Dominion
Chapter 9 of Ardra
The seventeenth and last hyperjump brought the Orchidia/Voyager pair within sensor range of a large fleet. The Dominion forces were gathering for another assault on the Romulan Empire. During the three day passage, Janeway had toured Moast's impressive ship and gotten to know the four-person crew. Designed to inject itself into unknown star systems, Orchidia was a one-ship armada. Among the weapons Moast would admit to were chain guns, robot fighters in wingtip flight bays, and of course, the fearsome pulse-wave cannon.
Tuvok busied himself at the aft station. "Alpha quadrant confirmed." The bridge crew erupted in cheers. "Sensors indicate forty vessels gathered about a rogue moon, perhaps the sphere Commander Moast spoke of."
"Contact Orchidia," Janeway said. Beside her, Commander Chakotay was back in action, recovered from his injuries. A solid-built man with buzz cut and neck tattoos, he'd immediately been asked by Ardra if he was single.
Moast came on screen with some initial plans. His ship had used a lot of fuel carrying its burden, and he wasn't looking for an extended fight. Yet the nearness of the sphere—his gateway home—made him more than willing to wrest control of it from the invaders.
"Understood," Janeway said. "We'll be ready."
Chakotay needed no prompting. "Prepare for separation from Orchidia." A jolt followed release of Orchidia's tractor beams. "Come to a thousand yards to their port. Set battle stations."
On the other side, Ardra cozied up to Moast. "You've got your toys back, Katy. Use them like there's no tomorrow, while they last."
"We'll give them a nasty surprise," Janeway promised before signing off. "Set course for the enemy, warp one. When they engage, veer hard toward toward Romulan space. We'll need to lure them away from the sphere."
Aboard Orchidia:
Moast watched half of the enemy fleet go after Voyager. "All ahead, before they separate. Pulse gun—full sweep, close range."
"Aye, Boss." Navigator Chet had sandy hair and a trim beatnik beard. Next to him sat helmsman Burl, a bald man with earring and arm tattoos.
At the science station, First Officer Kyra Preston looked much out of place amid these ruffians. Her Space Command uniform consisted of blue coat over gray skirt and knee boots. Blonde good looks belied a calm professionalism. "Firing pattern calculated. Discharge in ten seconds."
"She's another sister," Ardra said. Not knowing how much power might be needed at the sphere, she had decided not to enhance Orchidia's weapons. Still, no matter what Moast might say, she'd waste no time jumping in if need be.
The nightmarish beam swept across the Dominion formation, obliterating eighty percent. They didn't let that deter them. The remaining four split up to attack from different directions. Orchidia's chain guns couldn't track them fast enough. Moast decided against making any tactical jumps, since the jump system was in much need of calibration at this point. He might end up inside an asteroid.
"Just say the word," Ardra said as hits began rocking the ship.
"Nonsense." Moast punched commands into his arm console. "We train for al contingencies." Four bat-wing fighters launched from the flight bays, began to track assigned targets.
"Warning," said the AI on speakers. "Incoming missile with shield-penetrating modulation." The missile struck high on the starboard wing, blowing out a small section.
"Moast . . ." Ardra itched to intervene.
Kyra swiveled her chair about. "That was just an ERA panel—explosive reactive armor. Servobots are on the way to replace it."
"Of course," Moast added, "we don't want to lose too many of them. "Orchidia—identify exposed area."
"Ejector coolant pump six. No critical significance."
Ardra watched the screen as a blip representing a fighter relentlessly harried an enemy, which now found itself in the same dilemma—unable to hit a fast-moving target. "Wait—did I just see it make a hard right-angle turn?"
Burl looked back. "A little goody we picked off a shot-up UFO in Perseus. Gotta thank 'em, ey?"
Orchidia had been anything but passive, performing agile twist-dives, standing on a wing for a hard turn, and what felt like back flips. That explained why everyone was belted in.
"Display tracking status," Moast ordered. On screen, enemy blips disappeared one by one.
"Fighters returning," Kyra announced.
Ardra paced before the screen. "Little ships with a big sting. I suppose the venom is something you want to keep secret."
"We've given people enough ideas," Moast replied. He faced the helm. "Voyager status."
"Heading back our way at high speed." Chet looked at his readouts. "Two Dominion survivors are headed back into Romulan space."
"Mess and mess!" Ardra swore. "They'll alert all the Dominians on the Romulan side!"
"Set course for the sphere," Moast said. "Signal Voyager to stand guard outside until we can shut down that portal the Dominion is using."
The sphere wasn't new to Ardra, who had used it to arrive here from Andromeda in a roundabout way.
The gigantic hatch irised open to reveal pale blue twilight inside. The myriad portal octagons reminded her of the suckers on an octopus.
"What now, Boss?" Chet glanced back.
"We wait. Look sharp, because we'll need to act fast once we see which portal they're coming out of." Moast reflectively rubbed his chin. "Avatar to the bridge."
The white-haired punkette in black appeared next to a startled Chet.
"Come on, Orchidia!" he griped. "You do that on purpose!"
Moast stood up to approach the helm. "Once we take the portal, I want Ardra and Orchidia to go in, figure out a way to shut it down."
"Risky," the avatar advised. "Sabotage could start a cascade effect. I recommend disruption." Orchidia had studied video of a transfer sequence, and was the closest thing they had to an expert on the unfathomable Builder tech.
"It's still a problem," the practical Kyra pointed out. "Whatever we do can be undone by Dominion forces coming back from Romulan space."
Burl pursed lips. "That's why I'm glad I ain't the boss. But I never knew 'im to fail, not on all our capers in the Apocalypse Wars!"
"We won't fail here either," Moast averred. "Imagine them pouring out into Pluto Station if they manage to find our portal."
Suddenly Orchidia rotated to face the screen. "Alert. Octagon seven three nine is emitting a temporal flux. Hatch opening is imminent."
Moast regained his seat. "Position us above it, facing down. Bring chain guns online, maximum firing rate." The view shifted in a dizzy way as the ship looked down the curving gray wall. Light flared as the hatch opened. An alien craft emerged, a gray clam shell with red markings and a twin scorpion tail. "Open fire."
White star shells rained down to converge on the alien at a rate of ten per second. They stitched a path of destruction along its hull until it blew apart. Some of the debris sailed into the hatch, which caused a safety feature to keep it open. Moast ordered the ship to put its nose inside, just to make sure it stayed open.
"Voyager," Moast called, "we've secured the portal. Preparing to shut it down."
Janeway appeared on the monitor. "You'd better hurry, Moast. We've detected a large Dominion force returning from Romulan space, pursued by Romulans. Since the Romulans haven't discovered the sphere yet, there's gong to be a heck of a battle to possess it."
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