What was best for everyone. Worf knows this.'

'Has he been to see you?' she asked.

The Counsellor shook her head. 'Twice because Will ordered him to, but after that nothing. He even made a point of it at the end of our last session. I think he felt that talking to me was somehow dishonourable.'

'He's a warrior. They don't share easily.' Her smirk returned. 'Neither do I"

It was obvious she didn't want to be there either, but at both Deanna and Beverly's insistence they had included these sessions as part of the Ambassador's recovery. 'Too Klingon?' Deanna repeated knowingly. 'That's what Worf said when Will told him there were people all over the ship offering to help anyway they could. As I understand it the offer is still open.'

'They won't want to. Not when they know what it means.'

Deanna saw they were turning back towards discussing vengeance, and was about to change the subject again when she added; 'Duras destroyed my world Troi, I'm going to take his apart.'

'But he's already dead, what can you do to hurt him now?' She pointed out the first of many problems with the idea of vengeance.

'His legacy.' K'Ehleyr said simply. 'He killed Alexander, conspired to steal Worf's honour. His father had Worf's dad and thousands of other Klingons killed. All to secure his legacy. I won't let his House profit of that, I can't. We're done here.'

'K'Ehleyr, wait.' Deanna called as her patient stood up. 'Are you sure this is the justice you want, or is it just revenge?'

'Both, but if I can only have one I'll settle for revenge.' The Half-Klingon admitted and Deanna wasn't as worried as before. At least K'Ehleyr was being somewhat honest with herself. 'There is one thing, Lieutenant Dillon. I heard he's already left.'

Deanna nodded. 'Two days ago.'

'I wanted to apologise to him.' Deanna knew what she was talking about. While K'Ehleyr was still recovering Dillon, still feeling guilty for not being able to do more to save Alexander, asked for her forgiveness. K'Ehleyr didn't take it well. 'At the time I wasn't thinking.'

'It's alright,' Deanna interrupted her. 'I was there when he told his friend what happened. How did Troy put it; "Are you fracking stupid?". He felt guilty because he felt he could do more. He's got to come to terms with that, same as you.'

K'Ehleyr looked at the wall intently. 'What was that word?'

'Frack?' Deanna thought about it. 'It's a vulgar expletive in their culture, though I don't think it has the same stigma our curse words have these days.'

'Frack. I like that.' K'Ehleyr admitted after a moments thought. 'If it is possible I'd still like to apologise for attacking him, and thank him for trying to help.'

'I'll see what I can do.'

'Thank you Troi.' With that K'Ehleyr left. After a few minutes Deanna opened her log.

It was progress, of a sort.

Anna straightened her uniform and stepped out of the turbolift. 'Captain on the Bridge.' Called out the ever helpful Ensign Lancaster. The kid was so inexperienced he practically squeaked if he walked too quickly. It was going to take a while but she was going to smooth his rough edges.

It usually took a couple of years after you left the academy before you got all the nonsense sorted fro what actually matters. With luck she could shave a few months off that. Perhaps convince her XO to get the kid blind drunk before an away mission. Give her the opportunity to shout at him and set him straight.

'Morning everyone.' she sighed, 'Fleet status?' She'd picked up four ships back at Starbase 27. Two first generation Miranda class ships, one New-Orleans and an Ambassador. All of them belonged in a scrapyard and had been loaded to the brink with supplies. building materials, computer components, raw ore and enough replicator parts Along with the Akira. Obviously it was all very important and worth their time. The most advanced ship in Starfleet and it was reduced to a cargo scowl.

'There was a power failure on the Santa Fe, they lost two decks. Not even the gravity net worked.' Her XO reported with a laugh.

Anna just felt tired. 'What's that, the third time?'

'The Engineer over there, Watkins, thinks there's a gremlin. He's saying they need to overhaul the EPS grid to catch it.'

'We arrive, wherever it is we're going, in an hour. Tell him to nursemaid that old junker that far. With all the cargo we're hauling we could throw up a space dock, if we have to. How's the Crusoe?'

The Ambassador class Crusoe had been abandoned nearly five years ago, meteor damage had forced the crew to their escape pods. Marooning them for months before rescue ships found them. It had been salvaged, but this was it's first flight since and just like the Akira it had no end of complications while in Space Dock. 'Surprisingly it's the best of the lot. The warp field is stable, power distribution is good.'

'We might just make it' Anna admitted as she slumped in her chair and looked around. 'Well we've got an hour, have all departments ready. Let's see what's so special about the back end of nowhere.'

Like most things on the Akira the bridge layout was experimental. Like most the helm and operations stations were at the front, but behind them was two more freestanding consoles, Tactical and Engineering. They were sightly offset, which meant that she could see them all from her chair at the back. As usual the tubolift was to the port, but to the right was a slight hollow where the secondary stations lived. As they got closer to the system more officers arrived and filled out the bridge.

When they did eventually drop out of warp there were people at every station. Ready for anything. Anna might be forced to travel to an obscure system on the edge of Federation space, but she'd be damned if she didn't find out exactly why.

Her XO checked his own console 'All ships report arriving in system.'

'Sensors, full sweep.'

After a moment Lancaster spoke up. 'G to F - type star, young but stable. We're reading four planets, two inner are class F. A large Astroid belt and an outer gas giant. Class J, with two large moons. Class L and M respectively.'

'I'm detecting ships throughout the system.' Her XO reported. 'More than a hundred. A couple are Federation, but most unidentified. From the readings I guess they're cargo haulers, transports, mining vessels. A whole space fairing civilisation, mostly clustered around that second moon. I don't recognise their power source, engine configuration or hull compositions. I can't even identify the species.'

Next up was her operations officer. 'I can help with that. I'm reading human life-signs on all of them. Thousands, ten's of thousands system wide. Maybe even more. The greatest concentration is on that moon. Looks like we've found the colony.'

Anna watched as what looked like a swarm of shooting stars flew across the system, zipping back and forth on any number of random tasks. 'I haven't seen this much activity outside of a core planet. Earth or Vulcan sure, but not a newly established colony this far from the civilised sectors.'

'Err captain.'

This was not what she was expecting. 'Set course for the populated moon. One half impulse. Have the others follow us in and open hailing frequencies. They knew we were coming and we don't know what we've stepped into.'

'Captain' Her XO said again and Anna turned to him.

'What?'

He looked pale 'You need to see this. Bringing it up on main viewer.'

The view screen flickered and she saw what had caught his attention. A large ship was coming around from the other side of the moon. 'What the… How big is that?'

'At least three kilometres. I'm detecting weapons turrets, missile tubes and some sort of high density hull plating. It's a warship.' Anna saw the thing clear the planet and change orbit to face them. Three Kilometres, while her ship wasn't even five hundred meters. She really hoped she was in the right place. 'We're being hailed. It's a second one, approaching from the asteroid belt.'

Two ships like that. Letting out a low whistle Anna stood up. 'Put them on.'

It was an audio hail. 'Unidentified ships this is New Kolbol control onboard the Galactica. You have entered Colonial space. Please respond.' It was a woman voice, tight controlled and professional.

'New Kolbol Control, This is Captain Annabelle Williamson on the Federation Starship Akria. We were sent here with what I believe are your supplies.'

'Good to hear from you Captain. If you and your ships can assume a standard orbit I'll have someone from your embassy shuttle over with your orders and confirmation. Is that acceptable?'

Anna shrugged, 'Sounds good enough for me, I look forward to meeting them.' And getting some answers she added silently.

'Galactica Out.' The hail ended.

Anna was on her feet in a flash. 'Right, all hands keep scanning. I want a full census of this system and just what we've walked into. I'll be on the observation deck when our new orders arrive. Have Mackie meet me there, try and find Dr Brahms. I want her insight into what the hell is powering that thing!' With that she headed to the turbo-lift.

The observation deck was at the very top and back of the ship, above the torpedo tubes, giving the best possible view. Grabbing a Padd at the door Anna tied it into the sensors and started looking at what they knew. As they came closer to it the shear size of the Galactica was imposing. The first thing she looked for was the weapons turrets. They were double barrelled weapons and paired up, one was larger, heavy gauge. Above was smaller, thinner. If she had to guess one was for command ships, the other shuttles.

Behind her she heard the turbo-lift open. 'Wow! That is some ship, huh captain.' Chief Engineer McTalbot gasped. 'Look at the size of her!'

'It's too big.' Dr Brahms said, as if she didn't believe what she was seeing. 'There's no way to generate a warp field that big. It would lose stability instantly.'

'What if they don't use warp drive?'

Dr Brahms shook her head. 'Warp drive is the only way to travel faster than light.'

'That we know of.' Mackie shot back. 'Wormhole drive, hyperspace. It's a big galaxy.' These two were wildly different. Brahms had spent her life on warp drives, tinkering with them, trying to squeeze whatever speed she could out of them. She practically, and literally wrote the book on modern Warp drive. Mackie had grown up with his head in a plasma regulator. An enlisted man, he never graduated starfleet academy and learnt everything he knew through experience. His repairs weren't strictly by the book, but they worked and worked well enough to get him onboard just about any ship he wanted.

Since Brahms arrived the two had been at each others necks. A sort of uneasy peace had developed between them over the last couple of months, but that was more through getting used to each other than respect.

As the argument continued the turbolift doors opened again Anna turned and saw two men she didn't recognise. Both had dark skin and one was a Starfleet Commander. The other was human, but wore a strange uniform. A blue body suit with silver highlights and and two intricate stars on the collar. 'Hello. I'm Captain Williamson, welcome aboard the Akira.' she introduced herself.

'Commander Benjamin Sisko, I'm in charge of co-ordaining inter-fleet operations between ourselves and the Colonials. This is Colonel Tigh, Executive Officer onboard the Galactica and my opposite number.'

'That's one hell of ship you got there Colonel, I'd love to get a look around her.'

'Chief.' Anna cautioned him. 'Sorry, this is Chief McTalbot, my chief engineer and this is Doctor Brahms. She's a warp field specialist who's been on board testing her designs.'

'Good to meet you.' The Colonel nodded to each of them. 'The supplies you escorted here are desperately needed.'

'You're welcome Colonel.' She told him. 'I guess you're going to be taking charge of them.'

'Not personally, Lieutenant Athena will be directing the distribution and allocation. I'll be overseeing the over all efforts. Mostly I'm going to be working with you Captain Annabelle.'

That was a surprise. 'You are?'

Commander Sisko handed her a padd. 'These are your orders from headquarters. You'll be in charge of the Akira's refit.'

'Refit?' Mackie asked. 'This is a brand new ship, barely out of space dock and you want it to undergo a refit already?' Refit's weren't uncommon on Starfleet vessels, but they were usually undertaken on Starships near the end of their service. Upgrading the ships with top of the line technology and getting a few more years service from them.

The Colonel pulled out an old style file folder. They were the designs for the refit. Printed on hard copy, on paper of all things. Anna took one look at what they were proposing and couldn't believe what she was seeing.

There were two diagrams, the first was taken from a Master system display, obviously who ever these people were they'd been given top clearance access to ship design. The second was a wire-frame model of her ship showing the proposed modifications:- The biggest of which was three heavy turrets, like the ones on the Galactica. The first was to be installed above the Observation Deck and another two where the supports met, either side of the main saucer section. 'You want to give the Akira more firepower?' she asked, astounded that anyone would even think to do that. The Akira already had more firepower than most ships it size, enough to go toe to toe with the new Klingon ships and win. Same with the known Romulan Warbirds.

If the sensors were right these new weapons would put the Akira on terms with a Galaxy Class for firepower. 'What we want to do Captain is be ready. Should the Borg or anyone else come to destroy us we need to be ready. Your ship is going to be on the front line, supporting Battlestars like the Galactica. Conrxtualions Captain, you've been transferred to the new Federation Marine Corps.'

End Chapter Twenty-One