Maquis Vengeance

[Randor]

Chapter: One:

Captain’s Log, stardate 49771.4. The Defiant has left Dominion space and has returned to Deep Space Nine. With the rogue Jem’Hadar on Vandros IV neutralized and the Iconian Gateway destroyed, my crew can return to their duties and begin repairs to the station.

Miles O’Brien reached across the desk in Sisko’s office and offered him a data padd. “It’s not good, Captain. Not if you want to salvage pylon three.”

Benjamin Sisko was reclined in the chair behind his desk, feet perched on the edge of the gleaming table. He took the padd from the chief and activated it. A standard engineering repair\refurbish report was glowing on the padd’s interface. Several columns indicating time estimates, crew reassignments, scheduling conflicts and materials on hand lined the rectangular display. Sisko cocked an eyebrow and shrugged. “Looks like we’re a little low on Cardassian hull plating and power conduits.”

/

O’Brien smirked, his cheeks red with frustration. He’d spent the past sixteen hours since the Defiant had returned to the station assessing the damage the bomb the Jem’Hadar had left had done. He peered over Sisko’s shoulder and looked out the window, which revealed the damaged section of the station. Half of upper pylon three had been destroyed when the bomb went off. Almost two dozen people had been killed, including two of O’Brien’s work crews. He’d contained the damage, closed off the exposed sections of the pylon and had placed a forcefield over the gaping hole. “Yes, sir. If we want to rebuild the docking pylon it’s going to take a lot of materials we just don’t have. Only the Cardassians can help us.”

Sisko frowned, thumbing off the padd and dropping to a sitting position. “And with the Klingon situation, the Cardassians aren’t in much shape to send a supply ship to DS9.”

O’Brien gave a nod of understanding.


Chapter:

Sisko paced his office, feeling a bit frustrated and gripping the familiar form of his baseball in his right hand. He waggled a finger in the direction of the person seated across his desk. “Let me get this straight,” the captain began. “The Detapa Council has denied my request for materials to rebuild the docking pylon but you’ve secured the same list of materials from legitimate government sources on Cardassia Prime. And now you’re up here trying to sell those goods to me, most likely for a ridiculous amount of money.”

Quark smiled. “It’s really pretty simple when you put it that way, Captain. My supplier is an engineering designer for new Cardassian landmarks and recreational centers. Since the war with the Klingons began, his services have not been that viable. I secured his entire inventory paying twenty percent over cost. The Cardassian military is nationalizing private contractors and industries, usurping their resources to defend themselves.”

Sisko dropped the baseball to the stand on the desk and perched on the edge of the desk. “Even so, how do you plan to take delivery of these goods? You don’t have a ship.”

“Well,” Quark began, “I…” he hesitated a moment. “I told him you’d take the cargo off his hands.”

“What?” Sisko snapped, his voice reaching the high pitch it normally did was he was abnormally irritated. “You told this Cardassian that I would unload his merchandise? The Cardassian Union is in shambles. Do you know the kind of interstellar incident that would erupt if I took the Defiant into their space, took possession of materials the Cardassian military is going to nationalize and head back here and use them to repair the station?”

Quark stood and leaned forward on the captain’s desk and spoke firmly. “I only bought the materials and tried to make a profit. The fact is captain, this is your only option. Cardassia isn’t going to sell you the equipment, my client is. If you don’t take possession of it, it’s going to be taken by the Cardassian military. It’s only going to cost your four hundred bars of latinum.”

Sisko laughed. Well, not really a laugh. More of a high-pitched yelp that escaped from his mouth. He picked up a padd and tossed it across the desk towards Quark.

Quark took the device and sighed at what was displayed there. “Odo,” he said.

“The constable is notorious for keeping me apprised of your activities. We’ll give you two hundred and seventy bars of latinum.”

“You mean Bajor will,” Quark amended. “You Federation types and your ethics…”

Sisko smiled. “The Ferengi could learn a lot from us Federation types. Fine. Since I’ve had no luck with the Detapa Council I’ll have Commander Worf look into this. Please send all of your information to him.”

Quark swallowed visibly.

“And remember-“ Sisko added, carefully choosing his words. “If this is some sort of a scam, I’ll send Mr. Worf down to see you. Do I make myself clear?”

Quark nodded. “It’s clear, it’s clear,” he said standing. “Thank you, Captain. I am doing this for the right reasons…”

“You’re doing this to maintain another docking port for a vessel bringing you customers.”

Quark smiled. “I’m glad we understand each other.”


Sisko’s eyes darted towards the ceiling and the hidden communications relay. “Sisko to Worf. Please report to my office.”

Several moments later the double doors parted and the Klingon Strategic Operations Officer entered. “You wanted to see me, sir?”

“Commander,” Sisko said, standing and picking up the data padd. “The chief’s trying to repair pylon three.” He handed Worf the padd. “To do that we’re going to need several Cardassian components. I’m going to contact the Detepa Council. Given our recent involvement in saving them from the Klingons, they should be inclined to help us. I want you to coordinate with Starfleet, and put together a level of protection to escort any Cardassian supply ship to the station.”

Worf took the padd and switched it on. Giving it a cursory glance he looked back to Sisko. “I will put together a flight plan immediately.”

“Thank you, Commander,” said Sisko. “I’ll speak with the council. Chief, in the meantime, do what you can, I’ll let you know when you can expect your supplies.”

O’Brien nodded and he and Worf headed back into Ops.

Sisko reached across the side of his desk and keyed several controls. On the viewscreen, the image of the seal of the Cardassian Union appeared. He leaned back in his chair and interlaced his fingers waiting for the comlink to be established.


Chapter:

A wise man can hear profit in the wind. The 22nd Rule of Acquisition reverberated in Quark’s mind as he manipulated the control panel behind the bar. His eyes skimmed back and forth between the menagerie of Ferengi and Cardassian text. He’d heard the rumor from a Tellarite freighter captain who’d passed through the station this morning.

If he succeeded, Captain Sisko would have to pay handsomely. He liked the captain. Sisko had always been fair. But apart from a few catering events and using the bar for this or that, Sisko had never been indebted to Quark. That was going to change if he could secure the financial transaction flowing across the computer screen.

Behind him a clank on the bar made Quark spin around, his heart skipping a beat. Morn sat there, his glass empty. “You scared me, Morn,” Quark said quietly. “I thought you were Odo.”

Morn stared back at Quark, impassive. The bulky Lurian sat in his customary place at the bar, holding up an empty glass. Quark rolled his eyes, reached beneath the bar and produced a blue curved bottle of Andorian ale. Pouring the contents into Morn’s glass, he sighed with a bit of relief. “I’m trying to procure a sizeable profit at the moment, Morn,” Quark said. He placed the bottle on the bar. “I’ll just keep this right here, and keep an eye on you.”

Morn replied by downing ale and filling another glass. Quark turned back to the companel and resumed his work. The dancing characters formed and began to flash followed by a series of beeps and alerts. Quark grinned broadly, his freshly shaped teeth reflecting in the panel. He slapped the TRANSMIT button with the tip of finger and felt the blood rush to his lobes.

The final transfer of two hundred and fifty bars of latinum was finalized and deducted from his account. A few seconds later, the transaction was finalized and he received confirmation of his purchase. Quark reached for the bar and picked up a padd and transferred the data. Spinning around again, he snatched the bottle from Morn and poured himself a glass. Throwing back the blue liquid, he pointed to Broc, his head waiter, non-verbally leaving him in charge and scurried out onto the Promenade.

He made it just around the exit to the bar and collided with Constable Odo. The changeling security chief instinctively released his solid form, and allowed the upper portion of his body to return to its natural gelatinous state.

Quark skidded to a halt, disgusted, and jumped backwards. “Odo! That’s disgusting!”

“If you were watching where you were going,” Odo retorted, “you’d be fine. But no doubt you’re running off on some scheme or another.”

Quark, recovered from his ordeal, inched backwards towards the turbolift. “With deduction like that, it’s a wonder there’s still any criminals left in the quadrant.”

Odo harrumphed, ignoring the jibe and closed his eyes to slits. “Quark, before you go to Captain Sisko, you may want to set up a meeting through Kira or Dax. The captain’s a busy man and doesn’t have time for your little schemes about surplus Cardassian hardware.”

Quark gasped loudly, his mouth gaped open. He rushed back to Odo. “You were spying on me,” he said in a hushed tone.

Odo smiled, crossing is arms in that customary “changeling way.” “You should know by now you have no secrets from me, Quark. I monitor all transmissions into the Cardassian Empire. With the threat of the Klingons, station security requires I remain vigilant.”

“Uh Huh,” Quark said with a smirk. “I’m sure. Well as it turns out I’m the only one who can help Captain Sisko. The materials Chief O’Brien needs to rebuild the docking pylon aren’t going to be supplied by the Detapa Council. They don’t have the materials to give away with most of Cardassia’s infrastructure crippled by the Klingon invasion.”

“And no doubt you’ve devised a devious scheme to obtain these materials and sell them to the captain at an enormous profit to yourself.”

Quark snapped his fingers and pointed to Odo. “I knew there was a touch of Ferengi in you, Odo. It just had to surface one day.”

“Go on,” Odo said. “I’m sure the captain will listen to what you have to say but I doubt you’ll make the kind of profit you’re expecting. I hate to say it, but there may be more of a touch of Ferengi in Captain Sisko as well.”

 

[Randor]

Chapter:

A wise man can hear profit in the wind. The 22nd Rule of Acquisition reverberated in Quark’s mind as he manipulated the control panel behind the bar. His eyes skimmed back and forth between the menagerie of Ferengi and Cardassian text. He’d heard the rumor from a Tellarite freighter captain who’d passed through the station this morning.

If he succeeded, Captain Sisko would have to pay handsomely. He liked the captain. Sisko had always been fair. But apart from a few catering events and using the bar for this or that, Sisko had never been indebted to Quark. That was going to change if he could secure the financial transaction flowing across the computer screen.

Behind him a clank on the bar made Quark spin around, his heart skipping a beat. Morn sat there, his glass empty. “You scared me, Morn,” Quark said quietly. “I thought you were Odo.”

Morn stared back at Quark, impassive. The bulky Lurian sat in his customary place at the bar, holding up an empty glass. Quark rolled his eyes, reached beneath the bar and produced a blue curved bottle of Andorian ale. Pouring the contents into Morn’s glass, he sighed with a bit of relief. “I’m trying to procure a sizeable profit at the moment, Morn,” Quark said. He placed the bottle on the bar. “I’ll just keep this right here, and keep an eye on you.”

Morn replied by downing ale and filling another glass. Quark turned back to the companel and resumed his work. The dancing characters formed and began to flash followed by a series of beeps and alerts. Quark grinned broadly, his freshly shaped teeth reflecting in the panel. He slapped the TRANSMIT button with the tip of finger and felt the blood rush to his lobes.

The final transfer of two hundred and fifty bars of latinum was finalized and deducted from his account. A few seconds later, the transaction was finalized and he received confirmation of his purchase. Quark reached for the bar and picked up a padd and transferred the data. Spinning around again, he snatched the bottle from Morn and poured himself a glass. Throwing back the blue liquid, he pointed to Broc, his head waiter, non-verbally leaving him in charge and scurried out onto the Promenade.

He made it just around the exit to the bar and collided with Constable Odo. The changeling security chief instinctively released his solid form, and allowed the upper portion of his body to return to its natural gelatinous state.

Quark skidded to a halt, disgusted, and jumped backwards. “Odo! That’s disgusting!”

“If you were watching where you were going,” Odo retorted, “you’d be fine. But no doubt you’re running off on some scheme or another.”

Quark, recovered from his ordeal, inched backwards towards the turbolift. “With deduction like that, it’s a wonder there’s still any criminals left in the quadrant.”

Odo harrumphed, ignoring the jibe and closed his eyes to slits. “Quark, before you go to Captain Sisko, you may want to set up a meeting through Kira or Dax. The captain’s a busy man and doesn’t have time for your little schemes about surplus Cardassian hardware.”

Quark gasped loudly, his mouth gaped open. He rushed back to Odo. “You were spying on me,” he said in a hushed tone.

Odo smiled, crossing is arms in that customary “changeling way.” “You should know by now you have no secrets from me, Quark. I monitor all transmissions into the Cardassian Empire. With the threat of the Klingons, station security requires I remain vigilant.”

“Uh Huh,” Quark said with a smirk. “I’m sure. Well as it turns out I’m the only one who can help Captain Sisko. The materials Chief O’Brien needs to rebuild the docking pylon aren’t going to be supplied by the Detapa Council. They don’t have the materials to give away with most of Cardassia’s infrastructure crippled by the Klingon invasion.”

“And no doubt you’ve devised a devious scheme to obtain these materials and sell them to the captain at an enormous profit to yourself.”

Quark snapped his fingers and pointed to Odo. “I knew there was a touch of Ferengi in you, Odo. It just had to surface one day.”

“Go on,” Odo said. “I’m sure the captain will listen to what you have to say but I doubt you’ll make the kind of profit you’re expecting. I hate to say it, but there may be more of a touch of Ferengi in Captain Sisko as well.”

Chapter:

Sisko paced his office, feeling a bit frustrated and gripping the familiar form of his baseball in his right hand. He waggled a finger in the direction of the person seated across his desk. “Let me get this straight,” the captain began. “The Detapa Council has denied my request for materials to rebuild the docking pylon but you’ve secured the same list of materials from legitimate government sources on Cardassia Prime. And now you’re up here trying to sell those goods to me, most likely for a ridiculous amount of money.”

Quark smiled. “It’s really pretty simple when you put it that way, Captain. My supplier is an engineering designer for new Cardassian landmarks and recreational centers. Since the war with the Klingons began, his services have not been that viable. I secured his entire inventory paying twenty percent over cost. The Cardassian military is nationalizing private contractors and industries, usurping their resources to defend themselves.”

Sisko dropped the baseball to the stand on the desk and perched on the edge of the desk. “Even so, how do you plan to take delivery of these goods? You don’t have a ship.”

“Well,” Quark began, “I…” he hesitated a moment. “I told him you’d take the cargo off his hands.”

“What?” Sisko snapped, his voice reaching the high pitch it normally did was he was abnormally irritated. “You told this Cardassian that I would unload his merchandise? The Cardassian Union is in shambles. Do you know the kind of interstellar incident that would erupt if I took the Defiant into their space, took possession of materials the Cardassian military is going to nationalize and head back here and use them to repair the station?”

Quark stood and leaned forward on the captain’s desk and spoke firmly. “I only bought the materials and tried to make a profit. The fact is captain, this is your only option. Cardassia isn’t going to sell you the equipment, my client is. If you don’t take possession of it, it’s going to be taken by the Cardassian military. It’s only going to cost your four hundred bars of latinum.”

Sisko laughed. Well, not really a laugh. More of a high-pitched yelp that escaped from his mouth. He picked up a padd and tossed it across the desk towards Quark.

Quark took the device and sighed at what was displayed there. “Odo,” he said.

“The constable is notorious for keeping me apprised of your activities. We’ll give you two hundred and seventy bars of latinum.”

“You mean Bajor will,” Quark amended. “You Federation types and your ethics…”

Sisko smiled. “The Ferengi could learn a lot from us Federation types. Fine. Since I’ve had no luck with the Detapa Council I’ll have Commander Worf look into this. Please send all of your information to him.”

Quark swallowed visibly.

“And remember-“ Sisko added, carefully choosing his words. “If this is some sort of a scam, I’ll send Mr. Worf down to see you. Do I make myself clear?”

Quark nodded. “It’s clear, it’s clear,” he said standing. “Thank you, Captain. I am doing this for the right reasons…”

“You’re doing this to maintain another docking port for a vessel bringing you customers.”

Quark smiled. “I’m glad we understand each other.”

Chapter:

“Captain, this is crazy. Since when do we do shady deals with Quark to maintain the operations of DS9?”

Sisko smiled at the expected outburst from Major Kira. His senior officers had assembled in the wardroom. Sisko was seated at the head of the table legs crossed.

“I agree with you, Major,” he said. “But in order to keep the station running normally, we need these supplies. Chief?”

O’Brien was seated across from Kira, his hands folded in his lap. “The captain’s right, Major. Upper pylon three housed half a dozen phaser and photon torpedo emplacements. Not to mention the secondary sensor array. To relocate those systems would take… months.”

“And with the Dominion on our doorstep, I don’t want to waste that kind of time,” Sisko interjected.

“I’m not talking about ignoring repairs,” Kira said. “I’m talking about getting involved in the black market- the Cardassian black market no less.”

“I shared your concerns, Major,” Odo said from the captain’s right. “But I have checked Quark’s sources. The man he is dealing with, Keelan Dar, is a reputable figure in the Cardassian Engineering Corps. But he has suffered greatly this past year with the war.”

“I have also cross-checked the Ferengi’s information through a number of channels,” Worf said. “And I believe we can actually trust him on this instance. I have drawn up a mission plan but it will not be a simple matter. The Klingons have pressed deeper into the Cardassian Union, preparing themselves for a war of attrition. They are not letting Cardassian vessels travel freely.”

Sisko turned to Dax, the young science officer had been staring off and it didn’t’ appear as if she was paying attention. “Something bothering you, Old Man?”

Jadzia shook out of her reverie and turned to the captain. “No, sir, sorry. I was just amazed you all have such a low opinion of Quark’s methods. The Ferengi Alliance has endured for centuries. If they were as horrible as you all think, they never would have survived as a space faring culture. They’ve never even fought a war.”

“They are devious and untrustworthy,” Worf said. “And they are competent warriors. I had my fill of their operations when I was on the Enterprise.”

Dax threw him a smirk. “Well, that was the Ferengi military, not the ordinary citizen. I just think it’s unfair to chastise Quark because sometimes he runs into trouble with the letter of the law.”

Odo harrumphed.

Sisko threw up his hands in a disarming gesture. “All right, people, we’re not here to defend the Ferengi culture. We’re here to try to figure out a way to get the Cardassian supplies to the station.”

Worf returned to the matter at hand. “According to the information, the supplies are being transferred to a Cardassian trading post in orbit of Galinor VII. The planet is sparsely populated and in a remote sector of the Cardassian Union. The Defiant would be able to traverse the area with little difficulty.”

“But the Defiant is not equipped to carry the sheer mass of equipment we’re going to be picking up,” remarked O’Brien.

“Which is where the next phase of the operation comes in,” Worf said. “The Federation freighter Soval is docked at the station. Captain Krev has agreed to make the run as long as the Defiant comes along as his escort.”

Sisko swung his chair around and placed his hands on the table. “All right. Inform the Soval that we’ll be getting underway at oh five hundred tomorrow. See that the Defiant is prepared. Constable,” he added turning towards Odo. “I want a full security alert on the station. There’s still no solid proof that this won’t lead to trouble. Pick a cargo bay, secure it for the arrival of the materials, then quietly prepare a second one for the actual delivery.”

Odo gave Sisko a nod of agreement.

With nothing more to say, Sisko stood. “I know it’s a bit unorthodox, but our options our limited. Major, contact the Bajoran militia, inform them what we’re planning. I want Bajor on alert in case the Cardassians don’t take kindly to us making off with their equipment.”

Everyone gave a silent motion of acknowledgement.

“Dismissed,” Sisko said casually.













/ / /

 

[Randor]

The bridge of the Defiant was a bustle of activity, crewmen scurrying about, securing their stations and performing diagnostics. The bridge lighting was currently darkened as power had been transferred to the cloaking device.

The vessel had been traversing the space between DS9 and the Cardassian Union for seven hours. Off the port beam, the Federation Freighter Soval paced them at warp seven.

In his command chair, Ben Sisko stared ahead the viewscreen as the stars slipped by. They’d crossed the Cardassian border two hours ago and so far they had not detected any vessels within sensor range. It wasn’t surprising. With the Klingon invasion, the Cardassian Central Command had withdrawn the bulk of their fleet to the inner core of the Union to secure the homeworld, leaving a number of the outlying colonies to fend for themselves.

“Captain,” Dax reported from her seat at the helm. “We’ve arrived in the Galinor system.”

Sisko pushed himself out of his seat and placed his hands on his hips. “Drop out of warp. Mr. Worf, signal the Soval to do the same. Proceed at impulse to the seventh planet.”

From anyone watching their sensors, all they saw was a standard Federation freighter burst out of warp space and fire her breaking thrusters. The cloaking effect of the USS Defiant concealed her from all scanners and most high intensity particle detectors.

The freighter fell into orbit around the Cardassian space station, the old station not that different in construction from a much smaller version of Deep Space Nine.

“Captain, I’m reading a Cardassian freighter coming around the far side of the station,” Kira said from her station. “It’s the Sakaash.”

Sisko watched the long, rectangular vessel pull away from the station and proceed towards the Soval. “Confirmed,” Worf said. “I am reading their cargo manifest now. Captain Krev is transmitting his communications data.”

Sisko rubbed his hands together impatiently. “Tell them to hurry, Major. I don’t want to hang around here…”

“Captain!” Worf snapped. “Tachyon surge bearing one eight five mark twelve. A Klingon bird of prey is de-cloaking.”

Sisko dropped into his command chair and pounded his fist on the arm of his chair. “Full scan.”

O’Brien operated the controls at his engineering station. “They’re running with a full dampening field, Captain. Sensors can’t get through.”

Sisko angled his chair towards Worf. “Inform the Soval to hold position and hail the Klingon. I don’t want to give our position away if I can help.”

Worf turned back to the console and reviewed several monitors. “The Klingon ship is not responding to hails…” he paused, tapped several more controls. “They’ve powered up their disruptors and armed their torpedoes.”

Sisko sighed heavily. “Red alert, prepare to de-cloak, target their engines and weapons. Inform the Soval to prepare to withdraw.”

On the forward screen the bird of prey, its green hull gleaming, turned to port and a red projectile emerged from its forward launcher. It impacted along the outer hull plating of the Cardassian freighter, piercing its minimal shielding. From the underside of the hull, a blue stream of gravitons formed, and a tractor beam latched onto the crippled Cardassian ship.

“Drop cloak, raise shields and arm phasers,” ordered Sisko.

The lights on the bridge burst to full illumination. The red strip of the red alert klaxon sounded and flashed. The small warship prepared for combat. Worf prepared the weapons and locked them in on the bird of prey. The old Klingon ship didn’t have a chance against the Defiant. He reported to Sisko the ship was ready.

“Any response from the Klingons?” Sisko asked.

“No sir,” Kira reported. “They’re going to warp!”

Just as the major had spoke, the Klingon ship accelerated away and with a stretch of relativistic velocities, jumped into warp.

Sisko gritted teeth. “Track their course and set in a pursuit,” he said. “Maximum warp.”


Worf was reading the colorful readouts intently. “Klingon ship is at warp eight point nine and holding.”

“Close us in, Old Man,” Sisko said quietly to Dax. “Chief, can sensors penetrate their dampening field?”

O’Brien spun his chair around to face him. “No sir, it’s strange. The output readings on that field do not have a Klingon signature. I can’t localize it though.”

Sisko rubbed unconsciously at the back of his right ear. “Keep trying to punch through. Mr. Worf, are we in range to fire a quantum torpedo?”

The Klingon nodded. “Yes, sir, I believe I can disable their engines with limited collateral damage.”

Sisko pondered this a moment, watching the vessel speed away from the Defiant. The Cardassian freighter, running lights dimmed, plasma streaming from her damaged engines, was helpless and the only thing that could save it was the Defiant. “Do it.”

Worf reached for the weapons controls and operated the necessary controls. “Torpedo away.”

From the port torpedo bay a glowing white projectile emerged and sped along the warp filed racing towards the aft section of the Klingon Bird of Prey. It found its mark on the glowing warp engine in the rear of the ship’s hull, piercing her shields and exploding. With the yield set to fifty percent, the torpedo destroyed the engines power systems.

Streaming backwards, the Klingon vessel stretched and fell out of warp, its tractor beam fading away. The Cardassian ship tumbled away, helpless.

Sisko watched the events transpire on the viewer. “Full stop, lock a tractor beam and stabilize the freighter. Hail the Klingons.”

His crew went to work following his orders.

Chief O’Brien turned away from his station again. “The dampening field is down, sir. Those aren’t Klingons.”





Chapter:


Elim Garak was a very good tailor. After four years he had come to accept his fate in the grand scheme of the universe. And if that required him to live out his days on a Bajoran space station run by the Federation, so be it.

Perhaps one day he’d return home.

The Cardassian pulled the thread though the delicate fabric of Tholian silk and draped it over the mannequin near the back of his shop. Satisfied with his handiwork he reached towards the replicator and requested a warm cup of eyla juice. Touching the steaming concoction to his tongue he turned at the sound of his shop doors parting.

“Ah, Odo, so good of you to drop by. I don’t think you have ever graced my shop before.”

The changeling security chief ignored the false pleasantries and got down to business. “Garak, I was reviewing the station security logs in cargo bay twelve and found this.” He lifted his right hand to reveal the small black cone-shaped device held between his thumb and forefinger.

Garak’s eyes widened. “Interesting. An eavesdropping sensor.”

Odo grunted. “Not just your normal eavesdropping sensor but a Cardassian one.”

Garak truly felt puzzled. “Constable, you don’t believe I was responsible for placing such a device?”

Odo crossed his arms and eyed Garak carefully. “A little strange that a former Cardassian spy would not be involved in the planting of a listening device. This sensor is capable of scanning the bay and sending the signal back along the stations main communications array in an untraceable pattern. And you don’t know anything about it.”

Garak placed his mug on the table and erased all traces of a smile. He really didn’t know where the device had come from. “Odo, I sincerely don’t.” He lifted his hand. “May I?”

Odo handed him the small black object.

Garak studied it in his right turning it over and looking…

“Here, you see this,” Garak said pointing to a small engraving the Cardassian language. “This object was not constructed on Cardassia. It was created on Celtris 3. A remote planet near the Federation border. I recognize these inscriptions from the…” he’d about said Obsidian Order… “My time at the Cardassia Botanical Gardens on that world.”

Odo didn’t’ take the bait. He didn’t have time to argue with Garak over his sorted past. “And you have no idea how it made its way to Deep Space Nine?”

Garak placed the device on the table and moved to the back of the shop. Withdrawing a data padd from a drawer, he thumbed it on, tapped several controls and handed it to Odo. “No, but I may be able to find out.”

Odo took the pad and read the paragraphs of data scrolling by. He looked back to Garak. “You’re absolutely sure about this?”

Garak gave him an almost imperceptible nod.

 

[Randor]

Chapter:

“What do you mean they’re not Klingons?” Kira asked from her station. She was operating the Defiant’s defensive array, keeping an eye on the tractor beams that were holding the Cardassian freighter in place. Because the shields had to be lowered to use the tractor beams, weapons control had been routed to her command so at the first sight of trouble, she could attack the bird of prey.

O’Brien sat next to her, intently focused on one of the many monitors. “I’m reading four life-signs. Bajoran and human.”

“Pirates?” Dax asked.

Worf spun his chair around. “More likely Maquis. Starfleet Intelligence has reported recent occurrences of the Maquis obtaining alien vessels through third party sources.

“What’s their status?” Sisko asked, perched on the edge of the command chair.

Worf read the analysis as it splayed across the screens. “Hull integrity intact, shields at minimal levels, warp and impulse engines are off-line- they are disabled.”

“Open a channel,” Sisko said tugging at his goatee. The Maquis. That changed everything. The rebel group had been operating in the adjoining sectors for the past two and a half years. Unhappy with the Federation treaty that ceded several Federation worlds to the Cardassians, they’d abandoned their Federation citizenship and started a guerilla war against the Cardassians. Sisko felt blood rush to his cheeks as he thought of Lieutenant Commander Michael Eddington, former Starfleet Chief of Security for the station. The commander had been a Maquis operative and had defected less than three weeks ago. He’d stolen a number of CFI replicators that were headed for Cardassia.

In a ruse that still fueled Sisko’s temper, Kassidy Yates had been implicated in delivering supplies to the Maquis and had been used as a diversion so Eddington could make off with the replicators. Kassidy was now awaiting trial and most likely a prison sentence, while Eddington was out ceding discord throughout Cardassian territory.

Worf gave Sisko a nod indicating the frequencies were open.

“Klingon vessel: This is Captain Sisko of the USS Defiant. Stand down and prepare for boarding. You’re violating Cardassian space and have attacked a vessel under the protection of Starfleet.”

Several moments passed until a panel of Worf’s station lit up. “They are responding Captain.”

The compact forward viewscreen blinked to the image of a Bajoran female with short cropped black hair. She looked absolutely haggard and defeated. Her mission must have failed spectacularly.

“Ro!” snapped Worf.

Sisko glanced from Worf to the woman on the screen and it clicked. “Lieutenant Ro Laren, I presume,” said Sisko, “from the Enterprise.”

She lowered her head. “Captain Sisko,” she said, “We’ll stand down. We can’t offer any resistance.”

Sisko was taken aback for a moment. “Fine. Hold your position. End transmission.”

Worf deactivated the comm. and turned to face the captain. “Sir, Lieutenant Ro served for two years aboard the Enterprise and then attended Advanced Tactical Training. She is well equipped for the type of situation she finds herself in now. I recommend against beaming the crew aboard. No doubt she has some sort of plan for escape.”

Sisko pondered this a moment, his eyes drifting back to the viewscreen. The Cardassian freighter had stabilized and the tractor beams had been disengaged.

“Captain,” O’Brien said urgently from his station, “their life-support systems have failed.”

Worf’s panel lit up. “An urgent audio message:”

“Defiant, we’ve lost life support and auxiliary backups have been destroyed. We need emergency transport.”

Sisko sighed and returned to the center of the bridge. “All right, chief, have the transporter room bring them aboard. Mr. Worf, send a security detachment down there. Transporter Protocol Five.”

Worf stood and headed off the bridge. He knew protocol five would remove the Maquis weapons while in transport. But they were devious and one did not know what they intended once they were aboard the Defiant.




Chapter:


Ensign Valerie Cook slid her hands over the transporter controls and energized the columns of energy. Four figures materialized on the pad. Commander Worf and his security stood at the base of the platform, phasers at the ready. Ro Laren took from in the front of the group. She smiled faintly at the Klingon. “Hello, Worf,” she said quietly.

“Lieutenant,” he said firmly, “you are under arrest.”

Ro held up her hands in surrender, “I know, I know, but I need to speak with Captain Sisko.”

Worf regarded her. The Defiant had crippled the Maquis ship and the Soval would be arriving momentarily to take the cargo from the Sakaash and they would all be returning to DS9. “Very well, I will speak with him. In the meantime,” he turned his head to Ensign Silario, “take these people to the brig.” He touched his communicator. “Worf to Bridge, the Maquis are aboard. Their leader is wishing to speak with the captain.”

“Have her brought to the mess hall,” Sisko’s voice called over the combadge. “I’ll meet you there.”



/ / /



Sisko rose from the command chair. “Dax, once the cargo transfer is complete, secure all systems, reactivate the cloak and plot a course for DS9.”

The young Trill officer nodded, moving her nimble fingers across the Defiant’s flight controls. “Aye, Captain. We’ll be getting under way in about fifteen minutes.”

“The bridge is yours, Major,” he said Sisko stepped out of the bridge and headed for the ship’s mess. Once inside he moved to the replicator. Ordering a raktajinio, he pulled the steaming mug to his lips and drank carefully. He turned at the sound of the doors parting.

Lieutenant Reese entered with the commander of the Klingon ship.

“Ro Laren,” Sisko said in wonderment. “I see we’ve finally caught up with you.”

“I’m not going to put up any sort of defense, Captain. I was a Maquis and I was caught. What more is there to say?”

“Apparently you have something to say, Lieutenant. Or else we wouldn’t be standing here. Now.” He set the cup on the table with a loud clank. “If you have something to say to me, say it.”

“Five months ago the Klingon cruiser Tagh’Takor was passing through the DMZ and came under fire from a Cardassian warship. The Klingon ship was dead in space and being picked apart by a very nasty gul named Tarane. Three Maquis ships were in the area and engaged the Cardassian. They crippled its shields and it retreated back into Cardassian space. The Klingons rewarded us with a squadron of birds of prey and a couple of battle cruisers. Michael Eddington is preparing to use those ships to strike at Cardassia Prime itself.”

Sisko was taken aback. The Maquis had always been a nuisance. Raiding Cardassian ships along the border of the DMZ, and stealing supplies from their outposts. But they had never taken the fight beyond their homes, merely defending the colonies from Cardassian attack. Ever since the Klingons had invaded the Cardassian Empire, the Maquis had been given free reign to harass the Cardassians unlike ever before. And now the Klingons were giving them materiel.

“Why are you telling me this?” Sisko asked.

“Because I joined the Maquis to defend the colonies Starfleet abandoned in the Demilitarized Zone. I watched an old man be gunned down in the streets of his home by a Cardassian thug who thought he was to be in control. I vowed on that day to help defend the defenseless. But now Eddington has taken it too far. He’s no longer defending the DMZ. He’s launching an all-out war against the Cardassians and the Federation. I wont be a part of that.”

“Then why did you attack the Defiant and attempt to make off with that freighter?” the captain demanded.

“Eddington placed an observer onboard. His job was to report back on my actions. If I had simply surrendered, he would’ve killed me and the rest of the crew. I’m willing to give Starfleet the necessary information to destroy Eddington’s new fleet and cease all offensive actions by the Maquis. If Cardassia Prime is attacked by the Maquis, they will have to respond, and they will send everything they have left and destroy the colonies in the DMZ. I’m not going to risk the lives of millions to quench Eddington thirst for vengeance.”

“Lets say I believe everything you’re telling me,” Sisko said, starting to pace. “You’re trying to convince me to take you at your word and launch a preemptive strike against the Maquis. That’s kind of what was planned the day you defected.”

Ro pounded her fist on the table. “I stopped Starfleet from massacring the Maquis that day. I had watched an old man killed for defending his home, just like my father. I swore on that day to help defend those people because the Federation won’t.”

“I’m not here to argue the pros and cons of the Maquis,” Sisko said.

“I know what happened recently, Captain. Kassidy Yates was not a Maquis. She simply provided us with medical supplies. She saved the lives of the entire Xaranar Colony.”

Sisko paused, his teeth clenching at the utterance of Kassidy. He loved her and hopefully could one day forgive her. “All right,” Sisko said, tugging on his right ear. “Give me everything you have.” He picked up a data padd and tossed it on the table in front of Ro. “I’ll speak with Starfleet and take your data to them. Mr. Reese, take our guest to secure quarters.”

Ro turned to leave then looked back to Sisko. “Salm. He’s the tall red-haired human in my group. He’s the observer. If he finds out what I told you, he’ll be sure to take care of me.”

Sisko gave a disarming gesture with his right hand. “Don’t worry, Lieutenant, I’ll make certain he doesn’t’ cause any trouble.”

“I appreciate that, Captain.”

Reese gently tugged her elbow and they were gone.

Sisko reached for the mug of raktajino. This was a hell of a mess. If the Maquis attacked Cardassia Prime, the entire Union might destabilize. If Cardassia fell, the Klingons would pick their bones and use Cardassian space as a springboard for further incursions. Bajor would be next on their list. The Klingons were determined to prevent a Dominion invasion. If they didn’t hold the keys to the wormhole, their objective would fail. Sisko had to make damned sure the Cardassians survived.

“Sisko to Dax. Report.”

“Final transfer of cargo complete. The Soval is ready to get underway.”

“Excellent, give my thanks to the Cardassian freighter then set a course for home.”

“Course plotted…Captain, we’re receiving a priority one message from the station. It’s Odo.”

“Engage your course, Commander, and transfer the constable’s call to the mess hall.”

The small screen set into the wall blinked to the smooth face of Odo. “Captain,” he began, “it’s urgent you get back to the station as soon as possible. I have reason to believe that Deep Space Nine will be attacked.”

 

[Randor]

Chapter:

The airlock had not finished cycling before Sisko bolted out of the Defiant’s docking berth and stepped back onto DS9. Odo stood there with Garak. Sisko gave them both a quizzical look. “Gentlemen.”

“Welcome home, sir,” Odo said quickly, gesturing towards the Cardassian. “Eighteen hours ago during my sweep of the cargo facility I picked up this.” He held up the surveillance device and handed it to Sisko. “Mr. Garak recognized it as an Obsidian Order device manufactured on Celtris 3. I did some checking. The Cardassian splinter group the True Way has a base of operations on the planet.”

Damn it, Sisko thought. The True Way was a Cardassian terrorist organization that believed the Federation to be the greatest threat to the Cardassian people, and the cause of the Cardassian Union's economic and political difficulties. Earlier in the year, they had planted a bomb on the Orinoco nearly killing Sisko and his entire command crew. A few months ago, they had attempted to assassinate First Minister Shaakar, until their operative had been apprehended by station security. Sisko was not eager for a third go-around. “Do we have anything specific?”

Odo matched Sisko’s gait down the corridor, Garak following closely behind. The entered the wardroom a few moments later and stood around the table. “Captain, as you know, the Obsidian Order was effectively wiped out last year in the Gamma Quadrant. We believe the remnants of the Order have consolidated with the True Way and will be waging an operation against DS9.”

Garak stood behind one of the seats, hands planted o the headrest. “I have it on reliable information that the materials obtained by the Defiant were Cardassian military hardware intended for Empok Nor, a Cardassian space station identical to this one located in the Trivas system. Central Command abandoned the outpost three months ago. My sources say that Empok Nor while only being three light-years from Bajor, is a perfect staging ground for guerilla attacks.”

“Thank you, Mr. Garak,” Sisko said. “Please send me all of the data you have. If you’ll excuse us, I need to speak with the constable in private.”

Garak smiled, bowed his head and back out of the room “Of course, Captain. Stop by the shop and I will give you what I have.”

Sisko waited for the doors to seal before he turned his attention to Odo. “This is a mess, Odo. I’ve got the Maquis preparing to attack the Cardassians on one end, Cardassians attacking us on this end. Not to mention the Klingons and the Dominion.”

“You think that either the Founders of the Klingons are responsible for instigating this?” Odo asked, his arms folded across his chest.

“I’m not sure. It certainly seems like the Dominion’s style.” He paced towards the viewport. “Sisko to all senior officers. Report to my office in one hour.” He turned back to the security chief. “Odo, is the cargo bay ready for the Soval? They’ll be here in six hours.” When Odo’s call had come in, Sisko had left the Soval at the edge of Cardassian space and ordered an increase to maximum warp. The slower freighter was cruising towards the station at warp seven.

“I’ve cleared bays three nine and fourteen. I was waiting until the last possible moment to assign one,” Odo replied.

“Keep them shuffling, with full security in all of them. I don’t want our Cardassian spies to know until the freighter’s been secured. See to whatever you need, coordinate with Mr. Worf for any additional Starfleet security you might need. And report to my office when you’re done.”

Odo nodded his head curtly. “Right away. If you’d like, I’ll get the information from Garak about the operation underway.”

“Thank you, Odo, you have more of a gift dealing with our tailor friend than I do.”

Odo gave another nod and proceed to back towards the docking ring. He turned his attention to the large viewscreen on the wall and tapped his combadge. “Sisko to Ops. Get me Starfleet Command on subspace.”


Chapter:


They all convened in the captain’s office. He’d finished explaining what both Ro and Odo had told him. Ro Laren and her compatriots had been confined to Security awaiting charges. If Ro’s information turned out to be reliable, he’d lobby for leniency. The station was on Yellow Alert until further notice; all security forces were on alert. Sisko had ordered Worf to take the Defiant to rendezvous with the Soval and escort them to the station. His image was currently displayed on the viewscreen, attending the meeting by subspace.

“Starfleet is dispatching the Hood and the Excalibur to the station to bolster our defenses. Chief, how long will it take to have the new pylon built?”

O’Brien stood near the window behind the captain’s desk. He lifted and oversized padd which displayed a schematic of the station. He set it down on the desk and tapped several keys. The wire frame image rotated and focused on the damaged pylon. “Most of the materials are self-expanding with interconnecting supports and self-sealing stembolts. We’ve smoothed the edges of the damaged hull and the new base should fit nicely inside. After that, it’ll just be a matter of sealing the pylon, running a series of pressure checks, and connecting the power feeds from the main reactor. Give me eight hours.”

“It’ll have to do. Major,” he said turning his attention to Kira. “We have to assess the situation at Empok Nor. If the True Way doesn’t’ get their supplies from the Soval, they’re going to try to steal them. I want you and Dax to take a runabout to the Trivas system and scan Empok Nor. They’re a terrorist organization. I doubt they will have any heavy weaponry. Just get in, scan the station and get out.”

“They should take the Volga,” Worf said from the viewscreen. “She’s been outfitted with sensor jammers and stealth shielding.”

“Good idea,” Sisko said. For the past year, Chief O’Brien had been refitting the station’s runabouts for stealth missions. They had proved successful in scouting missions in the Gamma Quadrant. “I want you to get underway as soon as possible.”

“Request permission to join them,” Bashir said from where he stood near the door. “If they run into trouble, I can be of help.”

Dax grinned widely. “Never one to miss out on a spy mission, eh Julian?”

Bashir blushed. “Something like that.”

“What about the Maquis?” Kira asked. “If they are going to attack Cardassia, do we know where and when the attack is coming from?”

The doors to the office had parted. “I do,” Odo’s voice announced. The constable stepped into the office carrying a padd. “And you’re not going to like it.”

“Well don’t keep it to yourself, Constable,” Sisko said. “What have you got?”

“I have reviewed the information Garak provided regarding the True Way operatives. A name on there seemed familiar so I looked it up.” He glanced quickly at the padd. “Alon Tamor. He’s the former head of the Cardassian Eleventh Order.”

Kira snorted. “The Eleventh Order is a reserve unit. When Cardassians are wounded in battle or too old for frontline combat, they’re reassigned to the Eleventh. In the Resistance we called them target practice.”

“Well, Alon Tamor is not your run of the mill former soldier. He’s the former commander of the shipyards in the Orias system. He was in charge of the retrofitting of the Cardassian\Romulan fleet that was destroyed by the Dominion. He worked very closely with Enabran Tain and the Tal-Shiar. He’s now taken operational command of the True Way in order to drive away Starfleet and the Klingon Empire. Starfleet Intelligence reports that the Empok Nor station is a prelude to a takeover of Bajor. It’s hoped with the control of Deep Space Nine and the Bajoran star system, they will be able to drive the Maquis out of the DMZ.”

“What does this have to do with the Maquis?” Kira asked. Her face was very neutral. She had spent the first twenty-six years of her life fighting to rid her world of Cardassian invaders. She was not too fond of the idea of fighting them again.

“Mr. Garak’s information states that Tamor has engineered the Maquis operation. If the Maquis attack Cardassia, the Union will have to respond. Even in their weakened state they will send a force into the zone to deal with the Maquis once and for all. Which will leave the True Way free reign to focus on the Federation and Bajor.”

“And treaty or no treaty, the Federation will not stand by and let a slaughter happen,” Sisko said, feeling a dull ache forming behind his eyes. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

“Starfleet will send ships into the DMZ to prevent a Cardassian invasion?” Bashir. “While I don’t disagree, I thought the treaty stated that those colonies were on their own and that Starfleet couldn’t intervene.”

“There are treaties and then there are doing what is right,” Dax said. “Hundreds of thousands of people live in the zone. The Cardassians will be indiscriminate in their response.”

“Which means,” Sisko said, bringing the meeting back on track, “that we need to preempt the Maquis attack and present the proof to them. Do we know how the Maquis got their hands on the Klingon ships?”

“I’m afraid not,” said Odo.

“That’s the lynchpin,” Sisko said. “We need to find the evidence and prove to the Maquis that they’re being manipulated.”

“We’ll find out,” Kira said. “I’m sure we can tap into the comm. system on Empok Nor and penetrate their data stream updates.”

“All right,” Sisko said. “Mr. Worf, what’s your ETA?”

“Four hours forty minutes,” the commander said. “However, I could return sooner, but that would require abandoning the Soval.”

“No, continue the escort,” Sisko said. “It’s safe to assume you’ll encounter trouble between there and here. We have to assume the True Way will make an attempt for the supplies to get Empok Nor up and running. Just get back here as fast as the Soval can make it.”

“Understood,” Worf said. The comlink terminated.

“Okay, people, we’ve got a lot to do. Major, Commander, Doctor, prepare for departure. Chief, get your crew ready and fix my station. Constable, come with me, we need to speak with the Maquis.”

Chapter:


Three hours later the Runabout Volga rose from its docking pad and accelerated away from DS9. At the helm, Jadzia Dax’s nimble fingers danced across the control board as the vessel increased to full impulse. Kira was seated next to her and Julian behind her at the auxiliary console.

“I’m picking up a subspace surge thirty mark twelve,” Bashir said, his instruments flashing. “Two ships dropping out of warp.”

Dax keyed the small viewscreen and smiled at the sight. Two Starfleet vessels slowed to impulse speeds and made their way towards the station. “The Hood and the Excalibur,” she said nodding towards the Excelsior and Ambassador class vessels respectively. “Right on time.”

“I’m sure the station population will breath a bit easier with the extra defense,” Bashir said.

“For all the good two starships will provide against terrorists,” Kira said. “When I was in the resistance, our biggest obstacles were Cardassian counter-insurgent squads. Sabotaging those big Galor-Class cruisers was a cake walk compared to them.”

“Plotting course for Trevis,” Dax said, steering the conversation away from the grim history of the occupation. “At warp five we should be there in nine hours.” She tapped several more panels and the vessel stretched and leapt into warp.

Chapter:


The USS Defiant held her course at warp seven on course for home. On the bridge, Lieutenant Commander Worf sat quietly in the command chair, reviewing the latest battle drill analysis.

“Commander,” said Kellowitz from tactical. “Scanners are picking up a vessel bearing oh one one mark five. It’s a Cardassian warship. Keldon-Class.”

The Klingon commander set the padd aside and rose from the chair. “Full scan,” he said.

Kellowtiz turned back towards the tactical array. “They’ve powered up their phaser cannons and loaded their forward torpedo bays.” He frowned at the readout. “They’ve altered course. They’ll intercept the Soval in two minutes.”

“Red alert. Prepare to de-cloak and divert power to weapons and shields.” He turned towards the viewscreen where the lower portion of the Federation freighter was visible. Defiant was pacing below her. “Helm, adjust our position to above the Soval’s dorsal section. Inform Captain Krev of the incoming ship and instruct him to make contact.”

“They Cardassian is haling the freighter,” Kellowitz reported.

“Transfer the freighters com to the viewscreen,” Worf said.

The screen shifted to a split screen between the Cardassian captain of the incoming ship and the blue Andorian face of Captain Krev.

“Federation freighter, this is the Cardassian warship Prakana. Our sensors reveal you are carrying Cardassian materiel. State your reasons why.”

Krev’s face remained impassive. “This is the Federation freighter Soval. We purchased these materials from the Cardassian vessel Sakashh in the Galinor system. I suggest you contact Gul Tranor.”

“Freighter Soval, slow to a complete stop and prepare for inspection. I cannot allow you to proceed.”

“I’m sorry,” Krev said. “But we are no longer in Cardassian space. You have no authority here.”

“This is your only warning,” the Cardassian said. “Come to a complete stop or I will disable your engines and tow your vessel back to our base in the Trivas system. There we will take your ship apart and find out exactly what you are doing in the Cardassian Union unescorted.”

“Oh, we’re very well escorted,” said Krev. “We will not stand to. End transmission.”

Worf sighed. Andorians were not talkers, they were fighters. “Report.”

Kellowitz read the incoming data. “Prakana’s closing. They’ll be in phaser range in ninety seconds.”

“Disengage the cloak and power weapons and shields,” Worf said at last, returning to the command chair. “Lock weapons on the Cardassian vessel and warn them off.”

Several tense seconds passed. “They’re altering course,” Kellowitz said with a grin. “I guess they didn’t want a confrontation with the Defiant. These coordinates will take them towards Trevis.”

Worf relaxed at the report. “Send a coded message to Major Kira. Inform them that Empok Nor may be heavily defended. Helm, reactivate the cloak and resume course for Deep Space Nine.”

 

[Randor]

Chapter:


Ro Laren woke with a start at the sound of her named being called sternly through the forcefield. She set up on the bench and squinted at the harsh light. Sisko and Odo stood on the other side of the field.

“Good morning,” Sisko said. “I hope you slept well.”

Ro’s throat felt dry as she stood and stretched. She took a step forward and eyed the rest of the facility. The other cells were empty.

Sisko caught her glances. “Your friends have been relocated so that we can speak in private. Mr. Salm was none too cooperative. He’s recovering from a light phaser stun in the infirmary.”

“He’s always had a temper,” Ro admitted, “that’s why he was assigned to me to begin with. I’m not the most receptive to blind loyalty as some of the Maquis are.”

Sisko nodded to Odo who tapped the panel next to the cell. The orange forcefield fizzled and disappeared. Stepping out of the cell, Ro was lead to a table with two chairs. Taking one of the seats, she looked back to Sisko. “All I can tell you is that Eddington is going to be at Cardassia on 49784.” She looked at the computer display on the wall. “That’s ninety-five hours from now. His orders were to keep you off balance so that Starfleet couldn’t respond in time.”

Sisko pulled the second chair away from the table. “We’re going to stop them with your help. Obviously, if we were to warn the Cardassians, they would end up retaliating anyway. The mere threat that Eddington’s force represents justifies their reaction.”

“So you need to be quiet while you take his ships out of commission. I gave your security chief the coordinates of the orbital facility and the sensor data my raider took of it.”

“We’re sifting through that data now. But we have another problem.” He outlined the information from the True Way and Alon Tamor’s efforts to manipulate the Maquis into attacking the Cardassians.

“Selo!” Ro sputtered. “He led the attack on that Carddie ship that was engaged with the Klingons. He brokered the deal with the Klingons but I never knew their name.”

“They may not have even been Klingons,” Sisko offered. “They could’ve been True Way operatives luring the Maquis to accept those vessels.”

Odo stood a few feet away, his arms folded across his chest. “It’s safe to say that Mr. Selo may be working with the True Way as a means to draw the Maquis out in force.”

Ro threw a glance in his direction. “Captain, you have to go now. If you wait any longer, we’re all in trouble.”

Sisko stood. “There’s nothing else you can tell me about your contacts?” Ro shook her head. “Very well. Constable, return the lieutenant to her cell.” He headed for the exit. “Ro, I’ll speak with the Federation arbiter. If what you’ve told me pans out, I’ll do everything I can to get you leniency.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Ro said. “Good luck.” Her eyelids fluttered. “Try not to kill them. A lot of those people are my friends. They’ll be better off in prison.”

Sisko gave a nod. “I’ll do my best.”

Departing the security office, he crossed the short distance of the Promenade and entered the turbolift, ordering it to take him to ops. As the car came to a halt in the command center, he stepped off and found O’Brien standing near the pit, running a sensor probe over the ODN relay junction.

“Chief, have we heard from Worf?”

“They had a small run-in with a Cardassian warship but it didn’t come to phasers,” He switched off the probe and hauled himself up the short ladder. He glanced at a monitor on the ops table. “They’ll be docking in twenty-five minutes.”

“Tell them not to dock, I’ll be beaming aboard as soon as they’re in range. You’ll be in command of the station while I’m gone. The Hood and Excalibur will be remaining here to repel anything coming from Empok Nor.”

“Aye, Captain. I’ll have the station repaired by the time you return.”

“Good. What was the last word from the away team?”

“Major Kira’s running com silent. Based on their approach vector, they should be reaching the Trivas system within the hour.”

Sisko surveyed the ops crew. “All right. Everything seems to be falling into place. You have ops. I need to speak with the captains’ of our two starships out there.”

He ascended the steps towards his office and addressed the crewman manning the science console in Dax’s absence. “Get me Captains DeSoto and Korsmo.”


Chapter:


The Volga poured through subspace at thousands of times the speed of light. At the helm, Jadiza watched the indicators as they neared the coordinates. “Coming out of warp,” she said.

The thrum of the ship settled to a dull growl as the warp engines disengaged and the sublight impulse engines came online. “We’re nine billion kilometers from Empok Nor.”

Kira was at her left and keyed the sensor panel. “Long-range scanners are fuzzy at this distance. Is the probe ready?”

“A Class-Five with full countermeasure and deflection software,” Dax confirmed. “Ready for launch.”

“Do it,” the major ordered.

From the underside of the small craft, an oblong object emerged from the launch tube and its bright blue fusion engines flared to life. Dax reached above her head to the secondary panel and tapped several keys. “It’ll be in range in forty minutes. I’m shutting down all non-essential systems and going into stealth mode.”

The doors at the rear of the cockpit slid opened and Bashir entered, stretching and stifling a yawn. “I take we’re here,” the doctor said.

“We’ve just launched the probe,” Dax said. “If you don’t mind, you can monitor the telemetry from your station.”

Bashir dropped into the seat and operated the controls. “Jadzia, I’m reading elevated clouds of antimatter waste. It’s interfering with the probes instruments.”

“How far away from Empok Nor is it?”

“Three point nine million kilometers,” Bashir read. “The antimatter cloud is expanding in all directions.”

“A smoke screen,” Kira said. “The Cardassians used to vent their warp drives in a field of gas to stop our flyers.” She turned back to the helm. “I think whoever is on Empok Nor doesn’t want to be spied on.” She tapped several panels. “I say we go in for a closer look.”

Dax’s hands were already dancing across the controls. “I can get us through the antimatter field, but it’s going to do a number on the shields. But we should be fine with a few hyronolin inoculations.”

Bashir beamed. “You’d make a great nurse. I’ll prepare the hypos.”

Kira digested the information. “Once we’re through the cloud, we’ll have a better understanding of what we’re facing. Take us in, Dax.”

Chapter:

Miles O’Brien relished zero-g. Bobbing above the outer section of the docking ring, he keyed his EV suit’s thruster pack. The compressed air pushed him across the distance to the base of pylon three. Reactivating his magnetic boots, he attached himself firmly to the duranium hull.

“Chief,” came a voice through the helmet’s com. It was Rom, his new junior technician. “I’ve completed the scan of the hull. I think we’re ready.” The Ferengi floated next to the chief and keyed several switches on his wrist-mounted control panel.

The inside of O’Brien’s helmet came to life with the tricorder scans Rom and just performed. “Looks good, Rom. Nice work.”

The Ferengi’s wide-toothed grin was apparent even in the darkness of space. “Sisko to Munez. We’re ready.”

“Firing thrusters,” came the reply.

O’Brien turned his head to the distance. A few hundred meters away, the runabout Rio Grande was holding station, a blue streaming tractor beam extending from her dorsal emitters. At the other end of the beam was the massive pylon which would fall into place. The runabout inverted and fired her forward engines. The pylon followed in her wake, becoming horizontal and aligning with the damaged hull of the station.

The thrusters reversed and the massive pylon fell into place along the openings. “O’Brien to Ops.”

“Lieutenant Reese here,” came the reply.

“Pylon’s in place, activate mooring attachments and pressurization seals. Let’s get her locked in place. Come on, Rom. We’ve got about thirty-five hundred stembolts to check.”


Chapter:

“We just received word from DS9,” said Worf from tactical. “The docking pylon has been attached and will be fully operational in three hours.”

Sisko sat in the command chair, his legs crossed and hands crossed in his lap. “Very good, Mr. Worf. Send the chief my compliments.”

Worf nodded and turned back to his station.

The bridge was dimmed, as the Defiant had re-cloaked after recovering Sisko and reversing course. They were speeding at warp eight towards the coordinates Ro Laren had provided. Odo stood near the aft station, reviewing a series of reports on Maquis activity over the past eight weeks. “Captain,” the constable said. “I have the information you requested.”

Sisko spun his chair around and rose to his feet. Taking the few short steps towards the changeling, the captain read the incoming streams of data. It listed several reports from Starfleet vessels and monitoring stations along the DMZ.

“This one is from the Epsilon 9 monitoring station,” Odo said, pointing to a cluster of information. At his touched, the information zoomed and becoming a detailed report, including sensor logs, operation logs and communications transcripts. Fourteen days ago, four Maquis raiders had passed through the Berana system near the distant edge of the roiling plasma fields of the Badlands. They dropped from warp and rendezvoused with nine Klingon vessels. The sensor scans were at extreme range, but there were faint transporter signatures detected between all ships. Soon after, the raiders formed a defensive screen with eight of the Klingons vessels and went to warp.

The ninth ship came about and entered warp in an alternate direction.

“These were taken at maximum sensor range of the monitoring station. But it’s safe to assume, these were Eddington’s new ships. The orbital docks of Usilla Prime are only one point eight light-years away.”

“And the Usillans have remained sympathetic with the Maquis since this all began,” Sisko said.

Odo nodded. “They’ve seen their share of Cardassian practices of justice over their history. Their world actually crosses into Union territory a few times a year. When that happens, they are harassed by eager young guls looking for fame.”

“Well, they’re not going to be happy to see us, that’s for sure,” Sisko remarked. The Defiant would reach Usilla Prime in only a few moments. And with a good amount of luck, they’d cripple the Klingon vessels, arrest the Maquis and return home without much confrontation.

That is the best of our predictions, Sisko thought. He knew in actuality, the Maquis would put up a fight and the Defiant would be out-gunned. The Maquis ranks were littered with former Starfleet officers like Michael Eddington, and it made battle very undesirable. Sisko only hoped they could accomplish their mission before they were detected by the Cardassians. If they caught wind of the attack, they would rain destruction down on the surface of Usilla Prime in retribution.

“Captain,” said Lieutenant Kellin from the helm. “We’re approaching the Usilla system.”

“Drop out of warp,” Sisko said, heading for his chair. “Mr. Worf, begin sensor sweeps.”

The rumble of the ship’s engines were reduced to a whisper and the Defiant emerged from warp, still concealed by her cloaking shields.

“Full impulse,” said Sisko. “Take us in.”


Chapter:

“We’ve cleared the antimatter field,” Dax announced.

After nearly three hours on minimal thrusters, they progressed through the dense radioactive field surrounding Empok Nor. The space station was just coming into view through the main viewports. Identical to Deep Space Nine, the facility was home to five docked Galor-Class vessels along the upper and lower pylons as well as three Keldon-Class cruisers. A few shuttles and a couple of Hideki-Class escort fighters circled about.

“Shutting down all systems,” Jadzia said quickly. The Vulga’s engines and primary power systems.

“Did they detect us?” Kira demanded. Her hands were dancing across the control boards, plotting the course out of the system.

“I don’t think so,” Bashir said. “Sensor-blinders are operating with normal parameters.”

“I’m reading more than five hundred Cardassians aboard the station.”

“How’d they keep something like this a secret?” Kira demanded.

“The anti-matter clouds are obscuring senor readings,” Julian said. “It’s concealed them perfectly.”

“Well we’re not going to get any closer in nothing but a runabout,” Kira concluded. “We’ll get out of range and contact Captain Sisko. Those two ships Starfleet sent to protect the station will be more than enough to clear out this hornets nest.”

“Coming about,” Dax said. “Course laid in for DS9.”

Chapter:


The orbital repair facility of Usilla Prime was nearly the size of the Utopia Shipyards orbiting Mars. Sisko watched intently as the Defiant closed in on minimal thrusters, scanning as they went. So far, Worf had picked out all eight Klingon vessels docked within the open bays. The Klingon was now programming firing patterns and targeting solutions to eliminate the vessel in the smallest amount of time.

Sisko remained quietly in his command chair letting Worf do his job. Things wouldn’t move along any quicker with him prodding his weapons officer. Finally, after what seemed to be an enormous amount of time, Worf spun his chair around and looked to Sisko. “Weapons are locked on and programmed. Assuming they raise shields as soon as our tachyon surge forms as we de-cloak, I can disable eighty-five percent of the vessels within forty seconds. However, we will exhaust our supply of quantum torpedoes. They have been programmed for quad-launch.”

“Very well,” the captain said. “Let’s get it done. Red alert. Drop cloak and raise shields. Mr. Worf: Fire!”

Chapter:

Miles O’Brien hopped off the lift as it finished its ascent into ops. He rounded the engineering station and made his way for the command console on the lower level. Brining up a series of sensor scans, he smiled at the incoming data. The pressure seals were holding firm, the new pylon seem to be a perfect fit. “O’Brien to engineering teams three and seven. I’ve ran the pressure checks and the fusion reactor levels. You’re cleared to make your way in and make it pretty. I’ll conduct my inspection at eleven hundred tomorrow morning.” He cut the comm. and turned to Lieutenant Reese, the officer on duty. “Anything exciting happen while I was out?”

The young man stood on the upper level at Worf’s usual station. “No, sir. A Bolian freighter signaled they’d be docking tonight. I advised them the docking facilities might not be available. But I’ve cleared them for port six.”

“Good,” the chief said. “Any word from Captain Sisko or Major Kira?”

“The Major reported in stating they were entering the Trevis system and the Defiant is operating under a comm. blackout.”

O’Brien nodded to the lieutenant and turned back to the ops table. He had a lot of work to do before the docking pylon was fully functional.

Chapter:

The Volga emerged from the antimatter cloud once again and jumped to warp.

“We’ve got heavy damage to the port nacelle,” Dax said. “The primary intake valves have been pretty banged up by the antimatter waste. We’re only going to make warp two all the way home.”

Kira eyed a screen above her. “That’ll get us back to the station in eighteen hours. Better signal and let them know.”

“Major,” Bashir said. “Two ships coming in off starboard. Cardassian warships.”

Kira punched up the controls interface. “Our countermeasures have failed. It’s the damned antimatter. Jadiza, do what you can to evade them. Doctor, get me the station.”

Chapter:

“We’re receiving a distress call from the Runabout Vulga,” said Miles O’Brien, his image displayed brightly on the bridge of the USS Hood. “Two Cardassian ships were closing to intercept when the comm. went dead.”

Robert DeSoto, captain of the Hood, stood near the rear tactical station next to Lieutenant Sholo. “We’re on our way,” DeSoto said. “The Excalibur will hold position.”

“Understood. Good luck, Captain, O’Brien out.”

DeSoto dropped into his command chair and issued the orders. “Helm, take us out of here, maximum warp.”

 

[Randor]

Chapter:

The quantum torpedoes roared out of the Defiant’s forward launchers and found their marks on the docked Klingon vessels. Two birds of prey were incinerated almost immediately. Three others were crippled. Followed by the last two.

That was when the D15 heavy cruiser, the remaining Klingon cruiser, came to life, her aft thrusters flaring to life. Her umbilical supports burst away in a spray of escaping atmosphere and headed out of the docking bays.

“They’ve powered up all systems and raised shields,” Worf said. “All other targets have been destroyed. Sensors read no life signs on the birds of prey.”

Sisko stood behind the helm, one hand behind his back, the other stroking thoughtfully at his goatee. “This is much to easy. Hail the battle cruiser.”

The forward screen came to life and the last image Sisko had expected to see came to life. “Hello, Ben,” said Michael Edddington. “I see you’ve fallen nicely for my little diversion.”

“Eddington,” Sisko said through clenched teeth. “I don’t know what sick plan you really had thought of, but I’m here to make sure you don’t carry out any more destruction. The Cardassians are using you. The True Way orchestrated the sale of the ships you are on. If you attack Cardassia Prime, you’ll start a war. The Cardassians will go into he DMZ and wipe out every Maquis colony and base they can find.”

Eddington smiled. “I’m not going to attack Cardassia. I’m here to keep the Defiant away from the station. Our operatives will be striking within the hour. You’ll never make it back in time.”

“What have you done?” Sisko’s voice thundered through the bridge.

“We’ve made a deal with the devil to keep Bajor and Deep Space Nine out of Federation hands for all time. Your vaunted station will soon become the property of the Maquis. You see, the True Way is not using me, I am using them. Lieutenant Ro was the perfect plant that you couldn’t refuse. She’s kept us apprised of Chief O’Brien’s repair schedule. You see, Captain: The supplies you picked up from the Sakassh. We had already intercepted the ship and modified certain components. With a few subspace pulses, the entire station’s weapons and power grids will be negated. Our True Way friends will assault the station and take it over. That’s when I will take command. Cardassians are good cannon fodder. I’ll seal that damned wormhole, and use DS9 as a staging ground to obliterate the remnants of the Cardassian Union.”

Sisko took everything Eddington muttered as a personal assault. This man, this traitor, had betrayed everything Sisko believed in. “Mr. Worf, disable Mr. Eddington’s vessel.”

Before Worf’s hands could reach the necessary controls, the viewscreen darkened, and the Klingon ship veered away and cloaked.

“We have lost them,” Worf reported. “No ion emissions, no impulse reactants. They have a very sophisticated cloaking system. It is similar to Romulan design.”

Sisko pounded his fist on the helm console. “Helm, get us back to the station, maximum warp. Odo, get me Chief O’Brien.”

As the ship re-cloaked and jumped to warp, Odo looked at his communications board. “The station is not responding to hails.” He looked over a few more readouts. “The Excalibur and the Hood are not responding either.”

Sisko dropped into to command chair. Then immediately stood again. “I’ll be in the engine room. See if I can get a little more out of her. Commander Worf you have the bridge.”

Chapter:


The Volga dove to port, then fired her opposite thrusters, veering back to starboard. The orange beams of phased energy emanating from the Cardassian ships, licked at her shields.

“Shields at forty-one percent,” Bashir said. “I have phaser and torpedo locks.”

“Take them,” Kira ordered. “Try and disable their engines.”

The aft phaser arrays of the Volga coalesced and ripped into the Cardassian engineering section. Four photon torpedoes emerged from the bay and found their marks.

“Their shields are buckling,” Bashir said. “The other ship is concentrating their fire.”

The craft was hit from behind and the warp engines failed.

“Warp power’s offline,” Dax said. “Shields at fourteen percent.”

Through the forward port, the two Cardassian warships emerged from warp and closed slowly on the Vulga.

Kira closed her eyes and sent a brief prayer to the Prophets. Opening her eyes again, her vision caught an orange beam of light from high above out of range of the windows of the Vulga. Phaser beams lashed across the ventral hulls of both ships, followed up an intricately designed spread of photon torpedoes. An instant later an Excelsior-Class cruiser sped in, firing her dorsal thrusters. The ship cartwheeled and unleashed a spread of phaser fire from her underside. The Cardassian ships erupted in flames, their hull struts compromised. Bodies of Cardassians were blown through the hull breaches into the hard vacuum of space.

Kira sighed in thankful relief. “Tell Captain DeSoto is timing was perfect.”

The viewscreen lit up with the captain’s image. “Hello, Major. Sorry we were late.” He looked to something out of the range of the video sensors. “I see you’ve taken some damage to your warp engines. I’ll have my engineer prepare to tow your vessel into our shuttlebay. We can have you back to DS9 in less than an hour.”

“Sounds good,” Kira said. “And thank you again, Captain.”

Chapter:

Rom switched off the engineering diagnostic screen and flipped open his tricorder. He stared at the readings yet again before finally tapping his communicator. “Rom to Chief O’Brien. I’m near the new connector to Upper Pylon 3. I am picking up a strange graviton flux.”

“Don’t touch it,” came the chief’s reply. “I was afraid of something like this. The pylon might be booby trapped after all. Hang on.”

A few seconds later, the orange swirls of angry formed a transporter column. Miles O’Brien lateralized and pulled out his tricorder. “Where are you reading it?”

Rom pointed to a junction box. “Grid twenty-three, sector nineteen.”

O’Brien passed his scanner over the box and tapped the access panel. It flipped open with a hiss of compressed air. “What have we here?” O’Brien said to himself, peering inside.

A small object, trapezoid in shape was embedded within the panel. “Looks like a control module to a computer interface,” he said. “It hardwired directly into the ODN relay.”

“Can you remove it?” Rom asked.

O’Brien looked from his tricorder to the device and back again. “Hand me a coil spanner and a flux de-coupler.”

Handing the chief the appropriate tools, Rom looked over O’Brien’s shoulder and peered in. Miles placed the two devices along the edge of the device and activated the spanner. The red laser tip touched the edge of the device. It exploded in an array of sparks. Rom grabbed the chief with faster reflexes than most Ferengi were known for and pulled him away a millisecond before the explosion erupted.

“Thanks,” O’Brien said. Before he could look at the damage done to the panel, the lights went out, the gravity lessoned and the roaring thrum of the fusion reactors quieted to nothing.

Deep Space Nine had been disabled.

Chapter:

Captain Morgan Korsmo, commanding officer of the USS Excalibur, watched incredulously as all power systems on DS9 went out at once. “What the hell?” he demanded.

His first officer Commander Shelby bolted from her seat and moved to the sciences station. “All power readings are null. They’re running on emergency backups.”

“Sir,” said Lieutenant Paige from tactical. “I’m reading nine vessels dropping out of warp. Cardassian warships.”

“Red alert,” Korsmo snapped. “Hail the lead ship and ready weapons.”

The image on the viewscreen angled away to show the contingent of orange-hued battle cruisers come out of warp in formation. Their forward particle cannons glowed with nadion energy. The beams raced across space and found their marks on the Excalibur.

The Ambassador-Class vessel veered to starboard and returned fire.

The bridge shook as the helmsman desperately tried to keep the ship steady.

“Shields down to forty-one percent!” shouted Paige over the alarms and explosions. “Main power transfer conduits have been breached. We’ve lost power to the phaser banks.”

“Bridge to engineering,” Korsmo yelled into the com. “Burgoyne! I need my weapons!”

Chief Engineer Burgoyne, a Hermat, replied, hir, unusual voice filtering through the crackling damage of the bridge speakers. “Working on it, Captain. Warp power’s fluctuating. Phaser relays have been destroyed.”

“Go to photon torpedoes,” Korsmo returned. “Launch them manually if you have to. We’ve got a squadron of Cardassian ships coming right at us.”

“Doing my best, Burgoyne. Torpedoes should be ready in one minute.”

“Bridge out,” Korsmo said. “Helm, reverse to two one seven mark five, full impulse, evasive pattern Omega-Nine. Mr. Paige. Lock torpedoes. Dispersal pattern Sierra.”

The Excalibur spun on her axis and sped away from the pursuing enemy vessels. Twelve photon torpedoes streamed from her aft launchers and homed in on the engines and power cores of the closing ships. One was severely damage, her shields collapsed and her engines imploded.

The remaining eight ships continued the attack.

 

[Randor]

Chapter:

The Promenade had darkened, only to be lit by the yellow fusion tubes. Garak stood at the entrance to his shop and frowned at what he saw.

Cardassian soldiers were beaming in, brandishing disruptor rifles. The leader of the squad marched arrogantly across the deck to a kiosk operated by an old Bajoran man named Kamin. After a few short words Garak couldn’t make out, the Cardassian swung the butt of the rifle against the Bajorans head. He fell to the deck unconscious.

From the upper portion of the Promenade, orange beams of phaser energy rained down on the Cardassian troops.

Garak quickly closed the doors to the shop and retreated to the back room. There he pulled out his disruptor pistol and slid it into the pocket of his trousers. He reached for his computer terminal. It was not connected to the station’s power supply. He brought up the necessary data and dumped it into his padd. Keying off the terminal, he pulled the hatch covering away from the wall and began the laborious journey through the station’s internal access tunnels.

= = = = = = = = =

“Internal comms are offline,” Reese said. “But we know there are phaser fights on the Promenade. The Cardassians have secured the lower level and are setting up forcefields and weapon suppression shielding.

O’Brien pulled himself out of the pit and slapped at the dead control panels. “I still can’t a damned thing working.”

Reese reached into the equipment locker and pulled out two hand phasers. He handed one to O’Brien and holstered the other. “You’re in command, sir,” he said.

O’Brien hated the words that came from the Lieutenant’s mouth. “I’m an engineer,” he said softly. “All right. Get down to our units on the Promenade. I want the crossover bridges into the Habitat Ring blocked off. We’ve got two thousand people out there. Have a group get down to the runabouts and get them launched.”

Reese nodded. “Aye, sir.” He nodded to a crewman near the exit and headed out.

Ops was understaffed. Everyone had rushed to the Promenade to repel the invaders. O’Brien cursed softly. Keiko and Molly were out in their quarters. He’d keep those bloody Cardies away from them if it meant killing everyone of them.

Chapter:

The security field fizzled and Ro Laren bolted up on her bunk. Smiling to herself she stepped over the lip of the cell and into the security office. She heard the whine of phaser fire erupting a few meters away.

Kelora stepped next to her. “Everything seems to be going as planned. Michael should be arriving soon.”

Ro stepped slowly into the office and found it empty. She crouched down and watched the phaser fights unfolding on the Promenade. She reached up to the weapons locker and pulled out three phasers. “Let’s go,” she said, setting the charge on her phaser. “We’ve got to get to a working computer.”

= = = = = = = = =

The Promenade had been deserted at the first sign of trouble. Lieutenant Reese crouched on the upper level neared the now closed Quarks bar. Holding his phaser in his right hand, he used his left hand to hold the railing for support. The entire deck was still splashed in the faint yellow glow of emergency lighting. Next to him, Bajoran Militia officer Nerin and Starfleet Security officer Matthews followed quietly along the perimeter of the deck.

Below, five Cardassians were holding position outside the Bajoran shrine. They’d set up a forcefield around their command post using a portable generator that been attached to the deck outside the security office.

Reese made a gesture with his hand towards Matthews. The Starfleet officer pulled the small cylindrical photon grenade from the equipment pouch and thumbed it on. Reese made a fist and brought it down.

The photon grenade sailed through the air landed on top of the force field. The field erupted in a static-filled array of sparks. The grenade detonated. The field collapsed, incinerating the generator and the Cardassian soldiers within.

“Overconfidence on their little toys,” Reese said. “I’ll take a good old grenade any day.”

Before they could celebrate, two dozen Cardassians poured out of the shrine, firing blindly.

Chapter:

The Defiant tore across the void of space, warp engines overloaded, structural integrity field compromised. She held at warp nine point eight. They’d arrive at DS9 in eighty seconds. The warp engines would overload in seventy-three.

Sisko grappled the arms of his chair and steadied himself against the massive rumbling of the deck plating.

“Time,” the captain said.

“Forty seconds,” said the ensign at the helm.

“Thirty seconds to warp core overload,” Worf reported.

“Maintain course and speed.”

“Warning,” came the alert from the computer. “Warp core stress exceeding tolerance. Warp core overload in twenty seconds.”

Sisko blew out a sigh. “Drop out of warp.”

The streaking stars on the forward screen reverted to white points of light. Deep Space Nine hung in space a few hundred million kilometers away. The image made Sisko’s stomach turn.

All power systems on the station were down. The red glow of the fusion core was now cold. Seven Cardassian cruisers passed by; some docked on the ports. To starboard, the lifeless hulk of the USS Excalibur drifted lazily through space.

“Incoming hail from the Excalibur,” said Odo.

At Sisko’s nod the viewscreen came to life with Captain Korsmo’s face. “Ben. Glad to see you. We’re pretty banged up. But my chief engineer should have us up and running in two hours. The Cardassians showed up right after the station lost power. They crippled us and boarded the station. Our sensors have picked up phaser fights throughout the central core.”

“Captain,” Worf said. “The Cardassian ships are ignoring us. They are emitting passive scans only. And they are not responding to hails.”

Sisko rubbed the back of his ear unconsciously. Jake was aboard the station with thousand of others. “They’re being manipulated by the Maquis,” Sisko explained to Korsmo. “The Klingon ships were a ruse to get me away from the station. Unless I’m mistaken, the Cardassian ships will soon no longer be an issue.”

“Captain, the Hood is approaching,” Worf announced

Sisko felt a bit of relief pass over him. “Split the image and put Captain DeSoto on screen.”

The image of Korsmo was shrunk and DeSoto appeared as well. “What the hell is going on?” he asked.

“We’ve got a severe problem,” Sisko explained.

= = = = = = = = =

Ro Laren slid through the Jefferies tube and removed the panel at junction thirty-nine. Kelora wedged up next to her, the light from her palm beacon flooding the darkened tunnel with illumination.

“All right,” said Ro, peering into the circuit housing. “These relays will bypass the ODN nullifier that Eddington installed in the upper pylon.” She reached into the panel and pulled free necessary circuit restrictions.

= = = = = = = = =


Chapter:


“Captain!” shouted Worf. “The station’s weapons array has been brought online. They are targeting us.”

“Evasive,” Sisko ordered. “Get us out of range.”

The weapon sails littered across DS9’s superstructure flared to life. Dozens of photon torpedoes emerged from the launchers and phaser beams lashed out. The patrolling Cardassian vessels were incinerated in the halo of destruction.

The Defiant rumbled with the impact of weapons. “Shields at eighty percent,” Worf announced. “We have cleared their weapons range. The Hood has established a tractor lock on the Excalibur and have pulled them clear.”

“Ben,” came Desoto’s voice over the com. “I’ve taken heavy damage to my shield generators. They hit us when we were locking onto the Excalibur. Whatever you have planned, it better be good.”

Sisko returned to his chair and tapped the auxiliary panel on his right. “Acknowledged, Captain. We have to assume the Maquis have played their hand. With the Cardassian vessels destroyed, they will no doubt be coming. We have to be prepared to intercept them.”

“I’ll contact command. See if they can spare any more ships.”

“Very well. If you can spare them, I’d like to have my officers back aboard.”

“They’re on their way,” the Hood’s captain replied. “Hopefully, your crew on the station will be able to wrestle control from your prisoners.”
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

“Bloody hell!” shouted O’Brien. The lights in ops had come back to full power and the weapons array had flared to life. “Someone’s routed weapons control to a Jefferies tube in the docking ring!”

He watched the now fully-functional viewscreen as the weapons unleashed, destroying the Cardassian taskforce and turning their attention to the three Starfleet vessels.

“All systems are coming back online,” said Ensign Marsilaa from the engineering station. “Forty-one Cardassians are onboard.”

Whatever had happened to restore the stations components, O’Brien both cursed and blessed it. “Lock on transporters and beam them to Cargo bay four,” he snapped. “Set up security fields around that entire section and route security teams.”

Marsilaa nodded and operated the necessary controls. “They’ve been secured.”

“Reese to Ops. The Cardassians have beamed out.”

“We sent them to Cargo 4,” the chief replied. “Get down there and secure that section. I’m going to figure out just who routed power systems. O’Brien out.”

He turned back to the ops table at the exact moment he heard the familiar whine of a Cardassian transporter beam. O’Brien spun around to face the transporter pads.

Ro Laren stood there with three other Maquis. All held phasers, each trained on the three people currently manning ops.

“Chief,” she said, descending the short steps. “I’m afraid Deep Space Nine is now the property of the Maquis.”

O’Brien’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. He gritted his teeth and took a step towards the Bajoran. She twitched the phaser and he stopped. “This is insane. There are four of you.” He pointed to the viewscreen. “There are three Federation ships out there with probably more on the way. How long do you think you can hold this station?”

Ro smiled coldly. “Longer than you might thing,” she said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a Starfleet combadge. “Ro to all teams. We’re in position.”

The perimeter sensors flared to life. O’Brien stole a glance towards the display screen. To his horror, he saw fourteen ships materialize from beneath their cloaking screens.

Romulan Warbirds.


= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =


“Romulans,” Sisko said in amazement. “Full scan.”

Jadzia Dax, now at the helm of the Defiant, switched to the operations console and read the incoming data. “I’m reading over five thousand life-forms on each vessel. Bajorans, humans, Andorians.” She spun her chair around. “Maquis?”

Sisko looked down at the readings and then back to the viewscreen. “Why would the Romulans arm the Maquis?”

Worf turned around. “I do not believe they have. Look at this.”

Sisko strode to the port side of the bridge and looked over Worf’s shoulder. The Klingon pointed to a band of sensor telemetry. “These are duranium plated hull support. Romulan ships use tetraverium alloys in their vessels. It absorbs the energy from the cloaking devices more efficiently.”

“Didn’t you say Eddington’s cloaking device was reminiscent of Romulan technology?”

“Yes,” Worf said. “I believe these vessels are merely disguised as Romulans.” He pointed to another array of data. “Look. I am detecting a conventional antimatter reactor. Romulan ships use a micro singularity to power their warp engines.”

“Why would the Maquis disguise ships as Romulan?” Kira asked, now at her post at the secondary tactical station.

“I have no idea,” Sisko said. “But we’re outnumbered. We wont be able to board the station without a sizable force. Has there been any response from Starfleet Command?”

Kira read the subspace array logs. “No sir, the station is emitting a scattering field. It extends to the edge of the system. Captain DeSoto is pulling out to make contact.”

“All right,” the captain decided. “Major, cloak the ship. Dax, bring us about and take us out of here. We’re going to regroup and come up with a plan. If I know they Maquis, our people aren’t in any real danger.”

Dax spun her chair around. “Benjamin, there are forty-two hundred people on board. We have to assume they’re going to try to evacuate.”

“Maybe,” Sisko said. “They may also try to mount a counter-insurgency against them. Mr. O’Brien used to be a soldier. If he’s able, he’ll have a few tricks in store. Take us out of here, Old Man, warp five.”

= = = = = = = = = = = =

 

[Randor]

Chapter:

Miles O’Brien tapped the energy field and brought his hand back in reflex. Surveying his surroundings, he frowned at the collection of Starfleet officers that were confined in the cargo bay. O’Brien had watched in horror as the Maquis intruders had opened the bay doors and blown the captive Cardassians out into space. The crew of DS9 had taken their place.

There were over a hundred people confined here behind level-nine forcefields. Computer access to the bay had been terminated and the entrances to the Jefferies tubes had been sealed. Miles thought of his wife and child trapped out in the Habitat Ring, no doubt confined to their quarters or rounded up and placed in one of the cargo bays.

“Chief,” said Lieutenant Reese. “Ensign Culman and Crewman Desora have managed to pry loose the deck plating near Jefferies tube forty-four. The security fields don’t extend into the deck in that section.”

O’Brien smiled. He and Reese crossed the bay and came the lip of a large opening, desceinding deep into the bowels of DS9. Squinting his eyes, he kneeled down to see a figure climbing the rungs of the embedded ladder. From the ridges and the skin tone, it was obviously a Cardassian. “Stand back,” the chief whispered. “Be ready.”

“I’m afraid that wont be necessary,” the voice of the Cardassian came up through the opening.

“Garak!” O’Brien said.

Garak emerged from the opening in the deck, a tricorder in one hand. “Yes, it is I, your humble tailor, here to help.” He flipped the tricorder open and handed it to O’Brien. “But I’m afraid you’re not going to like what I have learned.”

O’Brien keyed the device on and swept the area, up to a radius of two thousand meters. “Bloody hell. There are thousands of Maquis on board. They’re scattered all over the station.”

“I avoided several checkpoints as I made my way to the lower levels,” Garak said. “I accessed a computer interface in auxiliary control.” He pulled a data padd from his pocket and switched it on. “I managed to create a complink between this padd and the entire station’s main computer.”

O’Brien smiled. “You’re an excellent tailor, Garak. Can you program that thing to access transporter control and the subspace array?”

“I’m afraid not,” Garak replied solemnly. “I can look around through the mainframe and read the info input by others, but I can’t alter anything.”

O’Brien holstered the tricorder and took the padd. Keying it on he ran through a series of standard status updates. “Looks like they majority of the station’s systems are backline. The problem with the ODN bypass seems to have been corrected.”

“I intercept communications between two of the Maquis who were being held in security,” Garak said. “They disengaged the bypass right before the Cardassian ships were destroyed.”

“Right,” O’Brien said. “Ro.” He read through the data once more. “All right people, gather around. We’ve got to prepare to get these bastards off our station.”

= = = = = = = = =


The Defiant, Hood and Excalibur rendezvoused at the far edge of the Bajoran star system. Sisko stood in the mess hall around the majority of his senior officers. Dax, Kira, Worf and Odo watched him with interest as Sisko reported what he had learned.

“The Federation troop transport Venkara is en route from Starbase 375. They will assist in the retaking of the station if brute force becomes our only option.” He keyed the monitor mounted on the bulkhead. An image of DS9 appeared. “Our scans show Chief O’Brien completed the installation of the docking pylon. Eddington said the device was planted here to disable the entire station.”

“You’d think they would’ve been a little more careful,” Dax said. “Ro gave a good performance with her bird-of prey.”

Sisko nodded. “Yes, she fooled all of us. Our priority right now is to make contact with Chief O’Brien or station security. Constable, we’re going to get you aboard the station. You’ll be able to traverse the station faster and more efficiently than anyone else.”

Odo gave a quick nod. “Of course. But with the station’s shields up, how do you plan to beam me aboard?”

“We’re still working on that,” Dax said. “Worf and I are realigning the communications array to get a microburst transmission onto the station. With any luck we’ll be able to get in contact with anyone aboard via their combadge.”

“But,” Odo protested. “With such a large Maquis force aboard the station and their protection by faux Romulan warbirds, we have to assume the crew has been confined to secured areas and their combages removed.”

Sisko placed his hands together. “I think you’re underestimating our chief of operations. He knows that station better than the Cardassians who built it. He’ll find a way to escape the Maquis and make plans to retake the station.”

“Which brings us to what to do after we’ve made contact,” Kira said. “The Venkara is forty hours away at maximum warp, the station is still surrounded by warbirds.”

“Hopefully, we will be able to lower the stations shields long enough to transport Odo aboard and escape before we are attacked. The Hood will have essential repairs completed in two hours,” Worf said. “The Excalibur will require another two days of repairs before she is combat capable. That leaves the Defiant and the Hood to hold the defense of Bajor and the wormhole.”

“Do you think they’ll try to seal the wormhole?” Kira asked urgently. “The Bajoran people would be cut off from the Prophets forever if that were to happen.”

“Eddington said he was going to take care of it,” Sisko confirmed. “He sees it as too much of a threat. If the Maquis want to hold DS9, they can’t be preoccupied by the Dominion. They have to focus their efforts on us and the Cardassians.”

“Bridge to Sisko,” came an unfamiliar voice. “You have an incoming transmission from Admiral Ross at Starbase 375.”

The captain touched his combadge. “Route to my quarters, I’ll take it there. Sisko out.” He deactivated the communicator. “All right, people. Report to your posts. Find us a way onto the station, get in contact with the crew, and prepare the ship for battle. Dismissed.”

= = = = = = = = =

“Ben, this is a hell of a mess,” said Admiral William Ross from the small viewscreen in Sisko’s quarters. “The Venakra’s being escorted by eight starships. If you want to wait for them, they’ll be at your position in thirty-nine hours. That should give you enough firepower to breach the station’s defenses and retake DS9.”

Sisko stood in front of the double bunks, hands clasped behind his back. “I want to avoid a confrontation if at all possible. My science officer is reconfiguring our communications system to get in contact with our crew aboard the station. We’re going to take the Defiant in under cloak and transport my chief of security aboard. He’ll be able to ascertain the situation on the station and report back. We might be able to end this without firing a shot.”

“Sounds good to me,” Ross said. “We’ve got a lot of civilians aboard the station. I want them protected.”

“I don’t think the Maquis will harm innocents,” Sisko said. “Their fight is with us and the Cardassians. Which brings up an interesting point. With so many Maquis committed to this operation, what about their positions in the DMZ?”

“The Carolina and the Portland are out there right now, patrolling the adjacent sectors. There’s been no Maquis activity for the past four days.”

“With Commander Eddington in charge of things, he really knows how to put an operation together, and he knows Deep Space Nine as well as anyone.”

“Yes, I’m sure the capture of Mr. Eddington will go a long way in curtailing the Maquis,” the admiral said in agreement.

“We’ll be getting under way in a few hours,” Sisko said. “I’ll keep you informed.”

“Good luck, Ben. Ross out.”

The screen blinked and Ross’ image vanished. Sisko pulled at his goatee and dropped into the small workstation chair. All he could do now was wait.

= = = = = = = = =

 

[Randor]

Ro Laren stood in operations aboard Deep Space Nine. Now clad in a fresh set of civilian clothing, the former Starfleet lieutenant was effectively in control of the entire station. She didn’t relish the idea of keeping the station’s population imprisoned. But it would be necessary until they had secured a way off the station for them.

“Ro,” said Kelora from the science station. “There’s a ship coming out of warp, oh four seven mark one three five. It’s a Klingon battle cruiser.”

Ro keyed several commands into the main table. The viewscreen came to life with the image of the Klingon cruiser emerging from subspace and coming to a relative stop five kilometers from the station.

“Hello, Ro,” came a familiar voice over the comm.

“Eddington,” Ro said in relief. “We’ve secured the station. I can beam you aboard whenever you like.”

A few moments later, a golden column of energy took form on the main paid, and the form of Michael Eddington materialized. He took a long look around the operations center. “Well, it’s good to be back.” He dropped down the steps to the lower level and reviewd the data screens. “Report.”

“The Starfleet crew has been confined to Cargo Bays four, seven and ten. The Bajoran Militia to nine, fourteen, and fifteen. We’ve sealed off the Habitat Ring with forcefields and locked the doors and disabled communications and computer access. They have limited replicators and life support.”

“Well, now’s a good a time as any to let them know what’s going on. Open a station-wide channel.” At Ro’s nod, Eddington took a breath and spoke loudly.

“Attention crew and residents of Deep Space Nine. This is the voice of the Maquis Resistance. Our fight is not with you. We’ve secured you in your quarters or other facilities while we tend to the peaceful transfer of power to our hands. We will be evacuating you to Bajor within in a few hours. I promise that none of you will be harmed. This station is the most vital installation in the entire quadrant.

= = = = = = = = =


“…I am sorry for your inconvenience, but it is necessary to bring peace to the quadrant.”


The bridge speakers reverberated with Michael Eddington’s voice. Sisko felt a small amount of relief. The Maquis wouldn’t harm the civilian population unless it was absolutely necessary.

He spun his chair back to the front of the bridge. “Dax?”

The Trill science officer, turned back to him. “We’ve piggybacked the same frequency Eddington is using and isolated the channels to the station’s internal com.”

“Sisko to O’Brien.”

A few tense moments passed.

“O’Brien here,” came a hushed voice.

Sisko grinned widely. “It’s good to hear your voice, Chief. What’s your status?”

= = = = = = = = =

Miles O’Brien grabbed the rung of the ladder and dropped through the access tunnel and looked around. The combadge he’d taken out of a storage locker on level forty-one was firmly attached to his uniform.

“We were attacked by the Cardassians,” he said to the captain. “During the middle of the fighting on the Promenade, Ro broke out of her cell and accessed the weapons array. She destroyed the Cardassian ships. Then she stormed ops and took command right before a fleet of warbirds uncloaked. They confined the Starfleet personnel to the cargo bays. Garak of all people sprung us and we’re in the Jefferies Tubes gathering supplies to retake the station. But we’re outnumbered fifty to one.”

“Chief,” Sisko’s voice came back, “we don’t have a lot of time. The Defiant’s holding position forty thousand kilometers away under cloak. We’ve got a Federation troop transport coming in, but they wont arrive for a day and a half. What do you need to retake the station?”

“A couple hundred security officers would do nicely,” O’Brien said. He looked up at Garak, who was just descending the ladder.

“They’re on the way,” Sisko said. “But I’d like to end this without bloodshed.”

“I could run a thermolitic charge through the station’s power array. It’d knock just about everyone unconscious.”

Garak smiled. “Captain, I believe the Chief and I can handle this. The key to this station is retaking ops. It’s futile to fight hundreds of Maquis soldiers in some sort of violent engagement. The problem that will arise will be if the Maquis use their vessels to attack the station and kill the civilians onboard.”

“That gives me an idea,” O’Brien said. “But I’m going to need Odo’s help. I’ll contact you again when I can get a small hole in the shields to bring him on board.”

= = = = = = = = =

Eddington sat behind Sisko’s desk in the captain’s office. He leaned forward in the seat and keyed in the security codes into the desktop display. Streams of text flowed from the lower portion to the top. The doors parted and Ro swept in.

“We have a problem,” she said urgently. “The crewmen we confined to Cargo Bay 4 have escaped.”

Immediately on his feet, Eddington rounded the desk and stepped into ops. “Let me guess. Chief O’Brien was being held there.”

“We’d secured the bay with forcefields and transporter suppression fields. There’s no way they could’ve escaped.”

Eddington moved to the science station and keyed a series of commands. “Oh yes there is.” He pointed to the screen. “Eddington to O’Brien. I see you and Mr. Garak have escaped. I suggest you stop whatever it is your planning and turn yourselves in.”

No response came over the com. “Fine,” Eddington said. “Lock onto those signals and beam them to a holding cell.”

Ro moved to the engineering station and operated the necessary controls.

Nothing happened. “Transporters are offline,” she said.

“You’re not the only one who can affect the station’s systems,” O’Brien’s voice came over the com.

= = = = = = = = =


“The station’s shields are fluctuating in section seventeen of the outer docking ring,” Worf reported.

“You heard him, Dax,” Sisko said. “Take us in. Sisko to Odo, we’ll be approaching the station in… ninety seconds. Prepare for transport.”

= = = = = = = = =


“Eddington! The Defiant is de-cloaking!”

At Ro’s urgent report, Eddington ordered, “Red alert. Lock weapons destroy them.”

Ro’s hands danced across the weapons array and locked in on the Defiant. “Computer target lock not functional.”

“Then let’s hope your advanced tactical training included manual phaser fire.”

= = = = = = = = =

“The station has locked phasers on us,” said Worf.

“Evasive patter Delta,” Sisko ordered. “Major, Mr. Worf, disable the weapon sails along Pylon One. They’ll pose the greatest risk to us. Prepare to drop shields for transport.”

= = = = = = = = =

Ro’s hands were a blur as she attempted to align the stations weapons array. “Whoever designed these things was crazy! The cross-feed targeting sensors won’t align with pre-fire chamber!”

Eddington jumped down to the ops table and keyed in for another volley of weapons. “The Defiant’s flying to erratic. Sisko knows the weak spots of the stations weapons. Lock on a full spread of photons. We’ll create a wall of fire.”

“The Defiant has dropped shields,” Ro said in amazement. “They’ve activated their transporter!”

= = = = = = = = =

The first spread of torpedoes found their mark on the Defiant’s port nacelle. Sisko was thrown from his command chair, grabbing the back of Dax’s chair for support.

“Ablative armor has failed,” Worf said.

“Transport complete,” Kira said.

The ship was pounded again.

“Warp power’s offline,” Dax said. “Coming about, full impulse.”

“Captain,” Kira said, “shields have been reactivated. Holding at eight-five percent. The Romulan ships are powering up and locking weapons.”

Sisko staggered back to his chair under the weapons assault. “Dax, one more time, full impulse back through. I want a close range scan of those ships.”

= = = = = = = = =

The golden stream of light filled the ops pad and a mass of gelatinous liquid materialized and stretched. Four tentacles extended, ensnaring the Maquis soldiers manning ops.

Eddington, Ro and the other two Maquis were knocked unconscious by the now fully-formed Odo. The constable descended the stairs and deactivated the stations’ weapons. “Odo to Defiant. Transport successful.”
= = = = = = = = =

The rumbling ceased on the bridge of the Defiant bridge and Sisko smiled. “Well done, Constable. We need one more thing. The Romulan ships orbiting the station. I want to know where the hell they came from.”

There was a long pause. “It’ll have to wait,” Odo said. “There are forty Maquis approaching ops. I will rendezvous with Chief O’Brien and report back.”

“Good luck, Odo. Dax, take us out of here.”

= = = = = = = = =

 

[Randor]

Chapter:

Odo flowed through the Jefferies tube in his liquid state. Coming to an intersection on level four, he reformed himself to his humanoid shape and slapped his communicator. “Odo to Chief O’Brien. I’m on level four section 29-C near Runabout Pad B.”

“Acknowledged,” O’Brien replied. “Stand by.”

Odo crawled out of the tubes access hatch hauled himself into the corridor of the Docking Ring. He waited several tense moments, continuously listening for signs of approaching Maquis.

Another entry hatch to a tube flew open and crashed onto the deck. O’Brien and Garak both emerged. The chief smiled at Odo had pulled out a tricorder. He passed it over the bulkhead. “Transporter suppression fields are still holding. Good. They won’t be able to track us.” He turned to Odo. “I set the internal sensors in a diagnostic mode. It’ll take a few hours to complete the cycle and bring the sensors back online. But there are more than five thousand Maquis onboard. Odds are they’ll be forming search parties.”

“Why Odo,” Garak said. “So nice of you to join us. Why I must say, these guerilla warfare tactics are truly fascinating to witness.”

Odo eyed the chief engineer ignoring the tailor, crossing his arms. “They’ve retaken ops. Mr. Eddington will wake up with a bit of a headache. As will Lieutenant Ro. Where’s the rest of your crew?”

O’Brien gestured down the corridor. “Come on, we gotta’ keep moving.” As the trio proceeded, O’Brien looked back to Odo. “They’ve been evacuated to the lower core and sealed in. I have them reconfiguring the station’s power grid. If worse comes to worst, I’m going to send that thermolitic shock and stun everyone.”

“Isn’t that risky?” Odo asked.

“There’s a fair chance it could cause permanent cellular damage,” Garak added.

“Why are they doing this?” O’Brien asked. “I thought their fight was with the Cardassians. What has Starfleet done?”

“Apparently, through some convoluted plot or another, the Maquis teamed up with the Cardassian True Way. They’d taken command of Empok Nor and raised the force necessary to take DS9. Once that was accomplished, the Maquis betrayed them.”

“I’ll say,” O’Brien quipped. “They blew those poor Cardassians out the airlocks.”

The came to the red double doors of turbolift nine. Stepping inside, O’Brien keyed in his security code and said, “Level forty-seven.”

“Just what exactly is your plan?” Odo asked. “If you don’t want to use the thermolitic shock, I assume you have a non-lethal means of dispatching the intruders.”

Garak smiled. “That’s where I come in. With a few simple modifications to the station’s computer, we can disable the station’s internal sensor array. Once that is done, it will be a simple matter to move about freely.”

O’Brien reached for the tricorder on his belt and flipped itopene. “I’ve reconfigured this to emit a dampening field. it’s enough to prevent a sensor and transporter lock. But until I can diable the internal sensor array, we can’t mount any sort of meaningful resistance.”

Odo nodded and grabbed the railing for support as the car continued its descent. “The captain’s putting together a contingency plan in case we fail. When the Federation troop transport arrives they’ll take the station by force.”

“It won’t come to that,” the chief said. The car slowed and the doors parted. Both O’Brien had Garak had their weapons drawn and the carefully stepped out of the lift. Odo followed behind, peering down the darkened corridor. The tricorder in the chief’s hand beeped rapidly. “Damn it. There are nine humanoids headed this way. Back into the Jefferies tube. We’ve got to get to the computer core on level fifty-eight.”

“It will no doubt be heavily guarded,” Odo said.

“Which is exactly why we asked for you,” Garak said with a smile.


= = = = = = = = =


The Defiant hung in space along with the Hood and the badly damaged Excalibur. They were drifting lazily in space three and quarter light years from DS9. The bridge of the Defiant was a flurry of engineers and technicians hastily repairing the damage inflicted by the station.

Sisko stood with Dax in the situation room at the aft of the bridge. The science officer ran a delicate finger over the arching flares of sensor readings. “Well the good news is Worf was right. They aren’t Romulan ships. They’re basically a shell of a warbird over an old Antares-Class Federation freighter.”

Sisko stood with his hands on his hips. “Look at this,” he said, then touched the controls. The sensor display shifted to a spectral analysis of the outer hull. “These weapon emplacement. Disruptor and torpedo banks.”

“Worthless,” Dax said. “They’re just fused to the hull to present an impression. The ships were running with high-powered dampening fields, but the Defiant has more powerful tactical sensors than your average ship. That’s why were able to penetrate the field and get such a clear reading.”

Worf stood behind the two officers next to Major Kira. “It appears they have placed their trust in fooling anyone into believing they were more well defended than they truly are. It should be a simple matter to disable the ships and concentrate on the station.”

“You’re as familiar as any of us what kind of defense DS9 can offer,” Sisko said. “We held an entire fleet of Klingon ships at bay last year. I don’t want to risk an all-out assault. Our mission will be to disable the station and force the Maquis to withdraw.”

“How many people are free on the station?” Kira asked.

Dax held up a padd. The small screen lit up with the latest of encrypted communications from Odo. “The chief was with one hundred and four Starfleet crewman when Garak freed them from the cargo bay. They’ve taken refuge in the lower levels and have been shielded from sensor scans. Garak and O’Brien are attempting to disable the internal sensor grid in order to retake the station. However, our long range scanners have picked up a transfer of personnel to the warbirds. Odo thinks they are evacuating the civilian population to Bajor.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Kira said. “Those civilians are Eddington’s guarantee that we don’t launch an all-out assault. If the civilians are evacuated he knows we’ll attack.”

Sisko stared at the data and comlogs intently. “Which leads me to believe that’s not what he’s planning.”

= = = = = = = = =


Jake Sisko felt the muzzle of the phaser rifle as he was marched down the darkened corridors of the Habitat Ring. The Andorian standing behind him hissed and said, “Keep moving. We’ll be at the docking port in a few minutes. If you cooperate you’ll be fine.”

Jake didn’t like the sound of that. He’d been locked in his quarters for the past fifteen hours along with everyone else it seemed. Forcefields had come up a long the door and the computer interfaces had been disabled. He’d felt the blasts of weapons fire and from his windows could just make out the scant appearance of a Cardassian warship exploding. He’d been confined to the quarters he shared with this father with nothing to do but wait.

Finally, the voice of Michael Eddington had filtered throughout the entire station stating the civilian population would be evacuated to Bajor. Jake knew the Defiant had left on some mission or another. But his father would be back soon.

That was when the station had come to life again with weapons fire. He’d seen the Defiant come out from under cloak and fly through a mad series of evasive maneuvers. She’d taken hit after hit with her shields down and then had finally retreated. Jake had stared in shock at the audacity of the Defiant’s actions. Had they not know the station had been taken over?

He felt the phaser rifle again in his back. “Come on,” the Andorian said. “Keep going.”

Jake picked up his pace and tried to survey the single file line of civilians. Up ahead was Keiko O’Brien holding her daughter Molly’s hand. Behind her was Quark, followed by Vedek Taynar.

After passage through several crossover bridges they entered the Docking Ring and came to port seven.

The civilians were lead into the docked vessel. The interior markings were in Federation Standard. It appeared to be an older Federation freighter. They were ushered into a massive cargo bay and told to sit down on the deck. They’d be departing in ten minutes.

= = = = = = = = =


Odo solidified his humanoid form and reached out for the computer interface terminal built within the bulkhead. Keying his security code he nodded approvingly. Touching his combadge he said. “Odo to O’Brien. Sensors are off-line.”

“Good,” came the chief’s voice. “Meet us on Level Forty-Four. We’ll contact the captain and let him know the station’s been blinded.”

= = = = = = = = =

“The main sensor net has been sabotaged!” shouted Ro from her position at the engineering station. “I lost everything. Internal and external.”

Eddington cursed under his breath and rubbed at his bruised forehead. Odo had beamed into ops and attack the Maquis stationed there. “He’s working with O’Brien. Eddington to Antral.”

“Go ahead,” came the voice of the commander of the ‘warbird’ Sulan. The elderly Bajoran had taken a keen interest in commanding the limited space forces of the Maquis. Retrofitting fourteen Antares-Class Federation freighters and disguising them as Romulan Warbirds had been ingenious. While not possessing the defenses or the weaponry of a true Romulan vessel, they had kept Starfleet at bay. At least until the Defiant had come in. They’d know doubt discovered the ruse. But with the station’s weapons array trained on them, they’d not been able to do anything about it.

“You’ve got new orders,” Eddington told his old friend. “Secure the civilians aboard two of the freighters and beam back to the station. They’re going to be our insurance policy.” He terminated the comlink and turned back to Ro. “Get a squad together; we’ve got more than a hundred crewmen loose on the station. I want them neutralized by any means necessary.”

Ro hesitated a moment. “You want me to hunt down at kill Starfleet and Bajoran officers?”

”We have to hold this station,” Eddington said. “And we need to seal the wormhole. I’m still working on the modifications to the photon torpedoes. We have to collapse the entrance without damaging the station. You have your orders. Get to it or I’ll find someone who can.”

Ro straightened, gave a quick nod and entered the turbolift.

= = = = = = = = =

 

[Randor]

Chapter:

Odo flowed through the Jefferies tube in his liquid state. Coming to an intersection on level four, he reformed himself to his humanoid shape and slapped his communicator. “Odo to Chief O’Brien. I’m on level four section 29-C near Runabout Pad B.”

“Acknowledged,” O’Brien replied. “Stand by.”

Odo crawled out of the tubes access hatch hauled himself into the corridor of the Docking Ring. He waited several tense moments, continuously listening for signs of approaching Maquis.

Another entry hatch to a tube flew open and crashed onto the deck. O’Brien and Garak both emerged. The chief smiled at Odo had pulled out a tricorder. He passed it over the bulkhead. “Transporter suppression fields are still holding. Good. They won’t be able to track us.” He turned to Odo. “I set the internal sensors in a diagnostic mode. It’ll take a few hours to complete the cycle and bring the sensors back online. But there are more than five thousand Maquis onboard. Odds are they’ll be forming search parties.”

“Why Odo,” Garak said. “So nice of you to join us. Why I must say, these guerilla warfare tactics are truly fascinating to witness.”

Odo eyed the chief engineer ignoring the tailor, crossing his arms. “They’ve retaken ops. Mr. Eddington will wake up with a bit of a headache. As will Lieutenant Ro. Where’s the rest of your crew?”

O’Brien gestured down the corridor. “Come on, we gotta’ keep moving.” As the trio proceeded, O’Brien looked back to Odo. “They’ve been evacuated to the lower core and sealed in. I have them reconfiguring the station’s power grid. If worse comes to worst, I’m going to send that thermolitic shock and stun everyone.”

“Isn’t that risky?” Odo asked.

“There’s a fair chance it could cause permanent cellular damage,” Garak added.

“Why are they doing this?” O’Brien asked. “I thought their fight was with the Cardassians. What has Starfleet done?”

“Apparently, through some convoluted plot or another, the Maquis teamed up with the Cardassian True Way. They’d taken command of Empok Nor and raised the force necessary to take DS9. Once that was accomplished, the Maquis betrayed them.”

“I’ll say,” O’Brien quipped. “They blew those poor Cardassians out the airlocks.”

The came to the red double doors of turbolift nine. Stepping inside, O’Brien keyed in his security code and said, “Level forty-seven.”

“Just what exactly is your plan?” Odo asked. “If you don’t want to use the thermolitic shock, I assume you have a non-lethal means of dispatching the intruders.”

Garak smiled. “That’s where I come in. With a few simple modifications to the station’s computer, we can disable the station’s internal sensor array. Once that is done, it will be a simple matter to move about freely.”

O’Brien reached for the tricorder on his belt and flipped itopene. “I’ve reconfigured this to emit a dampening field. it’s enough to prevent a sensor and transporter lock. But until I can diable the internal sensor array, we can’t mount any sort of meaningful resistance.”

Odo nodded and grabbed the railing for support as the car continued its descent. “The captain’s putting together a contingency plan in case we fail. When the Federation troop transport arrives they’ll take the station by force.”

“It won’t come to that,” the chief said. The car slowed and the doors parted. Both O’Brien had Garak had their weapons drawn and the carefully stepped out of the lift. Odo followed behind, peering down the darkened corridor. The tricorder in the chief’s hand beeped rapidly. “Damn it. There are nine humanoids headed this way. Back into the Jefferies tube. We’ve got to get to the computer core on level fifty-eight.”

“It will no doubt be heavily guarded,” Odo said.

“Which is exactly why we asked for you,” Garak said with a smile.


= = = = = = = = =


The Defiant hung in space along with the Hood and the badly damaged Excalibur. They were drifting lazily in space three and quarter light years from DS9. The bridge of the Defiant was a flurry of engineers and technicians hastily repairing the damage inflicted by the station.

Sisko stood with Dax in the situation room at the aft of the bridge. The science officer ran a delicate finger over the arching flares of sensor readings. “Well the good news is Worf was right. They aren’t Romulan ships. They’re basically a shell of a warbird over an old Antares-Class Federation freighter.”

Sisko stood with his hands on his hips. “Look at this,” he said, then touched the controls. The sensor display shifted to a spectral analysis of the outer hull. “These weapon emplacement. Disruptor and torpedo banks.”

“Worthless,” Dax said. “They’re just fused to the hull to present an impression. The ships were running with high-powered dampening fields, but the Defiant has more powerful tactical sensors than your average ship. That’s why were able to penetrate the field and get such a clear reading.”

Worf stood behind the two officers next to Major Kira. “It appears they have placed their trust in fooling anyone into believing they were more well defended than they truly are. It should be a simple matter to disable the ships and concentrate on the station.”

“You’re as familiar as any of us what kind of defense DS9 can offer,” Sisko said. “We held an entire fleet of Klingon ships at bay last year. I don’t want to risk an all-out assault. Our mission will be to disable the station and force the Maquis to withdraw.”

“How many people are free on the station?” Kira asked.

Dax held up a padd. The small screen lit up with the latest of encrypted communications from Odo. “The chief was with one hundred and four Starfleet crewman when Garak freed them from the cargo bay. They’ve taken refuge in the lower levels and have been shielded from sensor scans. Garak and O’Brien are attempting to disable the internal sensor grid in order to retake the station. However, our long range scanners have picked up a transfer of personnel to the warbirds. Odo thinks they are evacuating the civilian population to Bajor.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Kira said. “Those civilians are Eddington’s guarantee that we don’t launch an all-out assault. If the civilians are evacuated he knows we’ll attack.”

Sisko stared at the data and comlogs intently. “Which leads me to believe that’s not what he’s planning.”

= = = = = = = = =


Jake Sisko felt the muzzle of the phaser rifle as he was marched down the darkened corridors of the Habitat Ring. The Andorian standing behind him hissed and said, “Keep moving. We’ll be at the docking port in a few minutes. If you cooperate you’ll be fine.”

Jake didn’t like the sound of that. He’d been locked in his quarters for the past fifteen hours along with everyone else it seemed. Forcefields had come up a long the door and the computer interfaces had been disabled. He’d felt the blasts of weapons fire and from his windows could just make out the scant appearance of a Cardassian warship exploding. He’d been confined to the quarters he shared with this father with nothing to do but wait.

Finally, the voice of Michael Eddington had filtered throughout the entire station stating the civilian population would be evacuated to Bajor. Jake knew the Defiant had left on some mission or another. But his father would be back soon.

That was when the station had come to life again with weapons fire. He’d seen the Defiant come out from under cloak and fly through a mad series of evasive maneuvers. She’d taken hit after hit with her shields down and then had finally retreated. Jake had stared in shock at the audacity of the Defiant’s actions. Had they not know the station had been taken over?

He felt the phaser rifle again in his back. “Come on,” the Andorian said. “Keep going.”

Jake picked up his pace and tried to survey the single file line of civilians. Up ahead was Keiko O’Brien holding her daughter Molly’s hand. Behind her was Quark, followed by Vedek Taynar.

After passage through several crossover bridges they entered the Docking Ring and came to port seven.

The civilians were lead into the docked vessel. The interior markings were in Federation Standard. It appeared to be an older Federation freighter. They were ushered into a massive cargo bay and told to sit down on the deck. They’d be departing in ten minutes.

= = = = = = = = =


Odo solidified his humanoid form and reached out for the computer interface terminal built within the bulkhead. Keying his security code he nodded approvingly. Touching his combadge he said. “Odo to O’Brien. Sensors are off-line.”

“Good,” came the chief’s voice. “Meet us on Level Forty-Four. We’ll contact the captain and let him know the station’s been blinded.”

= = = = = = = = =

“The main sensor net has been sabotaged!” shouted Ro from her position at the engineering station. “I lost everything. Internal and external.”

Eddington cursed under his breath and rubbed at his bruised forehead. Odo had beamed into ops and attack the Maquis stationed there. “He’s working with O’Brien. Eddington to Antral.”

“Go ahead,” came the voice of the commander of the ‘warbird’ Sulan. The elderly Bajoran had taken a keen interest in commanding the limited space forces of the Maquis. Retrofitting fourteen Antares-Class Federation freighters and disguising them as Romulan Warbirds had been ingenious. While not possessing the defenses or the weaponry of a true Romulan vessel, they had kept Starfleet at bay. At least until the Defiant had come in. They’d know doubt discovered the ruse. But with the station’s weapons array trained on them, they’d not been able to do anything about it.

“You’ve got new orders,” Eddington told his old friend. “Secure the civilians aboard two of the freighters and beam back to the station. They’re going to be our insurance policy.” He terminated the comlink and turned back to Ro. “Get a squad together; we’ve got more than a hundred crewmen loose on the station. I want them neutralized by any means necessary.”

Ro hesitated a moment. “You want me to hunt down at kill Starfleet and Bajoran officers?”

”We have to hold this station,” Eddington said. “And we need to seal the wormhole. I’m still working on the modifications to the photon torpedoes. We have to collapse the entrance without damaging the station. You have your orders. Get to it or I’ll find someone who can.”

Ro straightened, gave a quick nod and entered the turbolift.

= = = = = = = = =

“Incoming message,” Dax reported. “It’s Odo. The station’s sensor array has bee taken offline. Also, the Romulan ships have been loaded and are preparing to get underway.”

Sisko smiled and dropped into his command chair. “Excellent. Red alert. Take us back to the station, Dax, maximum warp. Major, contact the Hood, advise them to follow us.”

= = = = = = = = =

O’Brien and Garak descended the ladder into the fusion core of DS9. The officers who’d previously been confined to the cargo bay were scattered about, performing their assigned duties. Rom stood near an auxiliary console, inputting data from a padd.

“Chief!” he said. “We were configuring the thermolitic shock when the sensor array crashed.”

“That was our doing,” Garak said with a smile.

“Odo helped us sabotage the main sensor relays,” O’Brien explained. “The Maquis are evacuating the civilians to Bajor. Once the ships depart, we’ll be free to spring our surprises.” He handed the Ferengi engineer a data padd. “Start working on this for me. All right everyone,” he said in a loud voice. “We’ve got work to do.”

= = = = = = = = =

 

[Randor]

“Benjamin,” Dax called from the helm. “We’re picking activity from two of the warbirds surrounding the station. I’m readying thousands of life-signs on them.”

The Defiant and the Hood were closing on the station, prepared for anything the Maquis could throw at them. Or so they thought.

Sisko was immediately on his feet and reading the sensor data on Dax’s panel. She was right. There were thousands of life-sings emanating from the massive cargo holds of the retrofitted freighters. “They’re powering their warp engines.”

“Incoming transmission from the station,” Kira said. “It’s Eddington.”

Sisko perked up at the mention. “On screen.”

The small forward viewer blinked from streaking stars to the smirking face of Michael Eddington. “Hello, Ben. I suggest you stand down. I’ve got the inhabitants of your station aboard my warbirds. If you don’t turn away I’ll destroy them.”

Sisko smiled. “Eddington, your sensors are down and I have people aboard who are prepared to take your weapons off-line and retake the station. I suggest you stand down.”

Eddington’s smile grew somber. “I am sorry, Ben. Jake’s on of those ships. I’ve remotely set their course for the Bajoran sun. I’m prepared to send them careening into the star if you don’t stand down and relinquish command of the station to me.”

Jadzia took her eyes of her instruments for a split second to glance up at Sisko. As expected, her old friend’s hands were balled into fists. He was breathing deeply and trembling with rage.

“Eddington..” he began.

“Ten seconds,” Eddington said. “Come about and order your crew on board to stand down and turn themselves in.”

Sisko looked around the bridge, from Kira to Worf and Dax.

“Five seconds,” the Maquis leader said.

“Fine,” Sisko said. “Drop out of warp, Dax. Mr. Worf, transmit a message to Odo. Tell him and the chief to stand down and turn themselves in.”

“Sir,” Worf began. “We cannot allow…”

“Not now, Commander. Carry out my orders.” He turned back to the viewscreen. “I’ve done what you ask, now take my people of those ships and return them to the station.”

Eddington smiled. “Why would I do that? They’re my one guarantee you want be back.” The screen blinked off.

Sisko’s fist pounded the edge of the helm console. “Damn it,” he hissed. “Jadzia, reverse course, warp three. Mr. Worf, get me Starfleet Command.”


/ / /

O’Brien read the message on the padd for the fourth time. “There’s no doubt about it. It’s got the captain’s embedded code and it definitely came from the Defiant.”

Odo and Garak both exchanged glances.

“The civilians were our weakness all along,” Odo said. “They represented an ideal opportunity for terrorists to use as leverage against us.”

O’Brien’s face was red with anger. He could only imagine the terrified face of his little girl, huddled with the rest of the inhabitants of the station on some freighter. “Rom, how long would it take to send out the thermolitic shock?”

“The sensor array’s down, Chief, it’ll take an hour to bring it back online.”

The station was effectively defenseless. With sensors offline, the weapons were useless. But Eddington had remote control of the ships surrounding the station. Even without weapons they could case a lot of damage if he were to set them on a course for Bajor. “All right,” O’Brien said holstering his tricorder. “I’m not about to surrender and let them do God knows what. But I’m also not going to risk the lives of my family. Garak. Its up to you. I need for you to disable the station’s communications array. Without it, they wont be able to control those ships by remote.”

Garak smiled. “I believe that will not be difficult, Chief. The primary communications array is located directly above us.” He moved towards an access ladder and stepped onto the rungs. “Make your performance a good one,” he said to the chief.
O’Brien lead the contingent of officers out of the core and into the corridors of Deep Space Nine. Dozens of Maquis appeared, all heavily armed. The leader of the group, an middle-aged human with a large scar crossing his cheek aimed his phaser O’Brien. “You must be Mr. O’Brien. Come with us. You’re going back to confinement.”


= = = = =


“Ship coming out of warp,” Kira reported. “It’s the Venkara.”

Sisko looked up to see the elegant shape of the Federation troop transport emerge from warp and come to a relative stop parallel to the Defiant and Hood. The USS Excalibur still hung lifeless in space, her crew evacuated to the Hood. Engineers in EV suits covered the hull, making the appropriate repairs.

“Inform Captain Nadonna that we’ll be moving out within the hour. If Mr. Garak succeeds.”

= = = = =



“This is insane!” shouted Quark over the cries of shock from the rest of the prisoners. “We haven’t done anything!”

“Quark, sit down,” Jake said. “You’re not helping.”

“Sit down? We’re left alone in a cargo bay and the rest of the crew abandons ship! We need to get back to the station.”

“And just how do you plan to do that?” the younger Sisko asked. “They’ve sealed us in with forcefields and beamed out. What do plan to do?”

“Anything rather than just sit here,” the Ferengi snapped. He looked around the hold. “The entire civilian population of DS9 has been shoved off the station and left here. For what? I don’t hear the engines running, so we’re still sitting outside the station.”

From across the bay, Morn stood and approached the Ferengi. The massive Lurian placed a meaty hand on Quark’s shoulder. He peered into Quark’s eyes and in turn Quark shut his mouth. “Fine, fine,” he said with a dismissive gesture. “We’ll just sit here and wait.”



= = = = = = = =

Garak’s hands were cold and numb, a side effect of living on this station all these years. Cardassians loved the warm darkness and the Federation seemed to enjoy the bright cold. He slid the data rods out of the ports and tapped at the ODN interfaces. The communications array of Deep Space Nine was more complex than any other technology Cardassians had ever built. On top of that, one had to take into consideration four and half years of upgrades by the Chief and the addition of Starfleet modules where the older Cardassian models had failed to meet a compatible software sharing relationship. During his time in the Obsidian Order, Garak had designed most of the communication encrypt ciphers used throughout the union. The codes hardwired into the subspace array were like an old familiar book to him. He keyed in the default codes and smiled as the system began fluctuating and finally darkened and collapsed.

/ / /

“Michael,” shouted Ro from the center of ops. “The entire communications array has crashed!”

Eddington was in the pit working on the weapons array. He grabbed either side of the ladder and hauled himself up to the main level. “How?”

“System overload on Level Sixty-Four,” Ro said. “The entire subspace array and internal grids have both gone dark.”

Eddington ran towards the ops table and keyed the short range scanners. “Remote links to our transport ships have collapsed.” He sighed. “Damn it! Get to the ship,” he said refereeing to the Klingon Battle Cruiser at port seven. “Begin the evacuation.”

“Without an internal comm. that’s going to be difficult,” Ro said.

“Beam out to the transports and begin multiple beam outs,” Eddington said, ascending the stairs. “We’ve lost our trump card. Sisko will be here any minute.” He jumped into the lift. “Docking Ring!”

/ / /

“The comm. array has been disabled,” Worf reported from his station. “Remote links to the ‘warbirds’ have been taken off-line.”

Sisko smiled and pounded his fist into an open palm. “Warp speed, Dax. Take us home. Alert the Venkara to stand by to board the station. I want those Maquis alive.”

/ / /

Michael Eddington ran through the darkened corridors of the Docking Ring towards his target at port seven. The bulky Klingon heavy cruiser awaited him there, preparing for departure. He reached the cog-like airlock and keyed the security code. The door rolled into the bulkhead. Eddington ascended the three small steps and strode through the airlock and into the hazy confines of the cruiser. Already heading for the bridge, he pulled a phaser from his belt and set the charge to level three, capable of stunning any humanoid.

The duranium-reinforced double doors to the bridge parted with a loud grinding sound and allowed Eddington access to the bridge. At the helm sat Neveela Timo, a Bajoran ex-Resistance member.

“Michael,” she said, “what’s happening on the station?”

“Sabotage,” he confirmed. “Start beaming our people off the station and prepare to get underway. Engineering!” he snapped.

“Cole here, sir.”

“Brice, we need to get underway right now, fire up the engines and stand by.”

“Working on it,” Cole said. “Warp power will be available in three minutes.”

“Michael,” snapped Neveela. “I’m reading a cluster of warp signatures coming at us from two separate directions.”

“Starfleet?” Eddington prodded. Sisko was early.

“Yes, and Cardassian.”

Eddington slapped the viewscreen controls. The rectangular screen came to life wth the image of the Defiant, the Hood and a Starfleet troop transport which sensors identified as the Venkara. Switching views, he saw a dozen Galor-Class Cardasssian heavy cruisers approaching in a tinok tactical formation.

“Bow thrusters,” said Eddington. “Take us out of here.”

”But we haven’t finished beaming our people out. We’ve still got twenty-three hundred people aboard the station.”

Eddington lifted the phaser and pointed it at Neveela. “Now.”

The Bajoran stood and squared her shoulders. “No, sir. I will not abandon them to the Federation and the Cardassians. There’s still time.”

“We’re out of time,” Eddington said. “I’m sorry.” He tapped the firing stud.

/ / /

 

[Randor]

“Ben, the Klingon ship is powering engines. They’ve disengaged the docking clamps and are pulling away from the station.”

Sisko read the helm scanners as Dax reported. “I see it. Major, any response from the Cardassians?”

“No, sir. Our scanners show they’re some of the same vessels that were at Empok Nor. They’ve powered up their forward phasers and loaded their torpedo bays. They’re heading toward the station.”

Sisko grunted and returned to his chair. “All right. Signal the Hood to intercept the Cardassians. Tell the Venkara to follow us in towards the station. Mr. Worf, I want to disable that Klingon ship as we pass. Odds are Eddington is aboard.”

“Understood,” Worf said. “Targeting parameters set, phasers standing by.”

“Course set,” Dax said. “We’ll pass one hundred meters from Upper Pylon One, come around on a parallel trajectory and be right down his aft section.”

“Venkara is signaling ready,” said Kira. “They’re transporters are standing by.”

“The Hood is moving towards the lead Cardassian ship,” said Worf.

“Let’s do it, Old Man, full impulse,” said the captain.

/ / /



Ro Laren ran through the shaking corridors of DS9. The Cardassian assault had been swift, destroying the primary power couplings of the fusion core and crippled the remaining power distribution lines. Before she could reach the ODN junction, the bulkhead erupted in plasma fire. Two support beams fell from the ceiling; Ro had seconds to jump out of the way and dive for cover.

She was a fraction of a second too late.

The beam caught her full in the face, dropping her unconscious to the deck. As she blacked out, her final memory was the sound of Starfleet transporters.

/ / /

The bridge of Eddington’s cruiser was smashed. Consoles erupted with sparks, the viewscreen fizzled with static. Eddington pushed the corpse of Neveela away from the helm and ran his hands across the flickering helm controls. “Eddington to engineering. Report!”

“Warp engines are gone, the nacelles are floating about twenty meters from the aft section. The Defiant hit us before we got the shields up.”

“Abandon ship, get to the shuttle,” Eddington ordered. “I’m going to set a collision course with the station. If we can’t have it, nobody can.”

/ / /

“Benjamin,” Dax said urgently. “The Klingon ship is powering its impulse engines; they’re on a direct course for the station.”

“Worf,” Sisko snapped, “fire phasers, disable their engines.”

Worf did as he was ordered and sent out a full barrage of weapons fire from the forward array. “Minimal damage. They’ve reconfigured the shields. Sir, their shield configuration is similar to Dominion ships. We cannot penetrate them.”

“What about quantum torpedoes?” the captain asked.

“Wouldn’t recommend it,” said Dax. “A quantum explosion that close to the unshielded station would bombard the outer sections with lethal amounts of radiation.”

“I’m open to suggestions old man,” Sisko said.

“I can match the transporter harmonics to their shields and beam you inside. You can disable it from there.”

“Mr. Worf,” Sisko said, “you’re with me. Security team to the transporter bay. The bridge is your, Major. Keep those Cardassians away from station.”

/ / /

Sisko felt the transporter release him and he found himself on the damaged bridge of the Klingon warship. Directly in front of him stood Eddington, hunched over the helm, working madly at the controls. As the transporter columns took form, Eddington dove behind the console and took out his disruptor pistol.

“You’re too late, Captain,” he shouted. “I’ve destroyed the helm controls and locked in the course. In three minutes, you’re precious station’s going to light up like a supernova.” He reached up and squeezed off several green bolts of disruptor energy.

Sisko, Worf and the security team consisting of Parker and Marlans took cover behind the bulkhead support struts. “It’s all over Eddington,” Sisko said. He returned fire, missing Eddington by centimeters. “You’re little group’s been arrested, the Cardassians you used to stage this whole thing have been exposed and you’ve got no way out of here.”

“Ever the martyr, I guess,” Eddington said, inching towards the door to the turbolift.

From across the bridge, Worf reset his phaser settings and fired on the lift doors. The beams melted the duranium casing of the doors, fusing them shut.

Eddington changed direction again and fired at Worf. “Fine!” He stood up and threw the disruptor to the deck. “You win, Captain.” His body began to shimmer and melted in a golden liquid. His clothing transformed to a simple off-orange gown-like robe. His face dissolved into the unfinished mask that was a trademark of his species.

The Founder stood before the boarding party and smiled. “When your station has been destroyed, the wormhole will be taken with it. It will delay the Dominion’s takeover of this quadrant, but will not stop it. We will reach you one day.” He slapped his wrist and a Dominion transporter harmonic showered him and he was beamed away.

“Worf!” the captain said. “The helm; can you get us turned around?”

The Klingon tactical officer moved to the helm and shook his head. “No, sir, the Changeling completely destroyed the relays. There’s an auxiliary helm override but it is in the captain’s quarters. We have less then two minutes before we collide with the station. We will never make it in time.”

“All right,” Sisko said, stepping up to the tactical station. “I’ll drop the shields.” He pressed the appropriate controls and the graviton envelope surrounding the ship vanished. “Sisko to Defiant, I’ve dropped the shields. Lock a tractor beam and pull us away.”


Kira’s voice came back over the com speaker. “Wish we could captain! The Cardassian ships have made it past the Hood. We’ve got four cruisers bearing down on us.”

“Sir,” Worf said, “if we could beam to Ops, we could use the station’s tractor beams.”

“Sisko to O’Brien,” the captain said, slapping his combadge.

“Yes, sir?”

“Chief, is the station secure?”

“Yes, sir, we’ve got the Maquis isolated and I’m back in ops.”

“Four to transport immediately!”

As he materialized back in ops, Sisko dropped to the upper level. “Chief,” he said to O’Brien who standing around the main display table, “lock a tractor beam onto the Klingon ship. See if you can hold in place.”

O’Brien’ hands raced across the controls. “Graviton generators are still iffy,” he said. “I’ve got a partial lock, but power’s down thirty percent. The Klingon ship’s thrusters are still at full, fighting the beam. I can only hold it for a couple of minutes.”

“Worf,” Sisko said. “Lock on the cargo transporters, see if you can beam away that aft section of the ship and disperse it into space…” he stopped. “Wait, I have a better idea. Chief, transfer everything to the tractors and transporters, we’re going to use that ship as a weapon.”

/ / /

Kira Nerys grabbed the arms of the command chair as the Defiant was struck by another poly-wave disruptor blast from the closing Cardassian ships.

“Shields are fifty percent,” Dax reported. “They’ve got us outmatched, we’ve just taken too much cumulative damage.”

“All right,” Kira said, “One eight five mark twelve, full impulse. Fire a spread of aft torpedoes in our path. Tactical, I want…”

“Major,” Dax said, “Captain Sisko’s haling us.”

The image of the captain appeared on the screen and after a few moments his plan was in place.

/ / /


“Gul Evek,” said the operations officer. “The station has been retaken by Starfleet. The station’s weapons are still down but they have captured the Klingon ship in their tractor beams.”

“What about the Romulan transports?” Evek demanded.

“They’re still docked on the upper pylons. Sir! Massive transporter wave forming around our squadron.” The glinn read the monitors and his eyes went wide. “It’s the reactor and warp core from the Klingon cruiser! It has materialized directly between our ships!”

“Evasive!” shouted Evek, bolting to his feet. “Get us out of here!”

/ / /

“Fire,” said Kira firmly.

The pair of quantum torpedoes tore loose from the Defiant’s forward launchers and home on their targets. In a blinding white flash, the weapons impacted the Klingon power cores and erupted in an antimatter fire ball that spread in every direction.

/ / /

 

[Randor]

Sisko staggered under the blast wave. “Report,” he said calmly.

“The Cardassian ships have been destroyed,” Worf said from tactical. “Minor damage to the station and the Klingon ship has been powered down.” A shower of sparks erupted from the console. Worf jumped out of the way and put out the fire with a small suppression unit.

“That was the transporters,” O’Brien said with a small smile. “I guess we won’t be beaming anywhere for a while.”

Sisko sat down on the stool around the table and rubbed his tired eyes. “I think I’d like to hang around here for a while.” He looked at the table and the sensor readings. “Sisko to Odo,” he said into the com, “what’s the status of those Romulan ships?”

“The Maquis evacuated them when the Venkara started landing troops,” came Odo’s reply. “All personnel are accounted for. Including Jake.”

Sisko breathed a sigh of relief. “Sisko to Defiant. Come on home, Major, there are a lot of pieces to put together.”

Chapter:

Captain’s Personal Log, 49783.2. The Defiant has returned to the station as well as the USS Hood and the USS Excalibur. The Venkara remains on patrol, awaiting my approval to stand down. Deep Space Nine has suffered considerable damage in the recent conflict and it is has taken my officers several days to put all of this together. The Maquis, the Klingons, the Cardassians all being used by the Dominion against us.

But the question remains. Why? What was hoped to be accomplished? A war? Had they wanted the Maquis to actually hold the station and destroy the wormhole? Before the changeling fled, he said that even without the wormhole, the Dominion would still come. Could that be what they want? Is it possible the Dominion isn’t ready to confront us yet? Have they had knowledge of the Alpha Quadrant since before the discovery of the wormhole four years ago? Has that discovery accelerated their plans to invade? These are the questions that have arisen since my return. I fear we may never know for certain. But one thing that can be certain is that the Dominion is capable of playing the people of the Alpha Quadrant like a string quartet.

Even after the strife, the status quo remains. The Klingon Empire is still proceeding with their slow annexation of the Cardassian Union. The Maquis continue to harass the outer boundaries of Cardassian territory. All them seem either oblivious or nonchalant of the recent Dominion intervention. Starfleet Command has told me they have called a conference with the leaders of the Alpha Quadrant. We will be meeting on Earth in a week’s time. The new Federation president, Min Zife, has spoken out against the strife the quadrant is going through. The summit, to which myself and my officers will attend, will be the first step to unify against the Dominion. It’s a bold plan, one that I will push with everything I have, and may be the key to defeating the Dominion.



To be Continued…