Topic: ST: Tigermoth - Return Of The Andromedans

[James Smith]

Author’s note – This story takes place a few years after the events of “Silent Enemy”. And unlike most Tigermoth fics - no weapons are fired in the opening post    How long d'you suppose that's going to last.....


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Prologue

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USS Thor
SOD-322
1210hrs Earth Standard Time
2nd March 2395


"We're entering visual range, captain. No indication that the intruder has spotted us."

"I want a quick scan, and then we get out of here." The captain turned to Tactical. "You have a match on that configuration yet?"

"Negative. Doesn't match anything in our database."

"Widen to include old TacFleet memory banks, Starfleet and Federation allied databases."

"Aye sir." The tactical officer set to work for a few minutes. "Uh, sir?"

"What is it?"

The officer swallowed. "No exact match found sir, but it's very similar to this."

The captain stared at it, the colour draining from his face. "Uh oh." He spun around to face the helm. "Take us out of here. Maximum warp!"

************
USS Tigermoth-A
Bridge
0236hrs EST
14th March 2395

The doors opened, and Commander Lisa Smith stepped out onto the bridge. It was very quiet, the soft hum of the ship’s systems present in the background as ever. The graveyard shift was on duty, and on a slow post-refit cruise like this that meant boredom for the officers who were on the consoles. So it was not all that surprising that she’d been called to the bridge by the young ensign at Communications. First message in days and blind panic sets in. “What is it Riggs?”

The young woman turned. “A message from Starfleet Command, ma’am.”

A twinge of annoyance pulled at Lisa’s face. “I’d guessed that much Riggs. It’s hard not to spot the Starfleet logo on your screen. So what does the message say?”

“They would like a word with the captain. It’s been labelled Priority Code 1, so I figured it must be fairly important. But….”

“But you didn’t want to wake him. I can understand that. He’s not in a desperately good mood at the moment.” Lisa’s smile faded into a frown. “Priority 1…..they probably ran out of biscuits at a Starbase nearby.”

“Ma’am?”

Lisa shook her head. “Ignore me, just having an internal rant at the people we work for.” She glanced down in surprise as the console beeped. “Are they calling again?”

“Yes ma’am.” Riggs’ hands flew over the keypad. “Admiral David Harriman calling from the Antares shipyards. He would like a word with the captain.”

“Patch it through to our quarters.” Lisa hurried off the bridge. Dave wouldn’t be calling at this hour if it wasn’t important. Probably not biscuits then.

************
Captain’s Quarters

“Dave? At this hour?”

Captain James Smith crossed quickly over to the desk, and activated the computer panel. The screen popped up, awaiting authorization to tie in to the communications system. “Authorisation Smith-2-4-1-Alpha.” The screen lit up, the Federation seal appearing and then being quickly replaced with the image of his friend and former CO. “What time of day d’you call this?”

“It’s nice to see you too.” David Harriman stared at his former chief engineer. “You’re looking pretty good Smithy, all things considered.”

“Cheers. Not looking too bad yourself.” Smithy flashed a quick ‘thank-you’ smile at his wife as she handed him a mug of coffee, and then returned his attention to the screen. “Things are settling down here now we've got everything repaired after the last refit. How are things at the Antares yards?

“They’re ticking over. Production is up this month, looks like we’re going to meet our great and glorious President’s targets.” The sarcasm didn’t just drip from his words, it practically poured. He grinned apologetically. “Sorry. I usually just bottle up that frustration.”

Smithy returned the grin. “I understand. You hear about my last run in with the dictator?”

“I saw the damage to the bar at headquarters. I was told you had something to do with it.”

“Not my most professional moment.” Smithy caught Lisa rolling her eyes at him and blew an apologetic kiss in her direction. “It’s come down to a battle of wills. He knows it would be lousy PR to kick me out of the fleet or demote me, and he can’t promote me as I’d have too much power then. I think he’s hoping that I’ll resign my commission soon.”

“Is there any chance of that?” Harriman looked slightly alarmed at the thought.

“I doubt it.” Smithy sat back and contemplated for a second. “What else could I do with my life? Can you see me as a diplomat? Bollocks to that….no, I think I’ll be spending a while in this job yet.”

“I see.” The relief was evident in Harriman’s voice. “Listen, the reason I called....”

“Was wondering when you’d be getting to it.”

“Special Operations Division came calling the other day.”

“Ah.” Smithy flashed a quick look at Lisa. “What did the silly SODs want?”

“They wanted opinions from former TacFleet officers about some sensor logs. Ordinarily I’d have told them where to go, but I think you ought to see this.”

In a flash, Harriman’s image was replaced by that of a standard Starfleet sensor log. Smithy leaned forward and stared at it, his breath catching in his throat. “When....when was this scan taken? And where?” Lisa stood behind him, reading the data in disbelief.

“It was out by the Barrier Zone. 12 days ago. You’d have thought that they might have given us notice a little earlier really. I would have dismissed it as a fake, but the Klingons spotted a similar vessel yesterday.” Harriman’s image returned to the screen. “Of all the things we didn’t need right now, this has to rank right up there.”

Smithy slumped back in his chair. “Are there any indications of a build up? Any sign of an imminent attack?”

“No and no, which is why SOD is assuming that there is a build up and it is for an imminent attack.”

Lisa pulled up a chair and sat down slowly. “Is Starfleet invited to this party, or is SOD going it alone?”

“They’ve told Command to keep all Starfleet vessels away from the Barrier Zone.”

“So…Andromedans.” Lisa slumped back in her chair.

“Andromedans.” Harriman echoed, sighing.

“Andromedans.” Smithy’s face scrunched up into a scowl.

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

[Lieutenant_Q]

Welcome Back Mr. Smith!

[James Smith]

Welcome Back Mr. Smith!

Cheers 

Went hunting this morning for some pictures I remembered seeing on the internet at some point in the past. When I was writing the first story in the Tigermoth universe WickedZombie finished his first model of a TNG refit Constitution class called the USS Valiant, and he made up some Tigermoth registries for it so I could fly 'my' ship in SFC. Since then (in the fics) the ship has been refitted quite heavily, and I'd gone looking for something that I remembered seeing a loooooong while ago:





This is Dennis Bailey's USS Concord - a conjectural TNG era refit/redesign of the Constitution class. If you can imagine the secondary hull, pylons and nacelles of this model with a saucer closer in shape to WickedZombie's Valiant model (see below), then that's the ship that I see in my mind when I write about the Tigermoth.

USS Valiant by WZ:

[James Smith]

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Chapter 1 - Reunion (Part 1)

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USS Tigermoth-A
Bridge
16th March 2395
1025hrs EST

"Course laid in, sir."

Smithy glanced up from his PADD. "Engage, transwarp speed. I have no intention of not being the first there." That raised some smiles from the crew around him.

And they've been in short supply since the news came in. He resisted the urge to get up and wander around, knowing how much it bothered people when he showed any signs of tension. His crew knew what a disturbed captain meant - that serious trouble was brewing, and that they were going to be a part of it. He preferred to keep that tension bottled up and out of the way, only letting it show when he was with his close friends. He couldn't hide it from them. Or his wife.

Lisa glanced over at him, and then checked the bridge chronometer. "Well, we've got about an hour before we'll reach Antares. You had breakfast yet?"

Smithy visibly brightened at the mention of breakfast. "Sounds like a plan. Riggs, keep my chair warm." He departed, holding hands with Lisa.

Riggs watched the pair go, and self-consciously sat in the centre chair. Ensign Winchester half-turned from his position over at Ops. "Now that looks weird."

"What's that?"

"You sat in the big chair."

Riggs threw him a dirty look. "Hopefully I won't be here for long. He knows that I don't like this, why does he keep doing it?"

Winchester grinned. "You went through the Command path at the Academy. You must have wanted it at some point in your life."

Riggs stood and crossed over to his console. "Maybe, before I found out just what it means to be sat there. You took the test didn't you?"

"Which, the Maru?"

She frowned. "No, the other one."

Winchester sighed. "Oh. That one. Yeah, I took it. Pretty graphic....and I haven't found anyone who passed it yet. Mind you, rumour has it that the captain passed it....never been able to find out for sure though."

Riggs stared at the viewscreen, watching the rainbow streaks of particles getting smeared by the ship's transwarp fields. "I took it five times. I even got hold of a modified copy of KIRK-KM.sim re-written for the different test."

"You use it?"

"No. Opened it up, examined what it did. I'd already tried it on my first attempt." She shook her head. "I nearly quit because of that test. The only thing that stopped me was the instructor telling me that it was beatable."

"How was that any better than being beaten by a no-win scenario like the Maru?"

Riggs shrugged. "I don't like unfair tests. If it was beatable and I lost, then fine. But putting us through a completely un-winnable test like that one....I can accept it with the Maru as that’s so obviously un-winnable that the impact is lessened."

Winchester stared up at her thoughtfully. "Things like that do happen in real life you know."

"Well, if I do face a no-win situation then no amount of practice is going to change things is it?" With that, Riggs crossed back to the chair and sat down, her gaze never leaving the viewscreen.

************
IKV Mortum Hesta
Bridge
16th March 2395
1025hrs EST


"Co-ordinates received sir. Course is plotted, engines are at standby."

Thulinuk glanced back as Sheehan entered the bridge, gingerly picking his way over a mass of exposed cables. "Watch your step. I don't want to have to dig you out from under that lot."

Sheehan looked around the bridge. "You planning on getting this little lot fixed at the Antares yard?"

"Harriman offered. It’s better than waiting six weeks for Tykor station to do the work." He turned to face Sheehan. "You received your message from Earth?"

"Yeah, cheers for relaying it. My niece just finished her final exams at the Academy, she was letting me know how it went."

Thulinuk returned his gaze to the datascreen in front of him. "The son of a family friend is going through the Starfleet training program. He found one particular test outcome hard to accept."

"The Maru?"

"No, the other one."

"Oh. That one." Sheehan grinned in fond memory. "We nearly destroyed a holodeck once running that with the safeties disabled by accident."

"Did you beat it?"

"Nah. But I know someone who did."

************
USS Tigermoth-A
Mess Hall
16th March 2395
1105hrs EST

Lisa stared out of the observation windows as the ship raced along towards Antares. She turned as Smithy pushed a mug of tea towards her. "Thanks."

Smithy sipped at his own large mug of coffee. "Orlatrel just handed me the figures for this month, looks like we're finally running within Starfleet's fuel allowance."

"That'll please the Admiralty, right up until they come to visit and find that you've been falsifying the records."

"Massaging the figures, there is a difference you know." Smithy gazed at her. "You look really pretty with your hair like that."

Lisa smiled. "I was going to change it back to how I had it before."

"That's okay, you look really pretty with it like that as well." The two leant in over the table for a kiss that was interrupted by Smithy's comm. badge beeping at them. "Bridge to Captain Smith."

Smithy rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I do wish the universe would leave me alone when I'm busy. Smith here."

Riggs' voice filtered through the comm. system. "Sorry to interrupt your breakfast sir, but we're approaching the Antares system."

"Go to impulse, head straight for the main base." The pair got up and headed out the door, Smithy pausing to grab another coffee out of the replicator on the way out. He had the feeling that he might need all the caffeine he could get today.
************
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[Grim Reaper]

I didn't welcome you back did I. Dude welcome back. and since you've such a nice posting interval, I'm going to excuse your hiatus

[James Smith]

Cheers Grim 

[Commander Maxillius]

Andromedans.

You have my attention.


Carry on

[James Smith]

************
Chapter 1 - Reunion (Part 2)

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Antares Shipyard Command Post
Operations Centre
16th March 2395
1135hrs EST

Harriman leant against the rail running around the perimeter of the room, watching the semi-organised chaos that marked a typical day at the Antares yards. Never a dull moment here, that's for sure.

He strolled over to the scanner board, which reported the positions of all the ships in the Antares system. One ship was heading in that the computer didn't recognise. Harriman knew which that ship would be. You're going to have to get that warp signature registered at some point Smithy, or Starfleet will make good on their threats regarding your career....PR damage notwithstanding. He glanced over at the communications console. "When the Tigermoth arrives, get them docked at Port 1."

"Aye sir."

Harriman headed for the turbolift, tapping his comm. badge as he walked. "Commander Harrison, report to Conference Room 1A."
************
Habitat Module

Commander Kyle Harrison glanced up as Harriman's voice filtered through the comm. system. "On my way sir." He returned his attention to the screen. "I have to go."

"I understand. Do your duty."

Harrison shut down the terminal, stood and headed for the door. He paused to grab his uniform jacket off it's hook and glance in the mirror. Yes, I'll do my duty. You can count on me Mr President.

************
Conference Room 1A

"Hello Dave."

Harriman turned, and grinned as Lisa strolled into the room. "Hey." He grabbed her in a short hug. "Been a while."

"Too long." Lisa moved out of the doorway to let other officers into the room. "James sends his apologies, he's going to be a little late. He wanted a few minutes planetside to....well, you know."

"Yeah. I know." Harriman sighed. "Is he getting any better?"

"Well, it's been a few months since he last cursed at power conduits that didn't deserve it." Lisa shook her head, then shrugged. "He said to start without him anyway. Besides, he probably knows what you're going to say."

"I wish he'd tell me then, I haven't got a clue."

************
Antares B II
Goltaka Garden
1155hrs EST

Smithy limped through the garden, barely noticing the beauty around him. The Goltaka region was known throughout the Federation as being spectacular at this time of year, but he wasn't here for the scenery. He was here to visit the resting place of an old friend.

He reached the clearing, finding it exactly as he'd left it when he'd come here the last time. A simple gravestone, with a name inscribed on it. A low wall running around the grave in a circle. He sat on the wall, and stared at the gravestone. The inscription was simple, and to the point. It simply said 'Mack'.

"Hey Mack." Smithy absently rubbed at his aching knee, a legacy of the damage he received in his final deadly confrontation with Robert Metcalf. Damage that had been minimised by the timely intervention of the surgeon buried in the grave here. "Still giving me bother. That treatment you developed though, it really does help."

Tears welled up in his eyes, and he angrily rubbed them away. "Sorry. I know you'd be the first in line to kick me for crying over you." The tears persisted though, and began rolling down his cheeks. "I know you live on inside the Nexus, and I know you had a damn good innings....and I can't figure out why none of that is any god damn comfort!" He pounded a fist on the wall a couple of times, and dried his eyes on the sleeve of his uniform. Some steadiness returned to his voice. "I miss you old friend. I have to go know, the galaxy needs saving again. Wish me luck."

************
Antares Shipyard Command Post
1230hrs EST

"I'd like to thank you all for making it here on short notice." Harriman stood at the head of the long table, and glanced down to his right at Thulinuk and Sheehan. "Especially those of us who have better things to be doing than making trips from Klingon space."

A quick laugh rippled down the table, which the two men acknowledged with a nod. Sheehan grinned up at his former captain. "That's quite alright Admiral. All's quiet on the Romulan front right now anyway."

"As you're all aware, a Special Operations starship took sensor images of an Andromedan ship in the Barrier Zone earlier this month. I believe similar sightings have occurred in Klingon space?"

Thulinuk nodded slowly. "Ships in a configuration similar to known Andromedan designs have been sighted along the Galactic Barrier, towards the Federation border. The Klingon DSF has been put on alert, any further sightings will be reported to Starfleet."

Harriman continued the briefing. "Considering that the last reported sighting of an Andromedan vessel was in 2355, and that their ships were more than a match for Starfleet's best back then, we're assuming the worst regarding their tactical capabilities."

Harrison regarded Harriman with a confused look. "I wasn't aware of any Andromedan sightings that far into the 24th century."

"You should read more history books."

Everyone in the room looked to the doorway. Smithy stood there, leaning against the door frame. "Sighting was made by USS Excalibur, NCC 26517. On one of her voyages into deep space, she travelled through a wormhole out past the Galactic Barrier and came across an Andromedan cruiser."

Harrison frowned. "I've read history books. That incident isn't in them, it isn't on file with Starfleet."

"Really? Oh well, we probably forgot to note it in the ship's log."

Lisa glanced at Harrison, and offered a brief explanation. "James was chief engineer aboard Excalibur at that time. I'm sure he can give an accurate account of the incident."

"Sure can." Smithy limped over to the empty seat next to Lisa and sat, noting the look of concern on her face and silently promising an explanation later. "Bob, in one of his more competent moments, didn't actually fire the first shot. Of course, since he hadn't ordered the shields up in time I think we can strike any competency from the record."

"Bob?"

"Oh, forgive me. Robert Metcalf, Starfleet officer, psychopath, criminal genius, dead and his atoms scattered across a wide portion of space in a warp core breach. Gone, but certainly not forgotten. And I know that he's in the history books." Smithy stared up through the transparent ceiling at the Antares Maelstrom, still an awe-inspiring sight every time he saw it. "Where was I? Ah yes, the incident. The Andromedan ship was fitted with some kind of plasma based weapon, seemed to operate on a similar basis to the weapons the Romulans began fielding a few years back. Concentrated bolts of electroplasma, nasty on a shielded vessel and very damaging to an unshielded one. Their first shot went right through the port nacelle pylon." He paused, remembering the scene in the engine room. "That pretty much scuppered any chance of us making a proper fight of it, but I doubt we'd have been a match for them if we'd had our shields up from the start. The only thing that saved us was Bob getting brained by his chair when we took that hit."

Harrison's face wore a luck of confusion at that, so Harriman explained. "He was knocked unconcious, and since Excalibur didn't have a first officer at the time that meant that the chief engineer was in charge from that point."

Smithy continued the account. "Only one thing really we could do at that point. In the words of the Monty Python team - run away! We put overload power into the impulse engines while reconfiguring the warp program for single-nacelled flight, and then returned to the wormhole and got the hell out of there."

"So, you're saying that we don't have a chance against them?"

"Nope. I'm saying that last time we met they had a distinct advantage. It's a bit of a jump to go from that all the way to 'we're doomed'."

Sheehan turned to face Harriman. "We don't even know if there is a fleet of them out there, or what their intentions are. All we've got is guesswork right now."

"Well, what do you propose?" Harrison sat back and folded his arms. "You want to go do some recon? You want to send a Starfleet force out there to deal with any Andromedan ships? Special Operations will be out there by now, I'm sure they've got it covered."

"Special Operations Division is full of morons who couldn't find their arse with both hands." Smithy leaned forward, his hands gripping the edge of the table. "I'm not at all comfortable entrusting the safety of the Federation to that bunch of muppets."

"Well, unfortunately for you the President doesn't see things that way."

"Yes, unfortunately for me and for the rest of the Federation! Well, fortunately for the security of the Federation I have absolutely no intention of sitting back and watching events unfold."

Harriman's face wore a smile as he watched his former chief engineer go off on one of his familiar rants about those above him. A quick glance around the room confirmed that everyone bar Harrison was looking at Smithy in approval and admiration. No surprise there....he always did know how to work a crowd. "I agree. It's clear that Starfleet has to do at least something. Thulinuk, you said the DSF is on alert. How many ships do they have that far out?"

"15 cruisers, and some escorts."

"Then you'd better join back up with them then. Our repair teams will be done with the Mortum Hesta in another hour."

Sheehan nodded. "We'll head out as soon as the ship is ready."

Harriman turned to Smithy. "How soon can you get the Tigermoth out to the Barrier Zone? Everyone else will be using the warp highways to get there, it's about 3 days at those speeds."

"At maximum transwarp speeds, we can be there in less than a day. We can hold the fort until others arrive."

Harriman nodded. "Very well. I'll inform SOD's commander that Starfleet ships will be in the area on a training exercise."

"A lie?" Harrison's face was scrunched up in disapproval.

"If you like." Harriman looked around the table to see if there were any further questions. There were none. "Go on, get out of here. The galaxy isn't going to save itself."

Everyone began to file out. Harrison, Lisa and Smithy remained behind. Harrison spoke first. "Admiral, I must object to this course of action."

"Duly noted." Harriman watched as the other man stuttered for a couple of seconds, then turned and left. "Well, the President will probably be getting a call from him. You guys better get going quick."

Lisa nodded. "Watch your back. That guy's bad news."

"I know. You guys watch yourselves as well....those idiots in SOD are just as likely to shoot at the Tigermoth as they are at Andromedan ships."

Smithy regarded him glumly, and grumbled. "Just once, I'd like the universe to play nicely for a change."

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

[Grim Reaper]

Nah that won't be fun. I like the universe not nice to Smithy. But those SOD's cannot be totally incompetent?

[James Smith]

Nah that won't be fun. I like the universe not nice to Smithy. But those SOD's cannot be totally incompetent?

Thing is, they have to be incompetent. Otherwise, what's Smithy going to rant about? 

[Grim Reaper]

Nah that won't be fun. I like the universe not nice to Smithy. But those SOD's cannot be totally incompetent?

Thing is, they have to be incompetent. Otherwise, what's Smithy going to rant about? 

The coffee?



j/k Ranting about the coffee is probably not as cool. However it might be fun to show that only their commanders (admirals and such) suck.

[KOTH-KieranXC, Ret.]

Smithy, good to see you back and writing, bro!

[James Smith]

Grim - The only person who Smithy really detests is the Federation President (or dictator, since he's pretty much on that level). I suspect that given the chance, he'd rather work with SOD than against them Besides, we all know that crews only follow orders....and Smithy can't expect them to mutiny just because he doesn't like the concept of a pure-military fleet operating outside Starfleet authority.

K-Fo - Cheers mate 

[Lieutenant_Q]

So, its been a few years since the Dictator came into office, right?  How soon until Smithy runs for President? 

[James Smith]

So, its been a few years since the Dictator came into office, right?  How soon until Smithy runs for President? 

For some reason, I can't honestly see him doing well as a politician.....

[CaptJosh]

Perhaps not, but what about as a true statesman?

[James Smith]

Perhaps not, but what about as a true statesman?

I didn't realise there even was such a thing 

Quick note - any stardates that I happen to quote in this fic are calculated from here. I have no idea how "accurate" it is but it'll do for my evil purposes. It's actually the first time I've bothered with stardates in a fic, which is a fairly poor effort really 

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Chapter 1 - Reunion (Part 3)

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USS Tigermoth-A
Bridge
17th March 2395
0710hrs EST

Smithy exited the turbolift and looked around. "Quiet at this time of day isn't it?"

Riggs glanced around and jumped to her feet, hastily vacating his chair. "Sorry sir, I didn't realise you were coming to the bridge."

"Any word from the SOD taskforce in the area? They ought to be picking us up on LRS by now." Smithy took his seat and turned to face Riggs at her station.

"We've had no communications from them, but about five minutes ago one of their ships changed course to pass closer to us."

Smithy thought for a second, then smiled to himself. "Open a channel on SOD's frequency, I want to announce our presence."

Riggs turned back to her console, and tapped at it for a few seconds. "Channel open."

"This is Captain James Smith aboard the USS Tigermoth. I'm looking for Andromedans, anyone seen any?" He mimed a cutting gesture to Riggs, who closed the channel. "Well, that ought to get someone's attention."

"It has, sir. Incoming communication from the USS Venture, Captain Ghelev."

Gotta love the direct approach. Never failed me yet. "On-screen." Smithy turned his attention to the main viewer as the image of the Venture's bridge sprang into focus. The Andorian officer in the centre chair stared impassively back at him, but Smithy could sense the man's tension even through the distance between the ships. "Good morning Captain Ghelev."

"Good morning Captain Smith. We were told to expect you, I hadn't realised we'd be meeting so soon though."

"Well, that's transwarp for you. Does have a habit of making you early for meetings."

"Yes, and now that you are here....what are your intentions?"

Smithy sat back and folded his arms. "Well, that really depends. My intention is to either work with you and find out if we are facing an invasion by an Andromedan force.....or to not work with you, and find out if we are facing an invasion by an Andromedan force. And with regards to that choice....well, the ball is in your side of the court."

Ghelev smiled and nodded. "Yes, I see your reputation is well earned. To be quite honest with you captain, we are under orders to have nothing to do with you. But then, we are such a long way from the nearest command post...." He paused to scribble a signature on a PADD and hand it to someone off-screen. "We don't have enough ships here to mount an effective search in a short space of time, so we could use the help. How many other Starfleet ships are heading here?"

Well now, that is interesting. Not enough ships? Sounds like someone screwed up somewhere. "We have at least 15 Starfleet vessels heading this way, they'll be here in around 36 hours. The Klingons have ships searching on their side of the border, around 20 in total. We'll link up into your search pattern immediately."

"Thanks captain. Uploading our current data to you now." Ghelev's image winked off the screen to be replaced by the Venture's datastream.

"Riggs, get me a full compliment of bridge crew. We've got work to do."

************
USS Venture
Captain's quarters
18th March 2395
2030hrs EST


"Captain's personal log, stardate 71077.8. The search is progressing much quicker thanks to the arrival of a number of Starfleet ships." Ghelev stared out of the window, watching the stars as his ship carried on through the search pattern. "The crew expressed some surprise at my accepting Starfleet's help, and I can understand that surprise. I am well aware of the President's orders regarding this subject....but the situation seems to call for a rather more flexible interpretation of the rules." He ended the recording, and headed for the replicator. "Tarkalean tea." Grabbing his drink and a couple of PADDs, he settled down in his comfy chair and began to read.

He got as far as the second PADD before his comm. badge began chirping at him. Sighing, he tapped it. "Ghelev here."

"Sorry to disturb you sir, but I think you'd better get up here. One of the ships has found something."

************
USS Tigermoth
Bridge
2030hrs EST

"You're definitely sure you saw something?" Lisa paced in front of Winchester at his Ops console. "You guys better be reading those screens right."

Winchester glanced up at her, and at Drelkar who had come over from Tactical to confer with him. "We're sure ma'am. There's definitely something there."

Lisa sighed, and turned to the helm. "Pick up the co-ordinates from Ops, Elkins. Full impulse. Riggs, let everyone know what we're doing." She glanced down at Smithy, who was sat brooding in his chair, and then collared a passing yeoman. "Go grab a cup of coffee for the captain will you?"

"I don't need coffee."

"Well, you need something to take your meds with." Lisa made her way down to him. "You're about due. And since you hate the taste of them, water's out."

Smithy conceded the point. "Fair enough." He took the cup of coffee that the returning yeoman offered, threw several pills into his mouth followed by half the contents of the cup and screwed his face up in disgust. "The things I do to keep this body in one piece."

"Coming up on the co-ordinates that Ops supplied, sir." Elkins half-turned in his chair. "Whatever it is should be in visual range."

"Ops, put SRS on-screen." Smithy frowned at the image that popped up. Something was shimmering in the bottom of the screen. "Magnify lower-left quadrant. There, what is that?"

Winchester worked the console in front of him. "Initiating full sensor sweep.....I'm getting something, a massive neutron radiation surge...."

He didn't need to go any further, the screen told the whole story. The image rippled, and suddenly an Andromedan ship was there. Smithy stared at it, his eyes narrowing. "Cloaked. Bet there's more where he came from. Red Alert. Riggs, transmit our data to the Venture. Elkins, back us off. Nice and slow, I don't want to have to listen to Orlatrel complain about us getting shot at. Winchester, you still scanning?"

"Affirmative captain. They're attempting to block it with feedback, compensating."

"Stay at it. Drelkar, just in case....get the phasers ready for cold start."

"Aye sir."

Lisa headed over to Riggs' console. "Has the Venture responded yet?"

"They confirm receipt." She glanced up at Lisa. "They're heading over with everyone who's near enough."

"Uh, sir?"

Smithy turned to Drelkar. "What is it?"

"Reading an increase in power on that ship....in what I'm pretty sure is their weapons array."

"Oh good. I was beginning to get bored." Smithy leaned forward in his seat. "Deflector shields to full intensity, don't bring weapons fully on-line yet."

"Shields to full...phasers still in cold-start mode. Torpedoes loaded but launchers not charged ye-incoming!"

Everyone hung on as Elkins put the ship into a hard turn to port, the intertial dampening field lagging a few microseconds behing the move. As the ship righted itself, Smithy was out of his chair. "Nice move, that was a close one. Stand-by on phasers, bring torpedo launchers on-line. Riggs, where are the others?"

"Two minutes away sir."

"Tell them to hurry. Elkins, half-impulse. Straight at them. Drelkar, set torpedoes to proximity mode and fire one."

The Andromedan ship turned as the torpedo homed in on it. Smithy watched it on the main viewer. "Don't like that, do you? Drelkar, fire two more."

Winchester shot a glance over at Smithy. "I've got two more ships decloaking sir. Smaller vessels. They're firing!"

The ship rumbled under the impact. "Report."

"Shields holding, sir."

"Phasers, target those two smaller vessels and lay down a pattern across them."

Riggs turned to face Lisa. "The Venture and several other ships are arriving ma'am!"

"That's got them on the back foot." Winchester stared at his screen. "Yep, they're running...and going back under cloak. Losing sensor contact with them."

Smithy sighed. "Well, I wonder what that was all in aid of then? Secure from battlestations, go to Yellow Alert. Riggs, send a message back to the Antares Command Post. Include a record of what we found, and request instructions from the admiral." He looked at Lisa. "Time we had a conference with Captain Ghelev."

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[Grim Reaper]

I wonder what their planning is?

[Commander Maxillius]

nice,  keep it up!!

[James Smith]

And some more. Part of this chapter borrows from one of my favourite Trek novels, "Federation". Rather than call it 'plagiarism', I prefer 'homage' 


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Chapter 2 - Build Up (part 1)

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USS Venture
Briefing Room
18th March 2395
2300hrs EST

Ghelev paced up and down at the head of the table. "Why now? Why would they be attacking now?"

Smithy rubbed his eyes and stared at the ceiling. "The entire quadrant is in disarray. Starfleet and Special Operations don't have all that many battle designs left in service thanks to the President ordering half of them to be scrapped in favour of new designs that haven't actually materialised yet. The Romulans are still trying to get back on their feet after the Reman incident. The Klingons are still attempting to rebuild their forces after the Gatrellian war. The Cardassians have no military to speak of since the Dominion War. You want me to go on, or can I stop listing the fundamental problems that we're faced with?"

Ghelev sat, and looked at him. "I take your point....so where does it leave us?"

"It leaves us, fortunately, with a load of mothballed starships that we can probably bring into operation over the next few weeks." Smithy scowled at the PADD in front of him. "I told everyone involved that it was a bad idea to take all those ships out of service. But apparently I know 'absolutely nothing about the situation', and that all those completely untried and untested designs would simply flow out of the shipyards. I'm bloody glad we didn't scrap the ships when we were ordered to. No doubt El Presidente will want us all court-martialled for that but frankly I can't see him managing that somehow."

"You've sent word back to your command post?"

"I've sent word back to the Antares yard. Dave Harriman is pretty much the only man in the Admiralty I trust not to panic and get everything even more f*cked up than it is already." Smithy consulted his PADD. "Starfleet can bring around 70 ships out of mothballs that are perfectly worthy for combat, and with enough crewmembers to operate them effectively. Add that to our usual tactical force that we can roll out....we're looking at maybe 220 ships in total for direct combat, and maybe 20 more for fire support. How many can SOD send?"

"I don't honestly know." Ghelev sagged in the chair. "Our numbers aren't even remotely what they should be. Lack of crews, ships stuck in dock due to maintenance issues....we were supposed to have this all resolved by now, but all our engineering focus has been on the new designs...."

"....and they're proving to be problematic." Smithy finished for him, and shook his head. "So all those resources that have been diverted away from Starfleet ship construction over the past few years, they've been sat in freighters and cargo boxes waiting to be used? And I thought that the Admiralty I have to deal with is incompetent." His comm. badge chirped at him. "Smith here."

"James, Dave called. He wants you back at Antares, seems that all hell broke loose at Command. Apparently the President is rather upset about us coming out here."

"Send a message back. Ask Dave to arrange a meeting with Maxwell, I've got some questions to ask him."

"You planning on a little bit of Smith-brand diplomacy here? Because that would probably go down well with quite a few people."

Smithy grinned. "You know me. Always ready to deal out a dose of cold hard facts to a complete moron. I'll be ready to beam back in a few minutes."

"Acknowledged. Tigermoth out."

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USS Tigermoth-A
Bridge
19th March 2395
0230hrs EST

"Captain's log, stardate 71078.4. The Tigermoth is heading back to the Antares Command Post, and I'm heading for a potentially explosive meeting with President Maxwell. Any kind of working relationship that we had was destroyed during our last meeting, along with a Starfleet bar.....and I can't see this meeting being any more cordial."

Smithy sat, gazing at the viewscreen as the Tigermoth flew on through the transwarp realm, wondering what on Earth he could possibly say to Maxwell that would convey just how little he thought of the President's intellect. I'm going to have to invent a whole new language....somehow, English just doesn't have the required punch any more.

He glanced at the chronometer. Riggs should have started duty at 0230. Not like her to be late. "Bridge to Ensign Riggs." There was no response. "Computer, locate Ensign Riggs."

"Ensign Riggs is in her quarters."

"Odd." Smithy thumbed the comm. panel on his chair to call Lisa. "Hon, you awake?"

"Yeah, I'm here. What's up?"

"Riggs didn't show for her shift yet. She arranged cover?"

"Not as far as I know. You called her?"

"No response."

"Okay, I'll go see if there's something wrong."

Smithy closed off the connection, and glanced around the quiet and mostly empty bridge. Well old girl, it's just you and me for now. He patted the arm rests on his chair. I'll try and take care of you a bit better during the coming battles. And if you do really well, I'll see what I can do about geting us a nice little exploration mission to play with. Lord knows you deserve it.

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Deck 6
Ensign Rigg's Quarters

The nightmare was the same each time. The bridge in flames, her crew all dead. And she couldn't work out why, couldn't work out what she'd done wrong. And the same voice chanting over and over in her head. What did I do? What did I do?

Riggs woke up with a start. The door lock was chirping. She glanced over at the chronometer. sh*t! "Just a second!"

She quickly scrambled into her uniform, and rushed to the door. It was Commander Smith. "Sorry ma'am, I overslept."

"I'd figured." Lisa regarded the young woman with a look of concern. "You okay kiddo? You look awfully pale."

Riggs shook her head. "I'm fine."

"You don't look it. Sit down." Lisa herded Riggs back into her quarters and steered her to a chair, then headed for the replicator. "Water, chilled." She handed the glass to Riggs. "The captain can handle things on the bridge for a while longer, in fact he's probably talking to the ship by now."

Riggs unsteadily sipped at the water. "I really am sorry ma'am."

"It happens." Lisa regarded her with a slight frown. "This isn't the first time is it? I seem to remember a note in your academy file about being late for classes a couple of times, and then a few times when on your 4 month stint on the Republic."

Riggs shook her head sadly. "I thought I'd gotten past it. Seems I haven't."

"Gotten past what?"

She drew in a breath slowly. "Nightmares. Or rather, a nightmare. It's always the same one. About one of the tests at the Academy."

"Oh. That test. Yeah, a lot of people can't seem to get over that one. First time I've heard of anyone having nightmares about it though. You didn't see a counselor about it at the Academy?

"No. I thought they'd just say I was getting worked up over nothing."

"They might have done, but they'd have been wrong. What about the captain, you never asked him how he beat it?"

"I'd heard that he had, but I never really approached him about it." Riggs stared down at her glass. "I probably should, just to put it to rest."

Lisa stood, and held a hand out. "Come with me. Let's see if we can do that."

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Antares Command Post
Habitat Module
Commander Harrison's Quarters

"Mr President, the Tigermoth will be docked here in a few hours."

"I'm heading out to you now. I'll give you your orders when I arrive. Until then, co-operate with Harriman and Smith."

"Yes sir. What would you like me to do about Captain Ghelev? He did violate your orders."

"Ghelev will be dealt with in time. I'll see to that."

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USS Tigermoth
Holodeck

Lisa tapped the computer panel. "Load program SFA-113, solution JRS 2-2-2-Alpha."

"Ready."

Lisa turned to Riggs. "Go on. Watch and learn. I'll be on the bridge." She turned and left.

Riggs watched her go, and steeled herself. Go on....you want to know how to beat it....just get it over with already. She entered.

The bridge was just how she remembered it. The aftermath of a Romulan attack, smoke and confusion hanging over the control centre of the ship. But instead of her in the centre chair, there was the captain.

"Damage report!"

"Main power off-line! Auxilliary is kicking in!"

"Is the cloak on-line?"

"Affirmative!"

"Get us under."

I did that....the exhaust gives us away. How do you get out of this?

"Sir, our impulse exhaust will eventually give them a lock. I estimate two to three minutes at best."

Riggs watched the captain mull the situation over, amazed at how calm he was. Much calmer than she'd been.

"Residual cloaking bleed. How long does it last?"

Cloaking bleed? The time to lock-on?

"A couple of tenths of a second sir, no more than that."

"Tactical, target that Warbird's dorsal bridge spine. Feed the co-ordinates to the helm. Engineering, transfer all power to the structural integrity field on my mark. Helm, prepare to engage full impulse power."

Wait, he can't be serious....

"Engineering reports ready."

"Helm ready."

No way. Not in a million years. No-one would do that!

The captain leaned forward. "Ramming speed!"

Riggs grabbed hold of the bridge rail as the ship flew into the Warbird. Seconds later an eerie silence descended over the bridge.

Thats it. The Warbird is destroyed. Riggs laughed to herself. My God! Thats it! No wonder no-one ever beats it!   "Computer, end program."

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Bridge
0255hrs EST

Smithy and Lisa both turned as Riggs exited the turbolift. Lisa spoke first. "You get your answer?"

Riggs was staring at Smithy in admiration. "Yes ma'am, I got my answer. Thank you. Sir, I need to know something."

Smithy nodded. "Shoot."

"What made you think of doing that?"

"Warp Mechanics 119. Impact shock on a vessel with an active warp core would generate a wave through the electro-plasma setup that would destroy the ship. But with main power off-line....no longer an issue. And since Starfleet SIF setups are traditionally ran with rather large margins for overload power, coupled with residual cloaking bleed to nerf the Romulan targetting computer for those critical moments....well, I'm continually surprised each year that no-one figures it out. You actually got closest, which is probably why it wound you up so much. But....now you know. Now keep it a secret."

He and Lisa both stood. "Well, we're both supposed to be off-duty right now. Let me know when we reach Antares. You have the bridge Ensign."

"Aye sir."

Smithy flashed a quick smile at Lisa then turned as they headed for the turbolift to watch Riggs take the centre chair with a little more confidence. Who needs a ship's counselor anyways?

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