To The Journey

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine. This is an AU story.

Chapter Thirteen: Fearless Leader

"Hey."

"Hey yourself." Tasha grinned at her friend. "Your message sounded urgent."

"It was. Remember that promise you made to me back on the Farragut?"

"That I'd be your first officer?" It took her only a second to put the rest together. "You got a ship?"

"Yep." Jim's grin nearly split his face in half. "Smaller, nothing on the scale of the Enterprise, yours or mine. Total crew compliment of fifty - or rather, there will be a total compliment of fifty once I fill the roster. USS Fearless." He grinned again. "Appropriate, I'd call it. So what do you say? First tour's four weeks, leaves in eleven days."

"I'm in."

"In that case, welcome aboard."

xxxxxxxxx

Tasha knew now that her friends on Deep Space Nine hadn't been exaggerating about how tiny the quarters were on a Defiant-class starship. As First Officer, she was entitled to her own quarters, but that didn't mean an abundance of space by any means.

One thing was clear. The Fearless was not, as Tom Paris would have said, a luxury liner, as the Enterprise had been. The ship was designed for action, not comfortable exploration.

For the moment, she stopped regretting the fact that she'd had to leave Data behind. The rooms were not at all big enough for two people, and she couldn't imagine them doing anything like what they would have liked to have been doing on those bunks. He'd kissed her goodbye before she'd beamed up. She'd just have to make it up to him when she got back.

xxxxxxxxx

The mess hall was about half full, mostly with people using it as a common room. A couple games of 3D chess were active, and about eight people were gathered around a table, playing poker. Tasha waited until they'd laid out their hands before making her move.

"Deal me in?"

The people unlucky enough to have had their backs to her jumped. "What? Oh, sure, Commander. Pull up a chair."

"Call me Tasha. We're off duty."

"The game is five-card draw, red eights are wild."

"Why red eights?" she asked aloud.

Everyone around the table shrugged. "Who knows?" said someone. "He likes to make up odd rules."

The hands were dealt and the betting began. She could quickly tell she wasn't playing amateurs, but Tasha had learned playing with the master himself. Not one of these men had anything on Will Riker when it came to bluffing. And the one lieutenant who was the best at the game was definitely bluffing.

"All right," said the dealer, who had folded like everyone except Tasha and the one man. "What've you got?"

"Pair of twos," he admitted with a bashful smile. "What about you?"

"Read 'em and weep." She laid her cards out on the table, revealing three kings.

He slapped the table in good-natured frustration. "Take it. Play another hand?"

"Sure, I'm in." She looked around. "Anyone else?"

Everyone paid in the ante, and another officer took the cards.

xxxxxxxxx

"Captain on the bridge!" Tasha called, rising to attention with her fellow bridge officers - all of whom looked rather starstruck. Kirk either didn't notice or was used to it; at any rate, his attention was solely focused on Tasha.

"I relieve you, Commander."

"I stand relieved."

"As you were."

The crew stood down and resumed their assignments as Kirk ran through the obligatory preflight checks. When he was finally satisfied, he nodded to the woman in the First Officer's seat. She nodded back.

"Take us out."

xxxxxxxxx

"What's going on?" Kirk, coffee in hand, stepped out of the turbolift.

"Sorry, sir. Change of plans."

"I noticed." He indicated the red alert lights flashing. "What are our orders?"

"We're supposed to head for station Deep Space Nine at maximum warp. Apparently they've got a serious problem. The Fleet's calling in everyone in the area." She stood to let him get into his chair before taking back her own at his right hand. "I've already ordered the course change and the acceleration."

"Good. Do you have details?"

"Not all of them. Apparently, they've gotten caught in the middle of a fight between the Klingons and the Cardassians."

Kirk only knew the Cardassians by reputation, but he knew they were as violent as their opponents. "Whose side are we on?"

"Apparently, Cardassia." She couldn't help grimacing a little. "I don't know why, but a Klingon fleet has surrounded the station."

"They're supposed to be our allies!" He hit his armrest. "I negotiated that treaty myself!"

"Maybe you can renegotiate it, because it looks like trouble."

A beep caught their attention, and the communications officer pulled it up. "Captain, message from Admiral Hastur. He says the attack's over, stand down, but they still want us there to help them mop up the mess." There was a definite smirk on his face as he read this. Who said Admirals didn't have a sense of humor?

"Tell them we're on our way. Stand down red alert."

"Standing down red alert." The tactical officer pressed a couple of buttons, the flashing stopped, and the lights came back up to normal. "Time to Deep Space Nine?"

"Twenty minutes, sir."

"Commander, I'm not quite caught up on all my history yet. What can you tell me about Deep Space Nine?"

"Deep Space Nine is a space station near the planet Bajor. Formerly the Cardassian space post Terok Nor, it was left in high orbit of Bajor when the Cardassians abandoned the planet. As part of their alliance with Bajor, the Federation took control of the station, although a high number of the personnel on their duty roster are Bajoran personnel, non-Starfleet. It's not a military post, there are a fair number of civilians living on the station. A lot of civilian-operated business. Originally intended as just another way-station, it became of key importance when the first known stable wormhole was discovered in that sector."

"The wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant. Even I've heard of it."

"Exactly. Since then, we've discovered a massive power empire on the far side, and DS9's become key. If the enemy ever does decide to invade, that station is our first and most vital line of defense. Whoever controls the station controls the wormhole, so -"

"If the station were to fall, we'd be in serious trouble. Is that why the Klingons want it?"

"On that end, I know as much as you do."

xxxxxxxxx

"What the hell happened here?" was the first question out of Tasha's mouth as soon as they stepped through the airlock.

The red-haired Bajoran woman smiled. "Right to the point, huh?"

"Yeah, sometimes." The Major seemed a lot friendlier than she had the first time Tasha met her.

"Klingons boarded the station."

"I can see that. Why are we fighting the Klingons?"

The woman's head snapped towards the man who had spoken. "And you are?"

"James T. Kirk." Tasha noticed that not one of the three Bajorans standing in the hall reacted in the slightest to the name. She filed that away to remember later. "And you are?"

"Major Kira Nerys, first officer."

"Well then, Major Nerys -"

"Major Kira," she and Tasha corrected at the same time.

When he looked befuddled, Tasha rushed to clarify. "Bajoran name order is inverted from what we're used to. It's family name first, then given name."

"Ah. Well, I'm truly sorry, Major Kira. I'm afraid I'm a bit behind the times."

"Huh?"

"Later," Tasha broke in. "I think we'd better speak to Commander - excuse me, Captain - Sisko."

"Right this way."

xxxxxxxxx

Ben Sisko stammered incomprehensibly for several minutes, completely dazed at being in the presence of a legendary Captain. It came to a sudden and abrupt halt when Tasha and his second officer Jadzia Dax simultaneously smacked him, one on each arm. The Captain in question watched the entire scene with an expression Tasha knew meant it was taking all his self-control not to burst out laughing.

"Ah - okay." Fortunately, he took it all in good humor. "Let me bring you all up to speed. The first question, I expect, is why are we fighting the Klingons?"

There was a chorus of nods.

"Well, it goes back a bit. You're all aware of the incident involving the Romulan/Cardassian fleet and the Dominion?"

Most people nodded, but Kirk said "no."

"All right, we'll start there. Bear with me, please. About six months ago, a fleet made up of the combined secret services of Romulus and Cardassia attempted an attack on the Dominion homeworld. They failed rather miserably. The fleet was decimated."

"Okay. But what does that have to do with us fighting the Klingons?" someone else asked.

"I'm getting there. Well, with the Obsidian Order gone, a civilian resistance sprung up and overthrew the Cardassian military government. The Klingons became convinced that the coup was engineered by the Dominion. So they attacked Cardassia, and they weren't thrilled that the Federation wouldn't back them on it."

"I'm sorry," Kirk broke in, "but when you say the Dominion engineered the coup, what exactly are you talking about? From what I know of the Cardassians, they're not the type to let anyone use them as puppets."

"If I may." The station's security chief, silent until now, stepped forward and suddenly turned into a shapeless orange mass, and then took the form of a hawk. Taking off, he did one quick lap of the room as the others watched and then landed and turned back into a humanoid.

"The leaders of the Dominion are a race of shapeshifters," Sisko explained. "One of them could have assumed the identity of a person of some influence in the Cardassian political realm and then engineered the coup. That's what the Klingons think happened."

"Captain." This from Tasha. "Are we positive that isn't what happened?"

"We had to go rescue the Cardassian Detapa Council from Klingon invasion. I had my CMO personally blood-screen each and every one of them."

"Their military adviser put up quite a fuss about it, too," Jadzia added, smirking. Tasha raised an eyebrow, and she mouthed later.

"Is it true they've withdrawn from the Accords?"

All the muttering and side conversations stopped like someone had thrown a switch.

"I'm afraid it is," Sisko said gravely.

"What?" Kirk looked completely stunned. He also looked like he might cry. "How could they?"

"Captain, please!" the Admiral shouted, but it didn't seem to have any effect on Kirk, who was like a bomb counting down to go off. Tasha gently took him by the arm and steered him out of the briefing room so he could blow up somewhere more private.

They hadn't made it halfway down the hall when Kirk took a swing and punched the bulkhead. He hit it again and again and she let him, only stopping him when his hand started to bleed.

He pushed against her for a moment, but the fight went out of him and his knees buckled. Tasha eased him to the floor.

"That truce was my son's legacy, Tasha. People died for it. How can they just throw it away?"

"I know, Jim." It had taken practice, but she'd perfected the art of switching back and forth between his name and his title. "Maybe we can rebuild it again."

"You think so?"

"Well, I'd say the odds are in our favor. After all, they don't have one of the contract's original engineers on their side."

He didn't quite manage to smile, but his face did lift a little. "Then let's see if we can't press our advantage."

xxxxxxxxx

"What's the damage?"

"Significant, but could be worse. We evacuated most of the civilian population to Bajor and got the rest into emergency shelters. Six personnel dead and about forty wounded, but Dr. Bashir's got everything well under control."

Tasha liked Odo. He didn't beat around the bush. "How bad was it?"

"We all got a lesson in hand-to-hand combat."

"Excuse me, may I ask a question?"

"Go ahead, Captain."

"Ah - Captain Kirk, this is Odo, chief of security on the station."

"Saw your demonstration earlier. Impressive. And effective."

"Your question?"

"Right. Don't take this the wring way, but why is there a Klingon still on the station?"

"There is?" Tasha chimed in.

"Was the Klingon wearing a Starfleet uniform?"

"I didn't notice," Kirk admitted. "I was too taken aback by the fact that he was a Klingon at all."

"Well, I'm sure you know there is exactly one Klingon in Starfleet."

"I didn't." He shot a look at Tasha.

"Sorry! I'm so used to it it doesn't occur to me to point it out."

"How -"

"Later, Odo, I promise. Is Commander Worf aboard the station?"

"Well, yes."

"Why?"

"I can field that one." Tasha knew the woman without having to say her. She'd know Jadzia's voice anywhere. "Curzon once said that the only people who can understand Klingons are Klingons. Captain Sisko took that to heart."

"Curzon? Curzon Dax?"

"Yes, why?"

"I remember him from the Khitomer conference. He was a young negotiator, pretty new but I liked him. I thought he had potential."

"Really?" She sounded so excited that Tasha was surprised she didn't start jumping up and down on the spot.

"How did you know him?"

"Well I - I am him."

While Jadzia began an in-depth explanation of the Trill symbiotic relationship, Tasha pulled Odo aside. "As for why the Captain didn't know about Worf, he's been displaced in time. It's hard to explain and I don't fully understand it myself, but the easiest way to put it is that he was in a form of stasis for eighty years."

"Eighty years?"

"Yes. You may have noticed him getting some strange looks from the Starfleet personnel. Back in his day, he was the best-known Captain in all of Starfleet. Even today, every Cadet in the Academy knows his name."

"And you serve with him?"

"That's the interesting part. For all the hype, when it comes down to it he's just a regular guy. I'd go so far as to call him one of my closest friends."

"Excuse me, may I borrow the Commander for a moment?" A Cardassian had just walked onto the Promenade. Tasha tensed for a moment, and then relaxed when she realized who it was.

"Mr. Garak."

"You remember me. I'm flattered."

"What do you need?"

"I thought you'd like to know. A certain mutual friend of ours is aboard the station."

He didn't say anything else, but he didn't have to. "Dukat? Here?"

"Unfortunately, he's thrown in his lot with the Detapa Council. Which means he's here as long as they are."

"And how long are they here?"

He smiled. "You'll have to ask Captain Sisko about that one."He turned. "I'd best go see what damage they've done to my shop."

"Garak."

He stopped and turned. "Yes?"

"Thanks for the heads-up."

"Oh, you know Dukat too?" Jadzia asked interestedly. "I got a free dinner thanks to him."

"How?"

"Benjamin bet me that he'd thank us for the rescue before he started complaining. He lost."

"Oh. Uh-huh." It was always off-putting how they treated him like an amicable adversary. They have no idea how dangerous he is, what he's capable of.

"Who was that?" Kirk asked.

"Garak. Our friendly neighborhood tailor, so he says."

"You don't think so?"

"Well, I don't like to make assumptions, but Benjamin was discussing the Klingon plan to invade Cardassia while Garak was in the room, and when he went to talk to Dukat, it looked a lot like someone had warned him."

"Why would you be discussing battle strategies with a supposed civilian tailor in the room? Now, I'm not the tactical expert here," he nodded to Tasha, "but it would seem that discussions about military invasions would be better suited for certain ears only."

"Well, we sort of got stuck between a rock and a hard place. Worf believes, and I can't help but agree, that the idea of a Founder on Cardassia might have been an excuse to go back to the old ways of conquest. If that happened, if they took Cardassia, no one would be safe. But the Federation had forbidden us to get involved."

"Of course. The iron stove."

Odo, Kirk, and Jadzia all turned to look at Tasha. "What?"

"It's an old children's story. A young princess is sent to marry a prince, but on the way her maid forces her to switch places and swear to tell no one. The prince begins to suspect, but since she took an oath not to tell any person what happened, she can't explain it to him, so he tells her to tell it to an iron stove so he can eavesdrop."

Kirk's face lit up with understanding. "You couldn't actually tell the Cardassians, so you discussed it amongst yourselves when you knew he was listening."

"Exactly."

xxxxxxxxx

"Worf? Odo told me you were on the station."

"Yes." He turned to face her. "But I did not know you were."

"Until they get us a new Enterprise, I'm on temporary duty on the Fearless. We were in the area when the fleet put out the call for ships."

"I think you should be the first to know. Even if there is a new Enterprise, I am not going to be on it."

"Why not? You're not resigning, are you?"

"I had considered it, but no. I am remaining in Starfleet. However, Captain Sisko offered me a position on the station. I have decided that I am needed here more than on the Enterprise."

"That's not true."

"You know it is. The Enterprise will have you. Eddington and Odo are acceptable security officers but they do not have tactical expertise. This place is the front line of any conflict with the Dominion, you know that as well as I do. They need me."

"Well, you'll do wonderfully. Goodbye, Mr. Worf." Her hand gripped his larger, darker one. "And good luck."

The context (but none of the text) of this chapter is from DS9 The Way of the Warrior.

Since most of the Defiant-class starships had adjectives for names (Defiant, Valiant) I figured that Kirk's could follow that tradition. It does suit him, doesn't it?

Please review.