Topic: ST:Tigermoth - Silent Enemy

[James Smith]

Hello all. Long time, and all that. Been meaning to start posting here again, but Uni has been taking up all my time lately.

I'd started working on Vengeance again, but then found this one in my archive CD-RW. Started editing bits of it, before I knew what was going on I'd re-written a large portion of it   I'd always wanted to come back to this story anyway, so now is as good a time as any.

************
Silent Enemy 1 - The Evil That Men Do...


Lisa Smith rolled over, knowing what to expect.

Yep, he's gone.

She sat up in bed, and glanced at the wall clock she'd put up in their quarters yesterday. 7:30. He wasn't supposed to be on duty for another hour, especially after having worked around the clock for 3 straight days fixing the ship after her refit.

Lisa sighed. Suppose I better go find him.

***

USS Tigermoth-A.
Engine Room.

Captain James Smith knew he was in trouble. He tried desperately not to grin as his new wife went off at him for going back to work so soon.

"Alright Lisa, I promise not to work too late on this today. Besides, it's almost done now."

"You're going to kill yourself if you keep this up." Lisa grinned ruefully as Smithy pulled himself out of the Jeffries Tube he'd been working in. "Remember what Mack said? You're supposed to be looking after yourself these days!You aren't 60 anymore, you're well over 80 and you're going to run into problems if you keep stressing your body like this."

"Well, you weren't exactly helping last night when you launched yourself at me."

"Me? You were the one doing the launching!"

"Well....maybe. But you could have said no! Or claimed you had a headache!"

Lisa laughed, and put her arms around him. "But if I'd done that, we wouldn't have had any fun at all."

Smithy returned the embrace. "True. Can you run a quick piece of test code through that console? Just finished switching all the isochips back into the proper slots...I even labelled the buggers so that those Utopia Planitia engineers wouldn't screw up. I swear they do it on purpose now."

Lisa began poking at the console. "When does Dave get back?"

"Couple of hours. I'm going to enjoy this quite a lot."

"You behave! Just 'cause he got promoted doesn't mean you can start making fun of him!"

"What d'you mean 'start'? I've always made fun of him....just now I can do it with him wearing a really silly uniform."

***

Bridge.

"Go on, say it."

"Say what, Dave?"

"You're dying to. I know you too damn well Smithy, now say it."

"Alright then, if you really want me to say it." Smithy cleared his throat. "Admiral on the Bridge!"

Admiral David Harriman shook his head. "Thats going to kill a part of me everytime someone says it."

"You'll get used to it." Smithy grinned, leaning on the bridge rail regarding his CO. "That uniform really doesn't look right on you."

"Doesn't feel right." Harriman settled into his chair. "How are we set? You fixed all the stuff Starfleet broke?"

"Most of it. Still not got the cargo bay transporter working, I have a feeling the power relay to the whole setup is just not connected because everything else checks out. Trouble is, I'll have to have deck 6 apart to check that theory."

"Define 'apart'?"

"I mean apart. All the wall panels off, deck up, celiing off. If I can narrow it down to a specific section, then I'll have a lot less work to do."

Harriman shook his head. "Get the specifics then, I'm not having you tear a whole deck apart. You're pulling too many shifts as it is. And why the hell is the relay on deck 6?!"

Smithy was about to reply but both men turned as the comms console started beeping. "What is it, Ensign?"

"Receiving a distress call sir. Very faint. I think it's the Apollo."

"USS Apollo. That's Captain Bentimec's ship. They were exploring the area surrounding the Gatrellus Nebula. Put the call on speakers."

".......under attack......unidentified.......don't answer our hails......severe damage........."

"Message has been cut off, sir. Jammed at the source."

Harriman came out of his chair. "Ensign, inform the base and Starfleet Command that we are departing to respond to Apollo's distress call."

"Aye, sir."

"Smithy, I want all possible speed. Did Starfleet complete the modifications to the power grid?"

"I've been over the grid with my people. We shouldn't have any more problems like we did against the Imperials."

"Good. Helm, set a course for the Apollo's last known position. 1/4 impulse till we clear the dock, then punch it up to Warp 9 and transfer speed control to Engineering. I want to see what this ship can do with the recent upgrades. Smithy, you mind taking the Engineering station up here?"

"No problem, Admiral."

Harriman grimaced. "You're going to enjoy that, aren't you?"

"Certainly am, Admiral."

"You're a bad man."

***

USS Apollo.
Bridge.

"Report!"

"Main power is offline, aux is coming in! We've lost the port impulse engine, forward torpedoes, and dorsal phasers!"

Bentimec staggered across the shaking bridge to man Tactical, stepping over the unconcious body of his first officer. "Lieutenant, how many of them are left?"

"We've destroyed three, disabled two more. Two are still operational, and closing on our aft."

"I see them." Bentimec watched in satisfaction as two of his torpedoes found a target. "One down, one to go."

The ship shuddered as the remaining vessel unleashed another barrage.

"Aux is offline! All systems going offline!"

Bentimec watched as the vessel closed in for the kill. "At least we put up a fight."

"Receiving a new contact, sir! I think...yes, it's the Tigermoth!"

***

USS Tigermoth.
Bridge.

"Target their weapons, fire phasers."

"Aye, sir."

Harriman watched as the enemy ship rocked as the phasers sliced into it. "I'd say the phasers are definitely getting full power from the new power grid."

Smithy threw him a quick glance. "Told you they'd work fine."

"The enemy ship is retreating, sir. They're heading into the nebula."

"Hail the Apollo."

"She's responding, audio only. Patching you in, sir."

"Tigermoth, do you read us?"

"Affirmative, Captain. I take it you require assistance?"

"Definitely."

"We're engaging tractor beam. We'll transport medical and engineering teams aboard your ship when you're inside our shield envelope."

*****************
*****************

[James Smith]

************
USS Apollo.
Deck 5, Section 5A.


"What a mess."

"Watch your step, Rivers. I don't want to have to beam you out of space, these forcefields aren't exactly at full power."

Rivers looked at Smithy. "Would have been nice if you warned me about that before I volunteered for this mission, sir."

The older man grinned. "Hey, they're fine for holding the air in, and I guess they could probably take an impact. I'd just rather not challenge them."

"I'll do my best. Something about this looks odd. The duranium, here. What is that?"

Smithy bent down, cursing in his mind as his knees protested. Maybe Mack has a point...I don't remember my knees always being this bad.] "The glittery look it's got. According to the tricorder, it's completely altered the moecular structure of the metal."

"Kind of like what a low power phaser beam does to the surface of certain metals?"

"Yeah, only in this case we're talking more than the metal surface. This whole superstructure beam is....yep, it's all been altered. Here, watch this." He bent down, grabbed the end of the beam and tugged. The end came away easily.

"Now, I know you aren't human and all that - but how on Earth is it possible that you just ripped the end off a duranium H-beam?"

"It's been made extremely brittle, and the inter-molecular forces are now weakened to the point that you could rip it apart with your bare hands. Even with them chicken-bones of yours. Here, bag this bit up and take it back to the 'Moth. I'm going to see how Lisa is doing with recovering their computer logs."

***

Computer Core Room.


"Hey kid. How are you getting on?"

Hey, not bad. Check this out - got sensor logs of the first weapon hit on their hull. See this beam here, fires on the hull for 2.4 seconds, then this pulse hits the same area the beam hit, causing massive damage. What kind of weapon can do that?"

"Rivers and I were looking at some of the affected areas. Judging by this, the beam is affecting the molecular structure of the metal - we found the duranium has been made very weak and brittle. The pulse shatters the weakened duranium."

"Nasty."

"Yeah. Kind of reminds me of the ISC plasmatic pulse weapon."

"The PPD? You think these attackers were the ISC then?"

"Maybe. These sensor images don't match anything we know about ISC ships though, and we battered their forces to hell during the last battle against them."

Lisa frowned. "Still, we shouldn't rule it out."

"No, we shouldn't. Better get your kit together, we're almost back at Starbase 63 to drop the Apollo off. Next destination is Earth."

"Starfleet wants us back at Command?"

"Yeah. Dave's report must have panicked them, and since we're only a couple of days away I guess they want to talk this one through in person."

Lisa nodded, as she finished packing up her field kit. "I'm reliably informed that you won't be needed in the Engine Room, or on the Bridge tonight."

"Orlatrel. Bloody traitor." Smithy regarded her. "I hope he at least put up some kind of fight."

"I'm very persuasive. So as soon as we depart SB 63, you're to report to your quarters. And I don't care if you're my superior officer, it's still an order, mister. Ask Dave."

Smithy grinned at her. "Alright then. I promise, as soon as we leave the base."

"Good. Lisa kissed him as she tapped her comm badge. "Smith to Tigermoth....two to beam over."

*****************
*****************


Missed that off the last post, not sure why it didn't copy over. Anyway, more in a couple of days.

[James Smith]

************

Spacedock II.
Starfleet Headquarters.

Admiral Wallace stared out of the window in his office, watching the traffic flowing into the base. How on Earth do we still have this many ships after three wars in 15 years? Utopia Planitia must be cranking them out at full tilt.

He spotted the ship he'd been waiting for. From a distance, she could almost pass for the Constitution class that she'd been back in the 2250's. In the intervening years, she'd been a BonHomme Richard refit, an Enterprise refit and following many years mothballed she had become a ship class of her own - Tigermoth class.

He tugged his uniform straight. Time for the briefing. I hate being the bearer of bad news.

***

Conference Room 1.

"Good Evening. This briefing is classified. Several days ago, the Federation Starship Apollo came under attack near the Gatrellus nebula. The attack was eventually ended due to the intervention of another Starship, USS Tigermoth, but the Apollo received severe damage due to a weapon never before encountered. Starfleet Command has requested that TacFleet send several ships into the area as a patrol force."

Admiral Wallace looked around the table, eventually finding the man he was looking for. "Admiral Harriman, you will command this patrol force. Take a small fleet to the Gatrellus system, try and find the base of operations for these attackers." The comm panel beeped. "Wallace here."

"Sir, Starbase 63 reports that they are under attack. They've driven off one wave of ships, but long-range sensors reveal more are on their way and will be there in 39 hours."

Smithy and Harriman immediately jumped to their feet. "Harriman to Tigermoth, prepare to beam us over. Admiral, We'll head over there now at best possible speed. We'll be expecting some backup behind us."

"You'll get it. Good luck, gentlemen."

Harriman nodded as the familiar tingle of a transporter beam filled him.

***

USS Tigermoth-A.
Bridge.

"Helm, what's our speed?"

"Now reading....factor 9.982 sir. Engine Room reports that they are attempting to increase speed."

Harriman listened to the whine deep in thr bowels of the ship, trying to hear the increase in speed. He caught it. "Now?"

"Sir, we're off my scale. At a guess, I'd say we're at around factor 9.999-something."

"Engine room, what's our exact speed?"

Smithy's voice filtered through the comm system. "Somewhere into the ludicrous range. Factors aren't an exact science at this speed, suffice to say we're going faster than we're supposed to be able to."

"Are we going to damage the ship doing this?"

"Unlikely. I've boosted the SIF and ID fields, the power grid and cooling are coping nicely. I'm on my way up now, Orlatrel can handle this from here."

"Acknoweledged. We're approaching SB-63. " Harriman stood. "Drop to Impulse as soon as we enter Warp Shutdown point. Go to Visual."

He scanned the screen, frowning. Something was wrong here. "I don't see the base. Are we on full mag?"

"Yes, sir."

"Ops, full scan of the area."

He looked back as Smithy exited the Turbolift. There was a look on his engineer's face that he recognised from the past encounters they'd been involved in. The look that said "Something bad has happened here.'

"A vision?"

Smithy stepped down into the middle of the bridge, all the while not looking anywhere except the main screen. "I'm not sure." He shook his head. "But I know that the base isn't there any more."

"Confirmed, sir." Ensign Riley turned from her position at Ops. "I'm reading a fine dust where the base was, some gases, fuel film. It's as if the base disitegrated."

"Helm, hold our position here. Comms, send a message to Admiral Wallace, give him a copy of our sensor logs and request further instructions."

"Aye, sir."

"Smithy....I want to talk this one through. Grab Orlatrel and Rivers, meet me in the Computer Lab. I want to go over the Apollo's records again."

***

Computer Lab.

"Admiral Wallace has asked us to return to Spacedock II. We're heading home with the rest of the TacFleet force, so will be there in around 30 hours from now. I want to know just how bad this is."

Smithy sighed. "It's not good. SB-63 had the latest in defense shields, weapons, the works. It was our latest station, built to serve as a command post in future conflicts. That's why TacFleet had operating control, not Starfleet Command."

Lisa pointed to the main screen. "I've managed to reconstruct some more of the Apollo's sensor log. This is the first strike, here. It just went straight through the shields, as if they weren't there. The initial blast took out their port impulse engine, which also meant that they couldn't go to warp as the last knocked out the PTC to the port nacelle."

!And the Intrepid class can't be reconfigured easily to run with one nacelle."

"Yeah, the computer program is far too complex. I recommended to Starfleet that they switch the program ages ago...guess they haven't done it yet."

Orlatrel looked up from a console that he and Rivers had been poking at. "Looking at the metal we recovered from the Apollo, we can't replicate what this weapon does. I would have said these attackers were way more advanced than us, but that leaves a couple of questions."

Harriman frowned. "Which are?"

Smithy spoke up from a padd that he was reading. "One, the attacking ships were easily damaged by Apollo's weapons so what kind of shield technology are they using? Two - why did it take so long for the second wave of ships to reach the base? That last one I can answer - they travelled there at impulse speeds."

Lisa nodded. "In fact, we have no warp signatures, no evidence of M/AM power readings, no evidence at all that they even use normal warp drive."

"Tou say 'normal' warp?"

"I have our sensor image of the remaining attacker leaving the Apollo attack. Notice the strange effect here, in subspace?"

Harriman looked. And saw.

"Stutter Warp?"

Rivers nodded. "Just like an old Romulan Bird of Prey type Warbird."

"And since they needed power for a big assault on the base, they wanted to save power and not use FTL speeds as Stutter Warp is very inefficient."

"Exactly." Smithy got up and began tapping commands into the computer. "I've uploaded all of our findings into a file and sent it over to TacFleet. Hopefully, we'll be able to find out how we can protect against this weapon. One advantage a few ships have, including us...the Neutronium armour generators."

"And we still have no idea who they are, what they want or where they're coming from."

"We need some recon doing, and fast."

Smithy nodded. "I know who to ask if recon is what we need."

************
************

[James Smith]

************

IKV Mortum Hesta.
Bridge.


"You guys are getting harder to track down."

Captain Thulinuk's teeth poked out of a very Klingon smile. "I would have thought that you would relish a challenge. Are you going soft in your old age James?"

"I'm going to forget you even suggested that. Where's the demolition expert?"

"Right here." Captain Pat Sheehan leaned into view of the main screen. "Just fixing a console here, all our engineers are busy."

"You didn't break the ship?"

"The Romulans had a damn good try. I'd have said they're getting the hang of taking on these Vampire class ships."

Sheehan got up and stood next to Thulinuk. The Klingon finished giving orders to the engine room, then returned his attention to the main screen. "What can we do for you, James?"

"Well, TacFleet is asking if you'd mind doing a little recon for us. We need a small ship that can go in, get data, and if neccessary fight her way out."

"Any intel at all?"

"Sending you all we have. Don't make a decision yet, read up on it and buzz us back when you have an answer."

************
************

Missed the end of a part again....here it is anyway. I'm off to bed.

[Grim Reaper]

I don't think i've seen this one before. Gimme more!

[Iceman]

Yeah its a repost. I think that last part is new.

[James Smith]

LOL Grim. Okay, here's some more. Iceman, hope you enjoy this

************

IKV Mortum Hesta.
Bridge.

"Slow us to one half, engage cloaking device."

Thulinuk eyed the Gatrellus Nebula on the main viewscreen. What secrets are you hiding from our allies? What dangers do you shroud?

Sheehan joined tje Klingon in the centre of the bridge. "Whats our game plan?"

"The same plan as all of our strike missions - we go in, we find out what is happening, and we destroy something."

"Sounds good to me."

"Helm! New course, take us into the nebula. Tactical, scan ahead - I want to know the instant you pick something up."

************

USS Tigermoth-A.
Bridge.

"I have spoken with Captain Sheehan, Admiral. The IKV Mortum Hesta is engaging in a recon mission into the Gatrellus Nebula." Harriman stood, eyeing the image of Admiral Wallace on the main screen.

Wallace frowned slightly. "You believe that these attackers are based in the nebula?"

"It seems highly likely. The nebula has never been explored, little is known about what is inside it."

"Very well. Let us hope for a peaceful resolution to all this....but we should also plan for a non-peaceful resolution. I am recalling all TacFleet vessels that can be spared to form defence fleets, we will try and prevent any fighting from becoming widespread. Admiral Harriman, I am placing the TacFleet under your command until further notice."

"Very well, Admiral. We shall update you when the Mortum Hesta reports in."

************

IKV Mortum Hesta.
Bridge.

"Sir, new contact. Bearing 010 mark 14, range 12000 kellicams."

"Helm, lay in new course 010 mark 14. Tactical, remain under cloak."

Sheehan studied the screen, looking for something beyond the swirling blue gases that had dominated the view since they entered the nebula. "There....upper right quadrant. Full mag."

"Magnifying."

Looming out of the blue mass, the outline of a large station began to take shape. Thulinuk eyed it, a Klingonesque snarl featuring prominently on his face. "Not a good target for an all out assault. Fire message beacon with Tactical report from our sensors, let the Tigermoth know what we have found. Also, advise that we are remaining in the nebula to 'gather intelligence'."

Sheehan leaned in, speaking sotto voce. "By gather intelligence, I assume you mean board this station."

"Yes."

"And I can't talk you out of this plan?"

"No."

"Let's get suited up then, since we can't transport through the cloak."

************

Airlock 4.

"Depressurising. Watch your step, Klingon."

"Same to you, human."

The two men floated away from the ship, parked as close as the helmsman had dared to get to the hull of the space station. Up close, Sheehan could now make out the strange colour of the metal. "What the hell is this? It isn't painted, this is the colour of the metal. Very greenish tint to it."

"Have you located an entry point?"

"Yeah, here. According to the tricorder, there's a room behind here. An empty one, looks like a storage bay."

"No door?"

"Nope."

"Good. You get one end of the evac blister, I'll begin setting up this end."

The two men worked, arranging a bubble around them and clamped it to the hull, sealing themselves in.

"Phaser or Disruptor?"

"Hey, this is a Klingon mission even if it is for Starfleet. We use your weapons."

Thulinuk nodded. "Set disruptor level 6, narrowest beam configuration."

"Set."

"Fire!"

Air rushed into the evac blister as the disruptors bit into the metal. Sheehan blinked. They were inside. He took a quick scan. "Breatheable, Oxygen-Nitrogen atmosphere."

Thulinuk stepped forward, opening his helmet up. "This architecture....is familiar."

Sheehan looked around. "You know, it does look very similar to....Romulan. This writing here...is Romulan. Damn!"

"We have a problem. If these people are affiliated with the Romulans, the entire Alpha and Beta Quadrants could be plunged into chaos."

"No change there, then." Sheehan grimaced, thinking for a second. "Wait, there's a console over there. Lets see what we can look at."

He hurried over, Thulinuk following closely. "Lets see....yeah, this looks Romulan alright. Lets see if it has the same command path structure."

Thulinuk glanced at his tricorder. "Base alarm has been triggered. They might have detected our presence in here."

"Give me a few seconds, uploading as much as I can into my tricorder. I'll decipher when we're back on the Hesta."

"You broke in that quickly? Remind me never to annoy you."

Sheehan grinned. "A few more seconds."

Both men could hear the shouting on the other side of the main door to the storage bay. Thulinuk could see the door being melted at the edges. "Time to go. We'll do this the way we did on that Romulan Warbird. You get the door, I'll get the fools."

"They're coming through. Three....two....one....mark and move!"

Sheehan flipped his helmet on and dived towards the evac blister as Thulinuk dropped his visor down and began firing at the force coming through the door. Sheehan fired at the blister as he jumped.

The blister popped with a dull thud, sweeping Sheehan out of the room as the air rushed out. Thulinuk dived after him, leaving the security forces scrabbling for hand holds to avoid being pulled out.

Both men flew through space, spinning wildly until both came to a rather abrupt stop.

"Touchdown!" Sheehan felt around for the switch, watching in satisfaction as the airlock opened up. "After you."

Both men made their way into the airlock, sealing it behind them and repressurising. The internal door swung open and Thulinuk was immediately on the intercom. "Bridge! Helm, set course out of the nebula, full impulse!" He looked back at his human friend. "I hope that data was worth that little stunt...I hated it the first time and I hated it that time."

"And it was your suggestion both times."

"And in Kahless' name I do not know why I thought it was a good idea."

************
************

[Sirgod]

What James is not teeling you...

Todays his Birthday.   

Happy Birthday James.

Stephen

[James Smith]

What James is not teeling you...

Todays his Birthday.   

Happy Birthday James.

Stephen

Sorry to rain on your parade here Stephen - but it ain't my birthday for a few days yet Thanks though - you guys just go ahead and get any random dancing smilies out of your system!

[Grim Reaper]

"And in Kahless' name I do not know why I thought it was a good idea."

LOL

But i'm not sated any time soon m8... Gimme more

[James Smith]

"And in Kahless' name I do not know why I thought it was a good idea."

LOL

But i'm not sated any time soon m8... Gimme more

LOL...mate, I'd never get any Uni work done if I tryed to keep you sated! Ah well, in the middle of building a comp for a friend atm, so will post either later on or tomorrow.

BTW, is it wrong for a nearly-21 year old to be listening to Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen? Got that on my stereo right now, and I'm getting some funny looks from my neighbours!

[Lieutenant_Q]

Just ignore them, they obviously have lousy tastes in music 

[Grim Reaper]

James m8... uni's a bitch atm?

[Iceman]

It seems he's always ridiculously busy. Every time I see him online its around 4am his time. heh.

[James Smith]

It seems he's always ridiculously busy. Every time I see him online its around 4am his time. heh.

LOL, yeah life has been like that a bit lately. You ever get those weeks where you just want the whole damn world to leave you alone for a while so you can actually get something done?

Well, I'm finally on top of at least some of my work. The uni dumped a couple of projects on us, expecting us to fix their f**kup with the Formula Student race car (for those who've never heard of them, unis across the UK, US and a few others get a team of students together and build a single seater bike-engined race car for a competition). Coventry's is always crap due to lack of funds/development/reliability, and they've handed us last years car and told us to make it work. Oh joy. So far, we've replaced about 60% of it with better parts.....I hope the students that built it last year didn't get their bloody degrees, as they know f**k all about race car dynamics.

[Grim Reaper]

you got some in progress pics?

[James Smith]

Bump. Got some to post, just editing it a touch. Should be posting this weekend anyway!

[James Smith]

I love my approximate deadlines. 

************
USS Tigermoth-A.
Bridge.
1437hrs Earth Standard Time.

"Captain's Log, supplemental. It has been three weeks since the Mortum Hesta returned with the tactical information gathered from inside the Gatrellus Nebula. Thulinuk has gone back to Qu'Onos to rejoin the Klingon Tactical Operations fleet, while Captain Sheehan has stayed aboard the 'Moth. This has given him the opportunity to spend some time with an old friend."

************
Recreation Deck.
Section 5.
"The Royal Oak".

"Well I'll be damned.....you rebuilt our old pub here?"

Sheehan stared in delight at the room. Smithy parked himself on a bar stool, needing to take the weight off his knees. Better go see Mack later, don't want these to give out now. "Yep. Before I set the self-destruct on the original 'Moth I downloaded all her technical schematics including the various improvements I'd made, so Starfleet wouldn't lose any operational data."

"And those schematics included the pub."

"Exactly." Smithy regarded his friend. "Usual?"

"Please." As the older man hobbled round to the other side of the bar Sheehan frowned. "You getting old or something?" The look he got told the story. "Ah. You seen Mack about it?"

"Nope." Smithy poured a fairly large measure of Saurian brandy into a glass and slid it over the bar to Sheehan, and poured himself a large Scotch. "Lisa keeps trying to get me to see him."

"You should take her advice."

"I will, when I get around to it. With all the preparations TacFleet has been making in this sector I haven't had much time off from getting this ship ready."

Sheehan set down his now empty glass, nodding at Smithy's offer of a refill. "Is the 'Moth really that far away from battle readiness?"

"Not any more, but it's been round the clock work. Deck 12 was in pieces yesterday. The more problems I fix the more I turn up. This ship....she's been through an awful lot. Much more than she was designed to. We keep adding stuff to her, re-wiring stuff, bypassing stuff....no ship can take the amount of jury-rigging we've had to do here without it beginning to show."

"You'll get her into shape."

"I will. But I shouldn't have to. When this latest scare is either defeated or just goes away, I'm taking her to Spacedock II and tearing her apart. And while I'm at it Starfleet is going to get an overhaul. I'm fed up of the mess that the higher levels of the fleet are in....it's time to change all that."

"You'll get no argument from me." Sheehan sighed. "Life used to be so simple. Then the Dominion came along. And now we seem to be in a constant state of war."

Smithy nodded. "That will have to change. I'm fed up of fighting, fed up of patching up hull breaches. Fed up of writing to families expressing my condolences. Maybe Metcalf had a point....maybe the Federation really needs a drastic change."

"You don't believe that."

"Not in the way Metcalf wanted. But a change of similar magnitude - a complete overhaul of the upper levels of Starfleet. A widening of TacFleet's responsibilities."

"That's the soldier talking. What about the guy I met 20 years ago, the one who found the alien ruins on Destrax 5? Who expanded the Federation's knoweledge of hyperlight travel beyond the limits most scientists had come up against?" Sheehan leaned in closer to his friend. "The Federation will survive this. Starfleet will survive this. Yes, the fleet needs to change...but that's not our concern right now." He broke off, staring at Smithy. "What?"

"I don't know....I just got a flash in my mind. The two of us, here....celebrating. Celebrating something." He shook his head, as if trying to loosen the memory. "Goddamn El-Aurian genes."

Both men looked up as the Red Alert siren sounded. "Senior officers, report to the bridge."

************

Bridge.

"How many ships?"

"Over 1500 sir. Moving at sublight speeds. Configuration matches the ones that attacked the Apollo."

Harriman turned as Smithy and Sheehan dashed onto the bridge, staring at the tactical display on the main viewer. Smithy stepped down to Harriman, eyes glued to the screen. "Not good."

"Indeed. Status of the ship."

"All tactical and defense systems are as ready as they're going to be. But I wouldn't advise taking that fleet on with the ships we have here."

"Agreed. Helm, set course for TacFleet rendez-vous point A14. Engage, maximum warp. Ensign, general TacFleet hail. Inform the fleet that we'll make a stand at A14, then open a channel to Earth."

"Aye sir, sending TacFleet hail....channel is open to Federation Council, Admiral."

The tactical display disappeared, replaced with an image of the Federation leaders. Pesident Jaresh-Inyo spoke first. "Admiral Harriman, you asked to speak with the Council."

"That's correct, sir. I have a recommendation, in case we fail to stop all the attacking ships from getting through."

"I'm aware that you want us to engage the planetary defense system that TacFleet set up. We want to use that as a final alternative. What is the status of the TacFleet?"

"We're forming a defense at point A14, sir. I need the Fedeation Council to approve the transfer of all SciFleet ships graded Tactical Level 3 and above to our fleet temporarily."

Jaresh-Inyo looked around the table before returning his gaze to the screen. "I'm sorry Admiral, but the council has decided that the threat isn't great enough for that measure to be taken yet."

Smithy broke in, stepping forward. "Mr President, may I speak candidly?"

"By all means, Captain Smith."

"What in the name of hell do you mean, 'the threat isn't great enough'?! These attackers destroyed a TacFleet base, and practically destroyed a Federation starship, using a weapon that we've never encountered before. We have tactical scans of a large base in the Gatrellus Nebula where they came from. There's a fleet of 1500 ships heading this way right now. And you guys don't think thats a slight problem?"

"Correct, captain. Admiral Harriman, TacFleet will make a stand at A14 with the ships they have now. We will assign more ships if they are needed later. For now, make do." With that the image faded from the screen.

Lisa looked over at Harriman appalled. "What on Earth are they thinking?"

Smithy shook his head. "I don't know that they are thinking." He glanced at his CO. "Dave, we can't hope to beat that fleet off with what we have. We have good ships, we just don't have the numbers."

Harriman sat back in his chair, deep in thought. "Helm, time to reach A14."

"12 minutes, sir."

"Tactical, estimated time till the attackers reach A14 if they stay at current speed."

"About 2 hours after we get there, Admiral."

"2 hours....2 hours to come up with a plan to use 234 ships to beat off over 1500." He looked up at his friends and shipmates. "Conference room. Now."

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[Grim Reaper]

It's always nice to have friends, esp. the kind of friends with ridges on their forehead and a tendancy towards ... how shall i say this... kicking as on a interstellar scale.

But then again perhaps you have an other ace up your sleeve?

[Iceman]

I got money that says its my characters Klingon contacts!

lol

"Definitly feeling aggressive tendencies, Sir!"