Danny Amor's Online Library/Danny Amor's Online Library - Volume 1.iso/html/startrek/incomplete/projectfulton.p1-3

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Organization: Penn State University
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 1995 22:06:55 EST
From: Lawrence E. Nagy <[e-mail]>
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: PROJECT FULTON part 1
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Xref: tivoli.tivoli.com alt.startrek.creative:4638

Following is the sequal to my epic masterpeice _The Vigilante_
If you have not read the complete Vigilante you may want to
before reading _Project Fulton_ part 3 since it contians spoilers  for
for _The Vigilante_.

I hope to have part 4 "Pandora's Box" ready in a couple of weeks.

As always, I am very interested in any comments, suggestions,
thoughts, discussion etc.  It really does help.

enjoy, and let me know what you think.

Larry
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Larry Nagy
1160 Boyer Rd
Erie, PA 16511

I have no doubt at all the Devil Grins,
As seas of ink I splatter.
Ye gods, forgive my "literary" sins-
The other kind don't matter.
-- Robert W. Service

---------------------------------------------------------
PROJECT FULTON:
          PART 1
"PROLOGUE"

    Give me the scorn of the stars and a peak defiant;
    Wail of the pines and a wind with the shout of a giant;
    Night and a trail unknown and a heart reliant.

    Give me to live and love in the old, bold fashion;
    A soldier's billet at night and a soldier's ration;
    A heart that leaps to the fight with a soldier' passion.

    For I hold as a simple faith there's no denying;
    The trade of a soldier's is the only trade worth plying;
    The death of a soldier's the only death worth dying.

    So let me go and leave your safety behind me;
    Go to the spaces of hazard where nothing shall bind me;
    Go till the word is War-and then you will find me.
    ...............
             "The Song of the Soldier Born"
                        Robert W. Service.

    The two beings appeared on the ship in a bright flash.
Around them, the occupants went about their business not
noticing the new arrivals.  The male was close to two meters
tall with slightly thinning black hair.  He wore the
angular style uniform of the ship.  The insignia pin on
his tunic was that of Centurian.
    The female was a head shorter then her companion and
had long flowing blond hair.  She wore a snug light blue
velure outfit with a high neck and long sleeves.  The
blouse extended  past her knees like a skirt, but she also
wore matching slacks.
    The girl looked at her companion and smiled "What's
with the getup?" she asked.  Then she saw his pointed ears
and slightly pronounced forehead.  "I thought you said
they wouldn't see us."
    The man smiled "They won't see us unless we want them
to," he said "but as an old saying I once coined goes..
When in Rome...."
    After considering this for a second she smiled and
flashed the same way she had on arrival.  She too now wore
the ship's uniform.  Her long hair was gone replaced with
the short straight cropped black hair that Romulans
currently wore.  The Insignia on her Tunic was that of
"Commander".  A wholly innocuous rank that could have many
duties.
    The girl looked about.  She had never met a Romulan
before, let alone been on one of their ships.  The
corridors were cramped and sparse.  Structural fasteners
and rivets were visible in the walls.  This vessel had
none of the frills or pretenses of the Federation ships
she had been on.
    The pair began to stroll slowly down the hall.  "Tell
me why you brought me here." The girl said "I wanted to do
something about a _Federation_ ship."
    "My dear child" The Centurian said trying to sound
slightly exasperated with his charge.  "If your going to
interfere, you must learn the proper way to do it."
    "I didn't know there was a proper way to Interfere."
The girl returned sarcastically.
    "Si, Senorita" The man said with a smile. "If they
think something is manipulating them, they will not react
as they would have otherwise.  You should know, you grew
up as a human."
    "I suppose your right." the girl agreed "So what ARE
we doing here?"
    "Thought you'd never ask." the man said with a flare
"Come with me."  With that he lead her through a bulkhead
and onto the bridge.
    "This is the Romulan science vessel _Raptor_" They
have been mapping the Ungulonni Nebula for the past year.
    "What a dreadful mission." The girl remarked. "But
that doesn't tell me why we're here."
    "Think about it." the man said "We are all knowing,
tell me why they are surveying this 'dreadful' cloud."
    The girl stared at the ship's view screen for a moment
then smiled. "They encountered the first ship."
    "That's right. Since they were disabled, boarded and
tampered with by an unseen and unidentified intruder the
ship and crew have been banished to this waste land of the
Romulan Empire."
    "They usually just hold the Captain accountable." The
girl continued "But this one has connections who where
able to not only spare her life but her command."
    The man walked up to the somber looking captain slouched
in her command chair and looked into her eyes.  "But now
she is paying the price.  This is the end of the line for
her.  If she elects to maintain her position this is the
duty she will perform.  She should be on the eve of being
given a Warbird.  She was a Rising Star in the Fleet and
now she studies a cloud in the back waters of space."
    "So now what?" The girl asked absorbed by her mentor's
plan.
    "So now, dear girl, a fluke of a nature, a space
anomaly, a one in a billion chance is going to take this
once and future proud leader into the adventure of her
life."

---------

PROJECT FULTON:
          PART 1
"DIFFERENT PATHS"

    One of the surveyors turned from his station toward
the Captain.  "Captain, Sir".  The man said with the tinge
of excitement brought about by any change in an endless
routine.
    The captain sensed this and immediately snapped out of
her private world.  "Yes, what do you have?"  The
Captain stood and tried not to be too obvious about her
need to stretch.
    "I'm reading an anomaly, dead ahead." The young man
reported.
    "An anomaly?" The Captain frowned she had been
commanding this science vessel too long to expect to hear
something as meaningless as that. "Be specific."
    "Sir," the technician said formally "the survey
equipment has detected a flux in the fabric of space
directly ahead of us.  These fluxes are referred to as
Space Anomalies"
    "All stop." The captain said immediately "Can you put
it on the screen?"
    "Coming into view now."
    The Anomaly looked liked a slightly concentrated area
of the nebula.  Without the readings of it, they would
never have guessed it was anything but what it appeared to
be.
    "Captain" The helm called out. "The controls are not
responding, we're still moving forward."
    "It may be pulling us in." the Captain commented.
"Engage reverse engines, half impulse."
    The ship bucked from the sudden strain.  The anomaly
began to brighten.  The nebula particles in the area
started swirling making a strange tunneling effect.
    "Forward motion has maintained." the helm reported.
    "Full reverse." The Captain ordered, just then, the
tunneling seemed to reach out and encircle them.
    The Raptor disappeared into the anomaly which closed
up behind them just as quickly and quietly as it had
opened.

---------------


    Rear Admiral Calvin Jeffery Wall stood in his office
over looking the docking bays of the old station.  This
was his retirement, an asignment in the Federation's final
frontier.  Deep Space Twenty Five was the most remote of
the Federation's deep space outposts.
    With the Federation's new warp 5 restrictions, the
next closest base was eight months away.  Admiral Wall
didn't allow himself to even consider how long it would
take to get to Earth or the planet he considered home.
    Cal Wall had requested the posting to escape the
monotony of the desk he had been riding at the Academy.
Now he had twelve months left to his eighteen month
asignment, then it was back to the farm and retirement.
He smiled, if he was able to find private transportion, he
could be home in two years.  He didn't know if he relished
the thought or not.
    Due to the new colonies setting up in his sector,
the Federation had finally assigned a real starship to his
command.  The U.S.S. Iroquis, an Excelsior class ship, was
scheduled to arrive soon.  The next closest thing
he had was an old scout ship.  One of those things with a
single warp nacelle.  The rest of the ships under his
command were run-abouts and other small crew vessels.
With this small force, he was expected to maintain a
Federation precence and protect the colonists slowly
tricaling into the sector.
    The Admiral sighed and turned away from his empty
docking bay.  The station shook and vibrated slightly as
he walked toward the corridore.  "Damn." he thought "That
stabalizer is acting up again."

--------------

    All was black.  She wasn't even sure if her eyes were
open, but they had to be.  Her mind had told them to open
and it felt like they had obeyed.  There were no lights,
no sounds, nothing.  No feeling, no floor, no seat, just
falling.  She was falling thru nothing.  She felt panic
flood over her, but controlled it.
    "What happened?" she said to herself.  Her voice
sounded loud and clear.  All systems must be out she
thought, lights, gravity, everything.
    Soon she heard more sounds, groans and cautious
inquires about their status.  Somewhere in the distance a
computer panel began to chirp.  Above her a few lights
came on.
    "This is the Captain." she said loudly  "Anybody,
report."
    Voices began to speak up stateing their name rank and
condition.  All she heard was bridge crew, the intercom
must not be working.
    "We need power." she said "everybody find a station
and identify it.  Find the emergency lights lets get some
work done."
    Soon the bridge crew was moveing cautiously about the
bridge in an unfamiliar three demensions.  Someone found
the work lights and broke them out.  Soon all had made it
to an area they could help at.  The Captain stayed
floating in the middle of the bridge coordinating the
activity.
    The computer continued to slowly light other panels
and started emmitting more of its regular sounds.  Either
a technition elsewhere on the ship was working miricles,
or the computer's backup systems were kicking in.  Either
way, she hoped to have power back soon.

    It had been exactly 1.23 hours since the Captain had
regained conciousness.  They now had forty percent power
and gravity back on line.  Ship wide communications were
up, but intermittant as the computer shifted
its resources for repairs elsewhere.  The crew was now
gathering the statistics of the damage.
    Ship wide communications were working, but not
dependable, sub-space communication was totally disabled,
but they were working on it.  All navigation systems were
damaged but most importantly all star charts were
corrupted.
    "Sir," The helmsman/navigator was saying "without the
star charts, even if we had propulsion the computers
couldn't tell where we are or plot a course back to a
repair facility."
    "Could you?" the Captain asked.
    "What?"
    "Could you tell where we are just by looking at the
stars?" The Captain asked again.
    The young Romulan looked down at the displays he had
been woking with then back up at his Captain.  He gave the
only answer expected, "Yes, Sir."
    "Very good, go to the observation deck and begin your
survey."
    The young man came to stiff attention and brought his
right hand to the middle of his chest in a formal salute.
The Raptor, being a science vessle, had been lax about
military disipline.  The young ensign was very correct in
bringing it back.
    The Captain acknowledged the salute with her own.  The rest
of the crew immediatly knew that at least until the emergency was
over, strict military dicipline was back in place.

    Fifteen minutes after leaving the bridge, Ensign Saelar
urgently hailed.  "Captain," he said "we must activate cloaking."
    "Explain." The Captain returned immediately.  She knew
he was aware the cloaking device didn't work in the
nebula.
    "Captain, Sir, my first calculations put us well within
Federation territory."  he said matter of factly.
     "Could you be in error?"
    "Even allowing for the greatest possible error," the Ensign
replied "We would still be Federation space."
    "Captain to engineering." the Captain said toward the
nearby comm-panel. "I need cloaking, now!"
    "Captain" came the voice of her Chief Engineer "we do
not have enough power for cloaking."
    The Captain hit a button and brought the haggard face
of her Engineer on the screen.  "Lieutenant," She snapped
"that wasn't a request.  I don't care where the power
comes from, we are in Federation territory.  I need
cloaking NOW!"  she then cut the connection before he
could reply.
    Lights through out the ship began to dim and the low gravity
warning alarm came on.  The brdige crew could hear the hum of all
systems around them slow down and they scrambled for station
restraints to keep them in place.
    The Captain calmly buckled her restraints as the Engineer's
voice crackled over the low power emergency communication system.
"Bridge, this is engineering, cloaking is activated."

---------

    Doctor Cembera looked out over the court yard of the
main head quraters complex of Star Base J63.  She let the
bright JoLLianvol sun shine on her face and warm her skin
for a few minutes.  It had been a long time since she had
been on a proper M class planet, it felt like a new
experiance.
    The Doctor looked down at her hands and watched them
turn a light shade of brown.  It had been so long since
she been able to aquire any proper color.  Since this was
a mostly human settlement, she knew she would have to find
a discrete place to allow herself an opportunity to
achieve a total coloring.
    The man she had heard walking up behind her from over
fifty meters away finally aproached her.  "Doctor
Cembera?" he asked confidently.
    The Doctor turned slowly in the man's direction still
trying to soak up as much sun as possible.  "Yes."  she
said with a smile and firmly gripped the man's extened
hand.  It was a human custom she had become very used to,
she knew, however, that most humans were not used to such
a firm grip from a female.
    "I'm Commander Sabattis, Chief Liasan Officer for
Project Fulton."  The man said maintianing his smile.
    The man was shorter than the average Terran male,
barely a meter and a half tall.  His hair was thinning and
cut very short.  His build was like that of a barrel but
not fat.  He had extremly dark skin, almost black and a
bright affectionate smile.   "Welcome back to Star Base
J63.  I trust your trip was pleasently uneventfull."
    "Yes it was, thank you."

    Commander Sabattis escorted Doctor Cembera through the
maze of raised concrete walk ways, elevators and gardens
to a restricted and tightly controlled area of the
faciltiy.  The Doctor had been to J63 several years
earlier when they were first setting up Project Fulton but
all of the concrete had blended together in her memory.
She had contributed to many of the security regulations
stricly endforced by all involved, now she felt like
an intruder.  After passing several identity checks
includeing retinal scans and DNA testing, she was welcomed
warmly.
    Doctor Cembera was visiting J63 to give a briefing on
the progress of the new Fulton class starship.  This Black
Hole project had been operating for over four years and it
had become extremely difficult to keep such a tight lid on
it.  The briefing was designed to bring up to date two
ranking Admirals whom had recently gained command of the
Black Hole Group and many related projects.

    After introductions, Doctor Cembera began her
breifing. "Sir, I am here to introduce you to the flagship
project of The Black Hole Group, it is known as Project
Fulton.  Project Fulton was conceived of in direct
responce to the Borg invasion several years ago and the
slaughter at Wolf 359.  The basic premise was to pull
together every Black Hole project from theory to working
prototype and create a class of ships generations ahead of
anything else we are building today."
    "Exscuse me," Admirl Boyd interupted.  He was an older
human with thick white hair and a very closely trimmed
beard.  Admiral Boyd was medium height with wide shoulders
and a slight gut more from age then inactivity.  He was
the essence of what people meant when they refered to a
man as 'grizzled'.  "I have heard of the Black Hole Group
before but I have never seen or heard any officle
designation of its charter.  What sort of projects was
Black Hole working on that allowed you to try to design a
whole new ship using them?"
    Doctor Cembera shifted her stance slightly as she
changed her line of thought.  "Sir, the projects currently
being researched by the Black Hole Group are too numerous
to mention at this breifing.  However, some of the
technology incorporated into Project Fulton includes new
propulsion systems, transporters, and hull design.  There
are also many features to enhance its stealth
capabilities.  The specific features of the Fulton ships
are detailed in the report labeled XFB-001 currenly listed
on your screens."
    Doctor Cembera then gave a short history of Fulton
ships. "The first ship we built," she began "was a drone
test frame, chirsented the USS-Fulton, XFB-001.  The
Fulton was destroyed during final tolerance tests of its
new propulsion systems."
    Doctor Cembera paced a few steps across the room and
continued  "The second Fulton class ship was the USS
Vigilante, XFB-002.  The Vigilante was commisioned and
launched twenty five months ago.  We have not had contact
with it since it left Federation territory on its charter
mission."
    "So, when did you officially declare the Vigilante
missing or destroyed?" Admiral Boyd asked.
    "Actually, Sir its not quite that easy." Doctor
Cembera replied.  She then filled them in on the
Vigilante's mission objectives and basic concepts of its
propulsion and stealth features.
    "And when exactly do you expect them back?" The
Admiral pressed.
    "We don't."
    "What?"
    "By its very nature the Vigilante is on a suicide
mission.  We do not expect them back.  We do hope they will
return someday, but we do not expect them."
    "Isn't that a bit bit harsh?" Admiral X'Zanthani
asked.  Admiralr X'Zanthani was a tall willowy female Turenellan
with a deep orange complexion and short black hair that looked
naturally tangled.
     "I don't consider it harsh, Admiral," Doctor Cembera replied
"just honest."
     "Enough about the other ships." Admiral Boyd interjected
"Lets talk about the new one."
     Doctor Cembera smiled it was time to present her latest
creation.  "If you will activate the file in your data-pads
marked XFB-003 you will see a basic run-down of spec's for the
new ship.  As you can see we have taken a different approach with
this vessel.  With the Vigilante the focus was on insertion and
intelligence this ship is quite differrent in its intended
ussage."
     "Excuse me." Admiral X'Zanthai interuped "The name of this
ship, I am not familliar with its meaning."
     The look on Admiral Boyd's face showed he was equally
confused.
     "The name, VIGGEN, I am told, comes from an old Terran
dilect, loosely translated it means 'Thunderbolt'."

     Admiral Boyd looked again at the specifications for the
Viggen "How appropriate."

------------

     Ensign Saelar made his way through the dark free-fall of the
Raptor's corridors and back to the bridge.  The Captain had
requested that he breif her on his findings about their position
and the status of the navigational computers.
     The navigational computers were completely blown.  All
backup and redundant navigational systems had been destroyed or
damaged.  Without these systems, the Raptor could not plot a
course back to the Empire.  They could travel in the right
general direction, but they had no data on what was ahead of
them.
     There was another major problem, the main sensor array had
also been severly damaged.  Without the array, the Raptor had no
long range scanners and minimal short range scannors.  The bottom
line was that the Raptor was in Federation territory, lost and
nearly blind.
     The Captain looked at the minimal readings on her personal
view screen.  By all reports, once they got main power back on
line all propulsion and cloaking systems should be operaitonal.
Once they got moving again, she hoped they could find an out of
the way star system they could hide in while effecting repairs.
     The crew of the Raptor soon decided that they were in an
area of th Federation that was not highly traveled.  They were
unable to to detect any sign of activity in the sector.  In the
days the Raptor hung helplessy in the void of space, they
detected no other ships or sign of activity.  Even after the main
sensor arry was brought partially on line they detcected zeroe
activity.

     "What do you have for me?" the Captain asked her science
officer.  He had been studying what limited star charts they had
of the sector to determine someplace to hide the Raptor while
they effected repars.
     "We need someplace close" he said "it most have sufficent
cover to hide the Raptor while we are uncloaked to effect repairs
and it must be uninhabited."
     "Have you found such a place?" The Captain asked.
     "Yes sir" the ensign replied and showed his Captain a
standard Romulan issue star chart of the Federation.  "The
closest system to our location fills all of our needs.  The
Federation's designation for it is Tau-Epsilon."
         to be continued...............................



Path: tivoli.tivoli.com!geraldo.cc.utexas.edu!cs.utexas.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!news.cac.psu.edu!psuvm!len101
Organization: Penn State University
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 1995 22:13:45 EST
From: Lawrence E. Nagy <[e-mail]>
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: PROJECT FULTON part 2
Lines: 700
Xref: tivoli.tivoli.com alt.startrek.creative:4639

PROJECT FULTON:
          PART 2
"COMMON THREADS"

.....
Then you will call and claim me because you will need me,
Cheer me and gird me into the battle-wrath speed me....
And when it's over, spurn me and no longer need me.

For guile and a purse gold-greased are the arms you carry;
With deeds of paper you fight and with pens you parry;
you call on the hounds of the law your foes to harry.

You with your "Art for its own sake," posing and prinking;
You with your "Live and be merry," eating and drinking;
You with your "Peace at all hazard," from bright blood shrinking.
.....
               "The Song of the Soldier-Born"
                    Robert W. Service


     Doctor Cembera waited at the space port for her first
connection enroute to StarBase: Deep Space 25.  For security
reasons she had to travel to DS 25 before making her final
contact to the Tau-Epsilon system.
     "What a damned waste of time." she thought to herself. There
were several star bases a lot closer to the Tau-Epsilon system.
Was the security at these bases so lax that it warranted adding
months to her travel time?  The scientist shook her head and
thought "I hope not."
     Crystal sat in the port lounge reflecting on her trip, an
exercise in the winding of red-tape.  Black hole had inherited
two new Admirals to replace Admiral kNewerd.  They had been in
position for two months before becoming aware of Project Fulton.
Crystal smiled at the thought, nobody bothered to tell them, now
they were acting like they knew all along and it was just time
for a formal briefing.  The most complex and involved aspect of
Black-Hole was so secret that it could even keep its existence
from its own brass.  Now that same brass was inquiring into
Fulton's readiness and the Viggen being so far behind schedule
didn't help her case any.
     Admiral X'Zanthani was a possible problem.  At one time her
people were a brutal warrior race.  In the past couple of
generations, however, they had been consciously moving toward
what the old guard on her planet referred to as peace mongering.
She was part of the new guard fervently embracing the
Federation's peaceful edicts.  Project Fulton's use of new
cloaking and stealth technology and other new weapons systems
didn't fit real well with the Federation's idea of a Peace Time
StarFleet.

--------

     The Raptor limped toward the remote star system.  It had
been over a week since they passed through the anomaly.  They
were able to sustain warp 2 for several hours if all other
systems were run at absolute minimal levels.
     The captain sat on the bridge strapped into her seat.  They
currently had gravity, but there was no telling when the computer
would decide some other function had higher priority.  She looked
at her crew sitting in the dim emergency lighting, their
scientific computer panels blank.  Most other systems were also
minimalized to conserve energy.
     "This is like a tomb." The Captain thought to herself "We
died when we went through that Anomaly.  We just haven't realized
it yet.  What can we accomplish in some deserted Federation
system.  We all know that we simply do not have the facilities to
repair this extensive of damage."
     That Captain shuddered, if they really couldn't effect
repairs, they had only one other option.  She frowned at the
thought, she hadn't held on to this command for so long just to
end it with the push of a button.

----------

     Admiral Wall had just finished another extremely routine
Alpha Shift when his Aid, Lieutenant Oceen signaled and came into
the office.  The Lieutenant held his tall muscular frame at stiff
attention waiting for the Admiral to turn his attention to him,
which never took very long.
     "Yes, Lieutenant?" The Admiral asked with friendly tone.
     "Sir, it's Captain Jobson again..." the Lieutenant started.
     The old man lifted his slim, short frame from behind his
desk "What is the good Captain up to now?"
     "Captain Jobson has been ,ah, negotiating with of the
Runabout pilots to borrow one a ship, Sir."  The young man
reported very reluctantly.
     "Were is Captain Jobson now?" The Admiral asked as he
approached his door.
     "He is currently at The Lower Forty Eight having a drink.  I
also believe he is planning to meet a Runabout Pilot in about ten
minutes."  Oceen said hesitantly
     It was very obvious to the Admiral that the pilot Captain
Jobson was planning on meeting was the one Lieutenant Oceen got
his information from.  Admiral Wall smiled and patted his aid
lightly on the shoulder.  "Thank you Lieutenant, I know reporting
on the activities of a fellow officer is difficult."  he said "I
will have a talk with the Captain myself.  Perhaps I can convince
him it is best for all concerned that he not be so overly anxious
to report to his next assignment."

     Admiral wall turned a chair around and sat in it, straddling
the back.  "Mind if I join you?"
     Captain Jobson looked up from the synth-ale he'd been
nursing then recognizing the Admiral sat back and slouched in his
chair slightly.  "Of course not Colonel, have a seat."
     Admiral Wall carried the rank of Colonel in his home
planet's Service.  Many of his long time colleagues still
referred to him as Colonel.  It was a level of familiarity almost
equivalent to using his first name.  From Captain Jobson, the
familiarity came from many different assignments under the
Admiral as they both rose through the ranks of StarFleet.
     "I understand you've been trying to borrow one of my
Runabouts again."
     Jobson rolled his steel blue eyes back some then said "You
can't blame an Old War Horse like myself for trying to cut a
little red tape, can you?"
     The Admiral laughed "'Old War Horse' is my line.  You still
have a couple of decades before you can use it."
     Jobson flashed his patented toothy crooked smile "The way
things are going I may yet be able to use it before I get to my
next assignment."
     "Mike, you know I've done all I can to get your orders cut."
Admiral Wall said "But these guy's you've gotten yourself
assigned to march to their own drummer."
     "That, sir, I know.  I've been dealing with the bunch for
the past year."  Jobson sighed with exasperation. "The problem is
they've been conditioning me to expect things to happen quickly."
     The Admiral smiled "Yea, then they dump you on this out of
the way station and tell you to wait until further notice."
     "That's right, I expected notice in a day or two, I never
expected to be sitting here for two months."
     "Believe me Mike, I know what your going through, but would
you stop bugging my pilots, your starting to make them a little
nervous."
     "Okay, no more negotiations with the runabout pilots. You
have my word."
     Admiral Wall thought he saw that crooked smile flash across
Jobson's face and that made him nervous.  Mike had given his
word, however, and Cal knew he was good for it.
     After the Admiral had dismissed himself, Captain Jobson
approached a pair of officers sitting at the bar.  "Excuse,
aren't you from the Iroquois?  My name's Jobson..."

---------

     Tau-Epsilon was a full system, its twelve planets and six
asteroid belts promised plenty of coverage for the Raptor as the
affected their repairs.  They assumed the system would be
uninhabited, but still approached cautiously.  Before they had
passed the outer most orbital sphere, the navigator picked up a
ship on the limited sensors.
     "All stop." the Captain immediately ordered.  "What can you
tell me about that ship?"
     The navigator studied the scanners output and even had to do
some manual cross referencing with different computer to
compensate for the system dame they had. "The ship is emitting
the signature of a standard Federation Adirondack class tug."
     The young navigator continued to run computations by hand
while he studied the Scanner data.  "It must be hulling something
large, the ship's mass is 10.34 times that of an Adirondack Tug."
     "Okay, keep your distance, and lets see if we can slip into
one of the outer asteroid belts before they get too close."
     Since dropping out of warp, the science stations were back
on line.  The scientists immediately went to work doing what they
did best, studying the star system.  "This is interesting." one
of them said.  "I'm reading a very low level tachyon field
emanating from five different locations."
     "What?!" The Captain said "All stop."
     The geologist looked at her strangely as she rushed back to
his station. "The Federation uses low level tachyon to detect the
motion of a cloaked ship.  Show me where these emissions are
coming from."
     The geologist marked spots on a map of the system.  The
pattern looked random.  The Captain entered a few commands and
the view of the system started to slowly rotate.  Within seconds,
the random pattern turned into a very symmetrical web that
totally covered the system from this heading.
     The Captain let out a deep breath "Any closer and some one
would be out here looking for us."
     "What do we do now?" The geologist asked.  "The next closest
system is light years away?"
     The Captain went back to her navigator's station.  "How
close can get us to that tug as he enters the system?"
     The navigator sat back and looked at the conglomeration of
tools he'd been using just to get them through wide open space.
"How close do you want to get, Sir?"

     The Raptor lined up directly with the incoming tug's flight
path.  When they could finally bring it up on the view screen, it
looked like a giant flying canister.  Attached to the top, the
tug was dwarfed by the large container.  The Raptor dropped down
behind the tug and almost sat on the tail of the container.  The
Romulan ship's sensors were too damaged to allow such precision
flying so the navigator did all of the maneuvering manually.

     At Tau-Epsilon Four dry dock,  a young StarFleet ensign
watched the Tachyon Grid signal the approach of the scheduled
tug.  It was only the boys third week at the station, and he
failed to attach significance to the tachyon grid registering a
slightly larger then normal movement silhouette.

-----------

     "Mind if I join you?"
     Doctor Cembera thought she recognized the soft voice.
Crystal looked up from the journal she was reading to see someone
she had met several months before.  "Of course not, Commander
Sisko."
     The human sat down at the table with Doctor Cembera "I'm
surprised to see you here, Doctor." Commander Sisko said as soon
as he sat down.
     "Why is that."
     "Well, Hobson's Port is quite a ways from the ship yards
were I last saw you."

     Doctor Cembera smiled "I'm enroute to DS-25 to oversee the
refitting of its security facilities.  And how about yourself,
Hobson's Port is also quite a way from Deep Space Nine."
     Sisko leaned back in his chair and smiled slightly "We're
returning to Bajor after having the Defiant's shields...
adjusted."
     Crystal perked up at the mention of the Defiant.  "I haven't
seen the Defiant since she was commissioned."
     "When's your connection, would you like a walk through?  We
don't plan to leave for a couple of hours yet."
     "I'd love to, my flight isn't until tomorrow."
     The two walked out of the small restaurant and into a shabby
court yard.  Commander Sisko touched his comm-pin "Sisko to
Defiant, two to beam up."
     Hobson's Port dissolved around them and was soon replaced by
Defiant's small transport room with curly haired Chief at the
controls.  Sisko immediately step off the pad and spoke to the
man "Chief O'Brien, this is Doctor Cembera, she was part of the
Defiant's design team."
     Crystal smiled and shook the chief's hand.  She wondered if
Commander Sisko had any idea what an understatement 'part of the
team' was.
     At the door out of the transporter room was a security check
point.  Commander Sisko started for it "I'll pass you as a
guest."
     "That shouldn't be necessary." Doctor Cembera said heading
toward the console.
     When she placed her palm on the id pad its generic female
voice said "IDENTIFY."
     "Doctor Crystal Phasion Cembera, S F S C C."
     The computer's voice suddenly changed to a younger much more
natural sounding one "Doctor Cembera, its been such a long time."
     "Yes it has.  How have you been."
     "You wouldn't believe what they put me through, we went into
the Gamma Quadrant and I nearly got destroyed.  It was my first
real mission too!"
     Doctor Cembera looked over at Sisko with slight accusatory
look in her eyes.  The commander just smiled and shrugged a
little.
     "You'll have to tell me all about it some time." Cembera
said to the computer.
     "Oh, and did you hear I was stolen once too."
     The Doctor smiled and said "That'll do for now. Normalize."
     The computer reverted back to its generic self "ACCESSED
GRANTED."
     After exchanging questioning glances with O'Brien, Commander
Sisko passed the security check with out incident. "Someday
you'll have to tell me about what just went on in there." he said
to the Doctor as he joined her in the hall.
     The doctor smiled "Someday.  Now tell me, how are the phaser
arrays holding together?" Cembera asked as they headed down the
main corridor toward the bridge.
     Chief O'Brien watched the two start toward the bridge then
the door slid shut again.  O'Brien looked around the room too
casually then went over and leaned on the security console.  "So,
Computer, how ya doin' ta'day?"
     "IDENTIFY"

-------------

     After watching the tug drop off its cargo then do an intense
sensor sweep of the area, the crew of the Raptor was prepared to
wait several days before anyone came to retrieve the canister.
They took up a tight orbit around a nearby asteroid.
     "Let me know when a ship comes into sensor range."  The
Captain said then headed toward her ready room.
     "Sir!" the navigator spoke up before the Captain was off the
bridge. "The cargo container is moving!"
     "What?  That's not possible!"  The Captain returned quickly
to the center of the bridge.  "Does someone have a tractor beam
on it?"
     "No, sir.  It appears to be under it's own power." the
navigator looked at the Captain questioningly "What do you want
me to do?"
     "Follow it, but not too close.  We don't want to get in the
way of what ever is moving that thing."
     The Raptor followed the canister for three days as it
maneuvered its way through the crowded Tau-Epsilon system.  As
they approached the fourth planet out from the star, the
container adjusted its approach so it would enter a high orbit.

     The Raptor was soon reading signs of activity from a small
station orbiting the planet, there were minimal life sign
readings and its mass appeared to be frame work only.  All
trajectory readings indicated that the canister was enroute to
the station.
     "They're building a secret base here." One of the scientists
said.
     "Why?" the Captain responded "There is no strategic reason
to build a secret base in this remote system."
     "Not a base." the Navigator spoke up "A space dock." At
that, he put their first pictures of the station on the main
screen.


--------------

     Doctor Cembera enjoyed her tour and reunion with the
Defiant.  It almost made this long expededition worth while,
almost.  Now she occupied the VIP quarters of the research
vessel, USS Hazard.  This was the second to last leg of her
journey to Deep Space 25.  Four weeks on the Hazard then a
rendezvous with one of DS 25's runabouts for the final leg.
          The chronometer told Cembera it was time to check in.  She
carried a small brief-case size device with her at all times,
this was her link with Project Fulton.  To open it, she placed a
finger tip on a small scanner on the outside edge.  The face of
the scanner had a pattern to it that changed every time she used
it.  The pattern told her which finger to use for identification.
The scanner read her finger print, and also used a very lower
power transporter to remove a couple of skin cells for DNA cross
reference.  If it didn't recognize her, the explosion would
surely disintegrate her hand and arm and probably kill her.  In
side the case was a large, old style communicator and a
power/signal booster for it.
     Tau-Epsilon reported the arrival of the last major shipment
for the completion of the Viggen.  Doctor Cembera was
disappointed that she would not be present for the installation
of the bridge.  It was also too bad that Captain Jobson hadn't
been able to report for duty yet.  The new powers that be had
decided that it was better for security to reduce the number of
trips made to Tau-Epsilon.  Thus leaving Captain Jobson waiting
on DS 25 for nearly four months so he could go in with her.  She
agreed with the theory of reducing activity to and from the
system, but you don't let a star ship captain stewing on a space
station just so he can share a ride with someone.


---------

     The Tau-Epsilon space dock was an old cage style black frame
work with the ship suspended in the middle.  The picture the
Romulans were looking at was from quite a distance sot it was
difficult to discern details.
     "Scanners show life signs in the habitats only." one of the
scientists reported.  "Mass and volume readings on the ship
indicate it is a smaller class."
     "Could they be building another Defiant class ship?"  The
navigator asked.
     "Enough talk!" the Captain demanded.  "Get some closer
pictures of the ship, I sense something very wrong and very
familiar here."  she then hit a communication button on her
console.  "Centurian, would you report to the Bridge."
     "acknowledged, I'm on my way." came the voice of the old
warrior.
     It took a few minutes for the Centurian to make his way up
from Engineering.  It was in extreme conditions like these that
the Captain was thankful for the decades of experience the
Centurian brought with him.  The old man wasn't wearing his
standard command uniform, but rather plain maintenance
coversalls.  Bridge crew always seemed a notch or two more
professional when the Centurian was on the bridge.
     "We've finally arrived at the canister's destination."  The
Captain said as the Centurian approached.  She then pointed to
the scanner data and the distant fuzzy picture they had.  "Does
this look familiar to you?"
     The Centurian looked at the readings for a second then asked
if they had betters pictures of the ship.
     "Not yet, Centurian, the station's orbit has turned it away
momentarily." the navigator replied.
     "Are you thinking what I'm thinking." the Centurian asked
the Captain.
     "I'm thinking this could be our Phantom Ship." the Captain
answered.
     "There's no way the ship in this picture is as small as the
Defiant." the Centurian said.  "Also, those cloaked drop ships
that attacked us, would explain how that cargo container is
propelled."
     "Sir," the navigator said  "New pictures of the ship are
coming.
     The new picture showed a full sized Federation Style
Starship.  This was no small Defiant class ship.  The ship had a
thick saucer section with a short neck connecting it to the main
body.  The neck was better described as a collar.  The most
distinctive feature of the ship, however were the warp nacelles.
This ship had three wide galaxy style nacelles, one standing
straight up and two sweeping down to the sides like runners.
     The top of the saucer looked odd, they finally were able to
make out a large plate covering the area that normally held the
ship's bridge.  Other things were also obvious from this
distance, there was a conspicuous absence of windows on the main
body.  It also appeared that the few windows they could define
were only on the top half of the saucer.
     From their vantage point, the crew watched as the cargo fell
into place over the frame of space dock.  The giant container was
slowly lowered into place on the girders over the star ship.  The
Raptor held its place for the next seventeen hours watching the
bridge section being lifted out of the cargo container and
carefully set into place in the saucer.
     "This can't be the ship that attacked us." the Captain
observed.  "This one is brand new."
     "Agreed," The Centurian said "It is, however, obviously the
same class."
     The captain walked up to the main screen and looked at giant
picture of the ship.  "We need to get a better look at it.  With
the damage to our sensors we just can't get the detail we need to
make a full report Command."  She then turned to the Centurian
"How are the repairs coming on the warp drives?"
     "We should soon have a stable maximum cruising speed of warp
four.  Maximum speed I estimate at around warp six for short
periods of time, but without cloaking."
     "That's not sufficient. It'll take a year to get back to the
boarder."
     "I could also get out and push if you'd like."  The
Centurian replied dryly.  "The damage we sustained going through
the anomaly is too great to repair out side of dry dock."
     "Once we get more stable power on line, I want to take the
Raptor down for a closer look at that ship."  The Captain told
the bridge crew.  "Start analyzing all sensor and scanning
emissions coming from the site.  I want to know how close we can
get without sending up an alarm."
     "Centurian, if you will join me in my office, there's been
something I've been considering which I need to discuss with
you." The Captain and the Centurian exited to her ready room.

     "What's on your mind?" the Centurian asked as soon as the
door to the ready room was closed.
     The Captain walked over and sat on her desk facing the old
warrior.  "You know we'll never make it back to the Empire under
current condition, don't you."
     "We have a chance, if we're careful."
     "By the time we got back, that ship could be launched and
threatening the Empire like the one before it."
     "We don't know that is their plan for it.  The Federations
been tooling up for threats from beyond the alpha-quadrant."  The
Centurian said as he took a seat across from the Captain.
     "Yes, I know, the Borg and the Dominion.  That is why the
Empire loaned them the cloak for the Defiant.  The Federation has
played us for fools, they have their own technology yet they come
to us ours.  Now they have a working example of the Empires most
advanced cloaking technology."
     "You seem to have already made a decision.  Do you mind
letting me in?"
     The Captain showed a slight smile of satisfaction "This ship
yard must have the parts we need to bring the engines fully on
line."
     The Centurian couldn't believe what he was hearing.  "Surely
your not planning a raid?  If the Federation know we've been
here, they'll never stop looking for us.  If we just slip out, at
least we may be able to get back to the Empire with some data on
this ship."
     "With what data?  Our sensors seem to have limited effect on
that hull or is from the damage we suffered coming though the
anomaly.  What are we suppose to do, get home a year from now and
show pictures of a ship which will have already been launched and
maybe leading campaigns against the empire.  It'll be just a bit
late by then."
     "What's your plan?" The Centurian was hesitant but knew the
Captain was basically right, they really couldn't make it back
home as is.
     "Simple, we hit them hard, take what we need and destroy the
rest."
     "I see you have it all planned out."
     "We don't have a lot of time, it is obvious that they do not
have the ship's crew on site yet.  We would see a lot more
activity if they did."
     The Centurian had to agree with that point.
     "But they could arrive at any time."
     "When do you want to do this?"
     "As soon as possible.  And Centurian, would you lead the
mission?  I know it isn't your place to take a leader ship role,
but this is crew of scientists I doubt many of them have seen
much action."
     The Centurian look at a view of the ship on the Captain's
screen.  It suddenly occurred to him that this was probably the
beginning of his last great adventure.  "I am honored to be given
the privilege of leading your crew into battle."
     They began making tentative plans for the mission.  They
would have to draw on every scrap of knowledge they had on
Federation designs to plan what areas to hit to efficiently get
what they needed and plant the charges to destroy the ship.
     The Romulans soon realized they couldn't beam directly to
the ship since its hull absorbed their scans.  They would have to
find alternate sources of entry.  The method of attack was the
key to a successful raid.  They soon came up with several ways to
enter the ship, all would be used.
     Once the Raptor's engines stabilized, the plan was
implemented.  Several teams would be deployed, the first beamed
directly to the space dock habitats.  Their mission was to secure
the transporter facility and transfer the transporter coordinates
to the Raptor.
     The team beamed into a deserted corridor near the
transporter.  "Remember." the Centurian reminded the
inexperienced crew "Move quickly, don't hesitate it give them
time to sound an alarm."
     The five Romulans moved quickly down the hall to the
transporter.  A young human stood with his back toward the door
when the group entered.
     "I didn't know any.." the boy started saying as he turned
toward them.  He was cut off by disrupter blast that threw him
against the bulk head unconscious.
     The Centurion immediately went to the console and started
feeding data to the Raptor.  "Initiate phase two."
     The Starship had its shuttle bay doors open allowing an easy
beam in point.  The transporter coordinates were also used to
beam in other teams.  The Centurian's team started sweeping the
habitats for the few life forms they could read there.  The
Centurian beamed directly to the action of the Starship.

     The Centurian beamed directly into a fire fight.  A loud
Klaxon blared around them as the Romulans exchanged fire with
some construction crew.  The crew appeared to be fighting back
with high temperature welding phasers.  They didn't have much of
a range, but caused a nasty burn.
     "Come on,"  The Centurian said to his warriors "Your being
held back with construction equipment."
     Two Romulans started working their way through the bay
toward the humans.  They had gotten quite close when one of the
humans stood up with a large black hand phaser.  White flames
spat from the sides of the tip of the muzzle and a blinding flash
of energy fired at the two.  The Romulans and the crates they had
taken cover behind disintegrated in a explosion of green gore.
The human fired on a Romulan hiding behind a more substantial
shipping container.  The container crumpled and blew back against
a nearby bulk head crushing the Romulan.
     The Centurian returned fire, but not directly at the human
thus avoiding fire from the creature's weapon.  A stack of
containers beside the human was the target.  The middle of the
stack blew out from the blast knocking the top containers on top
of the human.
     The Romulans took this opportunity to rush the humans
overwhelming them in a barrage of disrupter fire.  Minutes after
the battle began it was over leaving the cargo bay cluttered with
debris and covered in red and green gore.
     Chills ran down the Centurian's back and he felt his stomach
heave at the sight.  He was reminded of so many bloody campaigns,
he had thought this kind of face to face savagery a thing of the
past.  Modern war was an exchange of fire and a flash of light in
the vacuum of space.  The face of the enemy didn't have
substance.

     With the initiation of the attack, the Raptor took up a
defensive position over the space dock.  They expected that there
were cloaked drop ships in the system providing security.  If an
alarm were raised, the ships would come running.  If they did,
the Raptor was waiting for them.  None came.
     The Captain sat on the Bridge of the Raptor listening to
snippets of conversation from the away teams.  With her damaged
systems the Captain couldn't insure secure communications so made
do with low power audio.
     The space dock habitats were the first to be secured.  With
them came the project's transporter, communication and power
facilities.  The ship fell quickly, the crew were mostly
craftsmen and engineers most gave up rather then fight for an
unfinished ship.
     A familiar voice came over the comm channel.  "The ship is
secure.  Captain, I think you had better come down here there is
something I think you have to see before we destroy this ship."
     There was something the Captain had learned long ago, when
the Centurian offered an unsolicited opinion, it was one to heed.
"I'm on my way." she said immediately and headed for the
transporter room.
     The Captain materialized in the cargo bay were the most
intense battle had been fought. The room was a mess of debris and
carnage from the battle.  She tried not to think about her
warriors who had died here.
     Beyond the cargo bay a series of narrow corridors began
leading to many different flight and engineering support
facilities.  There were no luxuries anywhere, even the deck
wasn't solid but made of removable plates for easy maintenance.
The Captain thought the corridor was a main one that would run
the length of the ship, it didn't.  Once pass the engineering
section it T'd off.
     At the main juncture stood a large double door.  The door
was surrounded by yellow and black warning stripes and had a
sophisticated ID terminal next to it.  Wires hung from the
unconnected terminal, and the heavy overlapping blast door stood
half open.
     After sliding sideways between the doors, the Captain stood
in a dimly lit cavern of a room.  The area looked to be nearly as
wide as the ship and ran forward for the rest of the length.
Behind thick windows and heavy shielding, lay two large tubes.
The tubes appeared to be made of two meter sections that had been
joined and ribbed together.  Parts of the sections were opaque
while others ran through large access control boxes.  The tunnel
shielding stood half open.  In many places, wires dangled from
section interfaces and control panels.
     The Captain's mouth dropped open at the grand site.  "What
is the meaning of this?"
     "The best we can determine" the Centurian replied "Is they
are phaser cannons."
     The Captain stepped back and leaned against the bulk head
"This is unbelievable, the Federation has had one of these ships
in operation for over two years and the Empire hasn't had any
intelligence on it."
     "We don't know that for sure." the centurion pointed out.
"They may know but don't want to compromise their source."
     The Captain turned toward her adviser "What do you estimate
the capabilities of these guns?"
     The Centurian paced a couple of steps as he contemplated the
possible power output of the weapons.  "If the power generation
is eighty percent as efficient as is estimated for a Galaxy class
starship, at close range they may be able to split a planet."
     "If the Empire knew that StarFleet had a cloaked ship
capable of splitting a planet, there would be war."
     "If there were a war, the Federation could park that ship
anywhere and demand unconditional surrender."  the Centurian
observed.  "If they know it exists, they could be avoiding that
confrontation."
     The Captain hung her head in disbelief "No confrontation, no
war and no unconditional surrender.  The only way to avoid losing
is to resign before the battle.  Now we become a puppet of the
Federation and their doomsday ship.  It could be why the Empire
loaned the cloak to the Defiant.  If they pretend to have better
relations with the Federation it would cover up our becoming
their puppets."
     "Sir" the Centurian said softly "you may be drawing a few
too many conclusions from this."
     The Captain tried to force a smile "That my fried may be
true.  But what is also true is that if the Federation already
has a ship like this it would do us no good to simply destroy
this one."  The Captain suddenly had a gleam in her eye.  "Do you
think we could get the engines and warp drives for this ship on
line?"
     The Centurian's eye widened and he gagged a little "Are you
kidding?  If we could, it would take weeks, StarFleet could be
here in a matter of hours."
     "What if we took the ship with us?  Do we have enough power
to cloak both ships and maintain minimal warp?"
     "Take it with us?! Are you out of your mind? We'll be lucky
to make it home without dragging this thing along."
     "If we can get the engines on line, we could be home in a
matter of weeks, not in a year, maybe."  The Captain spoke in
hushed clipped tones trying to quite the old warrior.  "The
Federation already has at least one of these ships.  We must try
to regain the balance of power.  Besides, if we can't get the
ship's power on line in a reasonable amount of time we can always
destroy it later."
     The Centurian knew the Captain had made up her mind.  "I'll
begin making plans."

     The Raptor was smaller then the Viggen and fit easily
between its two down swept warp nacelles.  The Raptor's crew used
a combination of docking rings and maintenance clamping areas to
secure the two ships together.  They were even able to create an
operational airlock between the ships to allow the Raptor's
technicians to travel freely between them.
     Two days after taking the Tau-Epsilon space dock, the
Captain stood in its command room with several guards and
assistants.  Outside she watched the mooring clamps release from
the Federation ship giving control to Raptor.
     "All clamps released." came a report over the intercom.
     "Raptor, initiate maneuvering thrusters your free to clear
the space dock."  the Captain couldn't see her ship beneath the
Federation ship, but she knew it was there.
     The great ship slipped slowly out from the space dock and
took up its own orbit.  The combination of the small flat, green
Romulan ship connected to the wide, dark gray Federation ship was
an odd but impressive sight.
     "All systems function as expected." the Centurian reported.
     "Very good, I have one more piece of business to attend to
over here."  With that the Captain walked down a corridor to a
large holding area.  In it were twenty three Federation
personnel, the only survivors of the raid.
     There were four heavily armed Romulan guards and the Captain
was escorted by five more.  With the Captain's arrival the room
immediately fell silent.
     "I am Commander Vel'Til, Captain of the Raptor.  The ship
you call 'The Viggen' is an illegal vessel and must be taken to
the Romulan high council as proof that the Federation has broken
one of its fundamental treaties.  I only hope that the Romulan
Empire and the United Federation of Planets can overcome the
crimes you have committed here and not allow this incident to
evolve into a full scale conflict.  If it does, you will have
only yourselves to blame."
     Before any of prisoners could speak out, the Romulans
shimmered orange and disappeared.  One of the men immediately
headed to the window, followed by the rest.  Outside they could
see the strange pair of ships move slowly away from the station.
     "Quick," the human said to one of the others "get to the
communications room and see if you can get a signal out."
Several people immediately ran down a corridor toward the comm
center.
     The man then turned back toward the ships. Two drop ships
had just launched from the Viggen and cloaked.  She was already
using its resources to her advantage.  The Raptor / Viggen began
to shimmer as its cloak began to activate.  Then it cleared for a
second and a red light appeared behind the Raptor.  The cloaking
immediately reestablished and the ships disappeared.
     "What's that light?" one of the computer technicians asked.
     The man said "I hope they get those bastards." he then
forced a smile, he had always found an odd beauty in the warm red
glow of photon torpedoes.
                    to be continued........
Path: tivoli.tivoli.com!geraldo.cc.utexas.edu!cs.utexas.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!news.cac.psu.edu!psuvm!len101
Organization: Penn State University
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 1995 22:15:03 EST
From: Lawrence E. Nagy <[e-mail]>
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: PROJECT FULTON part 3
Lines: 617
Xref: tivoli.tivoli.com alt.startrek.creative:4640

****Warning, contains slight spoilers for _The Vigilante_ part 6
PROJECT FULTON:
          part 3
"Strangers"

..............
Fools! I will tell you now; though the red rain patters,
And a million of men go down, it's little it matters...
There's the flag upflung to the stars, though it streams in
tatters.

There's a glory gold never can buy to yearn and to cry for;
There's a hope that's as old as the sky to suffer and sigh for;
There's a faith that out dazzles the sun to martyr and die for.

Ah no! it's my dream that War will never be ended;
That men will perish like men and valour be splendid;
That the flag by the sword will be served and honour defended.

That the tale of my fights will never be ancient story;
That though my eye may be dim and my beard be hoary,
I'll die as a soldier dies on the Field of Glory.

     So give me a strong right arm for a wrong's swift righting;
     Stave of a song on my lips as my sword is smiting;
     Death in my boots may-be, but fighting, fighting.

             "The Song of the Soldier Born"
                        Robert W. Service



     Commander Sisko rode the open lift into Deep Space Nine's
command center.  The old Cardassiane machinery jerked and ground
to a stop causing everyone to look up.
     "Welcome back Benjamin" Jedzia said from her science
terminal "How was your trip?"
     Sisko displayed a slight smile and walked over to the young
woman who also called herself Dax. "It turned out very
interesting.  I ran into one of the original designers of the
Defiant's computer systems and learned something very intriguing
about our ship."
     "Oh really, and what might that be?"
     Sisko looked up and saw Major Kira working in his office.
"Come on into my office, Old Man.  I think the Major will be
interested in this too."

     After sharing a greeting with the Major, Sisko told the
ladies about the Defiant's reaction to Doctor Cembera.  "Its
whole interface changed, it seemed almost sentient."
     "I can't believe somebody else could possibly have complete
access to the Defiant." Kira said.
     "I don't know how much real access she has, it may just be a
reporting routine that didn't get wiped when her work was done."
Sisko leaned back in his chair and spoke in his usual soft tones.
"It was worth it though, to watch Chief O'Brien spend the rest of
the trip trying to get the computer to respond to him the same
way.
     "So has anything interesting been going on here while I've
been away?"
     "Not here." Major Kira said. "But we have been getting some
reports of activity in the Gamma Quadrant."
     "Is it anything we should be worrying about?"
     "Not currently, all the activity seems to be concentrated
near the Sendara sector."
     "Okay, but lets make sure our people keep us updated."
     "I'll make sure the reports are as timely as possible."
     "Great, now what does today's duty roster look like?"

     Commander Sisko and his son Jake had just sat down for
dinner when the comm center signaled.  "Dax to Sisko." came the
young woman's voice.
     "Go ahead." Sisko tried not to reflect the irritation he was
feeling.  He had just left the Command Center after spending six
hours catching up on work.  He needed some time with his son.
     "Sir, we are getting readings from the wormhole.  It looks
like we're about to have an unscheduled arrival from the Gamma
Quadrant.
     "How high are the omissions?" The level of emissions
generated from the wormhole by an arriving ship were directly
related to the size of the ship.
     "Low, about what we would expect from a runabout."
     This was intriguing, very few small ships came through the
worm hole, most were medium to larger size transports.  Something
about this one attracted the Commander's attention.
     Before Sisko could make it to the bridge, the worm hole
changed colors, swirled in on itself and emitted a small canopied
ship.  The ship had a long pointed nose with a canopy near the
back covering the occupants.  Painted white with a red stripe
down the nose the small ship seemed strangely formidable.
     After coming out of the worm hole the ship drifted a few
seconds as the pilot gathered his bearings.  Soon, the ship
righted it self and turned toward the station.
     "Unidentified ship.  This is Major Kira of Deep Space Nine
and the Bajoran Militia, you are in Bajoran territory, please
identify yourself."  Kira flicked off her transceiver and turned
toward Dax.  "What do you have on them?"
     "There are two life forms on the ship.  It is extremely
small with only enough room to seat the occupants.  The life
forms are humanoid, but there is some low level interference.  I
can't make out any details.  The interference is also keeping me
from telling if they are armed or not."
     "How convenient." came Sisko's voice from the lift.  "Have
they made contact yet?"
     "No, Sir." Kira replied "But we've only just opened the
channel.
     "Open all frequencies, and try again."
     The speaker crackled "This is Sir Utlin Robe'than, Red Wing
Commander of the Lin'Hrlar Protectorate Fleet, is this the United
Federation of Planets?"
     Commander Sisko and Major Kira exchanged looks then Kira
addressed the comm-panel again.  "Yes, we are allies of the
Federation."
     "Very good, I hear by officially request asylum."
     "This is Commander Sisko, I am the official Federation
representative to Bajor.  Before we can grant asylum, we must
know from whom and why?"
     "Understood, I request permission to come aboard the station
to discuss my case."
     Kira cut the channel and looked at Sisko "Are you sure you
want to let these people aboard the station without being able to
accurately scan them, they could be hiding something."
     "We should be able to get pretty good scans if we let them
board, Major.  I know you and Odo will be sure to put them
through a full security check before letting them get very far."
Sisko turned back to the Comm station.  "Permission granted,
please shutdown propulsion, our tractor beams will guide you to a
landing pad."
     "Thank you Commander."

     The ship wasn't as small as it looked.  It barely fit on a
runabout pad and towered over them in the hanger.  Commander
Sisko, Major Kira, Chief of Security Odo and assorted medical
personnel waited for the ship to be settled in the bay and the
occupants to disembark.
     The canopy lifted revealing two figures, one seated behind
the other.  Both wore ornamented helmets with dark face shields
and tight black leather accented uniforms.  The one in front
stood first.  He moved slowly, stretching and rubbing his limbs.
     Several of the station medical personnel started forward to
help them but Sisko waved them back.  "Do you need assistance?"
Sisko asked over the comm channel.
     "Thank you, but we can disembark on our own."  Sisko assumed
it was the one standing that responded but wasn't sure.  The
first occupant continued to move slowly and shut down systems.
He finally removed his helmet and placed it on the seat.
     The man had short black hair greased lightly so it would
stand up.  He had dark skin and totally human features.  He
worked on the side of the ship away from his hosts then stepped
out onto a platform he must have opened.  He then turned his
attention to the person in the back seat.
     When the other occupant sat up straight the crew of Deep
Space Nine was not extremely surprised to see it was a female.
She removed her helmet releasing a long mane of black hair then
immediately dock down out of sight and put on wide, dark wrap
around eye-protectors.  The man reached behind her seat and
pulled out a long purple scarf which the woman wound around her
head totally covering her face and most of her head.
     After retrieving a red cape from behind the seat and putting
it on, the man slowly climbed down a ladder that he had opened
from the side of the ship.  The woman then started extracting
herself from her seat, rubbing and stretching stiff, unused
muscles.  She was about the same height as the male and also
looked to be in very good physical shape.  Once she had extracted
herself from the cockpit she reached behind her seat and removed
a long cape type robe that was the same purple as the scarf she
already wore.

     The pair approached the space station staff.  The man led
with the woman keeping a half step behind him and to the left.
"I am Sir Utlin Robe'than." the man said saluting by bring his
left fist to his chest and bowing stiffly from the hips.  "I
thank you for allowing me a chance to plead my case for asylum."
     "Welcome aboard Deep Space Nine." Sisko said extending his
hand toward Sir Robe'than.
     The man looked at the extended hand then extended his own
and shared the hand shake.
     Sisko indicated his staff "This is Major Kira, Second in
command of Deep Space Nine and Constable Odo, Chief of security."
     Sir Robe'than faced the two to acknowledge them when Odo
spoke up. "Commander, if I may?"
     Sisko outwardly cringed then said "Yes, of course."
     "Sir," Odo said immediately "we have a policy on the station
prohibiting weapons except to authorized personnel."
     Robe'than looked at the large battle blaster hanging from
his left hip.  "Of course, my I return it to my ship?"
     "I believe that would be sufficient." Sisko said before Odo
could reply otherwise.
     The man removed the holster and blaster wrapping them
together.  He gave them to the woman who strode back to the ship
and put them behind her seat.  The canopy jerked to a close as
she walked back to the group.
     Sisko addressed the woman when she arrived back with them
"You haven't been introduced yet."
     Sir Robe'than moved a bit in front of the woman "She is my
Companion." he said as if that was all the explanation needed.

     It was decided to let the pair get settled in their quarters
before the interview.  As soon as the door shut behind them , the
woman pulled the shades, scarf and robe off.
     She took a deep breath and swirled around "Finally home!"
she said and dropped backward onto the bed.  She then stood right
back up "Oh God, I didn't think we would ever make it back."
     "Anndrea, I thought you said that Bajor wasn't part of the
Federation when you left"
     "It is now, and that's all that matters."  She then looked
out the porthole at the planet below.  "I didn't think I'd ever
be this close to Bajor again."
     "You've been here before, you said it was occupied by one of
the Federation's enemies before you left."
     "The Cardasians, yes. I came here on one of my first
assignments with Special Forces, we helped to train some of the
rebel leaders."  Anndrea's eyes suddenly crew wide "I knew she
looked familiar."
     "Who?"
     "That Bajoran, Major Kira.  She was one of the rebels I
trained.  If she recognizes me, things could get a little
difficult."
     The door chimed causing the two to stop and stare at each
other questioningly for a second.  Anndrea grabbed her scarf,
robe and glasses then headed into the head.
     Ra'than opened the cabin door as soon as the head's was
closed.
     It was Major Kira "Sir Robe'than, I just stopped by to see
if everything was okay and if you needed anything before your
meeting with Commander Sisko."
     "No thank you, Major. I'm fine."
     "And your Companion?"
     "Her needs are the same as mine, Major. And by the way
Major, my name is properly shortened to Sir Utlin.  Robe'than is
actually my formal personal name."
     The Major's eyes widened.  "I do apologize.  I should have
known to inquire, Bajoran names are structured the same way."
     Sir Utlin smiled Anndrea was right this similarity might be
enough to get Bajorans to accept them a little bit quicker.
"Major, will you be the escort to the meeting in an hour?"
     The Bajoran glanced by Sir Utlin and around his room for an
instant. "Yes, I think that can be arranged."
     "Thank you, now if you'll excuse me I'd like to get some
rest."
     The door slid closed between them and Kira stood staring at
it for a second then headed back down the corridor.

     "What did you find out?" Commander Sisko asked Major Kira as
soon as she reported back.
     "Well, he goes by Sir Utlin, he says that Robe'than is the
formal version of his personal name."
     Sisko looked at his second officer who had dropped herself
into the chair across from his desk and smiled.  "I guess he came
to the right place.  Did you find out anything else?"
     "Yes, it appears that he considers his 'Companion' to be
something less than a person, he only referred to her when I
asked about her directly.  The rest of the time he spoke in the
singular."
     "Now Major, as you keep reminding me, we can't judge other
cultures by our own standards."
     "I know, but it just bugs me to see a person treated with
such disregard."
     "Perhaps the more we learn about them, the less it will bug
you.  Is there anything else?"
     Major Kira hesitated for a second.  "Well there is one
thing, probably insignificant.  When she first took off her
helmet, I got a glimpse of her face and it looked very familiar,
but I just can't place it."
     "She looked familiar?  These people claim to come from
beyond the Dominion's territory and you say she looks familiar?"
     "That's right."
     "Well you had better settle this, because if you have seen
her before, it definitely puts a very large hole in their story,
doesn't it"

     The meeting went about how everyone expected.  Sir Utlin
expanded on his story of surviving an a attack of the Jem'haddar
against his people. To lead their fleet away from his own people,
he had flown into Dominion territory rather then back to his own
people.  Through his travels he had heard the stories of the
gateway to The United Federation of Planets.  He had hoped the
Federation would be more hospitable then the Dominion turned out
to be.
     One sticking point was Commander Sisko's insistence that Sir
Utlin and his Companion submit to physical.  Utlin was willing to
allow himself to be examined, but said that his culture viewed
the examination of their females as a gross invasion of privacy.
Unless there was something very wrong with them they were quite
capable of tending to themselves.  Since the woman's interaction
with the rest of the station's population was obviously going to
be very limited, Commander Sisko decided to let it go at that for
the time being.

     Commander Sisko, Major Kira, Odo and Doctor Bashir met to
discuss their new guests.  "The man looks human, but isn't."
Bashir was saying "His physiology is quite different then
anything we have on record.  I can say without a doubt that he is
not of any race the Federation has ever catalogued."
     Bashir then leaned forward a bit.  "There is something a
little odd about his prosthesis."
     "His what?" Commander Sisko asked confused.
     "Sir Utlin's right arm is mechanical from the elbow down,"
Bashir said.
     "What is odd about that." Sisko returned.
     "Its the workman ship.  The weld styles and other technology
appear to be very similar to what the Federation may put
together.
     "And what about the woman?" Major Kira had taken a very keen
interest in the mysterious Companion.
     "The scans I've been able to take from a distance are
inconclusive.  She is apparently protected by the same low level
interference that protects their ship."
     "I don't like it." Odo said "He is obviously trying to hide
something about her.  I think we should take some more proactive
steps in investigating them."
     "Constable" Commander Sisko said "I want you to be sure to
respect these peoples right to privacy.  Every visitor to this
station must be afforded a common level of respect.  You may
investigate them, but do not cross that line until I have proof
that their intentions are anything other then what they say.  Is
that understood?"
     "Yes, Sir." Odo sat back looking slightly defeated, but only
very slightly.


     Sir Utlin and his Companion found their way to Quark's bar.
They chose a table in a back corner away from the bulk of the
crowd.  "Do you really think this is a good idea?"
     Anndrea leaned over the table toward Utlin.  "This is
exactly what we should do.  Anybody who's been flying around in
that cramped fighter would want to get and about the first chance
they get."
     "Yes, but what if someone recognizes you?"
     Anndrea smiled beneath her scarf "I'm willing to take a
small risk once in awhile."

     The Ferengi owner of the bar finally approached the
strangers from the Gamma quadrant.  "Welcome to the Alpha
quadrant." he said with forced sincerity.  "You know, we have a
special this week for all visitors from the Gamma
quadrant.."
     Utlin cut him off "Please, I would just like something to
drink."
     "Very good.  What will it be, we have some delicious Jovan
Ale that just came in this week.  I know, how about some tewla
berry wine, we have it shipped directly from the Gamma quadrant,
a real treat."
     A voice came from behind Quark.  "Quark, why don't you just
get them some Nuala stock juice."
     Quark turned around to face Major Kira "A Bajoran health
food drink, arrgh.  Are you trying to drive them back through the
worm hole?"
     "I'll take the juice." Utlin broke in.
     "Okay," Quark submitted "how about the lady."
     Utlin gave Quark a strange look.
     The Ferengi took the hint and left.
     "So, Major Kira, won't you have a seat?" Utlin motioned
toward the third chair at the table.
     Kira sat down and looked at Sir Utlin.  She knew by now not
to address the Companion.  "What do you think of Deep Space Nine
so far?"
     Utlin leaned back in his chair and scanned his surroundings
"Deep Space Nine looks like a military industrial complex with a
very thin coat of paint on it."
     Kira laughed "You have just described this station to a
tee."
     A shadow fell over the table the three looked up at a tall
hooded figure.  When it had their attention, it pushed back the
hood revealing a dark green and black creature.  Its skin wasn't
smooth, it looked like a cross hatch weaving of thick cords.  The
thing didn't have actual hair, the cords that made up its skin
ended at the top of its head and spilled over like hair.
     Kira immediately stood up.  "Guntar! What are you doing
here?  I thought you promised not to return."
     The creature looked down at Kira and spoke with a deep
guttural voice "I never promised such a thing.  I was told not to
return, but my quest has brought me back."
     "Move on Guntar.  Your quest does not lay at this table or
Bajor."
     Guntar ignored Kira and turned to the strangers.  "I am on a
search for the murderer of my son.  I will not rest until he is
avenged."
     Utlin leaned back in his chair and looked up at the massive
creature in front of him.  "What do you want with me?"
     Guntar opened his robe revealing a vest and other trappings
that were the remains of many different battle dress uniforms.
Ribbons, pieces of metal, chains and other things hung from the
uniform as ornaments.  Many of the objects looked as if they had
adorned the creature for decades.  He reached into a pocket and
pulled out a shiny, ornate piece of metal and threw it on the
table.
     The thing was silver with intricate carvings and was about
the size of the palm of a hand.  In the middle was a blue-green
stone with white and black streaks in it.  "This is a replica of
the last thing my son saw when he was murdered.  When I find the
original, I've found my revenge."
     Utlin looked at the thing on the table. "I have never seen
such an ornament before."
     Guntar was used to this response and immediately turned to
the female from the Gamma quadrant.  "Have you ever seen this
ornament before?"
     "I said that I have never seen the thing." Utlin repeated
forcefully.
     Guntar turned his massive head toward Utlin.  "I am asking
this one now!"
     Utlin stood quickly flipping the table out of the way
causing Major Kira to jump clear.  The silver ornament flew into
air but was caught by Guntar's lightning fast reflexes.
     Before anything else happened a booming voice filled the air
"What is going on here?!"  Odo had just turned the corner to
approach the group when Utlin had flipped the table.
     "I just asked the female a question."  Guntar said.
     Odo looked at the woman from the Gamma Quadrant.  She sat
calmly in her chair with her arms folded in front of her.  The
woman hadn't even flinched when Utlin flipped the table.  "Is
this true?" Odo asked the group.
     "It is considered a gross breach of etiquette to speak with
a man's Companion." Utlin explained then stared at the creature
they called Guntar.
     "My apologies." Guntar said "I was not aware."

     After finishing their drink with Major Kira, Ra'than and
Anndrea returned to their cabin.  "Well," Utlin said "are you
going to tell me about Guntar?"
     "Guntar is a Cartellian." Anndrea responded as she unwrapped
her scarf.  "They're tough S O B's but easy to kill if you know
how."
     "Apparently you know how."
     Anndrea frowned at the memory. "It was a long time ago."
     "Guntar doesn't seem to think so."
     "If he becomes too much of a problem, I'll take care of
him."
     Ra'than shivered.  He'd been with Anndrea for over two years
and knew what the look in her eyes meant.  "We don't want to do
anything drastic, everyone is counting on us."
     Anndrea walked over and put her arms around Ra'than "Don't
worry, I know what I'm doing."

---------

     Several hours after the confrontation in Quark's bar, the
stationed was awakened by the red alert signal.  Commander Sisko
barely had time to grab his uniform, let alone put it on when he
was beamed directly to the Defiant.  Major Kira was just
fastening her uniform top as Sisko rushed on to the bridge
wearing just slacks and under shirt, carrying his uniform jacket
under his arm.
     "What's going on?"
     Lieutenant Dax's voice came of the intercom from the command
center. "Commander, a Jem'hadar ship as just come through the
worm hole.  It will be within range of the station in two
minutes."
     Kira was already at the Operation's station.  "We've already
been released from docking, and shields are up." she report.
     "Good, put the ship on the main screen and open hailing
frequencies."
     "The Jem'hadar are responding." Kira reported.
     "On screen."
     In stead of the expected Jem'haddar face, a different but
familiar one appeared.  It was the female Founder that had become
Odo's guide to his heritage.  "Commander Sisko, just the human I
was looking for."
     "What can I do for you?" Sisko replied trying to sound
hospitable.
     "Commander, we have found something you or should I say the
Federation may be interested in.  As such, we were hoping you
could take a look at it for us and perhaps offer some form
suitable explanation."
     "What is the nature of this discovery?"
     "It is debris from a destroyed ship.  Really Commander it
would be so much easier if you could just examine it."
     Sisko cut the transceiver and turned to Kira "What do you
think?"
     "They obviously have something else in mind" Kira replied
"but what I don't know.  This could be a trap."
     Sisko had a gleam of curiosity in his eyes.  "We'll never if
we don't play along with them."
     "Be careful."
     "I'm always careful, Major."  Sisko said then  reactivated
the communications.  "Okay, how do you want to do it?"
     "It would be easiest if you beamed over here." the female
changeling said.
     "How do I know this isn't just a ruse to kidnap me?" Sisko
asked with a smile on his face.
     "Why Commander Sisko, if that was my intention, we would be
back in the Gamma Quadrant by now."
     Sisko beamed over to the Jem'haddar ship carrying a phaser
and tri-corder.  The Jem'haddar at the controls wasn't happy
about the phaser but let Sisko keep it.  He was escorted across
the corridor to a storage area.  In it were a number of crates
and boxes.
     The Founder was also there.  "Welcome, Commander, I'm glad
you decided to visit us." she said immediately.
     Sisko was in no mood for pleasantries "What is this all
about?"
     "Of course, right to business.  Last year, our deep space
survey equipment registered a momentary rupture in the fabric of
space."  The woman said and paced by a large container sliding
her hand along it.  "We sent a ship to investigate, then another.
We never heard from either ship again."
     Sisko was very intrigued it wasn't everyday a force like the
Jem'haddar met such a silent end.
     The woman continued "We then sent a fleet of ships to
investigate.  They didn't find any trace of the previous ships
but they did find some debris."
     Sisko motioned at the crates "I take it this is the debris
they found."
     "A fraction of, a very small fraction."
     "Why bring it to me, surely this has nothing to do with the
Federation."
     "Well Commander, as you know, we have our sources of
information in the Federation and this does seem to be related to
something you are familiar with.  That is why we are here, if it
is what we think it is it is of great concern to the Dominion and
also perhaps to the Federation."
     "Let's take a look."
     Two Jem'haddar lifted the lid off the center crate revealing
a mass of twisted metal.  Sisko immediately turned his tri-corder
of the debris.  "I'll need to transmit my readings to the station
for proper analysis."
     "Of course, Commander.  We don't expect you to be an expert
in all things."
     The comment sounded like an insult, but it was true so Sisko
just ignored.  He then hailed DS 9 and started transmitting the
readings he was taking of the debris.  The Jem'haddar broke open
several more cases for Sisko to scan.  All containers held
similar debris some more twisted then the rest, but none
immediately recognizable.
     The Jem'haddar brought up the station on a view screen.
Lieutenant Dax and Chief O'Brien were both there to report on the
findings. "What do you have?" Sisko prompted them.
     O'Brien looked visibly shaken. "Commander, I don't think
your going to want to hear this."
     "What is it Chief?"
     Dax cut in "The data you have sent back, matches precisely
all material and structural specifications we attribute Borg
construction."
     "What?"
     "Sir," O'Brien spoke up "that is debris from a Borg ship,
there is no question about it."
     Sisko turned to the Founder "You knew this?"
     "We suspected as much, but needed confirmation."
     Now Sisko knew why the Founder came along.  They never would
have gotten Federation confirmation without her.
     "Where did you find this debris?" Sisko wasn't able to mask
his concern.
     The woman brought a star chart up on the view screen.  The
systems in the Gamma Quadrant were purposely blurred.  She
pointed at a sector on the far side of Dominion territory.
     "My God, that's no where near suspected Borg space."
     "There's one more thing."
     The Founder turned to one of the Jem'haddar and motioned to
a crate sitting in the far corner of the room.  It was large,
more than two and a half meters long.  It was opened revealing a
large smooth black capsule.  The first thing that occurred to
Sisko was that it looked like a StarFleet class VIII probe.  On
closer examination it looked even more like a class eight probe,
but it didn't have any of the standard markings.
     "Did you find this with the debris?"
     "No, it was found drifting in a nearby star system.  From
its trajectory it looked like it was launched from near the
debris on a collision course toward the star, but it appears to
have malfunctioned."
     "Why would they have done that?"
     On queue, a Jem'haddar opened the probe.
     In the probe was a female humanoid body.  The body's skin
way pale gray and pulled tight around the bones.  It had long
knee length dark hair and wore ornate gold and purple robes.
     "She certainly looks human." Sisko whispered as he
approached the body.  He then tapped his comm badge "Sisko to
Bashir."
     "Doctor Bashir here."
     "Doctor, I'm sending readings from a body the Jem'haddar are
showing me, I need to know if you can identify the species."
     There was a slight pause "I'm processing your scans now,
we'll know in a second."   Bashir had prognosis pretty quickly
which sounded very familiar to Commander Sisko "The woman looks
human, but isn't." the Doctor said "Her physiology is quite
different then anything we have on record.  I can say without a
doubt that she is not of any race the Federation has ever
catalogued."
     "And what about the probe?" the Founder asked.
     Sisko turned the tri-corder on the probe "Chief O'Brien,
what can you tell me about the probe."
     "Sir" O'Brien said after a few minutes "perhaps we should
discuss this under more secure circumstances."
     "Somehow, Chief, I think our guests already know what you're
about to tell me, so you may as well get it over with."
     "Commander, that is a standard StarFleet class eight probe
that has been stripped to serve for burial."
     The Jem'haddar immediately closed the probe and its crate
and pushed it back into place.  The Founder stepped directly in
front of Sisko.  "Commander, I know that you are not involved
with what ever happened in Dominion territory, but let it be
known, that if we find out the Federation is involved with
bringing the Borg into the Gamma Quadrant we will be forced to
take decisive action against the Federation.  Tell your people
that what ever happened out there we will find out and when we
do, we will expect a full accounting from StarFleet.  Is that
understood, Commander?"
     "I can assure you" Sisko said still bewildered by this new
twist "that I will do all that I can to come to the bottom of
this.  You also have my word that the Federation would NEVER
think of using the Borg in the manner you suggest.  We consider
them one of the Federation's greatest threats."
     "Very good, we will be in touch."
     The Jem'haddar ship shimmered orange and green then was
replaced by the bridge of the Defiant.

          to be continued........
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Larry Nagy
1160 Boyer Rd
Erie, PA 16511

I have no doubt at all the Devil Grins,
As seas of ink I splatter.
Ye gods, forgive my "literary" sins-
The other kind don't matter.
-- Robert W. Service