CHAPTER THREE-HOUR OF THE WOLF
When Picard strode onto the Bridge any and all banter ceased. He moved over by his center seat but he didn’t sit right away. Instead, he surveyed his crew as they diligently worked their stations. The Enterprise was the flagship of the Fleet and had no use for second-best performers. Picard had been careful to recruit only the very best and, although he would never tell them, he was secretly quite proud of them all. He didn’t trust any of them except for his First Officer but he was still proud of them.
“Number One, ship’s status?” His First Officer turned and looked him in the eyes. He was the only one aboard ship who wasn’t afraid to do that.
“All phasers are fully re-calibrated. Torpedo inventory is at maximum. The thuringar generator is idling at full efficiency. Shields and ablative armor are at one hundred percent. All auxiliary craft are armed and on stand-by.” Data delivered his report in an unassuming monotone, his usual mode of address. The typically placid look on his face hid a fanatic, almost slave-like loyalty to his Captain. Many of Picard’s now-dead enemies had failed to realize this in time to save themselves.
“Very good, Number One. Signal the Fleet and tell them we are preparing to enter the Rip.”
“Yes, Captain.” Data touched a control on the arm of his chair. “Enterprise to the Fleet: prepare to depart on my signal-mark.” The Enterprise surged towards the tear in space/time that hung just outside the orbit of Jupiter. Behind her, fifty heavily armed warships followed as though tethered to her nacelles. “Glory to the Empire!” Data exclaimed and the cry was echoed both on the Bridge and throughout the Fleet.
Picard allowed himself a wolfish smile. “Wait until this so-called Federation sees what we have in store for it.” The malice in his voice raised hairs on the necks of everyone in hearing range. “Engage, Mr. Data!” The Enterprise and her Fleet slipped into the Rip.
**********
When Lt. Nog came to the transporter room he had two things with him Sanjay wasn’t expecting. One was a small, very ornate wooden box under his arm. The other was Ensign Perling. In response to Sanjay’s inquiring look Nog said,
“I asked Ensign Perling to accompany us, sir. I thought the admirals might have some questions for him about the communication system.” Sanjay nodded and the three of them stepped onto the transporter pads. A moment later they were in the foyer of the Admiralty Building. A young woman, a lieutenant commander, was waiting to take them to their meeting.
When they got to the conference room the admirals were assembled along one side of the table with Nechayev in the center seat. Sanjay noticed that everyone present except Admiral S’etek looked like they hadn’t slept in a while. He wasn’t really surprised by this. Seleya had been receiving updates about the recent incursions as it made its way towards Earth. Admiral Janeway gave him a wan smile as Nechayev waved them towards seats opposite the assembled flag officers.
“Please have a seat, gentlemen,” she said. “We would like to know the status of your efforts to communicate with what we are calling Federation-B.”
Sanjay spoke first. “We ran into some unexpected filtering problems as we brought the system online. I haven’t had a chance to debrief my officers on their efforts to clear up the noise, as they worked on it right up to our arrival in orbit. I brought them along so they could shed some light on the situation. Ensign Perling, could you please explain how things are progressing?”
Louis looked very uncomfortable to be addressing so many high-ranking individuals and he stammered a bit as he began. “Um, well, um, the moment we turned the new system on we received pieces of over two thousand different transmissions. Some of these may have been trans-galactic in origin.” Most of the admirals looked surprised at this statement but they let him continue uninterrupted. “This was caused by a unique secondary aspect of the system in question. I’ll include all of the details in my formal report, of course,” he added hurriedly. “It took Nog-I mean, Lieutenant Nog and I a bit of time but we finally isolated the repeater signal sent out by Commander Kurn from, uh, Federation-B. We have not yet responded to him.” Louis looked relieved to be done with his part of the report.
Janeway spoke first. “Lieutenant Nog, do you have something to add to this report?”
Nog nodded his head vigorously and placed the wooden box on the table. “Before he, um, vanished Captain Sisko was lured to the “Mirror Universe” by the duplicate of his dead wife. She got him to travel to her side by taking the Captain’s son with her when she returned. What no one expected at the time was how well Jake and her got along. I recently got a message from Jake along with this box. He heard about the Empire invading from another universe and-“Admiral Chelt interrupted with an exclamation.
“What? We’ve kept the true origin of the attackers out of the press. How does this Jake know where they came from?” The admiral sounded incensed.
“You may have kept that information out of the press but that doesn’t mean the press doesn’t have the information-it just means they aren’t broadcasting it. Jake still works part-time for the Federation News Service.” Nog shrugged. “I guess he heard something from one of his contacts. Anyway, it turns out that his mother’s duplicate had wanted them to be able to stay in touch so she gave him this,” Nog opened the box and reached into it, “And when Jake heard about our problems with the Empire he sent it to me.” “This” was a cylindrical object , mostly silver in color, about fourteen centimeters long. Nog set it on the table. “It’s the device Smiley invented for transporting people from one universe to another.” Nog grinned at the startled flag officers. Admiral S’etek raised a single eyebrow and turned towards Chelt and Nechayev as Ross and Janeway returned Nog’s grin.
“I believe,” S’etek said, matter-of-factly, “That we have the means to overcome your objections to the mission we were discussing on Monday.” Sanjay thought he looked very…satisfied. Nechayaev nodded slowly.
“We’ll have to get this to the right people to see if it can be modified to suit our purposes but, yes, we just may have a safer way to complete the job at hand. Lieutenant Nog, I’d like to thank you for bringing this to us. Does anyone have any more questions for Captain Sanjay or his people?” When no one answered she continued, “Then, Captain, we would like you to attempt communications with the Federation-B. Admiral Janeway will be returning to the Seleya with you so she can open negotiations with their Council and Command staff. We would very much like their help when it comes time to confront the Empire. Also, I will be expecting Ensign Perling’s report on the new communication system on my desk in the morning. Dismissed.” As the other admirals exited the room Janeway sauntered over to Sanjay, her battered steel mug in hand.
“Well, Captain, shall we go?” She grinned down at Nog. “Very well done, Lieutenant. And that goes for you, too, Ensign,” she added, looking over at Louis. Nog offered his thanks while Louis stammered and blushed. Sanjay grinned at the scene and led them back to the transport foyer, calling for the Seleya’s return to orbit as he did so.
***********
Jesus paused in front of the cabin door. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the enunciator. There was no response. He reached over and pushed it again. Still nothing. He reached for it again and the doors suddenly whooshed open. Jerix stood there looking sullen.
“Oh, it’s you, Dr. Ramirez. How can I help you?” Jerix didn’t sound very eager to help anyone. His face was sallow-looking and there were dark circles under his eyes.
“Can I come in? I need to speak with you for a moment.” Jerix grudgingly stepped aside so Jesus could enter. As he looked around he saw that the normally meticulously clean engineer’s stateroom was littered with un-recycled dinnerware and uniforms. There was a faintly unpleasant odor in the air, possibly of food recently gone bad. When Jerix failed to offer a seat Jesus turned to him and said,
“I’ve just spoken with the Captain. He says that StarFleet may have some new equipment ready for you to install soon. He wanted me to let you know it would be best if you began your hibernation cycle in the next day or so. He expects you’ll have plenty to do after that and he would like you well rested.” Jerix just grunted in reply so Jesus continued, “Jerix, I saw the posted casualty reports. I’m very sorry about your wives and children. Although I haven’t brought it up with Captain Sanjay yet, if you would like to take leave for medical reasons I’m prepared to sign off on it.” Jerix just stared at him. “Very well,” Jesus said after an uncomfortable moment of silence, “I should let you know-I’m quite concerned about your current mental state. I don’t fault you for it. You’ve lost more than any man should be asked to give up,” and for a moment Jesus had a far away look in his eyes, “But I have to think of the ship. If I feel you can’t do your job right I will relieve you of duty.” When Jerix opened his mouth Jesus held up a hand, forestalling him. “That having been said if you need someone to talk to I’m here. I’d be happy to help you any way I can.”
Jerix eyed him balefully for a moment. “Thank you, Dr. Ramirez, for your concern. If I feel the need to talk I shall bear your offer in mind. However, right now the only thing I need to do is get this ship to a place where we can stop those murdering bastards from the Empire once and for all. Can you help me do that?” he asked sarcastically. “No? Then thank you again for your concern, Doctor. Good day.” He opened the doors to his cabin and waited expectantly. Jesus gave him a final look and reluctantly left. As the doors closed behind him he let out a soft sigh and shook his head before heading off down the corridor.
************
USS Seleya-Astrometrics Lab
Ensign Perling, Sergeant Mitchell, Captain Sanjay and Admiral Janeway had all gathered in Astrometrics in order to contact the Federation-B. Janeway had refilled her mug before taking her seat in front of the giant display screen. Sanjay had also taken the liberty of fetching some coffee while Ensign Perling worked to bring the connection online. Sergeant Mitchell just sat in his chair, waiting. Sanjay noticed he’d strapped on his d’k tahg. Louis looked up.
“I believe we are ready, sirs. I am attempting to link us right to StarFleet Command in San Francisco. Um, they’re San Francisco,” he amended. For the next few moments the display was a whirling pulse of colors and when it cleared the familiar StarFleet logo appeared. After a second a young, female, Human lieutenant replaced the image.
“StarFleet Command, how may I direct your call?” she inquired.
“Hello, Lieutenant. This is Admiral Janeway calling for Admiral Hanson.” The lieutenant just gaped at her.
“Did you say Admiral Janeway?” she asked incredulously. Janeway smiled back at her faintly.
“I did, indeed, lieutenant. This may come as a shock to you,” a hint of mirth crept into Janeway’s voice, “But I’m calling from another universe, so if you could put me through…” The young woman just stared at her for a few moments without doing anything. “I assure you I am who I say I am, lieutenant,” and now steel replaced the mirth, “And I’m fairly certain Admiral Hanson would consider this a very important call. So if you would be so kind…” she added sweetly. The lieutenant gathered her wits enough to fumble her panel controls in the right order and her image was replaced with that of Admiral J.T. Hanson working at his desk. He glanced up at the incoming call.
“Kathryn!” he boomed, “How good to see you!”
Janeway pursed her lips and answered, “I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Admiral. We’ve never met before.” Hanson looked confused for a second and then his eyes narrowed as he caught sight of Sanjay seated next to her.
“Ah,no, I don’t suppose we have. Well, that explains the admiral’s insignia on your collar. Our Kathryn is still a captain.” Refocusing his attention, he said, “Hello, Nick. I see you got Kurn’s message.”
“Yes sir, we did. We’ve only now gotten our system up and running.” Hanson nodded thoughtfully.
“Well, I’m glad you got a hold of us. The Empire is up to no good, let me tell you. We’ve tracked at least four attacks into another universe besides our own and a full-scale invasion force hit a second “reality” about two months ago. Fortunately, this seems to be keeping them too busy to mess with us but we suspect they’ll turn their attention back this way again before too long.”
“That was us,” said Janeway. “Those four attacks you tracked, that was us. I’m afraid we don’t know where the invasion took place, though. We’re still adapting the tracking technology you provided Captain Sanjay with and it’s not quite online yet.”
Admiral Hanson looked at her gravely. “Were the attacks bad?” She knew he was actually asking about the severity of the casualties.
“Bad enough that we’ve decided to try and seal the fracture permanently.” Hanson rubbed his finger across the bridge of his nose before responding.
“You realize that’s a one-way trip, don’t you? It will be costly, too, even with those advanced weapons and such that your people showed us.”
Sanjay and Janeway exchanged a look. Sanjay spoke up. “Actually, Admiral, we may have a way around that.”
****************
When the little shuttle popped out of the fracture the defensive positions around it went immediately to high alert. Ships powered up weapons while unmanned defensive satellites began running torpedo targeting solutions. Initial scans showed the shuttle was powerless and adrift, although it definitely had an Empire signature. Admiral Paris, in charge of all forces around the fracture, ordered it brought aboard the cruiser Li Po. As the Li Po attempted to drag it into their shuttle bay with tractor beams a power spike was detected on the tiny craft. Before the order to destroy it could be given it detonated. Admiral Paris, still alive on his burning bridge, could see the satellites were gone, along with a goodly portion of his fleet. That’s when Picard arrived with his fleet. The last thing Admiral Paris saw was an ugly, heavily armored version of the beautiful Enterprise unloading phasers and torpedoes into the remains of his defensive perimeter. Then a strangely alive-looking ball of plasma hit the outside of his ship and everything went dark.
******************
“So we are agreed, then,” Janeway said, “If the device works we’ll bring a fleet to you and combine with your forces to hit the Empire and seal the fracture.”
Admiral Hanson nodded. “Yes, as long as our forces have a way back home we’re with you. As you pointed out, your people have a hell of a lot more combat experience than we do. It only makes sense for your ships to hold off the Empire attack while my people seal that damn rupture. Of course, if our scientists are correct, it will only take a ship or two to perform the necessary procedure. I’ll make sure the bulk of our forces are under the command of whomever you choose to lead the expedition.” Hanson looked off screen at something. “Kathryn, can I put you on hold for a moment? I have an urgent message coming in.”
“Certainly, Admiral,” she replied. The StarFleet logo reappeared and Sanjay turned towards Janeway.
“Who were you thinking of leading this expedition, if you don’t mind my asking?” he said.
“Well,” replied Janeway, “Shelby is one of our best tacticians but the Sutherland is currently on assignment on the far side of Bajor from Earth. We might not be able to recall her in time as I’m pretty sure Nechayev wants this thing moving as fast as we can retrofit Smiley’s device to work on a starship. Admiral S’etek is available, of course. Ross would probably jump at the chance but-“ Admiral Hanson reappeared on the screen looking highly distraught.
“Kathryn!” he exclaimed. “I have your transmission wavelength. I’ll have to re-contact you later-I have an emergency to deal with here!” His face was florid to look at and he seemed quite worked up.
“May I ask what the emergency is, Admiral?”
“In a nutshell, Kathryn, the damned Empire just hit us in force. Reports are confused but it doesn’t look good. I’ll try to contact you within the next twenty-four hours. Hanson out.”
Louis reached over and cut the connection. The screen swirled with colored static and then returned to its regular display status. Sanjay and Janeway looked at each other.
“I’d better get back to the Admiralty and let Nechayev know what’s going on,” Janeway said. “Have your Mr. Perling, here, get in touch with Science Command down on the surface. He seems to know as much as anybody about this inter-universal travel stuff. We need Smiley’s device doing what we want it to by yesterday, latest.” She was heading for the door.
“Aye, Admiral,” Sanjay replied, and she was gone. “Well, Ensign, you have your orders. Get to it, Mister!” Louis hustled out of the room.
And sounds like things are about to get interesting!
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