Chapter Text
USS Gibraltar - Federation Task Force Peacekeeper - Ba’ku System - The Briar Patch (Klach D'Kel Brakt)
Ramirez found him on Deck 14, leading a repair team in the engineering access shafts that ran parallel to the starboard nacelle’s plasma transfer conduits. She squatted down and called into the Jefferies tube, “Captain, a moment of your time?”
Sandhurst acknowledged the request, carefully backing out of the conduit and squeezing past the other engineers. He had forsaken his duty uniform for a bright yellow non-conductive engineering jumpsuit. He clambered awkwardly out of the hatch and directed a questioning expression at his exec.
“Ashok reports nearly all necessary repairs have been completed, sir. Everything that remains is largely cosmetic, and can wait for our next starbase layover. We’ll be ready to get underway within the hour.”
“But to where?” Sandhurst asked sourly.
Ramirez smiled in response and held up an isolinear chip “The Son’a computers proved more forthcoming than our prisoners, sir. We found coordinates to a single Bajora-Tavan asteroid base. The Son’a surmised the Bajorans had numerous outposts scattered throughout the Briar Patch, but this was the only one the Bajorans let them know about.”
Sandhurst took the chip in hand. “Do we have Plazzi to thank for this?”
She chuckled, “Mr. Geology? No, sir, this comes courtesy of young Ensign Shanthi and the Son’a defector, Gallatin. Apparently, computer science is one of Shanthi’s specialties.”
He nodded appreciatively as he mused, “The kid’s paying off already.” Sandhurst raised his eyes to meet his first officer’s, “And how is Kuenre doing?”
Ramirez’s smile faded. “Not so well, sir. I’ve tried to talk to him, Plazzi’s tried, and I even ordered him over to Enterprise to meet with Commander Troi. The counselor couldn’t be too specific without violating confidentiality, but she says he’s fit for duty, despite having some lingering emotional trauma from his experience with the Bajoran mind probe.”
Sandhurst pursed lips and appeared lost in thought for a moment. “That’s unfortunate. I hope he can get past this. From what I’ve observed so far, he’s got a promising career ahead of him.”
“I’d agree with that assessment, Captain.” Ramirez gave Sandhurst a lingering, meaningful look. “But in the past two months he’s suffered the loss of the first ship he was assigned to, the death of his lover, and now this. I wondered if someone else speaking with Shanthi might be more effective, someone who’s been through something similar and survived…” She let the idea hang there in silence, having baited the hook nicely.
“I’ll… consider it, Commander” was all she could get from Sandhurst on the subject. The captain glanced at the padd in his hand, then knelt down at the mouth of the hatchway. He called inside, “Chief, here’s the rest of the specs on the plasma induction rig. I think we’re over the hump with the damned thing. You shouldn’t have any more problems.” He tossed the padd inside the Jefferies tube to the crew.
“Did you have a talk with Lar’ragos, sir?”
He nodded slowly, rising to his feet. “Of a sort. I think we’re clear on the subject.”
“In his defense, sir, he got the job done. Only later we’d found out that Bral had one of his teams staking out the shuttle. If Lightner and I had tried to get aboard, we’d have been captured as well.”
“Your reasoning is noted, understood, and dismissed as immaterial, Exec.”
She looked surprised by the rebuke. “Sir?”
“He’s a Starfleet officer, Commander. There are two hundred years of rules, regulations, and ethics behind this organization, and they exist for a reason. Lar’ragos thinks he can cherry-pick those that suit him and discard the rest.”
Ramirez raised an eyebrow. “Like my taking hostages, or like you threatening to kill members of Sutahr R’Voss’ crew after you beamed them off his bridge, Captain?”
Sandhurst didn’t have an answer for that, but his eyes flamed.
“All three of us have compromised our values and ethics on this mission, but for some reason you’re holding Lar’ragos to a higher standard.” The iron behind her eyes softened somewhat, “I know you’ve put him on a pedestal since your academy days, Captain, but those days are long past. You’re not cadets anymore, and despite his age and his experience, he’s your subordinate now. He’s not human, but Pava is most definitely fallible. Don’t crucify him for failing to live up to your unrealistic expectations.”
The anger in Sandhurst’s expression flickered and died, leaving him looking gloomily thoughtful. He turned and headed for the nearest turbolift. He called back over his shoulder to announce, “I’ll be on the bridge in thirty minutes. Have all hands prepare for departure.”
*****
USS Sutherland - Federation Task Force Fulcrum - Approaching the Briar Patch (Klach D'Kel Brakt)
Sam Lavelle leaned in towards Elizabeth Shelby, observing a low tone to keep their conversation confined to the command well. “You sure about this?”
She nodded wordlessly, reviewing the latest status reports from the other task force vessels on a padd.
“There’s still time to call this off,” he pressed.
She turned slowly to look at him, her expression guarded. “Sam, there are Starfleet officers in there who are fighting for their lives against the Alshain. I won’t abandon them.”
“I wasn’t suggesting turning our backs on our comrades, Captain. I was asking if the tactic you’ve chosen to employ here isn’t more than is warranted… more than is justified by the circumstances?”
She averted her gaze to stare at the orange/crimson cloud on the main viewer aa she murmured. “Give me another option, Sam.”
He dipped his head, then raised it to examine the image of the approaching nebula for himself. “I… don’t have one.”
“Exactly, Commander,” she said, sounding oddly distant. “This constitutes one of those ‘hard choices’ they always told us about at the academy in those neat, clean little prepackaged scenarios. Only this one isn’t neat or clean, it’s dirty as hell.” Her jaw set stubbornly, and her concentration seemed to bore a hole through the viewscreen. “And if I can’t make the big decisions, then I have no right to sit in this chair.”
From behind them at the Tactical station, Sito announced, “Sensors now picking up an additional five threat vessels lurking in the periphery of the nebula, Captain. That makes a total of thirty-four ships, in addition to five automated weapons platforms, and one-hundred seventy-one antimatter mines.”
“Open a channel to the Alshain, Sito.”
“Channel open, sir.”
Shelby suppressed the urge to stand, as Picard might have under similar circumstances. She wanted the enemy to see her ensconced among her crew, seated and ready for what was to come.
“Alshain Starforce, this is Captain Elizabeth Shelby of the Federation starship Sutherland. We have been dispatched to locate and retrieve the Federation task force that entered the Briar Patch a week ago. I would respectfully request that you to stand down and allow us safe passage so that we may accomplish our mission and leave you in peace.”
As she awaited a reply, Shelby hoped against reason that the response would be favorable, that the commander on the other end of the transmission would value the lives of his or her people more than the Exarchate’s stance on the ongoing conflict. That, she knew in her bones, was asking for too much.
Sito announced stoically, “We’re receiving a reply, Captain.”
“On screen, Lieutenant.”
The image of a tall, regally fearsome looking Alshain appeared on the viewer. His dark military uniform seemed to accentuate his thick black fur, streaked with grey. Shelby recognized his rank insignia as that of nauarch, an admiral in the Starforce. However, his uniform was noticeably devoid of the typical ancestral medals and awards that were encouraged by the Sept familial systems.
“I am Nauarch Edim S’Elani, leader of the 5th Squadron, 3rd Fleet of the Alshain Starforce. I too would rather avoid unnecessary bloodshed here today, Captain. Be warned, however, that my orders are to prohibit the entry of any more Starfleet vessels into the Klach D'Kel Brakt.” S’Elani inclined his head fractionally, his predator’s eyes focused intently on Shelby, “I intend to follow those orders.”
Shelby swallowed hard, her gorge rising as the moment of truth quickly approached. She stood, bracing her legs and maintaining eye contact with S’Elani. “Nauarch, I am certain your vessels are crewed by many fine people. Your people deserve better than what I may have to serve them today. Please do not misunderstand, I am not blustering for the sake of hubris. You simply cannot win. Events have been set in motion that will ensure our victory, but that victory will come at a terrible price.”
S’Elani’s mouth drew into the Alshain approximation of a smile, a discomforting sight for other species who perceived only the rows of canid teeth on display. “I’d much rather you were raging and slinging idle threats, Captain. Under those circumstances, I’d probably believe you were just trying to frighten us with your words. The fact that you seem so terribly uncomfortable with all this leads me to think that you are speaking truth.” S’Elani drew himself up to his full height, “Regardless, I am charged with maintaining this blockade, and my orders care nothing for my personal feelings towards this mission or the welfare of the crews under my command.”
The officer at the Helm console noted, “Captain, we will be within Alshain weapons range in twenty seconds.”
“Notify all task force ships in the first wave to drop out of warp, Mister Lavelle.”
“Aye, Captain.”
As Sutherland and her escorts dropped to impulse speed, Shelby tried one last time to avert tragedy. “Nauarch, please… just turn around and take your ships home. I don’t want this, not for us, and certainly not for you.”
“We both have duty to answer to, Captain,” S’Elani answered firmly. “Our paths here would seem clear. It will be an honor to do battle with you, Captain Shelby. As the Klingons are so fond of saying, may you die well.”
“And you…” Shelby replied, almost choking on the words as the communication terminated.
She had killed before, both face-to-face and in ship-to-ship combat. But never like this. Never with so much calculated forethought and preparation. It seemed like cheating, in a way. Stubborn and arrogant as the Alshain could be, they were not the soulless Jem’Hadar or the oily, atavistic Cardassians.
Shelby looked back at Lavelle and said quietly, “Remove the safety interlocks, Commander. The second wave will continue as planned.”
Lavelle took some measure of pride in the fact that his voice remained even as he replied in the affirmative, and his hands did not shake when he moved to input the appropriate commands.
*****
Alshain Predator-class Battlecruiser Ancestral Fury - Blockading the Nedric Strait - The Briar Patch (Klach D'Kel Brakt)
“Nauarch, the Federation squadron has dropped to impulse just outside our weapons range. Sensors indicate nine starships, and five smaller craft. Their second formation is still on approach at Warp 5 and appears to be comprised of two dozen vessels.”
S’Elani absorbed this, his mind racing with tactical permutations on Shelby’s opening gambit. “They’re trying to draw us out. They want us to break defensive formation and engage their first wave so that their follow on ships can punch through the gaps in our line. Inform all vessels to hold position and await further orders.”
“Sir, yes, sir.”
The admiral watched with keen interest while counter to his expectations, the Starfleet task force vessels bunched together tightly, rather than spreading out to tempt his ships into breaking formation and making an ill-advised attack run.
Suddenly, the Alshain sensor net began to fray, assaulted by the combined interference of Shelby’s first wave of ships. A volley of torpedoes from the Starfleet task force that erupted in a magnificent electro-magnetic storm between the two battle fleets only made matters worse. “Nauarch, our scanning capacity has been reduced by three-fifths.”
S'Elani moved around his bridge to examine the readings for himself. He fumed, “They’re trying to blind us to hide the strength and intentions of their second wave of ships. Have all vessels and the weapons platforms standby to open fire. They may try to send a formation of drones or decoys against us first, so make sure our gunners exercise strict discretion.”
As his crew scurried to carry out his orders, S’Elani was torn between the excitement of impending battle and the nagging doubt instilled in him by Captain Shelby’s words. He had clawed his way up the ranks of the Starforce, despite his having come from a lower-middle ranked Sept. However, S’Elani had been denied leadership of one of the battle fleets that had shattered the Son’a defensive lines, finding himself instead commanding a motley assortment of ships originally tasked as a ready reserve force. Now, finally, he was leading men in battle against a worthy opponent, an action that he hoped would accrue both he and his Sept many honors.
“Sir…” the sensor-operator’s voice was tinged with alarm, “The second formation of Federation ships is not dropping out of warp. They are still on an intercept course. If they continue, they will converge with our formation in fifteen seconds.”
S’Elani stared at the unlikely tactic as the oncoming element of Federation craft became visible through the surrounding sensor interference. “Are they mad?” he wondered aloud. “Unless they’ve become inexplicably suicidal, I think…” then, remembering Shelby’s prescient admonition, the nauarch was torn by sudden dread, “Fire! All ships and platforms, fire every weapon and brace for impact. Shields to full!”
Twenty-five asteroids, measuring between Class-2 and Class-4 in mass, had been accelerated to warp speed through the ingenious use of warp-sustainer engines and the warp-tugs provided by the expansive asteroid mining operation located in the Deltived system. Once brought up to speed, the sustainer engines implanted on their surfaces kept the giant rocks at warp and on course for the Briar Patch. Sensor decoys placed on them gave off erroneous sensor returns, making each look like a certain class of known Starfleet vessel.
Now, as the enormous chunks of planetary debris bore down on the tight-knit Alshain formation at the mouth of the Nedric Strait, the quantum warheads buried deep within each of them detonated. The result was that the blockaded area was suddenly awash in tens of thousands of hurtling pieces of rock traveling at hyper-relativistic speeds. Even if the Alshain had activated their navigational deflectors in concert, such a massive onslaught of destructive mass would have easily overwhelmed them. With all power dedicated to their weapons and shields, the Alshain formation was essentially naked before the force of the oncoming storm.
The Starforce vessels opened up with everything they had, for all the good it did them. It was like firing a shotgun into a descending avalanche of rock, a desperately empty gesture. The warp velocity shards sliced effortlessly through their shields, rending ships apart with unbelievable ease and engulfing the minefield in a fratricidal spasm of mutual annihilation. In less than one one-hundredth of a second, thirty-one Alshain warships, all five weapons platforms, and ninety-six percent of the minefield had been completely destroyed. The three remaining ships were holed-through, spilling atmosphere and radiation into the void as they hung uselessly in space, defenseless.
*****
“Send to all ships,” Shelby said as she surveyed the carnage on the main viewer. “Approach with caution to collect survivors and deactivate the remainder of the minefield. Inform Admiral Jellico that we’ve broken the blockade.”
*****
USS Enterprise - Federation Task Force Peacekeeper - Ba’ku System - The Briar Patch (Klach D'Kel Brakt)
Picard’s finger hovered mere centimeters from the door chime, his heart thudding so loudly in his chest he feared it would be audible to the crew members passing by in the corridor.
He wanted desperately to see her, to hold and comfort her. Despite those yearnings, another part of him dreaded their reunion. Anij’s home had been wiped out, her species very nearly rendered extinct, and Jean-Luc Picard had as much as allowed it to happen.
Had he wanted to badly enough, Picard knew he could have broken with his orders and proceeded to the Ba’ku system weeks ago. It would have cost him his captaincy, to be sure, but he was certain the Enterprise and her exceptional crew could have held the Alshain at bay long enough to rescue the planet’s inhabitants. And now, in light of his actions as task force commander, Picard would likely still lose command of his beloved ship, and that failure would burn alongside the destruction of the Ba’ku on the pyre of his indecision.
It was, perhaps, his own gnawing sense of regret over this tragedy that had convinced him to allow Sandhurst to go in search of Pell Ojana. As much as he himself had wanted to come to Anij’s rescue, he felt he could not in good conscience hold the Gibraltar’s captain in check. Damn the cloaking device. Damn protocol and precedent. If he could help Sandhurst rescue a Starfleet officer who was coincidently Donald’s former lover, then perhaps at least one positive thing might yet emerge from this calamity.
He gathered his nerve and Picard pressed the button. Anij’s voice issued forth a moment later, bidding him to enter.
He stepped inside to find her standing silhouetted against the viewport, every bit as radiantly beautiful as he remembered. At a loss for anything else to say, Picard said, “I hope the accommodations are to your liking.”
She moved toward him suddenly, hugging him tightly in an urgent embrace that was more visceral need than passion. “Oh, Jean-Luc” she murmured. “They’re gone. All of them, dead.” The brave façade she’d worn for the others collapsed in the heat of Picard’s presence. “I waited for you, but you never came…”
He closed his eyes and willed himself to be strong for her. He owed her that much, at least.
*****
USS Gibraltar
Taiee walked into Sickbay in response to Dr. Murakawa's summons. She experienced a momentary flutter in her stomach as she reminded herself that this was no longer her domain. The fact that Murakawa had been proven right in regards to Taiee’s dependence upon the medical holograms only salted the wound to the lieutenant’s pride.
Murakawa was waiting for her at the door to the CMO’s office. She gestured for Taiee to enter first, and Murakawa followed the nurse practitioner inside, unexpectedly taking a seat in a chair on the guests’ side of the desk. Taiee hesitated and gave the doctor a confused look. Murakawa merely smiled patiently at her, “It’s your office, Lieutenant.”
Taiee sat gingerly in her chair, looking almost as if she expected some kind of booby-trap. None was forthcoming, and Taiee gestured to the padd in Murakawa’s hand. “Something you needed me to see, Doctor?”
Murakawa nodded as she elaborated, “It’s your department’s personnel files, Lieutenant. I was trying to chase down the details behind some glaring discrepancies that I’ve discovered in your Sickbay staffing.”
‘So there it is,’ Taiee thought sourly, ‘The sound of the other shoe dropping.’ Carefully reigning in her response, she replied as evenly as she could manage, “And what are those, Doctor?”
Murakawa shook her head in evident disbelief. She set the padd on the tabletop between them and pushed it across to Taiee. “These aren’t the people I’ve been working with the past two days while you’ve been planetside.”
Taiee’s confusion only deepened, and her irritation percolated to the surface. “Explain yourself, Doctor” she snapped tiredly.
As she turned to face the transparent partition, Murakawa gestured to the staff in the main Sickbay ward that were presently caring for Elloran, Tarlac, Son’a, Ba’ku, and Alshain patients under the watchful eye of the security division. “From their service jackets, your staff appear to be made up of some very unremarkable personnel, some of whom appeared to be on their last legs in Starfleet Medical.”
Taiee leaned forward on the cusp of launching into a vehement defense of her people, but Murakawa’s curious smile brought her up short.
The physician gave Taiee a strangely approving look. “Your people are good, Lieutenant, quite good. Their triage work and mass casualty typing are outstanding. However, according to their performance evaluations from their most recent assignments prior to Gibraltar, most of them were listed as merely meeting their basic service requirements. I’m trying to figure out how such people have unexpectedly gelled into a first-rate medical team.”
“We train hard, Doctor, and this ship has seen its fair share of action.”
”No doubt,” Murakawa responded. “That being said, the only common denominator I’m able to come up with in this equation… is you.”
“Me?” Taiee frowned, uncertain as to where this was headed.
“Look, I still think I’m right about your over-reliance on the EMH, but I’ve found out that in all other respects, I’ve underestimated you, Lieutenant, and I’m sorry. I’d become so wrapped up in trying to mold you into my idea of the perfect Chief Medical officer that I didn’t take the time to appreciate the effect you’ve had on this ship as a whole, and your department in particular. I’ve discovered that to this crew, you’re quite a bit more than just the CMO. In fact, I’ve heard more than one person describe you as being the emotional center to the ship, something like a combination of den mother and counselor.”
“I… uh... thank you” stammered Taiee, thrown by conversation’s sudden shift in direction.
“Of course,” Murakawa amended, “I’m still of the opinion that as good as you are, you could be better.”
Taiee reddened slightly, “I’d come to uncomfortable realization that you were correct about the EMH, Doctor. Down on the planet, I had almost none of the proper equipment to conduct surgery on wounds as severe as Lar’ragos’, and I kept having to remind myself that I couldn’t have the hologram advise me, or step in to take over.”
Murakawa nodded. “Listen, I apologize for inflicting the 24/QPS on you and your staff so suddenly. I still believe you and they are more than capable of completing that evaluation scenario, if you put your minds to it. That being said, it’s not a requirement. As it appears this mission is coming to an end soon, I’m turning control of the ship’s medical department back over to you. Until I leave, I’ll remain in an advisory capacity, assisting where needed.”
Taiee generated her first genuine smile since before the away mission to Ba’ku. “Thank you, Doctor. I appreciate the kind words, as well as the firm kick in my complacency.”
*****
Ministry of War - Central Ministries Complex, Governance Archology - Alshain Proper
Nauarch Yol A’Yaud paused for the briefest of moments before delivering the report. He knew it would spell the end to his illustrious military career, and perhaps his life as well. He girded himself for the exarch’s reaction as he announced, “I have… unfortunate news from the Nedric Strait, Sire.”
Jedalla, now dressed in the traditional robes of his august station, held very still in his seat at the head of the massive briefing table. The exarch's ears twitched ever so slightly as the hair on his muzzle bristled. “What news is this, Nauarch?”
“Apparently, the 5th of the 3rd has been completely wiped out by the follow-on Starfleet task force. We’re still not certain precisely how.”
“Wiped out,” Jedalla echoed with disbelief. “Over thirty warships, supported by five heavy-yield weapons platforms and backed by your precious minefield. All gone, you say?”
A’Yaud blanched beneath his fur. “Yes, Sire. Unfortunately so.”
Jedalla’s calm only set A’Yaud more on edge. “How could this happen, Nauarch? How could you have let this happen?”
“Until I have more information, Eminence, I cannot answer that.” A’Yaud approached the exarch and knelt next to his seat to extend his head forward and bare his open throat to Jedalla. It was the ultimate sign of submission in their culture. “I beg of you, Sire, to make it a swift death.”
Jedalla gestured for his senior-most admiral to rise. “Spilling your blood won’t bring back our fleet, A’Yaud. The Federation will be made to pay for this crime, as well as their other transgressions against Greater Alshain.” With a note of weariness, the exarch settled slowly back in his chair. “Prepare the strike package we discussed earlier, Nauarch. I wish to see Federation worlds burning by nightfall tomorrow.”
*****