Danny Amor's Online Library/Danny Amor's Online Library - Volume 1.iso/html/startrek/story/tng/matthew_weed/superdreadnought

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Obligatory disclaimer....
All concepts part of all four Star Trek Series are copywritten
to Paramount Pictures Corporation, and any immitation herein is mere
flattery.
Some characters in this work are copywritten
Matthew Weed and Marc Hernandez 1992-95,
and the remainder are copywritten to Matthew Weed, 1994-95.
Special thanks to [e-mail], for his quick spell checking
this evening.

Preface,
This work is in response to the, in my opinion, unrealistically peaceful
nature of the Star Trek Universe as depicted in Star Trek: The Next
Generation.  I have taken the events in the history and have extended
them in a way that i feel is more logical, considering the political and
economic circumstances as shown us in Star Trek: The Next Generation and
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine television series.  All comments on the story
are welcomed at [e-mail].
Note that all characters in this work do not, in any way, represent
people, living, dead, or unborn.


SUPER-DREADNOUGHT Part I: Chapter I
By:
Matthew A. Weed


    Command Log:  Stardate 56215.4: Admiral William McGinnis,
Commanding USS Ticonderoga reporting:
We will be ready to launch this new ship in less than a day.  The ship
is the latest in Federation design, and unfortunately, its powers may
not be sufficient to successfully prosecute our mission.  I will command
this vessel in her first, and
hopefully not last, mission.  If we succeed, the quadrant will be safe.
If not, all of the civilizations in the area are likely to fall to The.

Admiral McGinnis shut off the recorder, and prepared to leave his
quarters.  Where the old-class ships had been powerfully
armed and heavily shielded for their times, this ship was the best-
armed, best-shielded ship in space, without exception.  "Their times,",
god... he thought to himself,  it was only thirteen years since he had
taken command of the new defender-class ship called.
Although the ship had been built as a warning to the Federation's
enemies, with far heavier weapons than anything of its time,
compared with this new vessel, was a light-cruiser at best.

    It had been a long thirteen-year period, highlighted by the
 attack on the Klingon home system, which had brought the
 to their decision to break the treaty of Algeron.  Their fleet
had barely defeated the single cube, and had suffered
staggering losses in the effort.  Now, they were building up their
forces in preparation for an offensive against territory.

The Romulans, not believing the' effort would end against
the had also exceeded treaty limitations with their newest
ships, and, fearing that it would be left behind, the Federation had
begun building a new fleet, with the new Ticonderoga class as its
centerpiece.

These ships carried phase-cloaking technology, a new hyper-
accelerated collimator ring capable of three times the destructive
output of the old-class technology, rapid-fire phaser
batteries with independent power supplies, contained-plasma
torpedoes, triple shielding, and, most importantly, a back-up forced
quantum singularity generator, capable of fifteen-minute bursts of
power, sufficient to power the ships' vastly powerful weapons and
shielding.  Each of these ships could handle twenty of the old war-
bird class ships, given proper circumstances...  The question, simply
put, was could they handle a single (or more likely), multiple
ships.

McGinnis sighed as he left his quarters, it wasn't really his job to
worry about design specs.  His job was to go to the Klingon home
world, in order to meet with Gouron in order to plan allied strategy,
against both and Romulans.  Star Fleet hoped that this brand new
ship would be as powerful a sign of commitment as the presence of
Jean-luc Picard's Enterprise had been in the first battle, four years
previously.  Unfortunately, Enterprise had been destroyed in the
battle, and it was rumored that some of the ship's officers had been
taken by the.  McGinnis sincerely hoped, for their sakes, that
they had not.

The bridge doors opened, admitting him to Ticonderoga's heavily
armored command center.
"Admiral on the Bridge," said Lieutenant-commander Walter Schultz,
Tactical officer, and third-in-command.
"At ease, ... report on status of our undocking preparations?" said
McGinnis as he moved to the center seat.
"All systems have been checked, all power conduits and back-up
systems show clear, computer is on-line, weapons at standby, warp
drive is available, phase-cloak is available, and torpedoes are still
being loaded sir.", said Captain Data, who had been loaned to
McGinnis' command after Star Fleet realized that there were no
officers aboard Ticonderoga who had any significant experience with the.
Such experience, it was thought, would be critical, particularly in the
planned meetings with the Klingon Command.

"Thank you, Captain.  Operations, do you have a listing of the other
ships that will rendezvous with us at the Klingon Capitol?"
"Sir, Star Fleet reports that they can not give us a complete list, but
three task forces are expected to arrive within twenty-four hours
after our arrival.  They will be commanded by captains Shelby and
Stromgren, and Rear-Admiral De.  They expect a minimum
total of four dreadnought-class, five cruiser-class, and eleven support
vessels.  All have had the new sensor modifications installed, and
most are carrying phase-cloaking devices.  However, they will be
able to provide comparatively little fire-support, and the
have already suggested that this vessel is the only one in which they
are interested."
"I see, the smaller ships may prove a liability, but I really don't like
the' dismissal of them out-of-hand.  Commander, forward
the information concerning our fleet strength to the Klingon council,
and tell Gouron that I will want to discuss the use of the smaller
ships with him immediately on our arrival."
"Aye sir," replied Janet Anders as she turned back to her console.
McGinnis sat back in his chair, thinking about the tremendous change
that had come over Ms. Anders over the last few years.  She had
come aboard a young lieutenant junior-grade, who was
impatient for results, believing that things could be had if you
wanted them badly enough.  The last years had molded her into a
fine officer, patient, cunning, and compassionate.  Assuming that all
of them survived the upcoming mission, she would make a fine ship's
commander.  However, more important matters awaited them at the
moment.

"Mr. Data, what is the current report on our earliest possible
departure time?"
"Assuming that all of the loading is proceeding at the projected rate,
we should be able to depart the dock in thirteen hours, eight minutes
fifteen seconds."
"Thank you, ms. Anders, please have dock ready to clear us in
fourteen hours.  Until then, I want all of you to take added time off,
because after we leave dock, I suspect that none of us will be getting
much rest for quite some time."

At this moment, a lieutenant from engineering hastened onto the
Bridge, and reported that engineering com systems were down;
that this was related to a slight instability in the quantum core; and
that
Commander  Macleod thought that repairs would take about four
hours. Until the repairs were complete, it would be impossible to
generate anything more than 25% power from the auxiliary
generator.
"Lieutenant, Tell him that since we won't need the added power until
after we leave Klingon space, I suspect that he can fix the problem in
transit.  If he has further concerns, have him report to me directly,
and make sure that someone finds a work-around for the comlinks,
since the optical controllers aren't up yet, we're totally dependent on
our communicators."
"Aye Sir," she said as she rushed ac into the turbolift.
"Unless anyone has other concerns, I'm going to be in my quarters,
you can reach me there, ...Mr. Data, you have the bridge." said
McGinnis.  He rose and left the Bridge, glancing over his shoulder to
make sure that all was in order before he left.

***
SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part I: Chapter II:
by:
 Matthew Weed


McGinnis turned over in his sleep, and then snapped wide awake.  He
reached over to hit the com switch, opening a channel to the Bridge.

"McGinnis here," he said.
"Sir, you asked for notification when we were one hour from launch,"
replied Data's voice.
"Thank you, I'll be up in thirty minutes, I want all senior staff on the
Bridge at that time."
"Yes sir, I will ensure that everyone is here."
"McGinnis out."

After a quick shower and change of uniform, McGinnis left his quarters
for a quick snack on his way to the Bridge.  Ever since the dimensional
transit several years previously, he had always been too nervous to eat
full meals during his ships' first voyages.  He had been a young,
inexperienced commander then, and the physical and psychological stress
of that mission had been quite enough for an entire lifetime.  Most of
his crew had spent a number of weeks in hospital, and it had been more
than six months before they had been permitted to return to duty.

***
The doors of rec-1 opened silently as he approached, and he was just as
glad.  Although Alpha shift would be going on duty any minute, the room
was somewhat crowded with crew as they either relaxed or lined up to
throw their dishes into the recyclers.

McGinnis moved quickly  to the bank of replicators placed near the door.
Although the bar was open, he didn't have time to chat, and he didn't
want to interrupt the other shifts' relaxation with his uniformed
presence.  Though he didn't usually demand tremendous discipline from his
crew when they were  off-duty, seeing him in uniform often caused all of
his crew to treat him with what other commanders called "Captain on the
Bridge" manners.  Now, there was no reason for it, and so he tried to
avoid bothering them, while still gauging their stress level as the
ship's launch time approached.

After ordering a quick BLT and salad, he turned to leave, so that he
could eat in his small ready-room, located a short distance from the main
bridge. Just before he could slip out the door, a young crew member moved
to intercept him.
"Sir," she asked somewhat timidly, "I was wondering, what do you think
our chances are?"
McGinnis looked at the slender young woman, whose face was lined with stress.
"Chances of what? ensign, he asked, knowing full-well what she meant.
"Of surviving our mission against the."
"Well, that isn't our mission as yet, Although the plan to attack, I
haven't received orders to help them yet, and we're still hoping to keep
them from going.  I think we've got a good shot."
"I hope so, sir, I want to come back from this."
McGinnis sighed to himself, wondering for the thousandth time, why Star
Fleet Command had insisted on sending mere kids on this mission, and on
this ship.  Kids deserved the chance to grow up, and this ship wasn't
meant to keep them out of danger.  It might be the best protection ever
built once there, but it was always best to avoid battle whenever
possible.  Even if that avoidance meant threatening the other side with
guaranteed destruction, a threat that this ship was quite capable of
backing up.
"Ensign, we all want to come back, and I, for one, feel that not coming
back is simply unacceptable.  You know your duties well, so do them to
the best of your ability, and we all will have a better chance of getting
back."
"Aye sir," she said, still somewhat unconvinced.
McGinnis made a mental note to check with Commander MacLeod to see how
she was doing when they reached the Klingon home planet.

He quickly left Rec-1, and entered the turbolift.
"Conference 1," he said and the turbolift began a sideways motion.

***
After his small meal, McGinnis rose and walked down the slightly curved
corridor that led to the main bridge entrance.
"Admiral on the Bridge," said Data as he rose from the command chair and
moved to the first officer's station located in the semi-circle of
stations surrounding the central well of the bridge.
"At ease," said McGinnis as he sat in his chair, placed at the center of
the semi-circle of stations; "All stations report."
"All computer systems show green, all processors on line, security board
is green, all auxiliary systems available," said Data.
"Weapons control systems show green, main ring, rapid fire phasers,
auxiliary collimators and plasma torpedoes at standby.  Phase cloak at
stand by, all shields show ready for activation." said  Schultz.
"Helm and nav systems  show ready," said Thale, the Andorian lieutenant
at helm/nav station.
"Engineering systems all show green, except for the auxiliary generator,"
said Commander Anders.  "All communications systems show green, save main
communications in the engineering hull, but optical links are now up."
"All sensors available, all science departments reporting ready for
launch," came T
'Mayek's report from the science station.
"good, I want to brief you all on the upcoming mission.  As you know, the
Klingon fleet has been built up to levels not seen since the
Klingon/Federation hostilities ended seventy years ago.  Their build-up
is in direct response to the attack on their space more than four years
ago.  Nearly sixty vessels were lost, and a period of political
instability has ensued.  Many of the' internal political problems are
still on, so be ready for surprises.

House Durass has been pressuring for a renewal of the old Klingon/Romulan
alliance, and their views are being heard, particularly due to the fact
that Federation assistance, in the Klingon view, was limited.  As you
know, we lost less than ten ships in those actions, including two
defender-class ships and the flagship.  This vessel, along with a large
number of other ships is to proceed to The Klingon home planet in order
to show them that we will support their offensive against the should that
become necessary.

Since Captain Picard's death, there have been few officers whom the
respect.  Largely because of our successful prosecution of the campaign
against the Cardassians last year, we have been ordered to head the fleet
with this new ship, in order to attempt to convince the to hold their
attack.  This is my intention, but I want all of you to know that I think
it unlikely that we shall succeed, and I want all crew members to begin
full testing of the new armor suits that we are carrying.  Should we come
into contact with the, I suspect that they will be necessary.

This ship is well equipped, and its technology is different than anything
that we have confronted the with in the past.  However, this does not
mean that you should be over-confident, or that you should expect that we
will give quarter to the, should be succeed in doing significant damage
to any forces that we should meet.  If we can do so, we will destroy
their ships without question, and there will be no exceptions made.

Until further notice, all of us, plus Commander MacLeod will be on
stacked shifts duty, so that at least two command-chain officers are on
duty at all times.  We are going into an unstable situation in the
Klingon Empire, and I need say nothing more about the.  Are there any
questions?"
"Yes, Sir," replied Data, "Will we be trying to capture technology?"
"Yes, my orders do provide for that possibility, and that is much of the
reason for the training in the new armor suits.  We will only try to get
hardware, no "members", will be taken, as I don't want to risk having the
rest of the Collective tracing our location through any prisoners that we
may take."
There was a pause, while all of the officers sat considering what they
had just heard.  Despite that fact that most of them were from defense
command, and not exploration or science headquarters, talk of all-out war
was uncommon.  Furthermore, talk of breaking every treaty and moral
regulation that governed the Federation's many civilizations was a bit
hard to digest.  However, the  were an unusual enemy, and if they were to
be defeated, unusual methods would clearly be necessary.
"Are there any further questions?" ... "Very well, we are now less than
half an hour from departure, so please double check all systems, and
notify me when you are ready.  I will be in engineering.  Mr. Data, you
have the conn."
***
McGinnis entered the ship's great engineering deck.  The room, one of the
largest pressurized  contained-volume structures ever build in space, was
nearly half a kilometer long, a tenth that broad, and twenty meters
deep.  The great main energizer ran much of the length of the room, a
glowing crystalline tube that split at the saucer-end of the engineering
hull into a rough Y-shape with a great ball at the apex of the three
sections.  Beyond this ball, the entire hull began to narrow until it was
closed off by another ball-shaped structure, the ship's primary auxiliary
power generator, the forced quantum core.

It was toward this end of the room that McGinnis moved, in search of
Robert MacLeod, the ship's chief engineer.  Finally, after some
searching, McGinnis found him working near the main control panel for the
auxiliary power core.

"Chief, we're less than half an hour from launch, and I'd like you to be
on the bridge when we depart if possible."
MacLeod turned to his commander, and one of his closest friends.
"William, you know that I'd not miss it if I could, but these repairs are
going to require my main attention for at least another two or three
hours, and with the schedule that we have to keep, I'd like to get them
done before we get to Klingon space."
"If I didn't know you better, I'd think that you were having some kind of
a premonition," said McGinnis with a small smile.
"No, no premonition, just the expectation that we won't get to the
Klingon home planet without trouble. , Romulans, its really all the same,
they may operate differently, but their intentions are more-or-less the
same; and as far as I'm concerned, I'm not going to let a cranky system
make today my day to die.  Especially when I have the ability to fix it."
"Very well, but don't over work yourself now, I suspect that all of us
will have more than our fair share of work over the next weeks."
"Agreed, and the more that I can do to ensure that the work's in the
hands of tactical, the happier I'll be."
"Well, good luck, and at least try to watch the departure on the
monitors, we have optical up, in case your staff was avoiding you."
"As a matter of fact," said MacLeod, now grinning too, "Lieutenant
Furgisson did say something about that, I'll have to make sure that she
doesn't talk to me while I'm working, something like another officer I know."
"All right, All right, I'm going," said McGinnis laughing.
"I'll see you later," replied MacLeod turning back to his work.

McGinnis left engineering, satisfied that the work there was proceeding
well, and that MacLeod wasn't driving his staff too hard.  With the high
level of automation, there were comparatively few jobs for the crew to
carry out directly, and so as long as the computer-controlled repair
systems were functioning, the ship could be handled by as few as two crew
members, with little loss in efficiency.  However, some engineers,
MacLeod included, liked to have their people check the computers' work,
while it was progressing.  This often meant that the engineering staff
was run ragged during the ship's barely-completed construction phase.
McGinnis had heard some of the younger engineers say that they were
looking forward to the mission, simply so that they would have to do less
work.  he hoped, for everyone's sake, that they would be proven right.

The turbolift doors opened, and McGinnis stepped in.
"Weapons-control center," he said to the computer.
The lift accelerated sideways as it traveled nearly the entire length of
the engineering hull.  It then shot up at a flat angle, passing the
ship's plasma torpedo bays, through the dorsal connecting main and
engineering hulls, and then began to decelerate as it entered the main
hull through one of the struts connecting it to the mega-collimator ring
surrounding it.  The doors opened, allowing access to the airlock that
was one of the four physical access points to this room, the most heavily
shielded location aboard ship.

McGinnis entered the smallish room, which was about the size of the main
bridge.  Computer stations ringed the entire room, allowing interface
with any of the ship's seven-dozen weapons and defensive  systems.  When
in battle, a full staff was located here, in order to take over from the
Bridge, should it be compromised in any way.  Between the nearly
two-meter thick armor, transporter shielding, and built-in phaser
defenses, this room was considered nearly impregnable to anything short
of the, and even these would need time to break into this room.

McGinnis sat at the main status board, and requested a full computer and
weapons status check.  Almost immediately the computer responded with a
report far more detailed than that obtainable from the Bridge.  It showed
that all primary, secondary, and distributed computer systems were fully
available, weapons were all operable at maximum efficiency, and that
primary, auxiliary, and secondary shielding was all available.  All power
transfer systems were clear, and all switching hardware was available,
should it become necessary.  Beyond its architectural benefits, the
room's equipment was voice-controllable, making it possible for a very
small number of people to handle the task of fighting the ship, should
that become necessary.  McGinnis had never fully understood why such
capabilities weren't a part of the Bridge as well, but the "standard"
explanation that such controls might loose efficiency in the higher
activity of the Bridge would have to do.

After completing the status check, he returned to the Bridge, and saw
that there were about ten minutes before launch.
"Admiral on the Bridge," said Data as he returned to his station.
"At ease," said McGinnis somewhat absently.
"All stations, a brief final word before we go.  This is the newest in
Federation technology, and despite the problems that we are still having
with the quantum generator, I am highly confident in this ship's ability
to handle anything thrown at her.  As no other ships are scheduled for
departure, and we are loaded and ready to go, I suggest that we get under
way.... Helm, stand by thrusters, engage navigational deflectors. ...,
notify dock control that we are departing early, and that this vessel,
USS Ticonderoga, NX4000, is hereby commissioned by me, as of Stardate
56217.4"
"Aye Sir," replied Thale and Anders.
"Dock reports clear for launch, and congratulations.  They wish us good
luck sir," said Cmdr Anders.
"Helm, ahead one quarter maneuvering power, as soon as we exit dock, come
to 128.35 mark 23, and set main velocity at warp 9. ... Tactical, engage
phased cloaking device immediately."
"Phased cloak is now engaged," replied Walter Schultz.
"We are now clearing dock, entering course 128.35 mark 23, our velocity
is set at warp 9."
"Mr. Thale, ... You may proceed," replied McGinnis.
The ship, already invisible, accelerated to warp 9, on its way to
beginning a mission that would probably be critical to Federation history
for the remainder of the century.

***
SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part I: Chapter III
By:
 Matthew Weed


Commander's personal  Log: Stardate 56229.3 Star Ship USS Ticonderoga:
Admiral William McGinnis recording.

We are now two days out of construction dock, and insofar as we can tell,
no ships observed our departure.  As only Gouron and the three Federation
task force commanders know of this ship's existence, I am relieved by
this.  We are still several hours from the Klingon home planet, and as
all systems have continued to function perfectly for the last forty
hours, the tension aboard ship seems to be decreasing by the hour.  This,
of course, will soon change, as we are about to enter the most difficult
part of this mission.  If I succeed in convincing Gouron to hold off in
his attack, all sides will have more time to prepare.  If I do not, we
may be facing the before the Federation is ready for a war on this scale.

Because we have been very fortunate over the last seventy years, we may
have become too complacent, too ready to expect that our enemies can be
argued into taking our view of things.  The only exceptions to this are
the Cardassians, who are not a threat to the Federation anymore, and the
Romulans, who are so weakened by political turmoil, that they pose little
threat most of the time.  The, however, are another matter.

Even with the loss of the collective now under the leadership of "Hugh",
and the losses encurred at Sol, and in the Klingon war, they still pose
an overwhelming threat.  Why they haven't tried a more concerted attack
is beyond me.  So far, they have, apparently viewed us as "irrelevant,"
with only our technology as "relevant,".  What happens if they suddenly
come to the understanding that if  they are to get our tech, they will
have to kill us all.  Then we will become "relevant," and I do not look
forward to that day.  The question, simply put, is whether the' planned
offensive will make us "relevant," or not.

***
McGinnis sat back, wondering what needed to be done.  With a crew of less
than 400, many of the duties that went along with being a commander of a
or Galaxy-class ship were unnecessary aboard this vessel.  There were two
reasons for the small crew.  Firstly, the ship's tremendous automation,
something that had been designed into her with the in mind.  The second,
put simply, was that this ship's living quarters were not large, as the
equipment that supported the weapons, computers, and shielding of this
vessel, plus extremely heavy structural members took up tremendous
amounts of space in a hull barely larger than a Galaxy-Class ship.

McGinnis rose quickly,  remembering that he would have training in the
new suits of heavy-duty armor, with which this ship was equipped.

Like so many other parts of the ship, this was new equipment insofar as
"regular" star fleet personnel were concerned.  The suits were full-body
units, with a small back-pack nuclear reactor, mounting locks for various
beam and missile weapons, and a small shield generator.  It was hoped
that these would allow the crew increased survivability and effectiveness
should it become possible to transport aboard a ship.

During his ruminations, McGinnis had put his suit on, left his quarters,
and proceeded to Holo-1.  His suit was all white, with a phaser rifle
bracketed on his right wrist, a head-mounted laser canon, and a grenade
launcher, that for on-board exercises, would fire simulated sonic
grenades, since the real article would wreck both holo-simulator and
user, shield or not.

The holo-simulator's doors opened silently, allowing McGinnis an
unrestricted view of the combat already taking place.  Several of his
security crew were in their armor, blasting a contingent of simulated
that had apparently tried to beam into engineering.  McGinnis entered the
battle, arm-mounted phaser-rifle flaring.  He quickly found that the had
adapted to this weapon already, and that heavier blasts would be
required.  Unfortunately, his armor was in its default configuration,
meaning that its heaviest beam weapons were not available.  He fired the
head-mounted laser canon, whose raw output was many times that of the
phaser.  However, because it was an inefficient energy weapon, he could
do little but rock the simulated soldiers.  The security crew, meanwhile,
had been firing their plasma canon, and their heavy graviton weapons.
These could punch through the shielding available on the units, but the
combined firepower of all ten security suits was required to breech the
shielding on one soldier.  However, it appeared, assuming that Federation
intelligence was correct, that the average units could be defeated, even
at their maximum adaptive efficiency.


McGinnis smiled under his helmet, for although this was not a total
victory, and a larger team of would be able to defeat his crew, it did
appear that effective offensive and defensive action would be possible
against the for the first time.  This was decidedly the best news that
he'd had all week!

After a few minutes, his crew had defeated the remaining, whose attempts
to capture McGinnis had failed due to his suit's shielding.  Again, this
was fortunate, since a sufficient number of them would have been able to
break through, but, in limited action, the suits' shielding would do
exactly what Star Fleet Engineering had hoped that it would do: save the
wearer from absorption.

At this point, the holosimulator shut down suddenly, the lighting went
red, and the ship-wide klaxons went off.

"Red Alert, Red alert!, this ship is now on red alert, ... Commanding
officer to the bridge." said the computer.
"McGinnis to Bridge," said The Admiral as he struck his com badge.
"Sir, we have a cloaked ship on scan, signature suggests that its
Romulan!", replied Lt.Cmdr Anders' voice.
"On my way," replied McGinnis, not even wasting time to discard his armor.

***
The Bridge doors opened, and McGinnis, now minus his helmet, moved
quickly to his chair.  Data, who had been anticipating his arrival had
already vacated the command chair, and was sitting at his post.
", tight beam transmission to the Klingon home world," prepare a subspace
buoy for immediate launch."
"Aye Sir," replied Anders, "Buoy ready, Klingon council chamber now on
main visual."

The transmission was rather scrambled as transmissions from phase-cloaked
ships were extremely difficult to keep balanced.  However, Gouron's
battle hardened face could be clearly distinguished behind the snow.

"Gouron, I am William McGinnis, Admiral in command of the United Star
Ship Ticonderoga.  We are some four hours from your planet, and have
encountered a cloaked Romulan vessel.  As this ship carries the best in
Federation technology, I thought that I should offer the honor of
destroying the Romulan to you, before I took action."
"Admiral," replied Gouron, "Consider the Romulan's appearance as a test
of your vessel's capability, and your crew's honor.  You are welcomed to
destroy the trespasser, I hope that your arrival is not  overly delayed."
"Understood, I will contact you before our arrival at your planet,"
McGinnis out.

After this communication, McGinnis turned his mind to the destruction of
the unidentified Romulan ship.

***

For Cmdr Tomaluk, it was another routine supply mission, deep within
Klingon space.  His vessel and crew had made the trip at least twenty
times, and it had always gone flawlessly.  This run included parts for a
new disrupter array, and some other spares that were needed by Family
Durass' secret fleet.  After Cmdr Sela's failure against Picard, the
Romulan high command had decided that sending ships through singly was
better than trying to send an entire fleet across the Klingon/Romulan
border at once.  Tomaluk, and his fellow commanders' recent success in
delivering supplies was ample proof of the correctness of the plan.

"Commander, I have a disturbance off our port bow, bearing 43 mark 12,"
said the young female navigator.
"Scan it," snapped Tomaluk, coming out of his chair.
"It appears to be a subspace anomaly, growing in intensity as time
passes," said the science officer.
"Cloaked ship?", demanded Tomaluk.


His answer came as a huge Federation-style ship  appeared practically on
top of his own vessel.
"Decloak...." he said, but the sentence never got the chance to complete
itself.

***

"Sir, decloaking in three ... two... one..." said Schultz at tactical.
"Weapons, weapons control, auxiliary and secondary energy production
systems on line, awaiting full charging cycle.  We'll have to blanket the
area, since we aren't exactly sure where the Romulan ship is."
"Understood, you may clear the computer to fire when ready," said
McGinnis, hoping that the new, and largely untested, systems would work
as well as Mycenae's weapons control systems always had.
"Firing now!" said Schultz.

Phaser bolts erupted from nearly twenty rapid-fire phaser batteries, and
almost immediately thereafter, contained-plasma torpedoes flashed from
the forward tubes.  These weapons brought the Romulan ship out of cloak,
effectively rendering the ship totally visible.  power systems weren't
affected, but this was of little import for long.  Ticonderoga's main
mega-collimator ring flared blue-white for less than a second, and then a
brilliant white lance of energy connected the two vessels, disintegrating
the entire Romulan ship on impact.  Ten seconds after the firing had
started, Ticonderoga was back on course for the Klingon home world, and
the phase-cloak was coming back on-line.

"Sir, the Romulan ship has been neutralized, and it got no message off
before its destruction.  Because they were cloaked, they weren't able to
handle our fire.  I report that all weapons and weapons-control sensors
functioned ... great!" said Schultz.
"Excellent Mr. Schultz, log your report, and stand down from red alert.
... Helm, increase velocity to warp 9.5, and give me a new ETA for the
Klingon Capitol."
"Sir, at warp 9.5, we will arrive in-system in forty-seven minutes."
"Very well,, get me Gouron on a double-secured channel, main viewer."
A moment passed while Commander Anders sent the transmission.  Finally,
the link was established, and she turned to the Admiral.
"Sir, Gouron on main viewer."
Because Ticonderoga was much closer to the powerful receivers on the
Klingon home world, the transmission was clearer, but one could still see
snow from time to time.
"Admiral, I did not expect that you would be contacting me so soon, how
was the battle with the Romulan invader?"
McGinnis' reply was quite concise, "Short, and quite successful."
"Excellent news, Admiral, I look forward to seeing the first Federation
warship in living memory."
"I look forward to giving you a tour of this vessel.  We will arrive in
your star system in approximately forty minutes, earth time.  Am I to
follow any unusual procedures once there?"
"I am told that your vessel has the ability to set down in deep water?"
"Affirmative, however we assumed that we would be ordered into orbit on
arrival."
"No, we can provide better security for your ship at the special
construction facility in the southern ocean."
McGinnis had heard stories about this facility from previous Federation
officers who had visited there.  It was a huge dome built under  water,
and was primarily intended to facilitate the construction of the new
birds of prey.  However, if what he had heard was true, it could easily
accommodate twenty full-sized Klingon battle cruisers.
"Understood, I will have to contact your traffic control computers."
"We must contact your ship."
"Unfortunately, the new cloaking device makes it nearly impossible to
receive incoming hails, so it will be necessary to contact your system."
"Very well, I like the philosophy of commitment behind your vessel,
Admiral," said Gouron.
"Yes, our inability to receive new orders does mean that once this ship
is under cloak, Star Fleet is  effectively committed to the use of this
vessel.  If it is better for your controllers, we can partially decloak,
and receive transmissions, but we will be scannable on some wavelengths."
"Admiral, Too many dishonorable people now serve house Durass, and their
masters.  There will be many interested eyes turned skyward over the next
few days.  You are wise to remain fully invisible."
"Understood, once we are docked, I will contact you, but for now, I offer
you the hospitality of this vessel at 1800 hours, Star Fleet Standard
Time, for a meal and tour of inspection."
"I accept your invitation, and look forward to meeting the man who
defeated the Cardassian fleet at Bajour."
"Gouron, the honor is mine, I shall see you at 1800."
"Understood, Gouron out."
With this, the screen changed to the running tactical view of Klingon
space as Ticonderoga continued to streak toward the Klingon Capital.

"Commander Anders, contact Klingon central traffic and tell them hat we
will need a course as Gouron directed."
"Aye sir, already in progress," she said a bit distractedly as she
continued to try to contact the main traffic control center.

As much as anything else, her difficulties were directly related to the
fact that the ship was still out of communications range with the mainly
in-system traffic net.

"Sir, I can't contact them as yet, it'll be about half an hour before we
can get to them."
"Very well, keep trying and when you get through, contact me, I'll be in
my quarters, Mr. Data, you have the Bridge."
***
Even before McGinnis could get to this quarters, the ship-wide intercom
had announced in Data's voice,
"Admiral to the Bridge, please."
On his return to the Bridge, McGinnis retook his chair,  and turned to
his first officer.
"Mr. Data, you asked for me."
"Yes, Sir.  As you can see, our long-range sensors have just begun to
image the Klingon home-world.  Apparently, preparations and construction
are far greater than Star Fleet had been told previously.  I have at
least 100 long-range warship-class vessels on scan, including some of
types not previously known."
McGinnis stared at Data in shock.  If this were true, then Gouron's
position versus those in his government who didn't trust the Federation
was far worse than had been previously thought.  Usually, limited
information was passed back and forth on most projects, even secret
projects like Ticonderoga's construction.  However, information on new
classes of ships, and build-ups of the proportion being reported had not
been passed to him before their departure two days previously.
"Very well, scan everything, and before we get into the system, send a
full report to Defense Command HQ, and copy it to the Federation Council,
Star Fleet Commander, and Admiral Jellico at Star Fleet Operations."
Aye Sir, continuing scan.  We are now four minutes from optimal reporting
range, but it'll be very hard to get a message out without shutting off
the phase-cloak."
"I know, so send it aboard a probe, we can't afford to decloak,
especially as unstable as the situation on the planet appears to be."
"Downloading and copying data as it comes in, we are three minutes,
thirty seconds from launch," said Data.
"Preparing probe for launch," said Anders from her station.
"Aft firing tube is clear for launch, charging cycle beginning," said
Schultz as he began the process of charging the torpedo launcher to send
a communications boy back to Federation space at warp 9.9.  This would
mean that Star Fleet Command would get the news in less than three hours,
assuming noon decided to destroy the probe on the way out.

A couple of minutes passed, and then Data's voice broke the silence
prevalent on the Bridge.
"Information package ready for download.  I have included some side notes
on what we have received, and all is ready for launch."
"Very well, launch buoy," said McGinnis.
"buoy away," replied Schultz.
The viewer shifted to an aft-directed shot of the small tubular object
streaking away from the ship.  All anyone could hope for now was that it
would arrive in Federation space in time For Star Fleet to analyze the
data, and hopefully send a second force of ships.  There could be little
question that the were on the war path, and that they would expect their
Federation allies to send a comparable force of their own.  The
approximately twenty-one ships that had been promised were simply not enough.
"Sir, we are now one minute from sub-light speed, and should be able to
contact Klingon in-system traffic control," said Thale.
"Ms. Anders, please contact Klingon control, and request a vector."
"Aye Sir."
Moments later, she turned to McGinnis.
"Sir, they're telling us to lock into their standard traffic net, and
that their guide computers will bring us in."
"That's standard procedure, allow the link, ... helm, come to sub-light
speed."
The great ship decelerated from high-warp, and most of the crew sat back
to enjoy the ride.  It wasn't often that they could simply sweep along,
not concerned about accidents, enemies, or other things.  Both Data and
McGinnis were busy admiring the view outside, both natural and
artificial.  The planet was dry as compared with Earth, but there was
still noticeable surface water.  Orbital space was full of activity, both
military and civilian.  There was a truly staggering armada through which
Ticonderoga was passing.  No one was concerned about some of the close
passes, simply because while phase-cloaked, the ship could not occupy the
same space as the vessels that it was passing.  If hull contact occurred,
crews on both ships would think that they had seen a ghost image, rather
than anything else.

As the journey continued, McGinnis turned his attention to the ocean
toward which Ticonderoga was proceeding.  As they drew closer, it became
quite clear that there was no traffic in the entire basin, and this
confirmed the importance that the put on their underwater base.  Then the
ship slowed, the computers apparently programmed to expect that damage
would occur if a ship were to hit the surface too hard.  Clearly, guiding
ships in, even new Federation Star ships was not considered a
sufficiently honorable task for a living Klingon to perform.

The great ship passed through the surface of the water, and then a
communication came in from the on-duty computer tech maintaining the
traffic control net.
"Federation ship, we can do no more for you, proceed to the base under
your own navigation systems.  May your stay here be successful."
"Understood, our nav computer is taking over now."

With that the channel closed and Ticonderoga was on its own.

"Helm, set course for the Klingon base, thrusters at one-quarter."
"Aye Sir."
Within ten minutes, the great ship was decelerating toward the massive
under-water doors, which were as large, or larger, than those on
Earth-1.  Then, the doors opened, and Ticonderoga passed through, and
into open air.
"Sir, I have a message from the base commander."
"Put it on, commander."
"Federation ship, you are to proceed to the fourth bay on your right,
decloak and moor there."
Understood, Ticonderoga out."

The ship slowed, then turned toward its docking bay.  As the turn was
completed, the cloak was shut down, giving the base commander a full view
of the mighty star ship as it swept into the largest docking bay in the
facility.  The ship was quite impressive to say the least.

As long as the-class defender, but twice as deep, and with a far larger
collimator ring surrounding the main hull.  The multiple weapons
implacements showed that the ship was, indeed, built for action.  As it
moved to meet the gangway, the great ship seemed to shudder for just a
moment before coming to rest.  With this action, the waiting could come
aboard.

***
SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part I: Chapter IV:
By:
Matthew A. Weed

The doors at Ticonderoga's end of the gangway opened silently, admitting
Kern and his aide de campe.  He had only been on one other Federation
vessel, and it was immediately clear that this ship was nothing like
Picard's Enterprise.  Its corridors were narrower, there were gratings on
the floor, not the carpet that covered many of Enterprise's corridors.
The structural members looked far heavier, and the over-all air of the
ship was decidedly ... military.

His attention turned to the tall human who was standing before him.
"Admiral McGinnis, I M Kern, son of Mog, Commander of this construction
facility.  I am honored to meet you."
"Kern, Son of Mog, I am Admiral William McGinnis, and your presence here
honors us.  ... Welcome to USS Ticonderoga. ... Would you like a brief
tour of the vessel?"
"Yes, I would."
"Very well, I am expecting Gouron within the hour, but I shall take you
for a brief tour before he arrives."

***
After his tour, Kern was even more impressed with the ship than he had
when it appeared immediately outside his window.  Although the computers
ran too much of it, making it difficult for a warrior to fight an
honorable battle, if the data on the fight with the Romulan ship were
true, they had proven themselves worth it.

"Admiral, I am very impressed, I was mot certain that the Federation was
capable of building a true warship, after James T. Kirk's retirement.  It
is good to see that it is not as complacent as many would like to think."
"We haven't built many ships with a fully military purpose in a long
time, and despite my own successes, I would hope that this ship will be
the last.  However, I believe that those like Picard had taken Star Fleet
too far toward peace and exploration, and had forgotten that we are also
supposed to protect and defend the members of the Federation.  One
wonders whether we would have been able to do so had the Romulans,
Cardassians, and Ferengi decided to cause trouble at the same time."
"Personally, I doubt that you could have."
"Fortunately, we won't have the opportunity to find out.  With the
Cardassian military defeated, and the Ferengi talking peaceful
profiteering, those problems should be solving themselves.  However, the
Romulans are beginning to pose a serious threat to both of us, and the..."
"Yes, The.  Is the Federation going to send a larger fleet, now that you
have seen The Klingon commitment to defending our people?"
"I haven't gotten a response to my report of your enhanced fleet
strength, so I can't say for sure. ... We had better get to the
transporter room, Gouron should be here any moment."
At this moment, Data's voice rang over McGinnis' communicator.
"Bridge to Admiral McGinnis."
"McGinnis here."
"Sir, Gouron reports his readiness to come aboard, he also wants to know
where Kern is, as he wasn't at the base landing pad to meet him."
"What!?!," said Gouron, ..."He was to beam to this ship, not come by
shuttle."
"Well, let's get to the gangway before he waits any more,"  replied
McGinnis, now beginning to understand how Gouron had managed to keep his
somewhat difficult seat atop the Klingon Council.

Moments later they arrived at the ship's end of the gangway.  The
computer sounded honors, and Gouron stepped aboard.

"Gouron, I am Admiral William McGinnis, welcome aboard."
"It is an honor to meet you Admiral, I am pleased to have the
responsibility of thanking you for your removal of the Cardassians from
space."
"I am glad that they don't pose a threat to us in the current crisis, but
their weakened state may make them easy for the Romulans to pick off,
should they choose to do so."
"yes, that's true, and if they do, I trust that you will be able to
defeat them again."
"Yes, I believe so, assuming that Federation forces aren't weakened by
our current operations."
"It will be hard, but honor is never won by men who are afraid to take
chances."
"True, but you know that I must tell you that Star Fleet Command would
rather that the Klingon Empire wait to launch this offensive, The
Federation has many ships under construction, but the fleet construction
program won't get into full productivity until next year."
"That may be true for you, but we are ready to get our due revenge, and
we would not appreciate it if the Federation refused to help us in our
war against The."
"I am well aware of that, and I am ordered to offer you all possible
assistance in your operations."
"I am pleased, we will be launching three days from today, so if you are
able to strengthen your forces, you have time to contact your commanders."
"I shall do so immediately after dinner, and our tour. ... Shall we go to
the observation deck?"
"Very well..."
***
After dinner, and the usual conversation that occurs at such occasions,
Gouron called for everyone's attention.

"This has been a fine meal.  We are quite impressed by the Gach, it is
difficult to get food of this quality in the finest restaurants of the
Empire.  However, our time here is not meant to be spent eating.  We are
here to see this mighty new star ship and to talk about the final defeat
of our common enemy.  Admiral, I would like to see this ship of yours,
and then to discuss our strategy, understanding that the size of the
Federation contribution to our efforts has not been decided."
"An excellent plan, Gouron if you and your staff will follow me."
The party departed the observation bubble, located at the junction of the
aft-most support strut and the mega-collimator ring.  It proceeded to the
weapons control center, which was almost too small to hold the ten
Klingon and Federation officers.
"Computer, render a three-dimensional schematic of this vessel,
highlighting weapons, defenses, power production, computer and structural
items."

The computer immediately brought a hologram of the ship on line, with the
specified systems highlighted.

"As you can see, we have fifty-seven rapid-fire particle phaser
batteries, each is powered by separate fusion reactors, capable of
providing all the energy that these systems can use.  The reactors can
also be used as secondary power supplies for the ship, should main or
auxiliary power be knocked out.  The ship has seven contained-plasma
torpedo tubes, each has fifty missiles, whose range is twice that of the
standard Federation photon torpedo.  The plasma in the warheads powers
the warp sustainer coil, so at maximum range, the torpedoes have half as
much destructive potential as at launch.  At launch, they have eighty
megatons standard yield.  The ship has four phaser collimators located on
each face of the engineering hull, each is as powerful as a Galaxy-class
star ship's main phaser collimators.  The main weapon of this ship, as
with the-class defender, is the phased collimator ring that surrounds the
main hull.  The ring has three times the destructive potential of
the-class ships' main weaponry, making it nearly twenty times as powerful
as a galaxy-class ship's weapons.

The ship has triple shielding, which is operable in a two-layered
configuration, meaning that we can maintain shielding if the should break
one layer.  We can make repairs while the other layers are being worked
over by enemy weapons.  The system is energy-expensive, and we have
installed a new main energizer with greater output than has been seen
previously to support this added energy demand.  There is also an
experimental short-duration forced quantum core for emergency power
generation, should the main systems and the secondary fusion reactors be
over-taxed.  It can provide fifty percent of main power for four hours,
and with all of this power production, we can operate every single
weapons and defensive  system aboard the ship at the same time.  The
benefits of such a multi-redundant scheme have always been obvious, but
until recently, there has not been incentive to build such vessels.  As
you are  aware, we also carry the new Federation phase-cloaking
technology, which precludes use of our weapons while operational, simply
because we can't hit anything while under phase-cloak.  We also carry
computer-control systems, power distribution systems, and communications
relays. that are more redundant than anything previously seen in a
Federation star ship."

"This is a very impressive design, how do you manage to fit so much into
a hull this size?"
"Quite simply, crew quarters are extremely tight, and we use robotic
systems to do as much work as is technically possible.  This saves us
nearly a thousand crew members, with all of  the support systems that
they require.  The crew is only 400 strong."
"I assume that you have a internal defensive plan similar to that aboard
the defender-class ships?"
"Yes, if life forms of a type designated as "enemy" by the command staff
invade the ship, the computer has the ability to use force fields and
phaser collimators to neutralize any boarding party."
"Admiral, this is the greatest development in military technology in the
last thirty years, and I commend you on the fact that the Federation
chose you to command it in its first, and most honorable mission."
"Thank you, I was much honored by their decision to wave the rules
against flag officers commanding single unit ships.  My orders state that
this vessel is to act independently of the main fleet when I feel
necessary.  The remainder of Federation forces will be under the command
of your fleet, as our only other fleet-rank officer has only recently
received his admiral's commission."
"Excellent, I would like to see your other facilities."
"If you will follow me, ... Computer, end holo simulation."
As they left, the schematic of the ship disappeared.  After traveling
through the sick-bay, bridge, and engineering deck the party arrived at
one of the holodecks.
"We use these for training, simulation, and research, more than
recreation, although limited recreational programming is available.  I
believe that there is a simulation running here that you may be
interested in. ... Computer, access holodeck thirteen, open doors."
The group was met with a particle blast from a blue-suited security
member, whose bolt had just barely missed a soldier attempting to access
one of the slots common in the corridor  walls of their ships.  The
reason for the miss became obvious as another soldier slammed the
security man aside.  The security began using their grenade launchers,
destroying soldiers right an left.  The sonics couldn't be used aboard
Ticonderoga, even in self-defense, they were simply too powerful.
However, since the simulation was of a landing on a ship, anything went.
The simulated grenades destroyed huge chunks of material, killing the
soldiers as they approached.  Finally simulated force fields came up,
which kept the grenades from doing much damage.  The security party then
dropped a small "package", and called for emergency beam-out.  The
package was a kilogram of antimatter, and the blast from this destroyed a
huge chunk of the vessel.
McGinnis watched the proceedings, thinking to himself that at this point
the ship would be moving toward the ship in hopes of breaking through
the subspace field in order to come out of phase-cloak in this huge
cavity and rip the cube apart from the inside.
"An impressive battle Admiral, what was its purpose?" said Gouron,
reminding him of the presence of the Klingon observers.
"We hope to send landing parties aboard vessels and then open a large
enough cavity to allow a star ship to enter and blow the ships apart from
the inside.  The armor and shielding that the security troops wear will
hopefull allow us to survive for periods of time aboard the ships. our
simulation runs suggest that the armor will also allow us to repel large
parties of boarders, should they break our shielding.  We will, of
coursse, destroy the ship before its capture, but if we can live to fight
another day..."
"Yes, an admirable philosophy," replied Gouron.  "Can you produce suits
like these for our warriors?"
"No, but I can send the specifications to your manufacturing people so
that you can build them yourselves, should this be acceptable."
"That is fine, I shall tell them to expect the information."
"Very well, shall we adjourn for this evening, I must confer with Star
Fleet Command, and you doubtless have preparations to make."
"Very well, however, we must talk about strategy tomorrow, as soon as you
know how many ships the Federation can contribute."
"Then I shall take you back to the gangway, and we will see each other
tomorrow.  I will await your transmission as to what time is convenient
for you."
The party returned to the gangway, and Gouron turned to salute the ship
as he left.  His departing words to McGinnis were:
"I shall contact you tomorrow, I look forward to another meeting."

***
SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part I: Chapter V:
By:
Matthew A. Weed


McGinnis walked onto the Bridge, noting the comparative quiet of third
shift.  Only a young lieutenant junior-grade was there, sitting at the
engineering station, looking at the station as if she would rather be
anywhere else.
"Lieutenant, raise Star Fleet Command, Admiral Jellico  for me."
"yes, Sir!," she said, her shocked look showing him that she had not seen
him enter the room.

she moved to the Ops station, punched a number of keys and then turned to
McGinnis.
"Sir, their response is in code, Admiral's eyes only."
"Very well, ... take fifteen minutes, I'll talk with them here, don't
worry about the duty, I'll call you when I'm ready for you to resume your
duties."
"Yes, Sir," she said and quietly left through the starboard-side turbo-lift.

McGinnis moved to Ops, and worked the controls of the console for a
moment.  Then the image of Defense Fleet Commander Jellico appeared on
the main viewer.

"William, its good to see that you've gotten to the Klingon Capital
without difficulty.  We have your information about fleet strength, and
believe that this is simply a stronger deployment of forces than we had
originally expected.  The new classes of ships are a surprise, but
considering our own work, I'm not surprised that the Klingons have some
new technology, and the analysts think that the reason for their not
having told us has something to do with the pressure being put on Gouron
by those in the faction supporting house Durass.  You will have to be
very careful, I think that the political situation there is as unstable
as its been in the last fifteen years."
"Thanks for the warning, Admiral, I would say that Gouron's worried about
his situation as well.  However, as I'm sure you're aware, I need to know
what ships you can send me, our current commitment isn't going to be
enough, from a political standpoint, if the Klingons are really going to
invest this much of their fleet in the upcoming operations."

"William, don't think that I haven't considered that already.
Exploration and science commands are determined to keep as many of their
ships as possible, but I've collected another thirty-two ships, mostly of
the new victorious-class light cruiser and Versailles-Class destroyers.
Its not a lot, but these ships do carry phase-cloaking technology, and
the Victorious-Class ships do have contained-plasma torpedoes.  I'm
sending the technical specs on a parallel frequency."

McGinnis saw the data flash into the computers, and decided that he could
read it much later.
"Sir, as we both suspected, the Klingons are going ahead with the
mission, and are impatient as hell to leave.  When will the new ships be
here?"
"I expect, day after tomorrow.  If not then, they'll be there the day
after that for sure."
"Thanks for the help, and next time you see her, tell Admiral Stephenson
that I'm eternally indebted to her for the assistance from the rest of
Star Fleet."
"I'm sure that she'll be interested in your opinion, William, but face
it, most of the people around here still think tat we're back in the
golden age.  They don't understand that peace comes at a price, and that
the price becomes a lot higher when those defending the rest of us aren't
supported properly."
"That's for bloody certain, replied McGinnis," some of the tension
surrounding the mission boiling out of him as he spoke with his old mentor.
"Well, I suppose that I'd better let you get back to making preparations
with Gouron.  Good luck, William, I wish that I could be there with you,
I hate missing out on this kind of a mission."
"I know, and I wish that you could be here too, I'd like to have a full
admiral in command of the Federation Fleet, since I'll be out on
independent work most of the time.  De L'hotel is good, but he's still
not fully experienced with fleet, and I'm afraid that the Klingons will
push us into taking unnecessary risks."
"Don't worry, Guy's a tremendous ship commander, and the Klingon Command
respects him a great deal after the first battle of four years ago, I
think that he'll be fine."
"I hope so, I'll be out of touch most of the time.  In any case, we'll
launch three days from now, and I'll send you reports as we progress."
"Excellent, I look forward to your news, Star Fleet out."
"Ticonderoga clear."

With this the main viewer returned to its image of the docking bay.
McGinnis struck the com unit, and called the young lieutenant back to her
late-night duties.  On her return, he left the bridge to look over the
specs for the victorious and Versailles class ships.

***
By the afternoon of the next day, McGinnis felt ready to meet with
Gouron.  The discussions were, as a diplomat would say, "frank,".  The
main issues focused on the new lighter ships, and the deployment of
Ticonderoga.

"Your new light vessels aren't properly equipped for this kind of a
mission.  Their weapons are too light, and they are barely more powerful
than our birds of prey, which are much more maneuverable."
"I know that, but their shielding is much better, and in the case of the
light cruisers, they have weapons with better range than anything else in
the fleet.  I wanted more firepower from the Federation too, but Fleet
Admiral Stephenson refused to force the exploration command to send the
battle sections of our galaxy class ships, and the nebulas are needed for
border patrols along the Romulan border.  As I told you yesterday, Star
Fleet is not ready for this mission, and won't be for at least a year.
"Admiral, understand that I do not blame you for this, but it does not
look good, your lack of support.  I will agree to the inclusion of these
ships, despite the fact that I am certain that they will prove excellent
targets for the ships.  Hopefully the light cruisers can do something,
but your destroyers, in my opinion, are useless."
"We shall have to see," said McGinnis somewhat coolly."
"Now, to the other matter.  I do not like the fact that the most powerful
ship in the attack force will not be with the rest of the fleet."
"I specifically directed that it be that way.  Ticonderoga isn't built to
be a fleet-line vessel.  The weapons have too much range, and with all of
the technology aboard, if we're overmatched, any other ship, or group of
ships, will be outdone too."
"That is your opinion Admiral, I am not in favor of having any of the
ships away from the main body of the fleet."
"I understand your concerns, but this class of ship is built to be a
high-speed, long-range, heavily-armed, scouting and intervention vessel.
I am not stupid, I am far from certain that we will be able to handle a
cube alone, but I do think that I can get more information on
deployments, communications, and distribution than any other vessel,
Federation or Klingon, simply because The Ticonderoga-class ships are
better-able to survive away from the fleet than any other vessels.  I
don't intend to be so far away as to be out of range of assistance should
it become necessary, but without a scouting force, we will be flying blind."
"yes, and that's what the bird of prey was built to do.  Your ship is
one-of-a-kind, while those ships are easily replaced."
"yes, and if they're caught against a vessel, they will not be able to
outrun it, they have no chance of militarily defeating it, and their
crews will be committing suicide.  My crew may actually manage to get
back to fight another battle."
"Perhaps you're right, senseless death in battle has no honor, but if you
go alone, you must agree to some form of communications schedule."
"That is dangerous, as the will doubtless monitor for communication, once
they realize that a major force is in the field."
"True, so I suggest that you only contact the fleet when you are leaving
a system, and only discuss details of your movement if it seems safe to
both you and our commander."
"That should be all right, he and I will work out the details, if that is
acceptable to you."
"Yes, that will be acceptable."

***
The next two days flew by in a mad rush of arriving Federation star
ships, tactical meetings, and final preparations for departure.  Finally
the fleet of  one hundred and fifty-seven vessels, all classes and all
types was ready to depart.  Only the new, and as of yet, secret
Federation ship was not in formation.

***
"Mr. Thale, prepare to engage thrusters."
"All systems on standby, navigational computer is ready for launch."
"Very well, unlatch docking clamps."
"Docking clamps unlatched, umbilical now separated."
"Thrusters aft, 1% power."
"Thrusters, Aye."
The ship slid slowly away from its docking position, its thrusters and
anti-grav fields moving it through the open air of the great under-sea
facility.  Most of the crew was looking forward to getting started, they
had not been trained to wait, and finally, the waiting was over.
"Sir, we have now cleared the docking bay, now orienting for egress."
"Very well, as soon as our plain of egress has been achieved, set
thrusters to 100% forward."
"Aye, thrusters will be at 100% forward in thirty seconds, we will depart
this facility in forty-six seconds under current course."
The ship continued to turn, its huge size was, quite simply, staggering
to the Klingon on-lookers, who were getting their first good look at the
mighty new Federation vessel.  As Kern had three days earlier, all of
them stared, almost surprised that the Federation was still capable of
building true warships.

"Egress in ten seconds," announced Thale.
", bring all structural support fields on line," said McGinnis.
"Fields on line said Janet Anders from her station.
"We have cleared dock," came Thale's announcement.
"Very well, notify the Klingon Commander that we're on our way,
navigational deflectors on full, one quarter impulse power."
"Nav shields up, setting departure course at 113 mark 16, quarter impulse."

The mighty ship rose, sweeping out of the waters, with an enormous blast
of steam and shot skyward on the near-invisible emissions of her mighty
impulse drive.  At this point, there was no reason to be cloaked, since
everyone would be getting a look at the ship over the next few weeks
anyhow.  Speed was far more important on this part of the mission than
stealth, and McGinnis was not planning to waste power on unnecessary
diversions until the time came.  Then, his eye, like everyone else's was
caught by the picture framed by the forward-looking main viewer.

The armada had everything imaginable, from destroyers to
dreadnought-class ships, and more Klingon battle cruisers than any of
them had ever seen.  The also had some new super-heavy ships, clearly
heavier than the-class defender, but not equal to Ticonderoga.  Birds of
prey, and other small Klingon ships flitted about the larger ships, all
quite beyond easy counting for the unassisted observer.

"Wow," was Walter Schultz's only comment as he transferred the image on
his monitor on to the main viewer.  "Sir, this is the fleet, I've *never*
seen that many ships in one place at one time."
"Yeah, that's what I call a fleet ..." replied Robert MacLeod as he gaped
at the view from his position, leaning on the back of McGinnis' command
chair.
"I think that this is the biggest concentration of military hardware ever
seen, and I'm really quite sure that this mission isn't going to be
boring," Thale contributed.
"Yes, its big, so let's get up there before they all get bored and start
firing on *us*!," said McGinnis with a smile.
"Agreed, sir ... accelerating to one-half impulse power."
"Lieutenant, as soon as we're clear of the atmosphere, bring us to full
impulse, set course for the front of the fleet."
"Aye Sir."
"Commander Anders, get me the commander of Klingon forces."
"Aye Sir, Kalis coming up the main screen."
The view screen flashed to the image of a surprisingly old Klingon, his
skin looked so leathery that McGinnis thought that it must've been tanned
at some point.
"Lord Commander Kalis, I am Admiral William McGinnis, and this is the
Federation Star Ship Ticonderoga.  We are operational, and ready to leave
the system."
"Admiral, it is good to speak with you, your vessel is quite impressive.
All Federation ships are here, according to Admiral De, and so we are
leaving the system immediately, course 257 mark 129.  Our speed will be
warp eight."
"Understood, I'll stay with the fleet until we reach the border, then
I'll go into silent running, and scout around as best I can."
"Very well, Admiral, Let us leave, and may our mission be completed by
victory."
"Sir, there is honor in our cause, and necessity as our companion, I
expect nothing less than victory, ... Ticonderoga out."
The screen darkened, returning to its view of the fleet, which now lay
spread out behind Ticonderoga and the Klingon battle cruiser that served
as their command ship.  Then space flared white for a moment, as all of
the ships in the fleet accelerated into war space.




SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part II:  Chapter VI.
By:
Matthew Weed

Command Log: star date 56318.2: Admiral William McGinnis, Commanding USS
Ticonderoga,  reporting.

It has been nearly two weeks since we left the Klingon home system.  The
journey has been uneventful, all ships in the fleet are functioning
perfectly, and we have been taking advantage of this transit time to
continue fleet training, and setting up the command chain.  This ship
continues to function perfectly, and we are now crossing the edge of
explored territory, moving toward space.  We will soon go to silent
running, and will be out of touch with the main fleet except in
emergency, or at our pre-determined contact times.

Morale remains high, largely due to an extremely heavy training schedule,
both of which I expect will be important in the next days as our activity
level drops sharply.  I am now turning to the last open-air duties that I
can perform for the time being.

"Commander, a channel to Star Fleet Command, please."
"Channel open, sir" replied Anders.  "Admiral Jellico is responding."
"Admiral, I am making my last report before engaging silent running, do
you have any news or last orders that I should know about?"
"William, yes I do.  The Romulans have been attacked by a single cube,
demanding that they take them to sector 001.  We assume that the are only
partially aware of the political situation in Alpha quadrant.  All
planetary defense forces are on full alert in the Federation, and I have
been asked to take command of all Star Fleet Operations.  I want you to
continue your mission, The Romulans were able to defeat the, and Gouron
has taken advantage of the situation.  Klingon forces attacked them with
about everything left in their Home fleet.  The Romulans took extremely
heavy losses, so I suspect that the Klingons will be able to defeat them,
and repay them for the help to house, which has been almost completely
silent during this whole business.  We're worried about that, so you
should probably keep an eye on anyone that you or Kalis doesn't trust."
"There are a few commanders, but most of them are loyal to the mission,
if not the government.  I'll tell Kalis, but I'm leaving the fleet within
the hour."
"Yes, that's right, I had forgotten.  In any case, Federation space is
secure, although the Fearing are trying to cross our space to supply
materiel to both sides.  All scientific missions have been called off,
and a combined Star Fleet-planetary forces fleet is in the triangle,
should anything spill over."
"If you need resources, now is the time to tell us."
"No, don't worry, I'll expect to hear good news from you in a few months."
"I intend to deliver, until then, I'm glad I've got my job, and not yours."
"Hell, I'm glad you've got your job and not mine, I'd take your job in a
second, risk and all."
"Well, when I get back you can have it if you want, but for now, I'm
planning to keep it for awhile."
"Good plan, and I'll hear from you as you get the chance."
"Agreed, Ticonderoga out."
The viewer changed, almost immediately, to the image of Kalis.
"Admiral, I know that you are about to leave us, I wish you honor and
success."
"Thank you Kalis, I have news from Star Fleet.  They say that the
Romulans have been attacked by the, and that they took heavy losses.
Gouron has taken advantage of the situation, and has attacked the
remainder of Romulan forces.  House is surprisingly quiet on the issue,
and Star Fleet is concerned that they're planning something.  Admiral
Jellico, who is now Chief of Fleet Operations, suggested that it would be
prudent to keep an eye on any commanders that you think may be disloyal."
"Thank you for the news, we are already out of range of our home
transmitters.  I suspect that the few commanders that I do not trust are
as unaware as I was.  We will be following our current course, unless a
change becomes necessary.  I expect, from what we know of them, that we
will arrive in Territory within a week at our current velocity."
"We will be traveling a similar course, but will be at something near
warp 9.5, so I expect to get to their space much more quickly.  I am
going to see if there are any notable civilizations along the way, and
should we run across any, I may see if I can enlist their help.
Otherwise, I will notify you of any systems that should be avoided due to
limited-technology inhabitants, or outposts.  We have opened some windows
in the phase-cloak, so you can contact us on the low-frequency subspace
band, but only on the data-transmission frequencies.  We can't clear the
high-frequency interference from the phase-cloak, except for our scanner
frequencies."
"Understood, at least we can contact you, should battle come to us before
you find honor in this war."
"Very well, is there anything else I should know?"
"No, except that all Klingons hope that your assistance will result in
the end of the threat."
"I hope that we can do that, and not only for the Klingon Empire."
"yes, your Federation will benefit as well."
"Good luck, I'll contact you within the week," said McGinnis.
"May you also have good fortune, I shall await your news," replied the
Klingon commander.

With this, the transmission ended, and Ticonderoga's viewer returned to
the view of the space in front of the ship.

"Commander Schultz, are we ready to engage phase-cloak?"
"Aye Sir, phase-cloak shows ready."
"Very well, engage cloaking device."

The bridge shimmered around them for a moment, and then everything
returned to normal.

"Phase-cloak engaged, it is functioning perfectly," announced Schultz
with his characteristic feral smile.
"Lieutenant Thale, set course 41 mark 8, velocity warp 9.45, and engage
when ready."
"Turning to course 41 mark 8, and accelerating. ... Velocity is now warp
9.4, and course is 41 mark 8."
"Very well, we have some time, people, I suggest that you get some
relief, and rest for a while  before we start passing those systems on
the long-range scan," said McGinnis referring to the strategic view that
was running in a corner of the main viewer.  "We'll have to be at our
peak then, and we'll be in scanning range of those systems in a couple of
hours.  Until then, Mr. Data, you have the bridge,"  McGinnis said as he
rose from the command chair.

******

SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part II: Chapter VII:
By:
Matthew Weed



Command Log: star date 56324.6: Admiral William McGinnis reporting:

We have been away from the main fleet for nearly two days, and despite
some interesting star mapping, there have been no signs of space faring
civilizations, and no signs of the.  The first I take as interesting, the
second ... only time can tell.

Our best calculations indicate that we are now in territory which has
been considered "owned", by the for some time.  Our systems are all
functioning perfectly, and all we can do is continue to explore the edges
of their territory until something comes up.

"Helm, change course, to 063 mark 16, continue warp 9." Said McGinnis.
"Our course is now 063 mark 16, our speed continues at warp 9," replied
Thale.
"Ops, anything on sensors or communications?"
"Sir, we will pass a class G star in four minutes, our best knowledge
says that this is just outside territory.  Long-range scanners suggest a
system of planets surrounding the star, with two in its golden zone.
Planet 5 seems to have high-energy radio signals coming from it, but no
sub-space waves reported."
"Well, let's have a quick look, this system may be one that requires
watching in case the decide to show interest in these beings.  Theirs is
the first technology that we've seen since we left Klingon space. ...
Helm, change course to intercept the orbit of the fifth planet,
decelerate to maximum impulse in two minutes, and bring us into a stellar
orbit that will hold us 1 million kilometers from the planet, its
rotation will allow us a scan.  I don't want to orbit, as I want to leave
quickly should any news come in from the fleet."
"Aye Sir, changing course, 314 mark 356.  Our velocity is warp 9, with
deceleration in 1 minute 45 seconds."
"Excellent, ... Ops, begin scans of the system, get what information you
can despite phase-cloak interference."
"Sir, scanning is already in progress.  We can't get much concerning life
forms, but it would appear, from planetary albedo, light variation and
other data, that there is a civilization on the fifth planet.  Its
technology is approximately equivalent to Earth at approximately the year
2030.  there appear to be some small space stations, but nothing of major
importance."
"Importance to us, maybe, but to them ... its the beginnings of exploring
their system, their neighborhood, and, given enough time, their galaxy.
I hope that we can give them that opportunity."

Nods of agreement were the crew's only response.  They all turned to,
working to bring the ship into a distant position from which it could
observe activity on, and near, the planet.

"Sir, we are now in a far observatory orbit, we can only intercept
limited communications from the planet, and as it has no moon, long-range
signals are few in number.  They are transmitting the typical long-range
pre-contact signals characteristic of most civilizations at their level
of development," said T'mayek from Science.
"Thank you Lt.Cmdr, continue to analyze the information as it comes in.
"Sir! I have powerful sub-space distortions, characteristic of scouting
cubes," snapped Walter Schultz from his station.
"Tactical, red alert, bring all defensive systems on-line, ...
engineering, transfer power control to weapons-control computers,
standard defense protocol.  All departments, suit your crew members up,
and prepare for emergency defense protocol."

"We are now at standard defense protocol, situation, red alert.  All
departments report that they will be at the specified levels of
preparedness within the minute," said Schultz.  A brief pause ensued,
then: "The Board now shows green," Schultz continued.
"Good, since this is a scout, we certainly can take advantage of them.
Their total ability is likely about equal to that of this ship, so we'll
have to be smart about this, but if we can knock their ship out before
they can get warning back to the collective, we may be able to get the
first battle on *our* terms.  Ops, the second we come out of cloak,
blanket the area with a full-power jamming transmission.  ... Helm, set
course for close-in orbit of the planet, I want to know the second that
they beam their landing parties down to the planet.  Tactical, ready main
ring to fire on their transmitter arrays, I want plasma torpedoes
immediately after that strike, to knock out any secondary transmitters.
We'll not get a second chance to do this, so make every shot count.  If
you think that the rapid-fire weapons can do something, use them too, but
make sure that you've got enough power on line to handle the draw."
"Sir, everything's set here, and we're in luck, because the technology is
so limited, it looks like this ship is the true scouting ship, like the
one that Picard met in the first "Hugh", contact.  This means that its
dropped its shielding to assimilate the technology, especially since they
seem to view the planet's weapons capabilities as "irrelevant".  Of
course, so would I...." reported Schultz.
"Understood, that should mean that we can get them before they're aware
of our presence. ... However, in case we're not successful, stand by all
transverters, we'll give them another surprise. ... Tactical,
engineering, get together, strip a few photon torpedoes down , so that we
can beam them into the ship."
"Aye Sir," replied Schultz from his station, and MacLeod from main
engineering.

McGinnis seethed.  There was nothing that could be done to stop the
carnage that was occurring on the main view screen.  The ship had begun
cutting the space stations apart, and after a little pitiful laser fire,
and a few nuclear missile launches, (all of which were quite effectively
stopped by weapons fire),  the planet seemed to be going down without a
fight.  Of Course, they never knew, with certainty, that beings existed
outside their system, and even if they had known, they couldn't have
imagined the, not even in their worst nightmares.  All that the crew
could do was hurry its preparations, and hope that they could finish them
in time to save something of the civilization on the planet.

"All preparations ready sir," reported MacLeod from engineering.  "We
have fourteen photon warheads ready for transversion as soon as your
orders come through."
"Good, get ready for action down there." ... "All decks, we're going in."
The ship moved, still phase-cloaked toward the small scout, whose 2.5
million tons was about a sixth Ticonderoga's mass.  The great star ship
moved quickly and quietly toward its unsuspecting prey.

"Tactical, bring weapons computers on line, you may decloak and fire when
ready."

With this order, the ship's systems were all switched to command and
tactical consoles only.  The rest of the crew became highly-interested
bystanders in this battle where surprise and firepower were their only
advantages.  The collective was as surprised as any unemotional system
could get, as a huge white vessel of a design only somewhat similar to
designs reported to the Collective appeared before their ship.  They
didn't have time to make note of the fact that they hadn't been offered
the chance to surrender or desist, a step characteristic of the vessels
of the mid-sized organic power calling itself the United  Federation of
Planets.

What did happen, was a terrific blast of phased energy, followed, almost
immediately, by twenty high-powered explosives of a type not recorded
previously, which  ripped into the already weakened super-structure.  In
short, the cube was blasted into four large chunks.  Each had some power
left,  but these sections were quickly dealt with by the smaller phased
energy weapons surrounding the forward section of the ship before they
could attempt to recombine. ... No transmissions reached the collective
about this loss.  Its conclusions would have to be drawn later.

Meanwhile, Ticonderoga now stood, victorious in its first battle against
the.  It orbited the world, and McGinnis was now trying to decide whether
going down to kill the few soldiers on the ground would be considered a
violation of the prime directive.  ... <As if sitting in close orbit, out
of cloak, after having used newly two gigatons of explosive to destroy an
attacking ship, wasn't violation enough.>  This stark fact, alone,
determined his strategy.

"McGinnis to Lieutenant Thompson.  Take all the security people that you
need, and the ground attack shuttles, and kill any that you see.  If you
need fire support, contact tactical."
"Aye Sir, we'll launch in fifteen minutes," replied the young lieutenant
from her station in engineering.
"Thank you, move as quickly as you can, I suspect that any that are down
there will be seriously impaired by the loss of their collective
consciousness, but they may still be able to do some damage."
"I know, we'll stop them cold."
"Good, lieutenant, that's what I want to hear," replied McGinnis.
"Ops, get me a channel to Kalis," snapped McGinnis, turning his attention
to Janet Anders' station.
"Breaking subspace silence, it'll take a bit before I can get them," she
said.
"Take your time, I suspect that it'll take a bit before the get too
interested in the system, it was a small ship, so they probably won't be
in too much of a hurry to find out what happened, especially if Kalis has
been keeping them as busy as I suspect."
*    *    *
Several minutes passed, and then the four small attack craft departed
Ticonderoga's landing bay, set in the aft section of the engineering
hull.  At almost the same moment, Cmdr Anders turned from her station.
"Sir, I have Kalis, voice only."
"Put it through," replied McGinnis as his attention shifted from the
image of the four small ships to the other matter at hand.  "Cmdr
Schultz, keep tactical control over the attack force, you have clearance
to fire the rapid-fire weapons should that become necessary, speak with
me if you need any more firepower."

With this, McGinnis waved to Anders to open the channel.
"Admiral, the fact that you are in contact would suggest that you have
had battle with The.  I hope that your battle went well."
"Thank you Kalis, it was utterly successful, and to the best of our
knowledge, the vessel that we destroyed didn't get a communication
concerning this vessel off to their command point.  The ship was small,
we had surprise on our side, and they never really had a chance.  The
residual resistance is being dealt with as we speak, and I believe that
the planet which we are orbiting is now, again, free of influence.
However, as we discussed, they will doubtless become more interested in
this planet, now that a collection mission has been destroyed.  Can you
send support?"
"Yes, I can send you help, but I can not come personally, as we, too,
have had contact, and I believe that it is best to make them fight a
two-front battle for now."
"You have seen action, what happened?"
"We encountered a large cube only hours after you left the fleet.  It was
moving toward Klingon home space, and after your news concerning the
situation there, it was obvious that  battle was necessary.  We struck
from cloak, with the Federation ships decloaking to assist.  The ship was
surprised, and suffered critical damage in our first volley.  However,
they did get a message off to the center of their space, the content of
which is unknown.  We managed to destroy more than they could create, and
to keep the field down.  Ultimately, after many Klingon and Federation
crews died in honor, we were able to completely dismantle the cube.  All
live were destroyed, and their technology is being taken back to allied
space for study.  I have only ninety-six ships, as thirty-five were
destroyed, and ten more are taking the pieces of the vessel to The
Klingon Capital, where it will be studied by Star Fleet and Klingon teams."

"Well, your losses were less than ours were at Wolf 359, or at
Klins'hai.  Any tactics of which I should be aware?"
"Yes, we are now using task forces, dependent on one heavy ship.  The
heavy ship is used to destroy the cube, while the small ships interrupt
the tractor beam, and disrupt the cutting beams and other weapons.  The
tactic is expensive, and risky, but losses are justified by the victories
that we have won.  We have had two other battles, each resulted in
victory, using no more than two task groups per cube.  Each time, we lost
seven small ships to battle, and in our most recent engagement, we also
lost the dreadnought  Confederation.  Admiral De L'hotel is alive, as he
was in conference with me when battle began."
"I see, I suggest that you send me the remains of the task group with the
dreadnought Confederation, and another full task  group.  I suggest that
we plan to meet in three weeks time, with whatever forces we have
remaining.  In the mean time, I will be setting a trap for the here, and
hopefully getting their interest.  Anything that you can do to that will
get their attention, as far from my current position as possible, will be
appreciated, as I think that their response to the loss here, may be
somewhat weakened.  I don't think that we can handle more than one
full-sized cube after what you've told me."
"I think this is a good plan, I will continue to slash at their
communications where possible.  As I have told you, there have been a few
messages sent by the cubes that we have defeated, we have a general idea
of the location of the system toward which these were directed.  I
suggest this as a meeting point, but it will take nearly four weeks for
the main fleet to get there, if we start out immediately.  I, therefore,
want to collect the fleet there at Federation star date ... 56490.0 with
your ship scouting the area before hand.  If you haven't had contact with
the before you have to leave, order your ships to meet the main fleet at
these coordinates."

McGinnis glanced to Anders, who nodded, telling him that she had received
the coordinates.
"Very well, I have the coordinates, and will look forward to speaking
with you Then."
"As you humans say, good luck, Admiral, and may your battles end in
victory.  Kalis out!"
" Victory to you, Kalis, Ticonderoga out."
McGinnis turned to Schultz, to ask for news about the attack craft.  The
commander anticipated the question, and flashed a schematic of the planet
up in a corner of the main viewer.
"Sir, only a few soldiers beamed down before our strike, and most of them
have been neutralized.  As we have seen before, they have great trouble
dealing with the loss of their connection to the collective.   Lieutenant
Thompson says that she'll be back aboard within the hour," was his brief
report.
"Well, said McGinnis, good news all round.  As soon as they're back
aboard, engage cloaking device, I don't want the to catch us with our
pants down."

Everyone on the  bridge returned back to their duties, while Schultz's
schematic flashed up markers where the latest soldier had been
neutralized.  After some time, Schultz turned to McGinnis, to report the
completion of the mission.

"Sir, Lieutenant Thompson reports success, they're coming in, no losses,
no damage."
"Good, have her report to me in conference-1 as soon as she's able."
"Sir, I have some disturbing information," said T'mayek.
"Report," said McGinnis, a look of concern on his features.
"Unfortunately, we did not cut the link before they got complete
information on this planet back to their information nexus.  This means
that the next cube will know where the "useful" areas of the planet are."
"That is unfortunate, but not necessarily surprising.  We won't be able
to respond immediately, so hopefully the next attack will show how
efficient information analysis is. ... I will be in conference-1 awaiting
Ms. Thompson.
Mr. Data, you have the Bridge."
With this, McGinnis rose and walked down the short corridor that led to
conference-1, where he would hear the reports concerning the level of
damage done to the planet and those living on it.

******

SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part II: Chapter VIII.
By:
Matthew Weed

Command Log: Star date 56331.6: William McGinnis, Commanding USS
Ticonderoga reporting:
We have had an uneventful few days, while we await the reinforcements
from the main fleet.  However, as we enter the fourth day in orbit, I
must admit to growing concern.  Federation experience with the scouting
cubes is limited to a brief encounter that USS Enterprise had with one
nearly fifteen years ago.  The "Hugh" incident, as it is now known, only
taught us that the tend to send larger ships to check on missing vessels
within a few days after their disappearance.  I must, therefore, assume
that we will meet a larger cube at any time.  With our reinforcements
still two days away, I must admit to some nervousness.

Despite this, I have set the crew on two/thirds duty shifts, with extra
training in the battle gear.  This gives them some added rest, and
provides some variation in our routine.  We have had no contact with
those inhabiting the planet below us, and I must hope that their
civilization will be able to withstand its rather rude entrance into
galaxy-level politics.  Of course, should the come again, as I suspect
they will, they may be taken out of galactic politics almost as suddenly
as they entered it.

The crew's morale seems high, largely due to our victory and due to the
active training routine.  I expect that we will maintain our routine
until the fleet arrives.  After that, I would like to patrol the
surrounding systems, looking for previous activity, either on the part of
the, or non- civilizations.

McGinnis turned the recorder off, having dispatched his duty to Command.
He had to wonder, sometimes, why they asked captains to record the
damnable things.  Especially on missions like this, when the actions that
the commanding officer would be held responsible for would not occur over
periods of time lengthy enough to record logs.  The bridge events
recorder would be a much more appropriate way of reconstructing ships'
activities, and the decisions which these activities depended on.

His musings were interrupted by the voice of Robert MacLeod.
"MacLeod to McGinnis."
"McGinnis here," he replied to the air.
"I have a message from Kalis, he reports that a messenger ship has come
from Klingon space, reporting that the Romulan Empire has asked for
Federation protection against the Klingons.  He says that Gouron has
promised to cease his attacks, if the Romulans will allow inspections of
their border bases, in order to ensure that house Durass doesn't receive
covert Romulan assistance.  He also wants the Romulans to guarantee their
assistance against the, under a unified Federation/Klingon central
command.  There are no further details."
"Thanks Robert, it looks like its rather busy back homeward, I hope that
Kalis doesn't feel the need to get back to home space, things here are
going too well."
"No, he says that he is continuing with the agreed plan,  but that
because some of his commanders are loyal to house Durass, he asks us not
to discuss this with anyone at the regrouping."
"Understood, tell him that I will say nothing, and that from now on, this
ship will be operating under silent running conditions, due to the risk
of attack. I will speak with him on Star date 56490, as promised."
"Understood, Ensign Smith will send that out immediately," on my return
to the Bridge."
"I don't understand, why aren't you there?"
"Kalis marked the transmission command-staff only, so I'm notifying
people directly, as cmdrs Schultz and Anders are on holo-2 working on a
new tactical simulation.
"Right," said McGinnis.

Had any other officer, even data,  done this McGinnis would have been
extremely unhappy.  However, his long-standing friendship with Robert
MacLeod, whose judgment he trusted implicitly, meant that he trusted the
chief engineer to do the job appropriately, even if it were in an
unorthodox manner.  He decided to go down to holo-2, to see what Schultz
and Anders were cooking up.

He arrived outside the holodeck, and after seeing that the simulation was
not in progress, he passed on toward rec-5.  This room, in effect the
ship's gymnasium, was a popular place, nearly all of the time.  While he
got some exercise clothing on, he could hear the unmistakable sound of
physical activity through the light bulkheads.

After his daily three kilometer speed walk, McGinnis moved to the
swimming pool, located in the center of the track's oval.
The only other swimmer was Kyla Moran, a long-standing friend whom he had
known since he was an ensign, and she a young child. She was also the
tallest woman that McGinnis had ever seen.
Her family had chosen not to have surgery performed, once it was realized
that she would be unusually tall due to hormonal imbalances.  McGinnis
knew that she had joined Star Fleet to get away from her family, to avoid
Terran architecture which she found terribly hard to deal with as it
wasn't made for people of her height, and to follow in his footsteps.  He
knew that she had respected him since she had been a child.  Her time in
the fleet had been important to her, allowing her to realize that people
could work side-by-side, without prejudice, despite any physical or
cultural differences that they might have.

Before he could begin his own exercise, she had come to a stop in front
of him.
"Yes, Ensign?
"Sir, I'm sorry to bring this to you now, but you had mentioned the
possibility of getting some off-shift bridge duty?"
"Yes, I had, and to be honest I'd forgotten with the current activity.
I'll check with Commander Schultz; if he says that he thinks you are
ready, you will receive tactical during third shift, I'll tell you
personally if it clears. "
"Thank you sir," she said with a smile.
"You deserve the chance, Kyla, you have done good work in weapons control."

A radiant smile was her acknowledgment of this statement. After this,
she then walked to the other side of the pool, where she climbed out on
her way to change into duty uniform.  With the end of the conversation,
McGinnis returned to his workout routine, and then went to find some
dinner and go to bed.

No sooner had his head hit the pillow, then he was awakened by the red
alert klaxons and MacLeod's voice calling all crew to battle stations.

***
"Status," McGinnis snapped as he charged onto the Bridge.
"Heavy sub-space distortions, suggesting an incoming ship.  We are at
full battle stations, Weapons Control Center is manned by Lieutenant
Thompson and Ensign Moran.  All weapons are on standby, and shields are
up.  The phase-cloak is functioning normally, and all other sub-systems
are optimal," said Data.
"Very well, continue close-range scanning, and wait."

They didn't have to wait long, as a full-sized cube appeared only eighty
thousand kilometers off their port bow.  Immediately after appearing, it
began to scan the planet very closely, obviously looking for indications
of technology capable of destroying a scouting cube.  Of course, the
planet didn't have the technology, and the collective was forced to
assume that an accident or other non-controllable event had occurred.  As
far as McGinnis was concerned, this was just fine.  It would give him
more time to plan his second surprise attack in a week.

*****

SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part II: Chapter IX
By:
Matthew Weed

Command Log, Star date 56332.4: William McGinnis, Commanding USS
Ticonderoga: Reporting.

The presence of the vessel now in orbit near us is no surprise, however,
I had hoped that they would wait a couple more days before arriving.  At
this point I have decided to consider the planet a lost cause, barring a
miraculous turn of events.  Although we will strike against the soon, I
can not say that I believe that we have a good chance of defeating this
collective.  However, our chances are better than those of any other
single star ship in history, and this will have to be enough.  It is
unfortunate that their destruction of the planet has been made easier by
the information that the first scouting cube was able to send back before
we could deal with it.  Now, all that we can do is watch them destroy
this planet, while we finish our preparations.

"Tactical, those photon warheads, get them set for transversion, all
other weapons under computer control, the computer may fire when ready."
"Understood, photon warheads won't be ready for a few minutes, main ring
entering charging cycle, rapid-fire weapons coming on line, plasma
torpedoes standing by, and power systems are at 100 percent."
"Very well, watch the main reactor, Commander MacLeod says that section C
is operating a little close to tolerances."
"Yes Sir, he told me about that yesterday, I have my eye on it."

Minutes dragged by while more and more of the lights on the planet's
surface went dark.  Finally the preparations were all completed, and the
ship could attempt to knock out its target.
"Sir, The subspace field is up, so its going to be hard to get to them.
The computer suggests transverting the torpedoes in first, to disrupt
their power systems and then hitting them with the plasma and phasers."
"You may begin when ready."
"Decloaking, shields at full power, beginning transversion."

The ship's transverters, basically a combination of the standard
transporter and the subspace inverter developed by the Rutians sent
fifteen standard photon warheads through the subspace field,
reintegrating them in a preset pattern throughout the ship's matrix.
Their explosions ripped a huge hole in the face of the cube now directed
toward Ticonderoga, and also knocked out primary and secondary subspace
transmission nodes throughout the ship.  This was intentional, as
Commander Schultz had theorized that the communications net could be
crashed by using explosions with a high subspace discharge.
Unfortunately, the collective was able to get some information to the
rest of the before long-range communications fell.

Almost immediately after the photon explosions, Ticonderoga's forward
contained-plasma torpedoes made their contributions.  These weapons,
which were basically the Romulan plasma bolt, with a containing magnetic
field, exploded on contact with the subspace field, which was just
beginning to reform after the first stage of the attack.  Their power
knocked it out, causing Schultz to pump his fist in the air.  At the same
instant, the main ring discharged, its white flare brighter than the
hottest supernova.  The bolt crashed through the upper-left corner of the
cube, knocking it off and into the planet's atmosphere where it was
consumed by the friction of atmospheric entry.

At the same instant, fifty of the ship's rapid-fire weapons struck,
blasting huge chunks out of the inner super-structure.  The main ring had
already recharged, and blasted away another corner of the ship.  However,
two corners were left, and a green beam now flared from one of them.

***
McGinnis watched the bolt slam into the outer shields.  The bridge rocked
violently, and injury reports flowed in from sick bay.  He also noticed
that the subspace field was beginning to reform....
"Schultz, you'd better get that damned emitter, the field's coming back up!"
"I know, retargetting..."

Ticonderoga returned fire, its main ring now firing a blue bolt, at a
much higher frequency than before.  Fortunately, the defenses had only
partially reformed, so some of the beam's force broke through,
temporarily disabling the emitter.  However, the other remaining corner
had just become active, grabbing the ship in a tractor beam.

"I'm on it," said Schultz, frantically working over his station.  The
computers still didn't have an effective counter strategy for this, and
there was nothing to be done from outside.  Schultz was trying to assist
the computers, but the intuition for which humans were famous throughout
the galaxy was no more useful than the massive processor power being
directed at the problem.  It became clear that a landing party would have
to go in to destroy the nexus powering the tractor beam.  More
transvertable warheads couldn't be ready for at least ten minutes.

"Sir, we'll have to send some people over there, we don't have any
resources that can handle the problem from here."
"Very well, get twenty of your best people, put them under Lieutenant
Thompson, and get them over there as soon as possible. ... Helm, stand by
for reverse warp, impulse isn't going to handle that beam. ... Computer, ..."
"working," replied the female voice of Ticonderoga's computer systems.
"Disengage engineering control, send to the helm."
"Engineering controls are now at helm," replied the computer.
"Reverse warp, all available power, but remember we need those shields!"
"Reversing warp, shield power has unconditional priority," replied Thale.

The ship's mighty warp drive slammed into full reverse, and the tractor
beam was clearly strained, as power was diverted from the reconstruction
process to holding the Federation vessel.  The, even with nearly forty
percent of their ship blasted into space, still had more power, and were
able to hold Ticonderoga fast.

"Damn!" snapped Schultz, "with all of that damage, I thought that  we'd
be able to get away."
"No luck," replied Thale.

The intercom chimed, and Lieutenant Thompson's voice came through, with
the characteristic distortion of a throat mike.
"We're ready for transversion sir, carrying plasma canon, phasers,
particle weapons, and sonics."
Good, lieutenant, remember to be consistent about whatever weapons you're
using, we don't want them to get a look at everything you've got in your
first attack."
"Got it sir."
"Stand by,"
"Engineering, engage transverter."

The transverter, unlike standard transporters, required immense amounts
of energy to send living beings from one place to another.  The machine
needed the power to maintain the integrity of DNA, something that the old
Rutian inverter could not.  Because of the diversion, the ship began to
slip against the tractor, something that Schultze responded to by
preparing to engage main weapons control again.  He'd have to try to get
through from outside, before the could drain all of the layers of
shielding.  They had already gotten through primary shields, and were
beginning to work on the auxiliaries.

"Sir, request permission to return engineering control to weapons
systems, I need the power to try a multi frequency assault with the
rapid-fire weapons."
"Permission granted, you may fire when ready."

Schultz snapped several commands to the computer, and then turned to
McGinnis.
"Sir, I've got to get down to weapons control, I don't have the access
that I need from here."


Schultz's only response was a jump to the turbolift and a disappearance
through its opening doors.

About thirty seconds later, Schultz's voice came through the bridge intercom.
"Sir, independent targeting and tracking hardware on line, frequency
control computers on-line, all weapons will fire varying frequencies, on
different algorithms. ... Firing now!"

The ship's rapid-fire weapons flared in a rainbow of color, launching a
devastating broadside of fire toward the tractor station, whose beam was
still, unfortunately, quite operational, and about to break through the
auxiliary shields.  This would only leave the secondaries, plus any power
that could be channeled through the main deflectors (which were under
repair), between them and assimilation.

***
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Karen Thompson was moving with a team of ten
heavily-armed security personnel toward what must be the equipment that
powered the tractor station.  So far, they had been lucky, no soldiers
had seen them.  She knew, with great certainty, that this would soon change.

"Keep moving, the ship'll be trying anything to break through soon, so be
ready for both attacks and possible phaser blasts from outside."
Murmured responses came back from her team.

Then, suddenly, a soldier was before them.
"Fire, ... use phasers first, let the frequencies change with the
internal control chips!"
The ten fired, all beams hit, and the soldier disappeared.
"Put your shields up, ... and be ready for anything."

Anything came in the form of a large number of approaching soldiers.
Quickly the team began firing, and when the phasers stopped working, they
were ejected, and after a few moments time, they detonated, blasting huge
chunks out of the local super-structure.

Thompson's communicator chimed.
"Thompson here," she said.
"Good job, lieutenant, we've got a four percent drop in power to the
tractor, we don't need much more, and we'll be able to get clear."
"Glad to hear it, sir.  We're under increasing attack, and I'm not sure
whether we can help much more, ... without help from you."
"Do what you can, you're less than twenty meters from the central power
feed for that area.  Doubtless its redundant, but if you can disrupt it
for a few moments, I am sure that  we can break free, and destroy the
tractor generator."
"Understood, we'll get there ... somehow. ... OK, everyone, we're not far
from where we need to be.  use your particle weapons, set for either
graviton or quark acceleration."
"Set!" replied the team.

Before they could fire, though, a blast of energy ripped down the
corridor from a newly opened hole in the ceiling.  Thompson glanced up,
and saw the other team break down in front of them.

"Lieutenant, we've got our weapons ready, if you fire at the left-side
wall, range twenty meters, we'll break through to the outside of the
ship, and we can destroy the tractor station with our sonic grenades,"
said ensign Moran from her end of the corridor.
"Got it, ... fire in three....two...one!"
The particle weapons flared, smashing through the poorly defended inner
hull, blasting apart a small generator, causing it to explode, which blew
open a hole in the outer hull, giving them an unadulterated view of deep
space.  Some of the younger team members stepped back nervously, but
others quickly dove for the outside, even before reinforcements could
arrive on the scene.
"Get out here!" yelled Thompson.  "You'll be killed in there if you don't
get out here, and they aren't generally equipped to handle both repair
and offense/defense.  We'll be safer out here."
With that, the entire team leapt through, and fell into the micro gravity
of open space.  Their suits protected them from the vacuum, and the small
micro fusion cells on their backs produced plenty of power for suit
heating, as well as half shielding and their grenade launchers.

The launchers were immediately primed and ready to send their explosive
cargo against the tractor station, which was only fifty meters away from
them.  Before she could give the order to fire, Thompson's eyes were
drawn toward Ticonderoga, which sat only a few hundred kilometers away.
At this distance, the ship looked small, its hull gleaming a sickening
purple-white in the glow of the tractor beam.

The other thing that caught her attention were the multicolored bolts of
light that were slamming into the defenses, quite near to her location.
These, she knew, were the bolts from the rapid-fire weapons, a near miss
from which would be enough to kill any of her team members.  The ship,
shrugged them off as if they were nothing, something that she suspected
these weapons shots were, as far as the were concerned.

She then turned to her teams, and gave the order to fire.  The sonics
slammed into the tractor nexus, seriously damaging it, and seriously
weakening the beam.  At this exact moment, Ticonderoga let fly with a
full-powered blast from the main ring.  Risky though the maneuver was,
with secondary shielding now nearly gone, and only limited main shields
restored, there wasn't much choice...

From Thompson's perspective, it appeared as if a gigantic white strobe
had flashed, totally overwhelming the filters in her helmet.  The impact
of the shot was largely dissipated by the subspace field, but because the
charge had ridden on a very high frequency wave, the weren't fully ready
for it, and the tractor station was destroyed.  The big ship had no
choice but to take advantage of this temporary weakness, and it fired
every weapon it had at that corner of the slowly reforming cube.  The
effect, both from McGinnis' and Thompson's  perspective, was terrific.
With all of the ship's phasers at maximum discharge, and the main ring
firing again, plus the plasma torpedoes, all directed at a very small
part of the ship, using a very wide range of frequencies, nearly forty
percent of the energy got through the defense.  The blast ripped the
corner off of the cube, and the back blast smashed all of Thompson's
people far away from their previous positions.  Most were killed
instantly, by acceleration that overwhelmed their suits' inertial
stabilizers.  Only Thompson, and Moran survived.

"Scan for survivors, maintain firing rate!" said McGinnis.
Data took over the job of searching for the members of the team, all of
whom had been far too close to the point of attack to have any chance of
surviving.  Data's positronic net would not recognize a miracle, but he
could conceptualize beating the odds, and it appeared, that at least two
team members had done so.  Before he could notify McGinnis, Schultz had
cut in.

"Sir, we have more photon warheads ready, but they'll get used to this if
we do it too many times."
"I am well aware of that Mr. Schultz, transvert when ready, most optimal
pattern."
"Aye, transversion in four...three...two...one...Now!"

Again, fifteen warheads appeared throughout what remained of the vessel.
These explosions cut the ship in half, and demolished the smaller of the
two halves.  Schultz began to think of himself, not so much as a weapons
officer, but more as a diamond cutter.  The larger section of the vessel
was still functional, but it appeared to have very few weapons.  It
turned to  get more  maneuvering room, but a well-placed antimatter
spread stopped this tactic.

Now McGinnis had only thirty percent of the original cube to deal with,
and this meant that his ship would only need to destroy a bit more, and
the rest of the ship would have to shut down.  Fortunately for him, this
job was made easy, by the need of the to make repairs on what remained of
their great vessel.  McGinnis' tactics were now straightforward.

"Tactical, I suggest to the computer that it fire a concentrated graviton
bolt  at the center of the ship.  drain them from the forced quantum core."
"Computer's thinking on it, ... it says that we should have a sixty
percent chance of success.  Negative is that we'll be without quantum
power for two hours."
"Do it!"
"Draining now, it'll be twenty seconds."
"Very well, maintain firing rate on rapid-fire weapons to keep them busy."
"Maintaining firing rate, ten seconds! ...
Five,...four...three...two...one...now!"
The main ring spat forth a bolt of heavy particles, which began
collapsing in on themselves the moment they left the great
electromagnetic super-accelerator.  By the time the bolt could hit the
ship, it had become a super-concentrated massive object, which drew a
chunk of the ship into itself as it crashed through the space that it
occupied.  It passed out the other side, its hole looking something like
the wound from a rifle blast, small on one side, larger on the other.
This, in itself would not have been enough, but the gravimetric forces
that had held the bolt together, also could blow it apart.  They did so,
resulting in a gigantic explosion, which drew on all of the energies
stored in the atoms that the temporary micro black hole had dragged with
it.  The force of the blast was reflected against the remains of the ship
by the dying subspace field, effectively destroying what remained of the
huge cube.  With this, Ticonderoga collected its second victory in a
week, but one that had not come without tremendous cost.

"Sir, I have been tracking our team members' life signs, and we only have
one confirmed and one possible survivor, from the original twenty crew.
They are currently moving toward the atmosphere, they were sent in that
direction by the effects of our activity;"  Said T'mayek from her
station.  Like Data, she had been tracking the two, and her direct access
to scanners gave her the ability to follow the progress of the two life
signs with greater ease than Data, who was rather occupied with keeping
track of the battle and the ship's internal monitors at his station.


"Are we in transporter range?"
"No, Sir, and their progress will put them in the upper atmosphere before
we can achieve transporter lock."
"How about tractors?"
"We are also outside tractor range, but tractor lock would be possible
even after atmospheric entry."
"Very well, maximum impulse toward the planet, stand by on tractor
stations one and four.
"Coming in, range 45,000 kilometers, 30,000 kilometers, 15,000
kilometers, we have achieved tractor range, ..." said Thale .
T'mayek's report came quickly thereafter. "They are now in the upper
stratosphere, I have limited telemetry, but it would appear that
lieutenant Thompson's suit's inertial dampening systems are   marginally
functional given best possible circumstances.  Ensign Moran is the other
survivor, her suit is still functioning within nominal perameters."
"Very well, ... Computer, tractor control to science station."
"All ship's tractor systems are now at Science," announced the computer.
"Lt.Cmdr, Do whatever appears best in your opinion."
"I now have Ensign Moran, she will be transportable in thirty-seven
seconds."
Quietly, Data notified the transporter room to expect coordinates, he
also ordered medical personnel to Transporter-1.
"I am slowing Lieutenant Thompson's fall, if anything disrupts our
tractor, she will be difficult to retrieve.  ... I have a lock, but the
thermal radiation from her entry is growing disruptive."
"Is there anything that would help you?"
"Unfortunately, there is little that we can do with other systems.  The
Lieutenant's fall is too rapid to allow the ship to move in and try a
direct-line capture, which would require us to use the ship's inertial
deceleration to slow her descent sufficiently to allow transport.  I
believe that the lock will hold, but the operation will be difficult."
Silence reigned, while the slender Vulcan woman manipulated the tractor
beam, and the fragile life that it held.  Data stood behind her, watching
to see if he could provide assistance.  He had learned that many life
forms, even vulcans on occasion, preferred to be left alone in tense
situations as long as they weren't making critical errors.  In any case,
he could see little else that could be done.

The com sounded on the Bridge, causing McGinnis and the rest of the crew
to sap around.
"Transporter-1 to Bridge, we have Ensign Moran, but we need you to shut
down her shield."
"On it," said Schultz from his station.
Accessing the telemetry was easy, and within seconds the personnel in the
transporter room confirmed that the shield had dropped.  McGinnis turned
to Data, and signaled him to come to the command chair.

"Yes, Sir?"
"I am going down to see what the Ensign's condition is, and to get a
report  if possible.  You have the Bridge, and total disgression to act
as you see fit until my return."
"Understood, sir."

McGinnis hastened off the Bridge, and took the turbo-lift to deck 4,
where the main transporter/transverter facilities were.  He entered
transport-1 at a run, and saw the tall ensign lying on the deck, with
medics around her.  She was conscious, and it appeared that she was none
the worse for wear from her very long fall.
"Ensign, how are you?"
"OK sir, but I don't ever want to go through that again.  Watching a
full-power phaser blast strike less than two hundred meters from you is
something to remember," she said a slight shake in her voice.  "How are
the rest of the members of the team?"
"Unfortunately, it appears that they were killed by the back blast of the
phaser impact.  Their inertial dampeners failed to compensate for the
acceleration that they experienced.  Lieutenant Thompson is barely alive,
but we're having trouble intercepting her, she's still in free fall.
Data suggests that the combination of heat and acceleration may have been
too much for the power distribution system.  In any case, Lieutenant
Thompson's telemetry seems to support Mr. Data's theory, until we have
more information."
"But, I was as close, or closer than the rest, why am I alive?"
"I don't know, maybe Commander MacLeod will be able to tell us, when
they've run a diagnostic on your suit.  It does look a bit singed,
though, that may suggest that your computer overrode its power
distribution programming, because the stress tolerances were being
challenged too severely.  He'll have a better idea ... I'm sure.  For the
moment, go with Dr. Patterson, I'll come by sick bay later to ..."
The ship's violent stagger, not fully intercepted by the inertial dampers
cut him off.

"Bridge, what the hell's going on up there?!"
"Sir, we have lost tractor lock, Science Officer T'mayek says that we can
reestablish if we close range to less than 100 kilometers, so I have
ordered an emergency atmospheric entry course.  All temperature control
systems are available, and I felt that it was best to attempt a rescue,"
replied Data's voice.
"Very well, take the helm yourself Mr. Data, your reflexes may be
necessary, since we're not entering on a standard descent plane. ...
Lieutenant Thale, get  to the shuttle deck, and take the run-about to
assist should the main ship not be able to reestablish tractor lock."
"yes, Sir."

Moments later, the ship's single run-about streaked away, climbing up
from the shuttle bay.

"Thale, here I am now descending, range 50,000 meters and closing.  I
will be in position in two minutes."
"Understood, bridge out," replied Data.

By this point, McGinnis had returned to the Bridge, and was ready to
retake the center seat.
"Report, Mr. Data."
"We are descending at three kilometers per second, and are two hundred
and forty-three kilometers above the surface.  Ms. Thompson has achieved
terminal velocity, just under 400 kilometers per hour.  She is twenty
kilometers above the surface, and we will be able to reestablish tractor
lock in approximately forty-five seconds."
"We will be able to stop her decent then?"
"Yes, Admiral," replied T'mayek, "however, we will have to bring her
velocity down and simply land her on the surface, as we will be at great
risk of crashing into the planet without an immediate course change."
"Right..."

The ship continued to streak down, the shields, which were barely up to
the task, blasting all atmospheric particles out of the way.  The trail
that the ship's passage made was so brilliant that it lit the darkened
skies of the planet well enough to allow survivors, had there been any,
to see as well as they did at high noon.  A second, smaller trail
intersected the larger one, this being Thale's run-about.

"I am in position, I think that I can grab her from here, but you'll have
to cut the main tractor beam," he said.

"You don't have the power to do it!" said Schultz from his station.
"I think I can get her if I divert all of the power to the tractor."
"Very well, make the attempt, but I don't dare shut the main stations
down.  We'll divert the beam, but if you fail, we will have to make the
attempt." Came McGinnis' decision.
"Locking on, ... I have a partial lock, but my own systems are too
strained, I hope that you can get her," came Thale's frustrated voice
through the com-line.  McGinnis understood his frustration, he and the
lieutenant were to have been married at the end of the mission.
"Don't worry, lieutenant, she's not going to miss your wedding."
"Thank you, sir."
"Helm, range to minimum safe altitude?"
"We are twenty-three seconds from minimum safe altitude, with four
seconds of descent after that point, before we will be certain of planet
fall," said Data.
McGinnis turned to T'mayek, "Its your show, Commander, you've got twenty
seconds before I call this off.  Good luck."
Seconds passed while the Vulcan turned to her station, stabbed its
controls, with increasing speed, and finally said:
"Tractor lock established, ... Lieutenant Thale, she will be set down at
the coordinates coming on your screen now."
"Got them, and Thank you Commander."
T'mayek, simply let the remark pass, like all vulcans, she did not
understand the need for thanks, for as she saw it, she was saving a
trained officer so that she could return to duty.
"Helm, hard over, full impulse, all power to anti gravity fields!" said
McGinnis.
"Sir, what about phase-cloaking, and then just working out of the planet
while in phase?" asked Schultz.
"That will not be possible, we can not use the phase-cloak, because the
phase barrier necessary to engage the device can not be formed in the
extremely ionized environment which results from  our rapid decent into
the atmosphere." said Data.
"Oh," replied Schultz.

Data began counting down the distance between the ship and a violent end.
"Our altitude is twenty-seven kilometers, ... twenty-five, ...
twenty-three, coming to flat trajectory, descending toward a large lake,
it should give us an added margin for error," he said.

The ship continued to fight its momentum, but there was a lot of inertial
energy built up, and although the dampers could deal with internal
inertia, they weren't built to compensate for the ship's inertia as a
whole.  At least not when they also had to fight a planet's gravity.
This job was handled by the ship's anti-grav fields, and its tractor
stations, which also served as high-focus anti-grav generators when the
ship was in atmosphere.

"Altitude is eight kilometers, we are slowing, I estimate risk of
terminal impact at less than ten percent."
"Lieutenant Thale reports that he has intercepted Thompson's suit, and
that her shield generator has just failed.  He can't beam her to us,
because we're moving too fast, and there is too much ionization from our
entry maneuver," said Commander Anders.
"Good, at least one thing is done, ... Overload power on tractors one and
four, we'll need the added gravimetric pressure."
"Aye, repulsor power at 140%." replied Anders.

The ship was now less than a kilometer above the lake, and although it
was slowing, McGinnis had the uneasy feeling that they might hit the
water, which would be hard on the super-structure, considering their
angle of impact, and their extremely weakened shields.

"Direct all remaining shield power below us, If we're going to hit, I
want the water and the shields to help slow our descent.  All decks,
prepare for collision..." McGinnis  said.

The ship's collision alarms sounded, and all crew on the lower decks
immediately departed for higher ground, unless their stations could not
be left unmanned under any circumstances.  All compartments were sealed,
and the ship's air circulation went onto distributed back-ups.

"Ten seconds to impact," said Data.  ... "Now five ... four...
three...two...one... shields have struck the water, decelerating rapidly
now, eighty meters, seventy, ... sixty ... ... ... fifty ..............
We have stopped, forty-three meters above the surface."
McGinnis sighed, realizing that he'd been holding his breath for some
time.  All of the other bridge crew members also sighed in relief.

"McGinnis to all decks, we have avoided collision, our condition is now
green."

****

SUPER-DREADNOUGHT Part II: Chapter X
By:
Matthew A. Weed


Command Log, Star date 56334.3: Admiral William McGinnis Commanding USS
Ticonderoga reporting:
We have now defeated two ships, including a full-sized cube.  However,
our losses have been heavy as well, with eighteen crew members lost in
our last action.  Their service does the Federation honor, and I hereby
recommend all for posthumous commendation.  I further recommend
Lieutenant Karen Thompson and ensign Kyla Moran for commendations, their
cool headed thinking was critical to our success.

We are now on the surface of the planet, where I have directed that the
crew to take some open air, as it will be some time before we get the
chance again.  Fortunately, our rough decent seems to have done little
damage to the ship, all of which we have now repaired.  We have launched
some probes to scan the surface, and unfortunately, scanners have picked
up a few units, so on our return to space, we will have to bombard the
planet to ensure the units' destruction.

After that, we will begin the process of finding the point toward which
much communications seem to be directed.  If we can destroy or disrupt
this nexus, we will have the on the defensive, temporarily at least.

McGinnis sat back in his chair, considering the options.  The ship was
sitting in a very deep lake, its systems largely shut down for minor
system repairs.  Also, with only secondary power enabled, the ship would
have a much better chance of avoiding any ship that might come through
the system.  Honestly, McGinnis assumed that they would get a couple of
days before another attempt would be made, and before that, Ticonderoga
would be long-gone, and much of the planet a burning cinder.

"Sir, why don't you get outside and take a break, as you said, it'll be a
while before we get the chance again," said Karen Thompson as she entered
the Bridge.
"Sounds like a good idea, Lieutenant but I need to get a bit more work
done first.  Why don't you come back in an hour to relieve me, I think
that you're ready for a try at Bridge command."
"Thank you, sir!" she said, all smiles.

Of course, McGinnis had only been responding to a suggestion made by Dr.
Patterson that Thompson's morale would be helped by active duty.  With
this in mind, he'd temporarily assigned her to data analysis, so that her
mind would remain busy during her convalescence.

***
As promised, Thompson returned an hour later to find McGinnis smiling at
the image captured by the main viewer.  It was focused on a number of
crew members who were apparently trying to build a six-level living
pyramid.  So far, they had gotten to five levels deep, but level six
seemed to be a bit of a problem...
"Here as ordered, Sir." Thompson said.
"Excellent, I'll be on the main hull, should you need me.

McGinnis hastened to an air lock, and was soon standing on the main hull,
in the shadow of one of the nuclear reactor-powered topside rapid-fire
weapons.  A large picnic had been set out by the recreation director, and
lots of crew were sampling it as they took breaks from the various games
taking place on the hull and the near-by beach.

Since he was in "civies", McGinnis' presence went unnoticed for several
minutes, and even when the crew did see that he was watching them, they
only stopped long enough to invite him into the fun; an offer which he
quickly accepted.

Several hours later, as the planet's star was setting, everyone returned
to the ship, save a few that had decided to go exploring.  McGinnis had
quickly agreed to the request, since they had their communicators and
would therefore be able to be in easy touch with the ship.

McGinnis had wanted to go as well, but he felt uncomfortable about
leaving the ship under the current circumstances.  He returned to the
bridge after one final look at the various games and other activities
occurring on and around the ship's hull.

Within minutes of his return to the Bridge, the reason for his
discomfiture became clear.

Walter Schultz, currently in command of the bridge reported that: "Sir, I
have a message from Kalis, text only."
"Very well, read it."
"He says that they have suffered major casualties in their most recent
action, and that they will be going under total radio silence from here
on in.  He also says that two of the cubes that they fought departed in
the middle of the battle, and have set an approximate course for this
system."
"Thank you, all stations, yellow alert."

The ship's lights went to yellow, and the computer made a brief
announcement concerning the change in status.

Within minutes, McGinnis was sitting in the command chair.
"Transporter control, notify the campers that they'll have to come back
immediately, and then beam them up.  We have about an hour before the
arrive, and I don't intend to waste the time."
"Aye Sir, sending notification now."
"Engineering, we need to make sure that the remaining are quite dead
before we leave.  I'd also like to give the a mystery as to who was
responsible for the destruction.  I think that they're aware of this ship
now, but the bigger the mystery the better.  Of course, we'll need all
the power that we can get to get out of here, so if you've got any ideas
that fit all of that, please suggest them."
"I haven't any ideas," replied MacLeod's concerned voice over the com.
"Sir, I suggest that we just use rapid-fire weapons, knock the out, and
then drop a few torpedoes into the star, near the outer edge.  We could
generate a solar flare that would do extreme damage to the planet's
atmosphere, and ionize this area, making it hard to find us," suggested
Schultz from his station.
"Science officer?"
"Sir, the plan would work, but it will take too long to implement."
"What if we set a number of torpedoes in this lake, in a pattern that
would bring the waters to fusion point through pressure?" suggested Thale.
"There is a forty-six percent probability that we would not be
successful," said Data.
"Very well, we'll just have to use the ring and then get the hell out of
here, we don't have time for magic," said McGinnis, the frustration clear
in his voice.
"Helm, set course for orbital insertion, maximum possible speed."

The ship shot out of the water, rising with improbable speed toward
space.  Its arrival trail had been bright enough to see by, its departure
trail was outright blinding.  Within two minutes, the ship sat in orbit
its main ring at full charge.

Within seconds huge scars opened across the planet as the few remaining
soldiers were struck by power sufficient to destroy entire cities.

Within a minute the ship's work was done, and the phase-cloak was
operational.  The ship broke orbit, and accelerated away, its mighty warp
engines flaring at full power.

"Let's clear the system, set course for the indicated coordinates, warp
9.7, and any faster if the engines'll give it to us."
"Warp is now 9.7, our course is 334 mark 17."
"Mr. Data, report on ship's status?"
"  Main energizers at maximum output, quantum core at 100 percent power,
secondary systems are providing ship's internal power, except the
phase-cloak and sensors," said Data.
"Sir, I am now attempting to increase speed further, subspace distortions
noted in the system." said Thale.
"Understood, the phase-cloak should provide protection too, but there's
no defense like being out of sensor range," McGinnis replied.  "Push the
core beyond its maximum standard ratings if you need to, the further
we're away the better."
"Sir, we are accelerating, velocity is now warp 9.73 ... 9.75 ... warp
9.78 ... 9.80 ... We are now at warp 9.817 and holding."
"Very well, keep it here, we're rated for warp 9.975, but that'd require
shutting the phase-cloak off, and I think that would be rather bad at the
moment," said McGinnis the sarcasm dripping from every word.
"Agreed, Sir!"

 Ticonderoga ran from one possible confrontation, and toward another that
would certainly be far greater than any that they had faced so far.




SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part III: Chapter XI
By:
Matthew Weed

Command Log: Stardate 56463.4: William McGinnis, Commanding USS
Ticonderoga recording:

WE have been at high warp for nearly four and a half weeks, and are now
coming into the area that we believe contains some kind of command
nexus.  This ship has traveled far beyond any other vessels in Federation
history, and although our trip, fortunately, has been uneventful, I wish
that there had been opportunity to inspect the systems through which we
have passed.  The have laid waste to this area of the galaxy, and it
appears that some of their work occurred thousands of years ago.  A broad
diversity of technology has been apparent, just from the wrecks and other
materiel spread along our path.

We have not stopped to carefully investigate any of the wrecks or
destroyed planets along our path for two reasons.  First, I believe that
we have enough information on methods of assimilation from Picard's
contacts to serve us under our current mission perameters.  Therefore, I
have chosen to avoid study.  The other reason is far more prosaic.

I am not certain that we could continue our mission if we studies too
many destroyed planets and wrecked ships.  Some, according to our
scanners have had far higher technology than is currently available to
the Federation and its allies.  If this information became generally
available to the crew, I don't know that our morale could stand this
reality.  Therefore, I have chosen to keep my personal evaluation of our
current chances of success to myself.  If it were to be known, I believe
that our mission would be certain to fail.

The fact is, that I am now not certain that we will be able to
significant damage to the, even if we use some of the tactics which Kalis
and I discussed before this ship's departure from the fleet.  I will
investigate the systems in the area, and at our planned rendezvous, Kalis
and I will have to decide what to do.  Hopefully I can find something
that will allow us to do enough to slow the down.

McGinnis finished the recording, and left his quarters.  It was about
half an hour before they expected to decelerate to sub-warp, and he
wanted to see what, if anything, the long-range scanners, limited though
they were while under phase-cloak, had found.

"Admiral on the Bridge," said Data, as he released the command chair.
"At ease," McGinnis said, while looking around the room.  All the senior
staff was there, including Robert MacLeod, who had replaced Janet Anders
at Operations.
"Robert, where's Ms. Anders?"
"She suffered injuries in simulation on the holodeck, the Doctor wanted
her to stay in sickbay for awhile for observation.  Since I was planning
to be here for the actual deceleration, I offered to take her station."
"Very well, why was I not notified?"
"Because your com badge wasn't functioning, and optical links are
temporarily down for some reconfiguration.  They'll be up in about a minute."
"My com badge wasn't working? ..." McGinnis looked down to see that the
small machine wasn't attached to his uniform jacket.
"I see...." he said, and then retrieved the spare unit from his chair's
emergency storage compartment.
"McGinnis to Sick bay."
"Sick bay, Sharfelter, sir."
"Lieutenant, Ms Anders' condition?"
"She has suffered a minor concussion, which Dr. Patterson has treated,
but the Doctor wanted her to remain here for observation."
"Understood, have her file a report as soon as possible."
"Yes, Sir, I expect that she'll be sending it any moment."
"Thank you, lieutenant.  McGinnis out."
"Helm, what's our status?"
"Sir, we are at warp 9.65, all systems are functioning nominally, and we
are twenty-four minutes from deceleration."
"Operations, Science, what do you see?"
MacLeod studied the panel for a moment, and then turned to give his report.
"Indications of massive gravitational wells all throughout the area in
front of us, possibly characteristic of star systems.  However, the
ambient light from the sector is somewhat less than it should be,
assuming the standard distribution of star types.  Our sensors are unable
to distinguish whether there are gaps, mainly because no Federation
probes or long-range mapping programs have cataloged this area of space
with sufficient detail."
"Very well, science?"
"Sir, we appear to be entering a large area of space which has had a very
high level of technology for many thousands of years.  As we have closed
in on this region, the technology of the destroyed civilizations has had
a slight, but noticeable upward trend.  Obviously, like the system in
which we first made contact with the, there are significant exceptions to
this.  It may be that we will find that there are dyson's spheres, or
other system-wide modifications that will explain the unusual
distribution of gravitational anomalies.  This area may also have a large
number of small dark stars, as yet we are too distant to come to  any
acceptable conclusions." said T'Mayek.

"I understand, continue analysis, and report as soon as possible."
"Operations, any sign of activity in the surrounding space?"
"Yes, Sir, there is a great deal of traffic on long-range scanners,
headed toward what appears to be a possible type G or H system.  I count
at least twenty vessels in the area."
"Great, this isn't going to be easy, but at least we've got a good
candidate for their  home world."
"yes sir, that would be a legitimate expectation from the available
data," Data agreed.  "I am interested, though, to see whether we can get
any information on the planet itself."
"I agree, but first I want to solve the mystery of the gravitational
anomalies, they are unusual and may prove useful."
"Sir, there is a particularly powerful anomaly three degrees to starboard
of our current course, about a light-year from the system temporarily
designated as the home system," said T'mayek studying her panel.
"Very well, ... Helm,  decelerate to warp 8.5 and change course as
appropriate."
"Changing course to 043 mark 351," said Thale, "Decelerating to warp 8.5."

The ship moved toward its first assignment in this area of space, the
study of a gravitational anomaly of unusual power.

"Sir, now one minute from visual, scanners have not been able to collect
increased data due to phase-cloak interference," said T'Mayek.
"What have they told us?"
"The area of space affected is extremely large, and our sensors have not
been able to penetrate the anomalous area, which is at least 500 million
kilometers in diameter.  Indications of a massive gravitational object in
the center of the anomaly, but it is impossible to tell what might be
responsible for these readings."
"understood, helm, decelerate to warp 7.5, and bring us into an orbital
spiral course that will put us at the surface of the object in fifteen
minutes."
"Decelerating to warp 7.5, plotting course and laying in."
"Mr. Thale, you may proceed."

Twenty seconds later, T'mayek turned to the Admiral.
"We are now within visual range."
"Very well, Operations, image on main viewer."

The view screen flipped from its characteristic tactical simulation of
the surrounding space into a picture of ... darkness.
"Enhance image," said McGinnis.
"Enhancement is already in progress," said T'mayek.

Slowly the darkness resolved into the image of a huge silver sphere, more
than 600 million kilometers across.
"Sir, as you can see, this is a dyson's sphere, what limited sensory
information I can collect suggests that it is made of carbon neutronium,
which is at least two kilometers thick.  Neutronium of this thickness
would be sufficient to provide local gravity nearly equal to that of Sol
at its surface.  I have extremely faint indications of a mass several
thousand times that of Sol inside the sphere, at its approximate center.
No indications of currently-active technology.

"Well, I suggest that we knock and see if they'll let us in," said Walter
Schultz from his station.  "I don't think that we can beat the alone,
maybe this civilization will help us."
"It depends on their attitude about laws similar to the Prime Directive,"
said Data.
"True, but if we don't ask them, they can't turn us down,  and I can't
believe that the haven't tried to assimilate them at some point, unless
they were so far ahead of the in the first place that the have never felt
their ability to assimilate this civilization to be sufficiently
"relevant,"" replied Schultz.
"In either case, I agree with you, Mr. Schultz, we've come here to deal
with the threat, and without help, as you say, it will be difficult to
handle the alone," said McGinnis, effectively ending the debate, which
was one of many that occurred recently between these officers.
"Operations, give me a full-power broadcast, all frequencies."
"You're on."

"Unidentified civilization, this is William McGinnis, in command of the
United Federation of Planets Starship Ticonderoga.  We come in peace, and
hope to begin a long and fruitful relationship with your peoples. ...  We
await your response."

The ship continued its slow decent, while all of the crew awaited
something ... anything ... from the great object below.  Finally, a
response, of a sort, came.
"I have a brief message, running through universal translator..."
Time passed, and finally MacLeod looked up, a frown on his face.
"I have it, but its rather odd."
"Yes?"
"It just says, "If you can enter, we shall see..."
"Interesting," said T'Mayek.
"I agree," said Data.
"Very well, they've given us a challenge, can we traverse that in phase?"
"I  believe, with added power to the phase-cloak, that we can pass
through without extreme risk.  However, there is risk, as the quantum
instability caused by the neutronium is extremely severe, and if we lose
the phase, we shall not be able to escape immediate entrapment," said Data.
"Science officer?"
"The Captain's analysis is correct, I estimate risk of entrapment at
twenty-three percent.

"Very well, prepare the ship for event transition, we will proceed in
half an hour."

Part III: SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Chapter 12:
By:
Matthew Weed

Command Log: Stardate 56464.3: Admiral William McGinnis, Commanding Star
Ship Ticonderoga reporting:

We are preparing to transit the outer shell of the Dyson's sphere before
us.  Carbon neutronium is so dense that it causes serious problems, even
for a phased object such as this vessel.  We will therefore be operating
at emergency condition 5, with all non-essential systems shut off, and
emergency power at maximum.  Our only recourse, should we encounter
extreme difficulty, is to overload the phase-cloak, which will likely
throw us into an alternate dimention.  This is a prospect that I do not
relish, but we must attempt entry to this sphere, as intelligent life is
quite likely to be within.  Considering the technology necessary to
construct a sphere, I believe that they may be able to help us defeat
the, or at least slow them down.  From the long-range scans that we took
of the traffic entering and leaving their home system, I am quite
convinced that we will be defeated without outside assistance.  Of
course, the final decision to attack or retreat lies with Kalis, so it is
still possible, though not likely, that we will attack no matter the
odds.  For now, all we can do is investigate this sphere, and hope that
it holds answers to the problems posed by the.  If not, we may have to
use our ultimate weapon,  a weapon whose use will probably result in the
assimilation of every member of this ship's crew.

"Helm, set course for the center of the sphere, ahead full impulse."
"Course laid in, velocity is .8 C."

The ship moved straight toward the great silver sphere lying directly in
its path.  The plan, as they had ultimately made it, was that if the ship
faced overly severe quantum distortions, sufficient power would be
allocated to the phase-cloaking device to overcome the distortions, even
if this meant phasing out of real space, and into interdimentional
subspace.  if this happened, it would be almost impossible to get home.
Considering that McGinnis had already gone through dimentional transit
once in his life, he truly hoped that the ship would not have to perform
this desperation maneuver.

"We are now 20 million kilometers from the sphere, one minute twenty
seconds to contact," said Thale.
"Engineering, are all systems ready for emergency power allocation?"
"yes Sir," said MacLeod who had returned to his regular station after
Janet Anders' release from sick bay.
"Now one minute to contact," said Thale.
"Tactical, keep your eyes out, I don't know what we'll find in there,
although certainly I don't want you doing anything that would be
considered threatening, as their weapons technology is unquestionably
better than ours."
"Aye Sir, I have switched tactical sensors to science, with repeating
signal to this station."
"Very well, ... Science, give me all the information that you can about
the civilization as soon as its available.  Mr. Data, you watch the
sensors for reports of difficulty, if you see *anything* report it, and
act immediately if there isn't time."
"Understood Sir."
"Now twenty-five seconds to contact," said Thale.

The ship continued straight toward the surface of the object, which now
appeared flat as their altitude continued its rapid decrease.
"Ten...nine...eight...seven...six...five...four...three...two...one...Contact!"
the ship bucked so violently that everyone except Data was thrown to the
floor.  The emergency lighting came on, and its redness was made even
more haunting by the fog that had apparently appeared, quite literally
out of nowhere.  McGinnis struggled back to his seat, now reminded why he
didn't want restraining harnesses put on the command chair.  It would
only slow him down when he needed to look at his subordinates, and
impacts like that would only result in whiplash that would require a
doctor's attention. ...  He hated doctors.

The rest of the staff was also returning to their stations, or to
consciousness, depending on their constitutions.
"Mr. Schultz, take the helm!" snapped McGinnis seeing that Thale was out
cold on the floor.
"Controls switched," replied Schultz.
"Mr. Data, our status?"
"We have decelerated to only a few kilometers per hour, and will require
thirty-two minutes to traverse at this level of forward thrust.  The
quantum gravimetric forces are nearly too strong for the impulse drive to
handle, and the density of the neutronium is preventing our passage as well."
"Are we in danger of entrapment?"
"There is a fifty-four percent probability of entrapment, if current
conditions hold."
"Engineering, emergency power to phase-cloaking device."
"Sir, we risk dimentional transit if we keep that kind of power up for
too long," said Data.
"I am well-aware of the possible consequences, but being alive in someone
else's dimention is far better than dying in here."
"Engineering here, sir....I recommend against the emergency power, the
device is already strained enough as it is."
"I understand your concerns, Mr. MacLeod, but we have no choice."
"understood emergency power is now available."

The ship seemed to stagger again, its velocity improved *very* slightly,
but there was still a noticeable down-trend to their rate of forward
movement.

"Sir, our risk of entrapment is now forty-seven percent."
"That's still too high!" said Schultz, and I think that there's an
anomaly in front of us that is denser than average."
"Understood, Engineering, engage warp drive, emergency acceleration."
"Sir! that'll likely cause the nacelle pylons to collapse or bend, and if
it doesn't, we'll be thrown out in an uncontrolled acceleration, and I
wouldn't want to hit the other side at high warp!"

McGinnis thought about this.  The impact at high impulse had been nearly
enough to kill some crew, and an impact at warp would likely destroy the
ship.  However, being trapped in the sphere's shell was clearly worse.

"Engineering, I don't see that we have much choice, keep an eye on those
support pylons, and channel emergency power to their support fields if
you think that will help."
"Aye ....... sir," said MacLeod, clearly very unhappy at having to carry
out the order.

"Mr. Data, watch our forward progress, if we break free too suddenly, you
will have to reverse warp immediately, I doubt that there will be time to
order you to do so."
"Understood sir." was the android's unemotional response.

"Our power is now set for warp four travel," said Schultz.  "We have
accelerated to 108 kilometers per hour.  AT this velocity, the forward
sections will pass through the inner surface in ... twenty-seven seconds."
"Good, continue monitoring, if we need more power then put it where you
need to, but remember that as soon as the center line of the saucer, and
the center of the quantum core have passed through the surface, that our
acceleration will be rapid, as the ship will present very little added
forward surface."
"I've got it sir, we will hit center line in thirty seconds, quantum core
center three seconds after that.  I'll begin cutting power immediately
after that.

At this moment a medical team raced onto the Bridge, grabbed Thale, and
hastened back into the turbolift.

"What's the prognosis?"
"He's got serious injuries to various central nervous system sectors,
I'll report as soon as we know more, but there are a lot of serious
injuries," said the young blonde medic leading the team.
"Very well..." McGinnis said, his acknowledgment cut off by the silent
closing of the turbolift doors.
"Now ten seconds to contact with inner surface."
McGinnis quickly hit the all-call on his chair.
"All decks, all departments, we are about fifteen seconds from breaking
free of the worst of the quantum interference  from the sphere's shell.
Be ready to brace yourselves, I expect that breaking free of the effects
may have results similar to those that we suffered on contact some
minutes ago."
"Sir, warp pylons are under terrible stress, there is some bending in
both port and starboard nacelle/main hull connectors." said Janet Anders
from her station.
"Understood, divert more power if you can, we'll be able to shut down in
about a minute."
"Emergency power to support fields, but they're about to shut down too."
"forward sections of main ring are in the clear!" said Schultz.
"Continue forward movement, ... engineering, report on system stress?"
"We are at warp 4 power, main and auxiliary power systems are on-line,
phase cloak is functioning well.  Warp pylons are all bending, and before
we actually drive into warp space, we'll have to realign the pylons
ourselves, it'll take about three or four days.  Power transfer systems
are under stress, and will have to be recalibrated, structural support
field generators are beginning to fail, we'll have to replace them before
we try any heavy maneuvering, but miraculously ..." and the channel closed.
"Sir! warp pylons are buckling, we'll have to shut down immediately,"
Anders yelled.
"no, we're not passed center-line, we must clear that before the impulse
engines can do the rest."
"We'll lose the warp engines in a few seconds!," said Anders.
"Continue forward power!"
"Sir, we are twenty meters to center-line, ... ten ... clear! ...
accelerating rapidly, ... clear quantum core! ... engineering hull
slipping free!" reported Schultz.
"Shut down warp power. all systems to standby."
"Warp drive shut down, impulse reversed for momentum balancing, all other
systems on standby."
"Well..... We made it," said Anders.
"Yes, Science, First  officer, scan around and tell me what you can find
out."
  Engineering, report on damage."
"Sir, damage to warp drive is severe, repairs will take at least a week.
Main power is not available, secondary power is fully available, the
quantum core will require a bit of adjustment before it can provide
energy.  Structural support fields are in bad shape, they will require a
week's calibration and generator replacement.  I would say that we'll be
able to leave in ten days time."
"Understood," said McGinnis.  It was worse than he had expected, and
would make it impossible to get to the rendezvous with the fleet,
assuming that damage on the way out was similar.  Hopefully they would be
able to find an easier way out of the sphere.
"All stations, report."
"Sir, I have life forms everywhere, and massive power generation, and a
great deal of conversion of stellar energy as well.  I would estimate
that the power generated in this sphere is equal to the entire output of
the Federation on a yearly basis.  There is no vessel traffic, although a
large number of habitats exist throughout the structure.  The star at its
center is a type H-8 star, two class D asteroids and a class L planet are
still in orbit around the star.  The habitats are marginally class-M,
with a lower oxygen pressure than most humaniform life is used to.  The
race appears to be humanoid, possibly more closely related to the
rigellians or Bajorans than to Terran or Vulcan humaniform life," said
T'mayek.
"I concur with those readings, and would add that it appears that one of
the habitats is the center of a particularly high level of subspace
activity, and may be a good place to our attempts at communication." said
Data.
"Ship's systems are back on line, except for warp drive, engineering
structural support fields, and some main-hull support fields as well.
Quantum core is only rated at 10% power, estimated repair time is about a
day," came Janet Anders' report.
"Sir, weapons and defenses are available, but I suspect that they would
do us little good in here, considering the technology of the
inhabitants," said Schultz.
"Thank you, ... Ms. Anders, send a text message, ... "We were able to
come in, request face-to-face discussion, and subspace communication."
"Sent, Sir."

A number of minutes passed while the ship continued about the business of
inspecting the inside of the technological marvel whose shell it had just
passed through.  Finally, Anders' head snapped up, and she reported that
a visual signal was coming through.
"Put it on screen," McGinnis said, while readying himself for contact
with the only race that might be able to help the Federation and its
allies in their desperate attempt to find an acceptable solution to the
threat posed by the.

SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part III: Chapter 13:
My:
Matthew Weed

"Interstellar travelers, welcome to our home.  I am L'aek, leader of the
Myria.  We did not expect that you would survive the transit."
"L'aek, I am Admiral William McGinnis, I command the United Federation of
Planets Star Ship Ticonderoga.  I am here, on behalf of the Federation,
and its allies, to ask your assistance in our struggle for survival
against the."
"Admiral, I am very pleased to finally speak with a representative of a
civilization living and growing outside this sphere.  In the nearly
twenty-thousand cycles that our home has existed, we have had only three
contacts.  Two of them were with civilizations like yours that were
trying to defend themselves against those that you call The.  The
other... should be obvious, considering our location in space.  We have
the technology to rid the Galaxy of this menace, but most of the races in
it, as you know, can not coexist peacefully, or if they do so, they are
unwilling to defend themselves when the time for defense comes.  We have
remained in this shell for so long, because we, too, fear the usurpers,
the collectors, or as you call them, The.  Our defenses are only
sufficient if they always remain closed, because, once opened, it takes
nearly a full day, in your time, to reassert them.  However, working
together, I believe that we can bring them down."
"I certainly hope so, nearly half of our allied strength has gone into
the current offensive, and we have destroyed no more than seven or eight
of their large vessels.  As you know, their fleet must number hundreds of
them.  There aren't many weapons left, and this ship carries two of
them.  Weapons that will be useless if we do not leave this sphere."
"I understand your concerns, your fleet is already on our long-range
scans, in action against a cube as we speak.  The battle does not go well
for them."

This news brought all of the crew to full attention.  Their friends and
allies were fighting against an implacable enemy, and there was
absolutely nothing that they could do.  Their reactions to this news
varied from Data's implacable calmness to Schultz' fist landing with a
solid crack on the navigation console.  McGinnis signaled Anders to damp
the audio.
"People, our mission is to get help from the people here, and we can do
nothing to help those on the outside.  Kalis is an excellent commander,
and the ships that we have in the fray are all commanded by the best that
the allies have to offer.  For now, our job is to open relations with
these people, because we can't perform this job on our own, and we now
know that there is no way that the Federation can survive an all-out
assault.  Therefore, I want you to keep tight control over yourselves,
these hours will be extremely important to whether we go home to a
Federation that is whole and secure, or fragmented and under threat of
immediate absorption."

McGinnis waved to Anders who reinstated the audio pick-up.
"I apologize for the delay, we have been under enormous stress lately,
and I believe that my crew is exhausted."
"Admiral, you have been in deep space for nearly four of your months, and
have been at a nearly continuous state of military alert.  It is amazing
that you and your crew have done as well as you have, considering your
numerous disadvantages."

"Yes, we have had to fight under difficult circumstances, but my crew and
I have been together for a long time, and we've learnt to work together
well.  For this mission, I would have had no others in my command staff."
"High praise Admiral, we would like to send a small party to your ship to
learn more about your Federation and discuss how we can help each other
survive the menace for a little while longer."
"We would be glad to have you, do you wish to come aboard via your own
methods of transport, or shall we beam your party aboard?"
"We shall use our own methods of transport, I am not certain that your
regular transporters would be able to handle the subspace activity in
this environment.  I will come aboard with four assistants, if you can
send us the coordinates of your transport center?"
"They are coming through now," McGinnis said, waiting for confirmation
that the data had been sent.
"We have the coordinates,  Admiral I look forward to meeting with your
people soon."
McGinnis rose, pointing to Data and Kyla Moran.
"You two are with me, Mr. Schultz, you have the Bridge."
"Aye, Sir." said Schultz, while moving to the command chair.

It did not occur to McGinnis to wonder how the Myria had known how long
they had been on their current mission until after he had entered the
turbo-lift.  He made a mental note to find out how this had happened.
The three officers left The Bridge, and were whisked to transport-1.  As
they arrived, a quiet crackling noise filled the room, and then what
appeared to be a door opened and five humanoids stepped through.
"L'aek, I am Admiral McGinnis, in command of USS Ticonderoga.  I welcome
you aboard our ship.  These are some of my command Staff, First Officer
Data, and Lieutenant junior-grade Kyla Moran, temporary first-shift
tactical officer."
"Admiral McGinnis, we are pleased to meet you and your officers as well.
Our contact with the outside universe has, for so long, been limited to
sensor sweeps, and the occasional attempted assault by The.  These are my
assistants, M'laer, historian, Draen, technical specialist, and Plaik and
R'laev, civilian observers."

At this point, McGinnis began to move toward a small conference room
located at the side of the main transport deck.
"I suggest that we speak in this room, we can tell you about our culture,
and we can learn of yours."
McGinnis correctly interpreted L'aek's simple hand motion as agreement
with the suggestion.
"With reference to your point about being isolated, I am sure that most
Federation member worlds would find it difficult to live without the
benefits that our interstellar trade have conferred upon us.  Of course,
if we hadn't moved out so quickly, we might not have encountered "Q" and
the as early as we have."
"Your civilization, too, has encountered the beings in the "Q"
continuum?  I am not surprised that they might have become interested in
a group of peoples so curious about the universe around them as your
peoples obviously are.  ... We have always managed to avoid problems with
them, as they feel that our enforced isolationism and lack of explorative
tendencies  do not threaten them."
"Unfortunately for the Federation, we were brought into contact with the
by a member of the "Q" continuum.  Obviously, as soon as The knew of our
existence, they launched an attack.  We had a year to prepare, while
their ship traveled from the point of first contact, toward Sol-3, our
capital and an important social, cultural, and economic center.  That
first attack nearly destroyed Earth, and had it not been for Mr. Data's
creative application of a suggestion made by one of our captains who had
been partially assimilated, I suspect that Earth, and possibly the rest
of the Federation would have been lost.  Their attacks have grown in
strength, and I can not honestly say that we will be able to withstand
many more of them, if they aren't stopped.  This is why our fleet, and
this ship, have been sent to territory."
"Certainly you do not hope to destroy them alone?"
"Of course not, but we did hope to throw the collective off balance by
striking deep into their territory, and possibly to use some of our
specialized weapons to slow the Borg's activity down to a certain
degree.  Beyond this, I do not believe that we can do more without added
help.  Your presence here was not suspected by us, and is a stroke of
great luck, should you be able and willing to help us."
"I would like to do nothing more than help you, although we are still
safe from their assaults, the fact that civilizations have developed the
ability to pass through the matter of our home means that the will likely
assimilate that technology as well.  If they can break in to this sphere,
we will be in serious danger, because our offensive weapons are few, and
those that we do have would do great damage to this environment as well."
"Could one of them be mounted on a platform such as this vessel, or a
construct of your own?" asked Data, entering the conversation for the
first time.
"This ship, although a miracle of technology by your standards, does not
produce energy sufficient to power any of our offensive weapons, and as I
have said, we could not send out a mission, simply because it would take
too long for our own defenses to reassert themselves, and such a mission
would not have a high enough probability of success to risk the
assimilation of our technology.  It would make life for civilizations
like yours even shorter than it already may be."
"Well, we have a few things that we can still try.  However, their use
will require the capture of this ship."
"What?", cried Kyla Moran.  "Sir, I thought that we had orders to
self-destruct before that happened."
"Ms. Moran, all other ships do have those orders, but this ship's final
mission orders are slightly different.  More than that I can not say."
"I see...."
"Admiral, you have the ability to destroy the?"
"No, more render them rather busier with another problem."
"If they were rendered "occupied," for some time, we could possibly
launch enough of our special mobile constructs to ensure that they would
not threaten you for some time.  By that point, your civilization may be
ready for direct technology transfer with ours, but for now, we can only
help you in small ways."
"What we need, to be honest, is an easier way out of here, than the  way
that we entered.  If you can help us repair our damage, using appropriate
technology of course, I'm sure that the engineers would be able to use
the help."
"Admiral, that much we can do for you, if you will put me in contact with
your engineers, I will have technicians come over and help with your
repairs.  The device that you used to enter can be modified to allow you
to pass through with much less difficulty.  When you came  through the
first time, you passed through one of our external data transfer
mechanisms, and we were able to find out much about your civilization.
... Before you become concerned, we only read those files that weren't
protected with various encryption schemes.  This, primarily, is why we
have chosen to speak with you and help you in your mission.  However, I
know that your passage through the node nearly destroyed your ship, and
so I will provide you with an easier exit route as well."
"Thank you, any assistance that you give us will be appreciated."

"Very well, Admiral, let us get to the business of repairing your ship."

SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part III: Chapter XIV:
By:
Matthew Weed:

Command Log, Stardate 56488.6: Admiral William McGinnis Commanding USS
Ticonderoga reporting:
    We have successfully completed repairs, and are now preparing to
transit the shell of the Myriac sphere.  These people have been greatly
helpful to us, and have been able to supply us with many replacements for
our depleted stores.  As we had many full sections of superstructure to
replace, I am glad that they felt that they could replace our seriously
depleted supplies of duranium and tritanium.  The ship is now at 100%
operational capacity, and with the slight modifications to the
phase-cloak, and the new pathway that we have for departure, I believe
that we should have no problem in returning to the outside.  The fleet
has suffered terribly, and there are barely thirty ships now remaining,
less than a fifth of what we started with.  Kalis appears to be alive, as
the Myria have shown me their sensor reports which show the list of
vessels remaining.  I am glad to see that the Federation ships have done
well, and now comprise a larger percentage of the remaining ships than
when we started out so many weeks ago.  It is now time to see whether the
very risky plan that L'aek and I have come up with will work.  If it
does, the Federation and Myria will receive a lengthy respite from
activity.  If not, all of us will likely become members of that unimind,
and its technical prowess will probably make it the greatest power in the
galactic neighborhood, if not in the universe.

McGinnis turned the log recorder off, and rose to walk the short distance
to the Bridge.  Like all of the other members of the crew, he wore his
armor in its default mode,  for he knew that there would be very little
time for such things on the other side.  There was barely enough time to
get to the planned rendezvous as it was, and Since Ticonderoga was to
lead the assault, its people would have little time to prepare.

    With this thought, he left the small ready room, and entered the
bridge, quickly stepping to the Command chair.

"Helm, set course for rendezvous, full impulse until we get out of the
shell, then warp 9.5."
"Aye Sir, course laid in, proceeding at full impulse," said Moran, who
now sat at helm, which had allowed Schultz to move back to tactical.

The ship shuddered slightly on its intersection with the sphere's shell,
and then continued on unscathed to the other side.  As soon as they had
passed through to outside space, everyone let out a great sigh of relief.
"We're through, now accelerating to warp 9.5, bringing phase-cloak back
to standard operational settings," Kyla said with a slight sigh of relief.
"Very well, time to rendezvous point?"
"We're about four minutes from the point, I have no indication that
they're there, we're still too far away to pick up the marker."
"Well, just keep scanning, they'll come up sooner or later..."

Of course, McGinnis was not certain of this, with phase-cloaking
technology, it was practically impossible for them to pick up anything
until they were practically right on top of it.  Kalis had promised to
wait one light year outside any system that appeared to be the home, but
this still meant that there would be a lot of space to search.  They had
agreed to mark the location of the fleet with a powered-down probe, but
this meant that the ship would be looking for an object with almost no
radiation emissions, ... As James T. Kirk had said in a similar
situation, looking for a needle in a haystack would be child's play by
comparison.  The only hope was that Kalis had stopped along the course
that he had said that he would take into territory.  This point, for the
moment, was what McGinnis had designated the likeliest rendezvous point.
"Now two minutes out, no sign as yet."
"Continue approach, something will come up, or we'll wait until star date
56490.0, and then we will travel a stacked spiral search course, maximum
possible velocity."
"That'll take a while to plot, sir."
"Exactly, lieutenant Moran, that's why I'm telling you about it now."
"Aye, sir...." she said, a frown crossing her features.

The ship came out of warp and just sat, waiting for Kalis' marker to
appear.

Command Log: Stardate 56489.95: William McGinnis Commanding Starship
Ticonderoga Recording.
Kalis' time is nearly up, and I am growing concerned. The Myria told us
that the fleet was less than five light years out when we left their
sphere, and yet we can not find the buoy.  To say the least, I am
concerned.  We can not go active to ask the Myria, as this would give
away our position to the, which have a large number of vessels in the
area.  If we don't find anything soon, we will have to begin searching
for them elsewhere. I hope......"

AT this moment, a crash resounded throughout the ship, and the automatic
defense systems came on-line.
"What happened?"
"Sir, we've found the fleet, they launched the buoy, and it struck the
hull.  No serious damage, just a lot of noise." said Schultz, still
consulting his board.
"Very well, Operations, send a message to Kalis, lowest possible power
... we are here, awaiting news and discussion."
"Sent, Sir."

The response was immediate.
"Sir, text message, he says that he's glad that we made it, and wants to
know what we've found."
"send him a request for visual communication, talk between ships
frequencies and power only."
"Understood, .... sending." replied Anders, bending over her station.

The viewer came on with the image of Kalis, sitting in his command bridge.
"Admiral, I am glad to see that you are still alive.  We have lost most
of the fleet, and have destroyed only nine cubes.  I believe that even
dying in honor will do little to change the balance of the military
situation."
"I agree, and this is why I am glad to bring you the following news.  We
have met a people called the Myria, who live in a dyson's sphere very
near here.  They have been held captive in their sphere for the last
fifteen or twenty thousand Earth years due to the activities of the.
They have the technology to stop them, but because their sphere is very
difficult to open, they have been unable to strike against the for fear
of leaving their home practically undefended.  They say that if we can
divert the for about one solar day, that they can launch a fleet that
will destroy the home fleet and if necessary their home system.  This
should give us many years of breathing time before the can recollect
their strength."
"Very good, although these people are apparently quite  weak, with none
of the warrior's strength, their help is exactly what we need.  However,
we haven't enough ships to keep the occupied for a day."
"No, we don't, but this ship carries a couple of surprises that I haven't
been able to discuss with you for fear of having knowledge of them fall
into hands if you or other commanders were assimilated."
Kalis' visage darkened markedly.
"What surprises?"
"I can't be open with you, even now.  Let's just say that we are going to
try another method of occupying the, one that won't involve much
fighting.  However, we need to stage a battle to get our weapons into a
position where the will try to get them.  You must know that this will
require the capture of this vessel, at least temporarily."
"What?!?"
"I repeat, this ship must be captured for our weapons to become
effective.  I do not believe that we will have much trouble recapturing
it from them after they've attempted assimilation."
"Admiral, I am supreme commander of this fleet, I order you to tell me
what you are going to do."
"I refuse to accept the order, and will attempt this mission on my own if
necessary.  Suffice it to say that I believe in our final weapons, and
that is all I am allowed to divulge.  If you have any better ideas?"
"Unfortunately, I have nothing more to contribute, and fighting with a
chance to win is always better than fighting in a burning house."
"Good, What I want to do is to move into the home system decloak and do
some collateral damage to their home planet, and then go from there.  If
you feel that the fleet can do some damage to their computing centers and
communications, I would appreciate the help.  If not, just hang back and
then wait.  If our weapons work, you'll know."
"How shall we know."
"Just say that the will be much less active than normal, should we be
successful."
"I understand, You hope to affect their computing control in some way?"
"Yes,"
"Then I shall not ask you for further information, we all risk capture by
these honorless beings, and the less that they can learn from any of us
the better."
"True, that's why even the bridge crew on this ship doesn't know
anything, a situation that they will tell you isn't normal for my command
style."
"I see... As you humans say, good hunting, Kalis out."
"Ticonderoga out."

McGinnis turned to Schultz at his tactical station.
" In twenty minutes, I want full shields,  ...  Helm,  set course for the
home world, maximum warp, bring us out in orbit, I'm not concerned about
in-system damage."
Moran's shocked look told McGinnis that she didn't like this at all, even
the didn't deserve the massive stellar fluctuations that would result
from Ticonderoga's arrival so close to their star.  However, she knew her
duty and began plotting the course.

"Tactical, when we come out of warp, decloak and open fire with all
weapons, full power, if you blow out power conduits, or even some of the
energizers, too bad.  Set weapons to distributed control, leave the
auxiliary computer core clear for other activity."
"Aye, sir."

"McGinnis to all decks, all stations.  We will be warping into the system
in nineteen minutes, I want all crew to be in maximum armor, double check
your equipment, I expect heavy fighting and boarding from many parties.
Our only duty is to survive long enough for the to suffer the effects of
our ultimate weapon, whose nature I am not at liberty to divulge.  As
soon as we enter the system, we will switch to fully distributed control,
main computers will be unavailable."

McGinnis rose, to make sure that he had  all of his equipment, and to
check on ship-wide preparations.

Fifteen minutes later, he returned to the Bridge, fully enclosed in  his
battle armor, which was loaded with all of the weapons that it could
support.

"Sir, we are two minutes from system entry, and I have set the
distributed computing system to take over navigation when we arrive."
said Kyla Moran.
 "Sir, I have the computers ready to handle targeting on arrival, we'll
do what damage we can, before the begin boarding the ship." announced
Schultz.
"Very well, I want all of you to know why we're going in like this.  We
have two computer viruses which I hope will cause the data net to crash.
However, because we know little about their data transmission
technologies, we'll have to get them to upload the material from our
system.  This means that data in the computers must be handed over to
them freely.  Of course, we have the right to decide what data, so I am
going to perform a system wipe shutdown and core dump immediately.  We
must fight to hold the ship, as when they take the data, we must be able
to retake the parts that we have lost.  This is the only ship that can
perform this mission, as other ships don't have sufficiently redundant
computers and so could not navigate close enough to the home world for
this plan to work.  Should we fail, I will destroy the ship by
overloading the forced quantum core.  You must try to avoid being
captured at all costs, as all knowledge that you have can be assimilated,
including what I have just told you.  I have waited until now so that
there would be little risk of other crew hearing what you now know.  With
that, ceal your helmets, engage your personal shielding, and wait for
further action."
"Aye Sir!" all said, now realizing that McGinnis expected the upcoming
battle to be long, bloody, and ... hopefully victorious.
"Computer, erase all files, and break all  main and auxiliary computer to
systems connections.  ... authorization McGinnis Alpha Omega 456."
"Computer requesting confirmation of total system erasure order and of
breaking of main and auxiliary computer systems control links. " replied
the computer.
"Confirmation order McGinnis, Erase all files, primary and auxiliary
systems, break all primary and auxiliary computer to systems control
connections, Authorization McGinnis Alpha Gamma 347."
At this moment, the entire ship seemed to stagger for a moment, while the
secondary navigational systems brought it into the system.  Without main
computer power, the cloak became useless, and other systems crashed all
throughout the vessel.  McGinnis plugged a tricorder into the port on his
seat, and downloaded the two dormant files that it contained.  Once
there, the two viruses became "live," and the ship's computers awaited
what was to come.

Meanwhile, the ship had decelerated, and the secondary defense computer
had set the shields, and the independent computers in the rapid-fire
phaser batteries had begun to take shots at comparatively undefended
parts of the home world.  Torpedoes were launched in a very
helter-skelter fashion, doing much collateral damage, but no serious
damage to the defenses.  The main ring could not fire because too many
systems had to be integrated to allow it to be used.

The response was coordinated, and ten cubes struck against Ticonderoga's
shielding, which rapidly fell.  Almost instantly, the ships ceased fire,
and hundreds of transported aboard.  The crew defended themselves as best
they could, but the numbers and firepower being carried by these soldiers
was much more than they could handle, even using the sonic and photon
grenades.  As far as McGinnis was concerned, it was not right to expect
his crew to die without a fight.  Particularly when their deaths were
required in a situation in which they didn't know why they were fighting
and dying.  Therefore, they were permitted to use any weapons available
to them to resist assimilation.

Fortunately for the crew, before too many could be captured, the began to
become interested in the ship's computers.  Of course, the files had
already been deleted, and those that were there... weren't exactly the
kind of information the were expecting.

They downloaded the files, and continued about their business.

"Sir, we're having a hard time of it down here, they've captured some of
the junior crew, and damage in engineering is growing serious." came
MacLeod's voice over McGinnis helmet com.
"I know, we're suffering damage everywhere, but just keep those force
fields around the main energizer and the quantum core  connections, if we
can rebuild the structure, we can leave."

At this moment, a team of arrived on the Bridge.

McGinnis pointed his phaser rifle and fired at the nearest unit.  The
shot had absolutely no effect.
"Damn!" he said.  "Moran, fire your plasma canon, I'll use my head laser."
"Aye, Sir."
Kyla fired the heavy weapon that was too bulky for most of the crew to
use effectively, however, her far greater than average height made her
one of  the three crew who could use this kind of weapon.

The blast from the weapon was bright green, and struck the Borg's defense
field.  The field collapsed, and McGinnis' laser split the unit in half,
spurting a combination of blood and lubricant across the Bridge.

"Secure the Bridge, its not usable without the computers anyhow, let's
take this battle to other less sensitive parts of the ship!" called
McGinnis running for the aft exit.

Data, Schultz and Moran followed him, but T'mayek and Anders hung back,
concerned over a implications of totally clearing the Bridge.

"I suggest that you two clear as well, This will soon be a rather risky
place to be," McGinnis said, waving them to follow.
"Sir, shouldn't someone remain on the Bridge?  What if The come here?"
"If they come, they'll find out what the layout is, they haven't any
better access to information than they have from anywhere else, now that
the computers are down.  There is no reason to stay, and my orders are
your reason to leave."
"Aye, Sir..." replied Anders somewhat uncertainly.
"A logical point Admiral." T'Mayek said, "where can I be best used?"
"Engineering, take command of some of the crew protecting the main
energizer, you'll have to use your thrusters, the turbolifts are out."
"Understood."
"Good luck, Commander, logical or not, you will probably need every
advantage that you can get."
"I appreciate your logic, if not the intention, sir," and with that she
entered the nearby turboshaft and began the trip to Engineering.
"The rest of you, stay with me for the moment."

During the conversation, they had traversed a large section of the main
hull, and were now closing on the aft-most sections, near where the
observation deck and shafts for the engineering hull and mega-collimator
ring came together.
"Sir, let's go to the ring, since they haven't got a clear idea of the
layout of the ship, they'll have to make sweeps, and because we know the
structure better than they do, we can set some traps for them," said Schultz.
"A good idea, you and Anders take care of that,  I want to check on the
security detail protecting the main computer core.  Ms. Moran, Mr. Data,
you are free to do as you see fit."
"Sir, I'd like to come with you," replied Moran.
"I will accompany Mr. Schultz and Ms. Anders, it is  possible that my
better reflexes and senses will be useful in the accelerator ring." said
Data.
"Very well, let's split up, keep in contact via your coms or the ship's
optical net if possible.

With this, all of them went their separate ways, none sure that they
would see each other alive, and unassimilated, again.

McGinnis walked quickly down the curving corridor, headed toward the
heavily armored and shielded main computer core.  It was comforting to
have the presence of Kyla Moran behind him, her intelligence and
efficiency as an officer were only matched by her loyalty as a friend.

"Kyla, I want you to know, that I am glad that I was able to prevail on
you to join Star Fleet, and take training at the Academy.  You've begun
to develop into a fine officer."
"Admiral, Thank you for bringing me into the fleet.  As you know, my
unusual size caused some problems on Earth, both because I stuck out in a
crowd, and because I had trouble with the buildings, most of which are
still not built for someone of my size.  I feel like I've got a home,
both in Star Fleet, and on this ship in particular."
"I'm glad that I've been able to do that much for you, your parents told
Admiral Jellico about your problems, and both of us were glad to help
out...."

At this moment, two soldiers beamed in front of them, and began to fire
miniaturized versions of the shield weakening beams at them.

"You take the one on the Right, I've got the other," yelled Moran,
swinging the plasma canon onto her right shoulder.

Moran's shot disintegrated the unit, and also blew a large chunk out of
the near-by bulkhead.  a plasma conduit broke open, and the flash from
this, combined with McGinnis' graviton blast knocked the other unit out
as well.

"Good shooting lieutenant," said McGinnis, reholstering his secondary weapon.
"Thanks Admiral."

"Keep an eye out for more, we're getting close, and I've felt a number of
shocks through the decks, so others must be seeing action."
"I've felt them too, thank goodness that these decks are so heavily
reinforced."
"Agreed!"

They turned the corner, and came upon a scene of utter devastation.  Most
of the decking had been blown away, and much of the tubing and circuitry
behind the walls had been either totally destroyed, or was damaged and
sparking or burning outright.  units lay thick on the floor, as did a
full security detail.  The mix of blood and lubricant was sickening to
behold, and Moran turned away, visibly trying to stop herself from
throwing up.

"It would appear that the beat us here, I'll scout ahead while you
recover, as soon as you're able, use your thrusters and catch up with me,
I'll be in the computer core room, checking damage and data loss."
"OK, sir, I'll be on in a minute, I wasn't expecting ... this."
"I know, Lieutenant, unfortunately, it seems that one just gets used to
it as one gets older, I wish  that it wasn't so true, maybe we'd avoid
some of our wars if we could remember what it looks like to see our
friends and comrades dead."

McGinnis didn't give her a chance to respond, and quickly moved to the
other end of the short corridor.  The bulkheads here seemed intact, but
considering that they were a meter or more thick, as with most of the
rest of the bulkheads in the "cylinder", which ran from top to bottom of
the center of the main hull, holding the Bridge, weapons control, primary
computer core, and the main-hull access point to the long access tube
leading to the forced quantum core, this wasn't surprising.

"Computer access, ..."
"Secondary protection computer ... on-line,"
"Computer, allow access to main computer core, McGinnis, William Admiral,
access McGinnis Alpha 456."
"Access denied,"
"Reason?"
"All security software has been compromised, ... automatic locks now in
place until main computer is back on line."
"Damn!, they got to this computer at least." said McGinnis to himself.
"McGinnis to Lieutenant Thompson."
Thompson Here sir," came Karen Thompson's voice.
"Situation in weapons control?"
"Under control., attempted access automatic defenses have destroyed fifty
of them, they've stopped trying to get in for the moment."
"Understood, watch those that you can see, they've downloaded our files,
I hope that some of them should start having an ... effect ... soon, if
I've got it right."
"Understood, there are about ten outside now, but they've been sitting in
some kind of default mode for about the last ten minutes."
"Understood, I'll be there to inspect in a few minutes."

McGinnis turned around, to see Kyla sailing over the carnage and
destruction on her thrusters.  He looked down to see that his micro
sensory suite was showing a forty degree increase in ambient temperature
across the ship, with a few "hot spots", where larger battles had
apparently occurred.  Moran's trace showed up very brightly, but he was
glad to see that her flight had done comparatively little damage to the
corridor.

"Lieutenant, We're going up to the weapons control center, I want to have
a look around there, especially since Lieutenant Thompson reports that a
number of are being held off by the automatic defenses."
"Aye Sir, do you want to try and get in to the computer core?  I think
that I could cut through with my plasma torch."
"No, the computer says that there's been no physical security breach, and
the files have been downloaded from somewhere else in the net, so the
computer's shut down."
"Understood, I'll take point."
"Very well, I'm behind you."

They flew back across the mass of wrecked metal and bodies and then
entered the nearest turbo-shaft.  They rose the two levels necessary, and
exited through the doors, which had already been blasted to fragments by
an earlier passer-by.

"I have the on my scanner, they're not reacting to us, even though there
are four or five directly in front of us," reported Moran.
"I see, take a shot at one of them, just to see if the others respond."

Moran fired her phaser rifle, not expecting it to work.  However, the
targeted disappeared in a flash.
"I can't believe it, my phaser hasn't worked in half an hour, but I just
destroyed one without a problem.  Their shields are down, and I'm not
getting much mechanical activity at all.  What is active are their
bio-systems, which are operating way above the norm for the that I've
scanned before.  its like ... they're burning out somehow..."
"Let me by," said McGinnis.

As soon as he passed Moran, he took off his helmet and saw that the
normally pale complexions were flushed with various forms of blood.  All
were sweating heavily, and one appeared to be writhing in pain.
"One of the computer viruses has taken effect, and I suspect that its the
Iconian virus, simply by the fact that the other wasn't supposed to
activate yet, we thought that it would have the best chance of doing
something to them."
"Iconian virus?"
"Oh, you don't know that mission?"
"No Sir, but the name Iconia is familiar for some reason..."
"Picard took Enterprise to investigate a distress call from USS Yamato in
the neutral zone.  When he got there, Yamato sent some files over, and
then blew up, all hands were lost.  The files included an extremely
complex computer program that had been written nearly a quarter million
years ago on the planet Iconia, which had technology far in advance of
ours today.  When they arrived at the planet, the ship was probed a
couple of times, and then an object was launched at it.  Turns out that
the object carried the program, and was meant to broadcast it into the
ship's computers.  They destroyed the object before it could do any harm,
but the copy in the files from Yamato nearly destroyed Enterprise, as
well as a Romulan ship that had intercepted the broadcast.  Picard
destroyed the probes that carried the program, but we were able to find a
damaged probe and extract the program, which we put in a tricorder,
hoping that it would have a similar effect on the.  It would appear that
it may be working. .... McGinnis to all stations, report on the progress
of the."

The next ten minutes were a stream of reports showing that all over the
ship, had begun to shut down, some restarting for a time, and then
falling either dead, or writhing in apparent biological agony.  Most had
been placed in a very strong force field in the shuttle deck.

"McGinnis to all stations, continue collecting the functional units, take
the dead ones to the air locks, and jettison them, I don't want their
mechanical parts restarting, should the collective figure a way around
our first present.

"Lieutenant Moran, I want you to find a port that will connect with the
auxiliary transceiver, I need to talk with Kalis.
"Aye Sir."     *
Twenty-five minutes later, they had finally found a link to the ship's
auxiliary transceiver.  From what they, and other crew had seen, most
systems were out, or seriously compromised, and structural damage varied
from light to severe, depending on the area of the ship that you were
in.  Repairing the ship would take many weeks at a Stardate, but
fortunately, the main structure, warp drive, computers, and weapons
systems all appeared fully intact, if not operable due to power-transfer
damage, control circuitry breakage, and other comparatively easily
repaired problems.

McGinnis now sat before a terminal on the forward-most section of the
main hull, awaiting Kalis' response to his message.  It took time, but
finally the small view screen popped on, with the image of the older Klingon.

"Admiral McGinnis, I see that you are still alive, this is good news.
How is your battle proceeding?"
"We are seriously damaaged, but all units aboard ship have been
neutralized.  I have no external scanners, so I'm wondering how things
are outside."
"The are having serious difficulties, some of their ships self-destructed
of their own accord, others are apparently out of control, but there are
still many functional cubes.  We are attacking and destroying those that
we can, but the in-system traffic is still too well coordinated for us to
risk entry now.  Even though fighting battles against enemies that can't
defend themselves well isn't fully honorable, I do not believe that we
would survive an in-system assault.  Your friends in the sphere are
launching their own fleet, so we'll let them take care of the situation
nearer you when they get the chance."
"Understood, our second present should be coming on-line in about twenty
minutes, it may work, it may not.  I have my doubts about the
Federation-designed viruses, they aren't nearly as complex or hardy as
the Iconian virus that we hit them with first."
"Admiral, only time can tell whether your plan will be successful, but
anything that your other tools do will help us toward an honorable peace
will be of importance."
"Agreed, ... Since this ship is damaged and barely operational, I am
going to order that we leave the system at best possible speed, we're
incapable of fighting any kind of sustained ship-to-ship action, most
control systems are either damaged or totally compromised."
"Yes, I have been scanning your ship, your damage appears wide spread and
serious, I am surprised that you can communicate with me now."
"Without the redundant systems, and the hardening of key points like the
main energizer and the computers, I'm certain that this ship would have
already been lost."
"I tend to agree.  Set your course, I'll send a ship to assist you if you
need it."
"No, I suspect that the will be too busy to pay us much attention, and so
we'll be all right.  If you could tell the Myria that we're headed into
orbit to make repairs, I'd appreciate it, our long-range communications
appear to be out."
"Understood, I'll have Captain Stromgren contact them. ..."
At this moment, something caught his attention, and he turned away from
the screen.  Then Kalis turned back, his expression one of anger.

"Admiral, I am sorry to tell you that your wife has been lost in action
across the system. Admiral De L'Hotel sends his condolences, and says
that he will notify the Myria for you.  I, too, send my best wishes, and
ask you to remember that she died honorably, protecting those in your
Federation who could not fight for themselves."

McGinnis was in shock, his expression blank.
"...Thank you.... I'll be in contact later."
"Yes, contact me when your  repairs are far enough along."
"Ticonderoga ... out."

McGinnis sat back, trying to assimilate the news.  Unfortunately for him,
there was no time for personal grief.

"Lieutenant, I am going back to the Bridge, go to Engineering, have them
begin repairs, and tell Captain Data to get the ship under way, best
possible speed, for the Myriac system.  Prioritize on the computers, and
then on structural members.  Other systems can wait until we're under way
for the Federation.
"Aye Sir, are you going to be OK?"
"Yes, I'll be fine, and up on the Bridge, directing repairs in that area."
"Aye Sir."

SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part III Chapter XV:
By:
Matthew A. Weed

Command Log, Star Date 56496.3: Admiral William McGinnis Commanding USS
Ticonderoga:  Recording:

We have completed the journey back to the Myria sphere.  Repairs to the
extensive damage done to this vessel continue, and will take quite some
time.  However, our losses in crew can never be fully addressed.  Nearly
a quarter of the crew have been killed, and forty-five others are lost,
presumed either dead or assimilated.  Because of these heavy losses, we
have been working longer shifts in order to ensure that the ship is able
to make the long transit back to Federation space.  The Myria have
totally destroyed the in-space fleet, and have returned to their home.
This does not mean that the aren't a threat.  Neither we, nor the Myria
have been able to find justification for a bombardment of the home world,
and, given time and resources, they will doubtless return to space,
posing a threat to the survival of all space faring civilizations.

However, for the moment, we have given ourselves a long respite from the
fear of assimilation.  This respite has come at a heavy cost to our fleet
as well.  Only twenty ships survive, and all have some losses in crew.
Federation ships now compose more than half of all our strength, and as
at the battles around the Klingon home world, I feel that the
Mycenae-style designs have proven their hardiness and their superiority
over the older configurations, for military action at least.  We will
continue repairs, and hope to leave this part of space in two or three days.

Commander's personal Log, Admiral McGinnis recording:

We will be leaving thousands of dead comrades behind, and with the loss
of my wife, I often wonder if there wasn't something more that we could
have done to keep more ships and personnel intact.  My conclusion, hard
though it is to accept, is that there is little that could have been
done, and that we made the best decisions that could be made at the
time.  Obviously we could have refused to come on the mission, letting
the Klingon Empire attempt it alone.  Attractive though this is in
concept, it would have never been politically acceptable, and I don't
think that most of the Federation commanders, myself included, would have
been able to let the Klingons go up against the alone.  Many of us might
have even disobeyed any abort order that might have been given.

Hopefully, the work that must still be done, will be enough to keep all
of us from thinking too much about what we have lost in this campaign.
Of course, our gains have been enormous, including knowledge of a
civilization that was exploring the possibilities of high technology
while Earth was frozen at the height of the ice age, twenty-five thousand
years ago.  The temporary recession of the threat is another fantastic
benefit, and one that I am very thankful for.

*    *    *
McGinnis switched the log recorder off, and looked about his
still-disheveled quarters.  Although no had attempted entry into the
compartment, a number of running battles had been fought in the corridor
outside, and serious damage had been caused by blast effects.  With all
that had been going on, there had been little time for him to get around
to straightening out the mess in his rooms.  In fact, if the doctor
hadn't ordered him to rest for eight hours, he would have been helping
out with the repairs to the optical communications system.  With the ship
immobile, his presence wasn't needed on the Bridge, and his skill as an
engineer was needed all over the ship.  This fact alone, had led him to
allow a number of junior lieutenants to watch the con and the sensors,
while the higher command staff was out and about, making repairs, or
directing the repair effort.

At this moment his door chime sounded, and he turned from the old copy of
_The Republic_ that he was putting back on its shelf.
"Come,"

The door opened to reveal Kyla Moran in a tight-fitting athletic jumper.
"Lieutenant, what can I do for you?"
"Admiral, I just wanted to check to make sure that you were OK, I know
that you've been up a lot, and you've not said much about your wife...."
"Kyla, Thank you for your concern, but I need to deal with that in my own
way, whatever that is.  When I know how to deal with it, you and the
doctor will be notified.  Until then, you can help me the most by keeping
an eye on the bridge for the next few hours.  I expect that some of the
fleet will be coming in soon."
"If you're sure that's all..."
"Yes, I just need some rest according to the doctor, He'll be unhappy
that I even answered your page," he said a small smile curving his lips.
"I'll be on the bridge," she said, quietly withdrawing from the doorway.

After that brief conversation, McGinnis felt very tired.  He turned down
the blankets on his bed and stretched out for a nap.

*    *    *

The chime of the com unit awoke him some time later.
"Sir, Moran here, The fleet has achieved rendezvous, and Kalis wants to
bring you up to speed on the news from home."
"Very well, Have all senior staff report to the Bridge immediately, tell
him that I'll be there momentarily."
"Aye Sir."

McGinnis hastened from his quarters, noting that nearly ten hours had
passed since he had last checked a chronometer.  Clearly the doctor had
decided that a little extra rest wouldn't hurt him, and with the ship's
repairs going very well, he had trouble getting truly angry with him.

McGinnis entered the bridge and noticed that all of the senior staff,
save Thale who was still in critical and unstable condition were already
there.  MacLeod too was missing, directing repairs on some part of the
great ship's main engineering deck.

"Operations, open channel to Kalis."
"Channel open," replied Anderws.
"Admiral, it is good to see that your repairs are going well.  I must
report to you that your Federation commanders have suffered a number of
important reversals over recent days.  House has constructed a powerful
battle force, which has taken control over most of Klingon home
territory, including the home world.  Gouron is still occupied with
wiping up Romulan resistance, and some of his commanders have proven
loyal to house.  The Romulans have broken the treaty which they signed
with Gouron, and have moved to support House.  Between the Romulan forces
and those of house, I think that Gouron will not command imperial forces
for long.  Federation ships have been dispatched to the Klingon and
Romulan borders to ensure Federation security.  The Ferengi are being
denied access to those parts of Federation space which border with either
the empire or the Romulans, and they have declared war on the
Federation.  So far, their attacks have not proven to be a major nuisance
to Admiral Jellico.  This is all that I know."

Suddenly, before McGinnis could respond, one of the Klingon ships powered
its weapons and fired a full broadside into Ticonderoga's secondary
hull.  The effect was devastating, as the shields had not been raised, as
no attack could have been expected from a supposedly friendly fleet.  The
aft recreation deck was immediately vented to space killing many.  More
died in the sudden collapse of the main shuttle deck's structure, and
finally, and most importantly, a photon torpedo exploded just short of
the great bulkheads that protected the engineering deck.  These were
blown in, and before the shocked systems could respond, many had been
blasted apart by the huge chunks of flying tritanium and duranium from
these thickly armored panels.  Others died as a result of exposure to
vacuum before the ship's systems could respond.  The loss in life on the
Engineering deck was terrible, and would have been worse had the
atmospheric containment fields not come up about half way down the length
of the great chamber.

"Red Alert, shields up! ..." said McGinnis from the floor.  "What was
that?" he demanded as he tried to climb into his command chair.
"Sir, we've been hit by a broadside from one of the new Klingon light
dreadnoughts.  Severe damage on all engineering decks, massive loss of
atmosphere, casualties are reported as "devastating,".", said Anders
looking at her board which had lit up like a stock exchange.
"Sir, the remainder of our fleet  has destroyed the rogue, no damage to
other vessels," reported Schultz, as he shook his head to clear it.
"Very well, why didn't we know that was coming?"
"Sir, the new Klingon ships can power their disruptors very quickly, and
so they took all of us by surprise.  There was nothing that either the
defense programming or human controllers could do."
"Understood, I suggest that we try to improve both before next
time....Get me in contact with Kalis."
"He has just hailed us sir."
"Put him on."
"Admiral, I convey the regrets of myself and my people for the
dishonorable attack.  I offer all assistance in your repairs and with any
medical needs that your Federation ships can not handle."
"Unfortunately, there are few cases needing attention, most crew were
either killed by exposure to disruptor impact, torpedo blast or vacuum.
If we need assistance, I'll be sure to ask, what we need right now is
time to consider our damage and decide whether we can get the ship back
to Federation space under her own power."
"Very well, I shall speak with you in an hour's time, if that will be
enough for your damage survey."
"That will be acceptable, McGinnis out."
The screen blanked, and McGinnis turned to the job of coordinating his
crew's response to the fantastic damage that had been done.

Thirty minutes later, the entire senior staff, or at least all of those
who were able to report, were in conference-1.
"I want concise reports, we will report to Kalis, and to the rest of the
Federation fleet in less than half an hour.  I need to know what our
needs are....Medical"
"Sir, we have 143 confirmed deaths, thirteen missing, and thirty-seven
requiring immediate stasus treatment, as due to their condition.  I have
stabilized them so that they will make the trip back to base without
difficulty."
"Very well, that means that we have approximately sixty able-bodied crew?"
"Yes Sir," replied the doctor.
"Very well, Engineering?"
"Sir, most of the engineering crew is dead, the computers are handling
most of the repairs, the automated systems are functioning as well as can
be expected under these conditions.  We need a lot more duranium and
tritanium, I estimate about thirty-thousand tons of each, and time.  I
think that the ship is structurally sound, and that we can proceed at
anything up to warp eight for the moment, but higher speeds will require
diversion of energy and resources away from the structural fields and
atmospheric containment systems." Said Elane Johnson, who was now the
head of the engineering department, as Robert MacLeod was currently being
maintained in a stasus field after a tritanium shard struck him, causing
massive internal injuries, which were far beyond the ship's comparatively
limited sick bay's ability to handle.
"Thank you lieutenant, you'll get all of the resources that we can
spare.  We will proceed at warp seven until you clear us for higher
speed, we are in no absolute hurry to get home, and its a long
trip....Weapons?"
"Sir, all weapons systems are intact, except for the engineering hull
collimators, all of which have suffered structural rupturing.  We have
been able to jury-rig the lower collimator, but port, starboard, and
upper collimators are irreparable in space.  All other weapons are fully
available.  Security systems are seriously compromised while we are
putting so much energy into the engineering systems, but there is little
likelihood of boarding at the moment.  I have the security crew in armor,
so if anything comes up, they'll have the firepower to deal with it."
said Schultz.
"Thank you,  ... Mr. Data?"
"Sir, I have been inspecting the ship from the outside, and I believe
that we will be able to patch the hull within hours.  After that, we will
need much time to repair the structural members and I suspect that we
will not be able to launch shuttles or other small craft without repairs
to the shuttle bay's  sub-systems in a star base facility.  Other than
this, I believe that we are able to proceed on your orders."
"Very well, I shall contact Kalis and the Federation commanders, tell
them of our needs, and as soon as that is done, I believe that we should
go home.  We will fly a course that will allow us to avoid Klingon space,
which is obviously fraught with dangers which I believe it best not to
tempt under the conditions likely to prevail aboard ship when we reach
near-home space.  We will therefore circumvent Cardassian territory, and
travel through an area of space which seems to show little activity in
terms of highly-developed civilizations.  We will stop for nothing, until
we reach the outpost in the Bajoran system.  We all have much work to do,
so let's get to it so that we can begin the trip home.

*    *    *
Command Log: Stardate 56503.4: Admiral William McGinnis Commanding USS
Ticonderoga recording.

Kalis found the spy who was able to allow the Commander of the rogue ship
access to our communications.  He has dealt with him in the traditional
Klingon way.  Between the twenty remaining ships, and the Myria, we have
collected enough raw materials to make all possible repairs on the ship
while in transit.  The computers are fully restored after these difficult
experiences, and the automatic repair systems are doing an incredible
amount of work.  Without them, I think that it is likely that we would
have had to scrap this vessel.  All energy systems are back on line, and
Engineer Johnson reports that she feels that we can safely travel at warp
9.5, if absolutely necessary.  For the moment, we will fly at warp 9,
until all repairs are made.  The Federation Commanders have chosen to
accompany us until we are able to travel at maximum velocity, at which
point they will move to assist Gouron.  Our course will allow us see to
both crew members and ship's systems alike, with as little disruption as
possible.  I expect that our journey home will not be quiet, and am
expecting to return to known space in approximately forty-five days
time.  In the mean time, we will have much to keep us occupied.

McGinnis turned to the helm, where Kyla Moran sat awaiting orders.
"Ms Moran, warp 9 on your preprogrammed course, engage."
"Warp 9, aye."

All throughout the ship, those who remained, rejoiced at the beginning of
the homeward journey.  A journey, which they all knew,  was far from over.

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





By:
 Matthew Weed

Command Log: Stardate 56737.8, Admiral William McGinnis Commanding
Starship Ticonderoga reporting.

We are less than three hours from the outer edges of Federation space,
and five hours out of Bajoran station DS9.  The trip home, thanks to good
fortune, has been quiet.  For some reason, I have the feeling that the
events at home will bring our peace to a sudden end.

The ship is now at 99.2 percent of optimal functionality, with the
remaining losses related to the port, starboard, and upper engineering
phaser collimators, which can not be repaired without total replacement
of most of that equipment.  The ship's structure is still somewhat
weakened in the engineering sections, but in general, I feel that the
ship's repair systems and those crew that have been able to return to
duty have done a truly miraculous job, particularly under the terrible
circumstances that we have faced.

The ship has not been out of warp  space since we left the Myria sphere,
and less than a quarter of the original crew is capable of performing its
duties.  The computers were not at full functionality until the third
week of our trip home, and without them, the repair systems and equipment
are much more difficult to control.  Fortunately, we were able to get
enough raw duranium and tritanium to fill our needs before we left, and
most other parts have been replicable from ship's stores.  However, we
enter an extremely unstable political situation in our home region
terribly under supplied and exhausted.

I have been in continuous communication with Admiral Jellico at Star
Fleet Headquarters, and the military situation is far worse than I had
feared that it might be.  House Durass has taken control of the Klingon
empire, with a fleet nearly as powerful as that which the Klingons had
four and a half years ago before the military losses suffered at the
battle of Borg.  Gouron has been defeated by a combined Durassite Romulan
force, which quickly dispatched the few remaining Klingon forces.  I must
assume that, unfortunately, Kalis will be attacked as soon as he reaches
Klingon home space next week.  I can not warn him, and hope that he will
know to proceed with caution.  The fact that his people discovered the
Starship Enterprise on the way out from the Federation and--I
assume--will be able to recover the crew now that their second Borg
captivity has come to an end will only act as a distraction for him, one
which may cause him to hurry back with greater haste than will prove
best.  One can only hope that things go well enough to ensure a fighting
chance for Kalis' small fleet once their presences is known to the
Durassites.

Federation forces were not able to intervene in the latest phase of the
Klingon civil war,  and this has cost us dearly.  The Klingons, Romulans,
and Ferengi have struck at various key points in the Federation,
including a number of military positions, and the planet Betazed.
Civilian casualties there are estimated at approximately 3 billion.  War
has been declared, but the fleet construction program is still a year
from full swing, and it will require at least two years for us to reach
parody with our enemies.  I have been directed to have a look at DS9, and
show the flag on the Cardassian border, so that their government does not
decide to break their treaty with us.  For this reason, we are proceeding
to DS9 at warp 9.6 and expect to be there soon.  Hopefully we will have a
few hours to get some shore leave in while we are there.

*    *    *
McGinnis sat in the command chair as Ticonderoga swept into the Bajoran
system.  Finally, after just slightly more than six months, the ship was
back in Federation space.  The peace that everyone felt at the knowledge,
was tempered by the fact that all of them had lost many friends in the
recent conflict with the Borg, and that they were coming home to a
Federation whose future was in peril.  A situation which had not
prevailed for more than a century.

"Operations, main scan, report on in-system traffic."
"Activity seems normal enough in all areas, we are still out of range for
direct scan of DS9, we will enter range in thirty seconds."
"Understood, get me a channel to DS9."
"Channel open, sir."
"This is Admiral William McGinnis, commanding the Federation Star ship
Ticonderoga to DS9, requesting permission for transfer of shore leave
parties."
"DS9 to starship Ticonderoga, you are cleared for docking on outer pylon
6, welcome home."
"Thanks for the welcome, we'll perform docking procedure in four minutes,
out."
"Sir, I am now scanning the worm hole, no activity in the area at all, in
fact, DS9 is almost devoid of docked ships.  I see no designs that the
computer doesn't recognize, so there's apparently no Gamma quadrant
traffic in at the moment.", said Janet Anders.
"Very good, I want the computer to maintain scan on the wormhole while
we're docked, Although DS9 has been upgraded to some degree since we were
last here, we still have more firepower than the station, and should
anything come through, we'll be the point ship."
"Aye, I'm setting the sensors to continuous tactical scan, the computer
will notify all bridge personnel should anything come through."
"Very good, ... Helm, begin to decelerate, perform docking maneuver at
your convenience."
"Aye Sir," said Moran.
"I am setting all of you loose the minute we're docked, the computer will
be set at defense protocol one, so if you want to beam back, make sure
that the computer has cleared you before you come aboard.  I expect that
most of us will not get much time off after this, so take advantage of
it, its been nearly four months since we've had any rest, and all of us
need a breather.  Should you need me, I'll be  With Commander Cisco, and
then at Quark's."
Nods of acknowledgment came from all of the officers.  At least two of
them made quiet plans to keep an eye on the Admiral, as General order 15
was still on the books, and none of them wanted to be the first to have
to tell Star Fleet that the hero of the Borg campaign had been lost to
kidnappers or Bajoran terrorists.
"Sir, we're thirty seconds from dock," announced Moran, as the ship
decelerated from warp to sub-light speed.
"Good, Ms. Moran, you have the conn until we dock, I'll be working with
the computer.  All of you may leave your stations as you finish your
closing down cycles."
All of the crew, even data, began shutting down their stations, locking
them to restart with either voice or retina scans from at least two
bridge staff officers, or McGinnis' general restart command codes.  Only
tactical and helm remained unlocked, in case the ship's weapons were
needed at short call.
"Computer, recognize McGinnis William R.  Code lock protocol defense-1, ..."
"Recognize, Admiral William R. McGinnis, ship protocol defense 1, ready,
give final codes for ship-wide security lock down."
"Code Alpha 1273, condition one hour, or departure of all active crew."
"Code Alpha 1273, with time one hour recognized, give codes and
conditions for general restart."
"Restart code, recognize  McGinnis, William R, Admiral, or any two
first-watch officers voice and retina scans.  Codes appropriate to those
officers."
"Codes loaded, conditions loaded, awaiting final code for one-hour
countdown."
"Code McGinnis, William R, Alpha 3257, continuity, one hour countdown, mark!"
"Code approved, one hour to security one lockout. ... Operations, put me
on inter-ship."
"You're on, sir."
"This is Admiral McGinnis, as you are all aware, we have just docked with
the station Deep Space 9.  You are all encouraged to take leave while we
are here, I expect that we will depart in about twenty-four hours.  The
ship is under a code-1 lock down until then, so you will be able to get
to your quarters, but all ship's systems are under security lockout.  You
will need either myself, or two command officers to access any core
systems.  Have a good break, I believe that we shall be out for some time
again, so take advantage of the time, McGinnis out."
"Sir, docking complete," said Moran.
"Very well, dismissed."

With this all of the bridge officers rose and left, leaving McGinnis
alone for a few moments.  However, soon, he left as well, headed for his
meeting with Commander Cisco.

SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part IV: Chapter XVII
By:
Matthew A. Weed

"Admiral, it is good to see you after more than a year.  I understand
that you've been busy lately." said Commodore Benjamin Cisco, who had
recently returned to command the Federation detachment at Deep Space 9,
after a period of exploring in the Gamma quadrant.
"Yes, Commodore, I am glad to see you here as well.  With the growing
importance of trade with the Gamma quadrant, this station, and the
Bajoran system in general, have gained tremendous strategic importance to
the Federation.  Admiral Jellico tells me that you were requested by the
new Bajoran government's chief minister?"
"Yes, Minister Kira did ask me to come back, she felt that having me here
while the Federation's attention was diverted from this part of space
would be helpful to her regime's efforts to stabilize traffic and develop
further economic returns from the growing trade coming through here.  As
I've never been a military commander, Command agreed to let me come back
if I wished."
"Well, as I said before, I'm pleased to have you here.  Can you tell me
anything about recent Cardassian activity in the area?"
"yes, they have shown some signs of fleet reconstruction, but the Bajoran
in-system fleet is now more than sufficient to handle them for long
enough to get major Star Fleet assistance here, should that become
necessary.  Personally, I am more concerned about the Dominion, their
interest in the activities on this side of the wormhole has grown sharply
over the last few months, and since we have trouble getting major
military units through the wormhole, and have no base rights anywhere in
the Gamma quadrant, our information about their capabilities is limited."
"I see.  I don't dare take Ticonderoga through for reconnaissance, I
think that the Dominion would think that a bit provocative, and since
they've got all the advantages here, I think a defensive posture is
best.  The ship will be in the area for a few weeks, should you need our
assistance."

"Thank you for staying here for a while, I know that your crew needs rest."

"True, but we need to keep an eye on things here, as a bit of strain now
may prevent a lot of trouble later."

"Well, no matter your reasons, thank you for staying in the area."
"No problem.  ...  Unless you have anything else that I need to pass on
to Fleet headquarters, I believe that I'm going to go down to Quark's for
a bit and get my mind off of business."
"Very well, I can send security if you need it," Cisco offered.
"No, I have my phaser with me, and There are few beings on the station
that would have had the chance to know our schedule, as we were ordered
to come here only twelve hours ago."
"All right,... I hope that you have a restful time."
"Thank you."

McGinnis moved through the DS9 operations center, and took the turbolift
to the promenade.  Almost immediately after he stepped out of the lift,
he saw Walter Schultz and one of the  ship's security officers trying to
remain unconspicuous, while still able to see him.  He knew,
intellectually, that this was their duty, but he had ordered them to get
some time off while they had the chance.  However, giving them a direct
order to stop shadowing him would be grounds for a fleet investigation,
and he had no desire to deal with a General order inquiry.  He turned
away from them, and headed toward Quark's.

Immediately on entering the place, he saw Quark moving toward him.  The
little Ferengi had, to McGinnis' mind, an almost infinite capacity for
scheming, and despite early setbacks, he had made the proverbial  pretty
penny from Gamma quadrant activities.  The Ferengi had moved to take
advantage of business opportunities, and despite some nasty run ins with
peripheral members of the dominion, they had been quite successful in
developing a thriving trade with many races in the Gamma quadrant.
However, with the recent hostilities, the wormhole had been closed to
much traffic, both Ferengi and other, and it was clear that quark was
glad to see the business, even if it was from a Star Fleet military crew.

"Admiral, it is good to see you again, its been nearly two years since
you honored my establishment with your presence," said the barkeep in his
oily voice.
"Quark, I see that you still remember me.  If you remember me well, you
will know that I do not wish to be bothered with inconsequential small talk."
"I didn't mean to bother you,..." said the Ferengi backing off quickly.
"You weren't, ... yet, and you would be well not to do so at the moment.
Have your help get me my regular, and leave it at that."
"Yes, yes, Terran "BLT," with "fries," and "salad,"" said Quark,
hastening away to fill the order personally.  The man, who Quark's
sources told him, had just led Federation forces to a sound defeat of the
Borg, was not to be trifled with.

*    *    *
After his meal, and a  game of dabo, McGinnis left the bar, wishing to
see what had changed on the station since his last visit.  Again, he
noticed a trail, this time composed of the station security chief, Odo,
and Kyla Moran.  He could not order Odo off, but Kyla could be released
from her self-appointed duty. ... McGinnis turned around quickly, and
tapped his communicator while looking directly at the tall, blonde young
woman.
"McGinnis to Lieutenant Moran," he said.
her surprised look was quickly followed by the proper response:
"Moran, here."
"As Mr. Odo is likely to follow me about the station, you may consider
yourself released from the requirements of General Order 15, I don't need
a security detail, and you need your rest. ... McGinnis out."

He turned around, after seeing her confer with Odo for a moment, and then
turn toward the Klingon restaurant.

Not thirty seconds after this conversation, The feeling of impending doom
that McGinnis had been having since Ticonderoga reached long-range
scanning range of Bajour materialized in the form of two rapid-fire
events.  The first was the sounding of the red-alert klaxons on the
station.

McGinnis stood, indecisive as to whether to return to the ship or go to
station Operations.  He quickly realized that the ship would need to get
clear of the station's firing arcs to allow it maximum effectiveness if
this situation had an external cause.

Less than a minute later, he stood at the outer gangway, as the second
ceal opened on the air lock, giving him admittance to the ship.  he ran
to the nearest turbolift and got to the bridge.  Ten seconds after this,
he was sitting at the Operations station, reading the mass of data coming
in over the sensors.

These showed at least nine cruiser-class ships, all of Cardassian design,
headed for Bajour, and the response of the Bajoran fleet.  Then, they
began to detail the second, far more serious, event.

The wormhole flared to brilliant activity, and as McGinnis watched in
mute fascination, hundreds of small warp-capable ships began pouring out
of it.  These were quickly followed by twenty-three larger ships, which
began, almost immediately, to move into some form of docking maneuver.
With this event, McGinnis realized that a very serious situation had
begun to develop.

"McGinnis to central computer, condition Alpha 1, emergency crew recall,
all personnel, starship Ticonderoga, return to ship immediately, for
emergency departure."
"Code Alpha-1 message to all crew has been sent, all crew have responded
as per regulations," replied the computer.

McGinnis knew that many would have criticized his decision to allow all
available crew to leave the ship at once, but with the computer's
security measures, and the ability to maneuver the ship single-handedly
if necessary, he felt that staggered shore-leave parties would do little
good for his space-weary crew.  The worst thing about this situation, in
his opinion, was the fact that his crew would not be getting any more
rest, which all of them richly deserved.  His mind quickly turned from
this issue to other matters.

"McGinnis to deep space 9 control, request immediate clearance for
undocking. ... Request open channel to Commodore Cisco."
" here," replied The Commodore as his image replaced the main viewer's
picture of the construct now being finished just outside the wormhole.
"Commodore, you know this area, is this a Dominion force?"
"I know of no other power on the other side capable of sending through
that many ships, I would make that assumption for now."
"Understood, I am ranking officer, and will make contact with the
Dominion commander, you shall liaise between me and Bajoran military
authorities.  For the moment, you should consider the Dominion forces as
top priority, as their combined firepower is far greater than that of the
Cardassian squadrons.  Contact Star Fleet Command for assistance, I will
be too busy to do so.  Also, be aware that I may have to leave you to the
dominion forces, should the Cardassians break through the Bajoran defense
fleet.  Launch all of your run-abouts, and do whatever else you feel
appropriate to your command and resources, notify me as necessary,
McGinnis out."

By this time, his crew had all come aboard, and the ship was ready for
emergency departure.

"Mr. Schultz, scan that fleet, report on capabilities. ... Operations,
get me a channel to the main vessel."
"Aye Sir," replied Schultz and Anders together.
"Helm, undock, as soon as we're clear of the station, set us on a direct
course, full impulse, to intercept those fighters."
"Aye Sir," replied Moran.
"Sir, I have scanned the fleet, their technology is comparable to ours,
with the main ship being constructed of smaller units as you have already
seen.  It has phased-plasma weapons as its main offensive capability,
these are more powerful than our plasma torpedoes, but also require more
energy to fire.  There are more than 200 secondary particle phasers, with
single-unit output of about 1/3 of each of our particle weapons.
Over-all, I'd say that we can take that ship with some difficulty.  The
fighters use particle phasers, and have small photon-torpedo style
missiles, estimated yield of about three megatons per weapon, there are
four missiles per fighter.  Each fighter is easily capable of knocking
out an unshielded run-about, but the run-abouts should be able to polish
off a number of them due to superior speed and phaser output.  However,
there are too many to take out that way, Bajoran close-defense forces
will have to do a lot of that work, and they'll be strained to the
limit.  Sir, I don't think that these are Jem'hadar forces, the
technology's not right, neither advanced enough, nor the right types of
weapons.  I don't know who it is, and I'd say that its a Dominion force,
but I don't know what kind of ships we're dealing with here, or why the
Dominion didn't send its first-line forces."
"Understood, Operations, that channel," said McGinnis, not particularly
concerned about who was attacking.  The point was that a strong force of
ships was near by, and he had to convince them to stop their incursion
into Federation protected space.  The only "good" thing in the current
situation was that he wouldn't have to deal with the Jem'hadar, who were
nearly impossible to negotiate with, and equally hard to kill.
"They aren't responding as yet, I'm still trying."
"I see, tell them that we will be forced to try to halt their advance, by
force if necessary, if we do not communicate."
"Aye Sir, adding the information."

long seconds passed, while everyone waited or a response, any response.
"Sir, they're continuing to advance," said Schultz.
"Very well, change course to 153 mark 24, close on the main ship and
energize the main ring.  main and auxiliary shields up, bring the ship to
red alert status."

With this, the computer announced the change in status with a combination
of klaxons and verbal notification.
"Sir, shields up, main ring charged, we are now within range."
"Very well, Operations, notify them that if they don't change course and
stand to, that we will open fire."
"Aye Sir,"

The construct continued to advance, its bulk now clearly visible on the
main viewer.
"No response," said Anders.
"They're still approaching," announced Moran from her station.
"Very well, Tactical, fire a full blast from the main ring across their
bow, duration one second."
"Firing," replied Schultz.
The bolt flared white against the blackness of space, and then the bridge
staff had to wait to gauge the effectiveness of the warning shot.

SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part IV: Chapter XVIII
By:
Matthew A. Weed

"Sir, they have stopped advancing," announced Schultz.
"Good, Operations, get me a channel to that ship," said McGinnis.
"Aye, ... channel open ... sir," said Anders, some surprise manifesting
itself on her face.

"Put them on screen," replied McGinnis, somewhat surprised himself.

The image that came on the main viewer was, to say the least, ugly.
McGinnis was not normally a xenophobe, but this being was quite clearly
the most distasteful thing that he had ever seen.  Were it not for his
Star Fleet training, he suspected that he would have ordered his crew to
destroy the ship on sight, simply as a response to the purely visceral
feeling that he got from looking at the being.
"I am Taklat, commanding the Dominion forces in this area.  You will
agree to cease and desist in your "exploration," of our part of space, or
we shall destroy the planet in this system, and your base."
"I am Admiral William McGinnis, commanding the United Federation of
Planets Star Ship Ticonderoga, command vessel in this sector.  Your
demands are heard, but I do not recognize your authority to make them on
*this* side of the wormhole.  You shall retreat to your side of the
phenomenon, or I will be forced to use all available resources to
incapacitate your forces."
"Your explorations, and the activities of your Ferengi allies have
brought much social disorder in the dominion, and The Founders will not
stop until you agree to utterly cease all activity in our spaces."
"I have no authority to speak for the government of Bajour, in whose
system your forces are now located.  I am also not empowered to speak for
the Ferengi, but on behalf of the Federation, I am willing to consider a
temporary halt to all Federation activity on your side of the
phenomenon.  At least until a Federation negotiating team can be sent to
the Founders' home world in order to negotiate other terms."
"This is not acceptable, *all* activity will stop, or we shall destroy
the planet."
"I am sorry to hear that you are unwilling to negotiate, I suspect that
it will require at least forty-eight Federation standard hours to bring
the necessary Ferengi and Bajoran negotiators together.  I shall speak
with the Bajoran government if you like, as this is their system, they
can probably order all non-Bajoran ships out of the system, but I suspect
that they will not be willing to do so."
"I shall tell them directly."

and with this the channel closed.
"Evaluation?"
"Sir, we can not defeat both Dominion and Cardassian forces.  I would be
damned surprised if they are working together." said Schultz.
"Why?"
"Because the Cardassians want the system as an economic resource in order
to develop tolls and other imposts on wormhole traffic.  Bajour has
become a wealthy planet, and after the current hostilities with the
Romulan and Klingon Empires are over, I suspect that the economic
benefits of the wormhole for Bajour will only grow.  The Cardassians are
probably thinking the same thing, and since our defeat of their main
fleet five years ago, their economy has been in terrible condition.
Reconquest of this system would go far to help them out of their current
troubles.  The Dominion wants all exploration stopped, so unless one side
has made a bad deal with the other, something I find most unlikely, at
least in the case of the Cardassians as the Dominion's intelligence is
too good, there can't be any cooperation."
"Very well... other opinions?"
"Sir, we must protect the planet, the Bajorans must be the top priority,"
said Anders.
"I tend to agree, but there are a number of key targets in this system,
if the or the Dominion forces capture any of them, it will be much more
difficult to get rid of them," replied McGinnis.
"I think that we should try to contact the Federation and see if Star
Fleet Command can send help." said Moran.
McGinnis stared at her for a moment.  In the mad series of events, he had
forgotten that he'd ordered commodore Cisco to do just that.
"Operations, get Cisco on the viewer," he said.
"Commodore Cisco coming on screen," replied Anders.
"Commodore Cisco, report on your progress."
"I've gotten to Admiral T'laz at Star Fleet, she says that there are no
available resources at the moment, and she expressed her confidence in
your command and tactical abilities...  I've talked with Minister Kira,
and she asked you to do what you could to defend the planet, she says
that they can't handle the Dominion and the Cardassians at the same
time.  All of my ships are out, and we're shadowing the fighters on their
way to Bajour.  Mr. Nog's report is that he should be able to hold them
long enough for you to get their and negotiate with them."
"Very well, this means that you're on your own versus that ship out
there, I can't stay to help.  I'm going to try to help the Bajorans slow
down the Cardassian fleet, and then give The Central Command something
more important to use their ships for.  Do you think that you can handle
that ship out there?"
"It'll be close, our weapons aren't the best.  If you can divert the
run-abouts, I think that I can trap it between my ships and the base, and
we'll have to see after that."
"Very well, order your ships back, I'm on my way to deal with that fleet."
"Good luck, sir."
"The same to you Commodore, keep in direct contact with Admiral T'laz,
I'm turning command of this situation over to her."
"Aren't you going to tell her tat?"
"No, and since I outrank both of you, she won't have too much to stand on."
"Yes sir!", said Cisco, who was clearly not pleased at having to act as a
messenger.
"McGinnis out."

With this McGinnis turned back to Anders.
"Commander, get me a channel to minister Kira."
"Aye, .... Channel open."

"Minister, This is Admiral William McGinnis commanding the United Star
Ship Ticonderoga.  Have you heard from the commander of the Dominion forces?"
"Yes, and I won't accept his terms.  For that reason, I'm making a direct
request of you and all other Federation resources in the area for
assistance to a Federation-allied government."
"Thank you, we are on our way.  If you would get me a link to your
commanding officer?"
"yes, the code is being transmitted now."

Anders nodded to show that she had it.
"Thank you, out."
"Commander, get me through to the Bajoran commander."
"Aye, coming up now."
"Admiral McGinnis, I am general Tyrae, it is good to speak with you."
"General, what is your current deployment?", asked McGinnis bypassing the
usual courtesies as unjustifiable under the current conditions.
"We are deployed against the Cardassians, with only ground-based forces
to hold off the Dominion fleet."
"Very well, I am moving to occupy them for a bit, so push the Cardassians
back as much as you can, I'll deal with them as soon as you've engaged
the dominion forces."
"What is your plan?"
"I don't think that it would be wise to discuss it in detail, simply say
that I will make sure that the Cardassian command decides that a
rediployment of their forces is ... necessary."
"All right, I'd like to know what you're planning to do, but as ranking
Federation officer, you have the right to refuse to tell me."
"General, I would do so if I felt that there was time, but there isn't,
and this channel is not fully secured."
"You are right, do as you see best."
"McGinnis out."

"Helm, set course 157 mark 36, short duration burst at warp nine to get
us in front of those ships.  ... Tactical, engage all shielding, bring
the secondary weapons on line, set for rapid-fire, independent targeting,
"Aye, Sir," replied Schultz and Moran.

The ship leapt forward, and slowed just as quickly. Immediately the
computer-controlled weapons opened fire, blasting many of the small and
comparatively under-defended fighters out of space.  As the toll began to
rise, the fighters began to duck and weave, trying to avoid the far
bigger ship's guns.  Their maneuvers were semi-successful, both because
there was little pattern to them, and because there were too many targets
for the independent targeting nodes to handle.

"Sir, they're avoiding our shots, we're barely ten percent effective.  I
suggest that we commit the auxiliary computer core to assisting the
rapid-fire weapons targeting controllers."
"I agree, you may proceed at your earliest convenience," replied McGinnis.
"Redirecting, ... now!" said Schultz.

The act was only minimally helpful, despite the massive computing
resources now going to predicting and targeting, there were just too many
targets, acting too randomly.  Worse still, even though had slowed their
forward progress, the fighters were beginning to fly around the ship at a
range sufficient to defeat the comparatively short range of the particle
phasers.
"Mr. Schultz, bring the ring to full power, knock out some of those ships
that are trying to slip past us, and try not to miss, I don't want them
to get an idea as to our range on that weapon for a bit.  I don't want to
have to start chasing those little ships with torpedoes."
"I agree, but despite the fact that we're running low, we may have to use
them."
"I am well aware of  that, but the better your shooting, the longer we
can wait."
"Ring charged, standing by to fire."
"You may proceed."

 It took only moments for the Dominion force command to realize that
their fighters' tactics had suddenly become ineffective.  The main ring's
greatly superior range and striking power resulted in the destruction of
many of the small ships.  Also, as the ring could strike over greater
ranges, it's effectiveness was even greater, as it could more easily
knock out fighters that had slipped past the ship's mid-line.  The tactic
forced the fighters to begin a rapid retreat away from the great ship's
new weapon.  However, McGinnis didn't want to show their entire hand, so
the ring was only used out to a range of 700,000 kilometers, slightly
less than half of its maximum effective range.

"They're still backing off, trying to get around us."
"Good, keep them backing, fire *one* torpedo, set it to detonate at one
million kilometers range, try to take out a clump of them."
"Why ... Aye, sir." replied Schultz, realizing McGinnis' plan.

The photon torpedo flew from its tube, and detonated amongst a small
cluster of the little ships.  Because space does not carry shock waves,
it only destroyed four, but the blast still forced the Dominion crews to
back off very quickly.
"Good, they are probably wondering just how much they have to give before
we hit our limit, since the particle weapons stopped at half a million,
and we haven't fired the ring at more than 700,000 kilometers, they've
got to be getting tired of playing cat and mouse like this." said
McGinnis, noting that the little ships had moved out to nearly 2 million
kilometers.
"Tactical, plasma torpedo, just one, shoot for any of those fighters at
1.9 million." said McGinnis.
"Contained plasma torpedo ready," replied Schultz.
"Fire!"
The long-range torpedo raced through space, and a second later, blew
another pair of fighters to atoms.

"Sir, they're backing off *very quickly*.  Range now 2.3 million... 2.4
million... 2.5 million... 2.7 million.... 2.85 million and holding."
"Very well, just let them think on it for awhile."
"They're just sitting there, apparently they don't want to test us
again," said Moran from her station.
"Well, we've got no better place to go, so we'll wait until they decide
to move. ... Tactical, have another torpedo ready the second that they move."
"Standing by...." replied Schultz, ordering the computer to fire at
anything that moved and was within safe range.

The wait continued for nearly half an hour.  It was tedious, frustrating,
and very concerning to McGinnis.  While he sat, holding down one force,
the Cardassians were taking their toll on the Bajoran home fleet.  If
this were lost, the system would be in enemy hands, and retaking it would
be just as difficult, no matter whether those hands were Cardassian or
Dominion-dominated in character.  Meanwhile, DS9's small ships had been
destroyed by the construct, which had broken into its constituent parts
in order to handle them.  It was a contingency that McGinnis had
considered, but had hoped would not happen.

He was waiting for the Dominion to make a mistake, and they were waiting
for him to let down his guard.  Over all, there was much too much waiting
going on for his satisfaction.  However, there was nothing to do but keep
waiting...

Finally, things changed, and not for the better.

"Sir, I have an incoming transmission from Bajoran forces commander."
"... yes, yes, put it on screen."

McGinnis brought himself out of his trance, and turned to the main viewer.
"Admiral, the Cardassians are about to break our line, we need your help
now!"
"I can't move, more than two thirds of the entire Dominion forces are
still sitting in front of me, and if I move, they'll level every
structure on your planet.  There's no way that you can hold them off
without your main fleet."
"I am well-aware of that, but you'll understand that we do not want the
Cardassians to return to power in this system," said the Bajoran general,
somewhat tensely.
"I am aware, but if you are alive, you can always be freed later.  The
dominion will ensure that is not a possibility. ... unless..."
"Operations, put that on hold!"
"done," replied Anders.
"Tactical, helm, how long would it take for us to get to Cardassia from
here at maximum possible speed?"
"About forty-five, maybe fifty seconds, at warp 9.975, but we'll have to
shut everything else off to get there that fast."
"Fine, set a course for the Cardassian fleet, warp seven.... wait until I
tell you to engage."
"Operations, reopen that frequency."
"General, switch all of your forces to my location, I'm going to handle
the Cardassians now, but its a risky bet at best."
"What are you going to do?"
"Let them fire on us."
"What!"
"Let the Cardassians fire upon us, it will let us intervene more
directly, as it will be a violation of the cease-fire that was signed
five years ago."
"Very well, ... For Bajour's sake, I hope that you know what you are
doing.  We are disengaging now, I hope that you can intercept their fleet."
"I'm not concerned about that."
"Very well, Tyrae out."
"Helm, set course, and engage, ... tactical, shields up, main ring to
full power, load torpedo bays, bring secondary phasers on-line, and
prepare to lock into distributed computers.  Lock main ring and torpedoes
into central computer, and have the systems control the firing sequence."
"Aye Sir, standing by for range....  ten
seconds...eight...six...four...two...range achieved, awaiting your
clearance to fire."
"When they fire on us, you may proceed."

As McGinnis had hoped, the Cardassians  fired at the Federation vessel,
doing only moderate damage to the outer shielding.  However, it gave him
the excuse that he needed.

The response from the federation super-star ship ripped into the
formation, reducing the seven remaining ships to five.  McGinnis was glad
to see that these ships were too seriously damaged to pose any serious
threat for at least a few minutes.  It wasn't much of a window, but it
was all he had time to create.  As McGinnis expected, the vessels
returned fire, but both due to their damage, and Ticonderoga's massive
shielding advantage, they  scored no damage.
"Now, accelerate to maximum possible velocity! execute!" McGinnis said,
and the great ship shot through the Cardassian formation, and accelerated
to nearly warp 9.98.  Except for navigational shielding limited computing
power, and  inertial dampeners,  *nothing* was available.  The ship was
now streaking headlong into a very risky diversion which McGinnis hoped
would get the Cardassians to back off from Bajour, and remember the
treaty limitations to which they had agreed, not five years previously.

SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part IV: Chapter XIX:
By:
Matthew A. Weed

Command Log: Stardate 56745.8: Admiral William McGinnis Commanding
Starship Ticonderoga Recording:

We are headed to Cardassia, on what I would call a "diversionary
tactic".  I hope that it works.

"Tactical, the moment we begin decelerating, engage the phase-cloak, and
stand by.
"Helm, keep our course so that we come out of warp in near-orbital space,
and set a course straight for the capitol city, bring us to a halt at 200
kilometers above ground level."
"Aye Sir, plotting post warp course.  It may be difficult to get the kind
of accuracy you want in twenty seconds..."
"Well, if you miss, we're all going to be in trouble, so do your job as
well as you always do it."
"Aye..." replied Moran with a concerned and thankful look his way.
"Tactical, the second that we stabilize, switch off the phase-cloak, and
raise all shielding.  Bring the auxiliary phasers on line, and leave them
charged.  I hope that we won't need to use them."
"Aye Sir, programming..." replied Schultz hunching over his station.
"Now fifteen seconds from deceleration," announced Moran.
"Stand by.... and hold on, I suspect that we will feel this deceleration
with power shunted as it is," said Anders.
"Commander, send out a lock down warning, and hope that everyone's
already at stations."
"Aye, warning out."
"Now five seconds...four...three...two...one......"
The rest of Moran's countdown was overwhelmed by the shriek of the ship
coming down from ultra-high velocity as hard as it possibly could.
Everyone was buffeted about in their stations, but because the computer
had locked them all down, no one was thrown to the floor.
"Engineering, report!" said McGinnis into the air, as he felt the slight
shift of perspective that always came with the use of the phase-cloak.
"Engineering, Data here, sir.  I believe that all of the crew here are
functional, no major injuries.  The phase-cloak is operating normally,
and all other systems and structures are holding at nominal levels."
"Thank you Mr. Data," said McGinnis to his first officer, who was now in
charge of engineering, as no senior officer was left to handle the
responsibilities.  The bridge could function without him, and both of
them had thought that his presence in engineering would be the most
"useful," after the extent of the casualties had become clear after the
incident with the rogue Klingon ship.  Therefore, Data had been
supervising the engineering repairs since that time, and would retain his
post until the ship could return to base for final repairs.

"Sir, now passing through upper atmosphere," reported Moran.
"Hold your course, notify me when we're inserted at the proper level."
"Twenty seconds to position."

All of them watched as the Cardassian  defenses scrambled to deal with
the invader that had ripped into their system at speeds that their high
command had assumed were impossible.  However, with the phase-cloak in
operation, the regular levels of ionic interference in Cardassia's upper
atmosphere made finding the ship absolutely impossible.  Of course,
McGinnis had counted on this....
"Position achieved," announced Moran.
"Very well, ... tactical, disengage phase-cloak, shields and auxiliary
phasers to full power.... Operations, get me a channel to the Cardassian
leadership."

The ship flipped into visibility, only a few hundred kilometers above the
capitol city of the Cardassian Empire.  To put it mildly, this was the
last place that its defenders would have liked to find such a powerful,
and unhappy, enemy.

"Sir, we've got a response," said Anders, with more than a bit of humor
in her voice.
"Put them on screen," replied McGinnis.

"I am Gul Meset, and I demand to know why you have invaded Cardassian
territory."

McGinnis recognized the man, he had dealt with him, both on the field of
battle, and over the negotiating table.  He did not like, or trust,  him
in the slightest.
"Gul Meset, It is good to see that you are still alive," said McGinnis,
more than a bit of sarcasm in his comment.  "Your ships have crossed into
Bajoran space, thereby violating the treaty that you and I signed five
years ago.  Quite honestly, I am surprised that you would be so lacking
in respect for your old enemies.  However, that is not important now.
What is important is that you have violated the cease-fire, and this
being the case, I will have to respond in kind unless you withdraw from
the Bajoran system immediately."

"Admiral, it is good to see you again," replied Meset in his typical,
oily voice.  "Had I known that you were back from your recent mission,
and with such a grand new ship, I would have rethought the wisdom of
trying to retake the wormhole at this time.  However, I know that things
are going very badly for the Bajorans, and that we will be able to take
the planet without too many shots fired.  By the time your response is
made, I will have the wormhole, and you will have to retake it by force."
"That is as may be, but you forget that I'm sitting so close to your
capitol city that if you fire on my ship, and miss, you will do great
damage to your governing center.  Of course, you'll have to turn your
defensive satellites around to hit this ship, and by that point, they
will be annihilated.  In any case, I believe that you need, ...
convincing, ... of the seriousness of my intentions.  Therefore, I shall
destroy a large fraction of your orbiting defenses ...in two minutes,
unless you call off your ships."
"I can not do that, Admiral." Meset replied.
"Very well, but know that I did warn you, ... out."
"Tactical, lock auxiliary phasers on those orbiting platforms, knock them
down as quickly as possible.  Charge the main ring, but don't use it
unless you can't shoot down anything with the smaller weapons."
"Aye, Sir!", replied Schultz, rapidly programming the computers to do
something that he thought should have been done long ago.

The particle phasers struck in many different directions.  There were a
lot of orbiting defense satellites, and some were shielded.  However,
combined fire from the auxiliary weapons was sufficient to deal with even
these platforms.  However, the work went slowly, and it took nearly half
an hour to knock down all of the close-range orbiting defenses.  Those
that were in far orbit would have to wait until later.

Just as the ship was finishing with the first stage of its assigned task,
a small defense shuttle streaked in, hoping to get in a lucky shot on the
upper edge of the ship's main hull, or on a warp nacelle.  The auxiliary
weapons were not fully charged, so the main computer was forced to use
the ring to knock the flea out of the way.  The  flare of light was so
bright that anyone who was looking at the great ship was blinded.

Apparently, this event got the Gul's attention where the knocking out of
his home defenses had not.

"Sir, I have a transmission from Gul Meset," announced Anders.
"Put him on."
"Admiral, ... it is possible that we could negotiate a new agreement that
would be satisfactory to both sides, I hope?"
"No, unfortunately, you have proven your inability to stay with
agreements that you make.  Here are my terms.
1.  You surrender all military vessels of the Federation classification
of light-cruiser or higher to the Bajoran provisional government.
2.  You allow me to destroy all ship construction facilities on Cardassia
IV, and you release all prisoners held there.
3.  You remove all of your planetary defenses, except for the deep-space
and atmospheric defenses.
4.  You agree to flash inspections of all military and civilian
construction facilities by any power that desires them.
and 5, you withdraw from Bajoran space immediately."
"Those are incredibly harsh terms!" snapped Meset.  "You must know that
they would leave us practically defenseless, and that they would cause
major disruption to our internal political and economic  structure."
"Yes, I am aware of the consequences, and believe that you and your
friends in the Cardassian military would be rather too busy dealing with
your internal problems to cause Bajour, or the Federation, any trouble
for quite some time.  ..., I have too many other problems demanding my
immediate attention to allow you the ability to come in on the side of
house Durass in the action going on with the Klingons and Romulans, and I
am unwilling to trust you to keep any lesser bargain."
"I see, then I suppose that I shall have to refuse your terms."
"As I said, I am quite busy at the moment, and would rather not have to
delay here any more than is necessary.  I will, if necessary, begin a
bombardment of your planet ... which is within my rights under the
treaty, considering that you broke the cease-fire first."
"I shall contact you in a moment," said Meset, who cut the channel from
his end.

"Sir, with all due respect, I'm not sure that Command will be happy with
what's going on here," said Anders from her station.
"I think that you are very likely right, but unlike the treaty five years
ago, which we signed under conditions which approximated those of the
golden age, we can't afford kid gloves any more.  Cardassia is not a
major threat to the Federation as a whole, but it can threaten allied
governments like Bajour, and with much of our military strength occupied
in other areas, they pose a reasonably serious threat to some members in
the outer areas of Federation space. This game of brinkmanship, if it
works properly will allow me  to ensure that they are busy with their own
concerns, and with our inspectors, for a while.  Sooner or later, a
politician will cut back on my restrictions, and it will be back to
business as usual.  However, for the moment, while I've got them where I
want them, it seems prudent to make sure that business as usual will stop
here and now, for a while at least."

Anders turned back to her station, shocked at the hard hand that McGinnis
was willing to use on the Cardassians.  Had this been an unknown
civilization, the violations of the prime directive that he was
contemplating would have been too numerous to count.  As it was, she felt
that McGinnis was taking the short-term view, and that ultimately
Cardassia would have to be reformed, not forced into an unacceptable
peace.  However, McGinnis was a brilliant military strategist, and she
knew that the star fleet that she had joined as an ensign fifteen years
previously was not the organization that now defended the Federation from
a newly hostile galaxy.  She hoped fervently that she would not be forced
to command a ship in this "new", and retrenched organization.

Her reverie was cut short by a blinking light on her panel.  It was
Meset, calling back.

"Sir, Gul Meset on main viewer," she said.

"admiral, I have conferred with my colleagues, and we have a counter
proposal."
"I'm listening," replied McGinnis, well-aware that negotiating was not
one of his strong suits.  he had been included as military representative
on the negotiating team five years ago because some of the diplomats had
not been sure that The Cardassian legates would listen to the Federation
delegates without an obvious sign of "commitment," to their original
cease-fire terms.

"We are willing to pull out of Bajoran space, allow inspections of our
construction facilities, and disarm to the levels set in the treaty five
years ago."
"Unacceptable," replied McGinnis. ... "If you follow your terms, plus
disarming to the fleet strength of the Bajoran home forces,  release all
political prisoners, and allow me to take out your construction
facilities, I will accept your offer."
"A moment, please."
"My time, and patience, are short." replied McGinnis.

The screen reverted to its view of the suddenly-empty air and ground
traffic patterns on that side of Cardassia.

McGinnis felt that he had no choice but to up the ante even further.
However, in spite of his inherent lack of respect for the Cardassian
military, whose technology was twenty years behind this new ship, he did
know that if he pushed too hard, things could slip out of control.
However, a strong enough blow against the Empire would also force them to
deal with internal problems before they could retaliate.  By that point,
the war in the north would have either been won or lost.  He therefore
decided to use the strongest card in his hand.

"Computer, log general Order number 24, stardate 56745.9.  The following
procedures for this bombardment schedule.  All offensive and defensive
systems of this vessel shall now be under direct control of the main
computer core, with override priority to the commander and tactical
officer.  Should these be incapacitated, control shall stay in the main
computer, until the first officer can assess the situation.  Bombardment
priorities shall be as follows: military installations, space-based;
Military installations, ground-based, communications, transportation, and
governmental control facilities;  and Civilian populations as lowest
priority targets."
"Command order, general order 24, recognized.  Prioritizations and
computer control procedures accepted.  Awaiting time for commencement of
controlled weapons assault."
"Time is 60 minutes, mark." said McGinnis.
"60 minutes recognized and locked, bombardment shall begin in 60 minutes."

"Sir, Gul Meset back for you," said Anders.
"Put him on," replied McGinnis.
"Admiral, we will agree to all of your terms, except for the disarmament
clause.  We can not hold down our military commitments with such minimal
forces."
McGinnis translated this in his mind to 'hold down our conquered
territory'.  Verbally he said:
"you must disarm further, or I can not accept your terms."
"I am not permitted to disarm any further, but I am willing to allow you
to ensure that we will not build further forces."
"You will not stand in the way of a total bombardment of your
construction facilities on Cardassia IV?"
"yes, that is quite right."
"That is a welcomed concession, but it is still insufficient. ... I would
trade you Bajour and a half forces for relief of the destruction of
purely civilian construction facilities on Cardassia IV. "
"I shall be back with you momentarily."
"Meset, you should also tell your people that this ship's computers have
been set to begin a general order 24 bombardment of this planet in
fifty-eight minutes forty-five seconds."
"I see... out."

"Sir, I respectfully suggest that you're pushing him too hard," said
Anders from her station.
"Ms. Anders, I understand your reservations, but we do not have enough
force to take a more standard route, so I must hold the proverbial gun to
Meset's head.  If you can't accept what is happening now, you are
welcomed to call for relief and stand down on your duties until we return
to home port."

Anders' head turned sharply at this, the shock clear in her eyes.
McGinnis had come down on her hard in the past, but this was unprecedented.
"No Sir, that will not be necessary."
"Good!, I would hate to lose one of my best officers at a time like this."

Time passed, and the small status clock in the main viewer was showing a
bit less than ten minutes when Anders turned to McGinnis.
"Gul Meset for you sir."
"Put him up there, and let's hope that this is the last time."
"Admiral, if you will agree to forces twice the size of current Bajoran
strength, destruction of our ship-building facilities, unannounced
inspection tours, and no releases of political prisoners, we can live
with that."
"Very well, I shall write an agreement, and we shall sign via sub-space
link in five minutes."
"Very well, I await your call."

McGinnis was glad that the original treaty had allowed him (or any other
full admiral), to sign such a reinforcement of the treaty, if Cardassia
broke it.  He had been surprised that they had gone for it then, but with
three-fourths of their fleet destroyed, and the Bajorans calling for the
destruction of Cardassia, there had been little choice.  He was even more
surprised that the fool Cardassians had tried to break the agreement so
flagrantly.  Admittedly, there wasn't much in the way that the Federation
could have done, had Ticonderoga's superior firepower not been in the
area. This single happenstance was all that stood between Bajour and
either defeat by the Cardassians, or destruction by the dominion fleet;
McGinnis knew that either could still happen if things didn't play out
just right.

"Ms. Anders, get me Star Fleet HQ, priority one, for Admiral Jellico only."
"Aye sir, it will take a moment."
"Very well,"

McGinnis quickly wrote the terms of the new cease-fire, and loaded them
into the ship's main computers for immediate transmition to Admiral
Jellico when the link was established.
"Sir, Admiral Jellico on the main viewer," announced Anders.

"William, what is your status?"
"Sir, While my crew was taking shore leave at Deep Space Nine, a powerful
Cardassian fleet struck at the Bajoran system.  At practically the same
moment, a powerful fleet from the Dominion crossed through the worm hole,
and began to move toward Bajour.  We gave them appropriate warnings, and
then began to fire upon their fleet, as their stated objective was the
destruction of the planet.  The Cardassians, meanwhile broke through the
Bajoran line, so I told the Bajoran commander to deal with the Dominion
forces, while I stared down the Cardassians.  before I could even come to
a halt,  they fired upon this ship.  I did not fire first, and therefore
interpreted this as a violation of the Federation/Cardassian treaty.  As
the Bajoran military asked for Federation assistance in the matter, our
alliance and economic treaties also seemed to govern  my actions since
then.  I am now sitting over the Cardassian capitol, and have forced them
to agree to major force reductions, destruction of their military
construction facilities, and a pull-back from the Bajoran system.  I
wanted to be sure that you'd back me on this before I make them sign the
new cease-fire."

Jellico knew that McGinnis had basically forced the Cardassians into
firing on him--after all, it was what he would have done, and McGinnis
had been his proteige.  Therefore, he had no problems in backing the
younger officer, particularly when the situation had apparently been
resolved with comparatively little bloodshed.

"Yes, of course, I will back you, their actions in the last few months
have been a concern as you know, and that was why I wanted you in the
area.  The Federation council may have some problems with the preemptory
nature of your action, but they owe you a lot, after the Borg campaign's
success, I wouldn't worry about that much.  Go ahead, take whatever
action you feel is necessary, but keep casualties to a minimum."
"Thank you, McGinnis out. ... Operations, Get me in touch with Gul Meset."
"He's waiting on channel II."
"On the viewer if you will,"

"Gul Meset, here are the terms of the new cease-fire, you should begin
evacuating your facilities immediately, I will be at Cardassia IV in four
hours to begin the destructions."
"Yes, I am sure that you will be, your treaty is now signed by me,
representing the Cardassian military and government."
"Good, then I look forward to reports that your forces have departed
Bajoran space."
"You shall have them.  Admiral, as always, it is a pleasure doing
business with you."
"I'm glad you think so, if you and your government would take a less
belligerent stance, I believe that we could do less business.  Gul Meset,
you must understand that such a decrease in the frequency of our meetings
would please me as much as it would you.  For now,  I wish you good
health and prosperity, ... McGinnis out."

The channel closed, and McGinnis sat back, letting out a deep sigh.  The
"negotiations" had been easier than he had expected.  He had honestly
expected to have to destroy a number of cities before the Cardassian
government gave in.  Of course, they might well be planning something,
but there was no way to know for sure.  Until the ship was out of
Cardassian space, it would remain at red alert.

"Ms. Anders, keep an ear open for a call from Bajoran military or
governmental headquarters.  Notify everyone that we will remain at
condition 1 for the moment, but that if crew get clearance from their
departmental heads, they are welcomed to stand down their stations for
brief periods of time in order to move about the ship."
"Aye Sir, notification is out, awaiting Bajoran signal."

Within moments, the message had come through.  The Cardassian ships were
pulling back, and the computer had confirmed that it had been General
Tyrae making the report.  With this out of the way, McGinnis could begin
to think about the work ahead.

*    *    *

Four hours later, the ship was in orbit over Cardassia IV, but as
McGinnis had expected, a major difficulty had arisen.  Apparently the
Cardassian military had chosen not to evacuate their construction
facilities.  McGinnis saw no reason for unnecessary casualties, but then
again, he wasn't a Cardassian.

"Ms. Anders, try to raise Gul Meset."
"Trying... I have another Gul, by the name of Dahrat."
"Very well, put him on the main viewer."
"Gul Dahrat, I want you to know, that I intend to destroy your
construction facilities, and I would like to keep casualties on both
sides to a minimum.  That won't be possible, if your government does not
remove your personnel from those bases.  You and I both know that I am
within my rights under the treaty of Bajour, and the cease-fire of
Cardassia Prime which has just been signed,  to destroy those bases,
inhabited or not.  However, I see no reason for unnecessary casualties.
Therefore, I will give you an hour to remove your personnel."

"Admiral, many of our soldiers do not want to leave those bases.  We have
removed all of the people that can be removed."
"Very well, but I want it known here that I gave those people the chance
to leave your installations.  I do not want to be known as the man who
heartlessly slaughtered innocent construction workers."
"We will not record it so, but you must know that the people will
remember you that way."

McGinnis knew this well, and there was nothing to be done about it.  He
also knew that the Cardassian government would portray him as a heartless
killer, representative of a power dominated by officials and military
people who wanted to kill Cardassians so that they would not rise to
their appointed place in the Galaxy.  It could not be helped.
"Gul Dahrat, I will offer those people one more chance to evacuate
themselves, then I shall destroy those bases, inhabited or not."
"I understand, Admiral. Dahrat out."
"Operations, send those people a final warning, tell them that they are
welcomed to evacuate by transporter or shuttle for the next fifteen
minutes, after that, we shall open fire."
"Sent, Sir."

At this moment, the patrol ships that had, until then, respected the
great warship's firepower, drove forward, hoping to defend their friends
and relatives on Cardassia IV.  The automated systems were ready, and the
small ships, though numerous, were destroyed out of hand by torpedo and
auxiliary phaser fire.  Only one ship was powerful enough to break
through the defenses to the fifty-thousand kilometer defense limit, which
resulted in the discharge of the main ring.  One shot, and this small
light-cruiser-class ship disintegrated into a violent maelstrom of light
and heat.  By the time that these ships were destroyed, McGinnis' time
limit had passed, and the bases awaited destruction.

It was handled, as everything else this day had been, by the computer.
Carefully targeted particle phaser blasts took out power generation
facilities, which either fusion or matter/antimatter powered, supplied
more than enough destructive potential to destroy the orbiting
facilities, or render them unusable for many months to come.

The planetary facilities were taken care of by discharges from the main
ring, mostly using its particle phaser settings.  Although not as
destructive as the high-energy standard settings, these were more
appropriate to carefully planned and targeted fire.  The planetary
facilities were often located near prison facilities, many of which
contained political prisoners.  The fire was carefully aimed and none of
these prisons suffered damage.  This despite the fact that the ship never
came closer than a million kilometers from the  planet.  Within an hour,
the job was done.

"Tactical, shut down all weapons, save the main ring.  Leave it at
stand-by status, and engage the phase-cloaking device.  Also, give me
your analysis of what we have seen here."
"Sir, all weapons except main ring are now shut down.  The ring is at
stand-by status, phase-cloaking device engaged.  In so far as what we've
seen here is concerned,  I would say that we can safely assume that the
hurried forward construction on a number of the ships that we saw at
Bajour, because they believed that they could capture the system while
Federation and other resources were directed elsewhere.  this is the main
reason for the lack of ships in progress in the docks at this time.  We
were very fortunate to have been there when we were."
"Thank you, I tend to agree. ... Helm, set course for Bajour, warp 9.6,
we still have the Dominion to deal with."
"Course laid in, and warp 9.6 engaged," replied Moran.

With these words,  the already invisible ship, accelerated toward Bajour,
and a situation which had not yet been fully dealt with.

SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part IV: Chapter XX
By:
Matthew A. Weed

Command Log: Stardate 56746.2: Admiral William McGinnis, Commanding
Federation Starship Ticonderoga, recording:

We are returning to Bajour, in order to assist their dwindling defense
forces against a large fleet of craft sent there by the Dominion.  It is
fortunate that we were there, because there are few  resources in the
area.  Had the Bajorans sent a distress call, and another federation
vessel responded, it would have taken too long for it to arrive, and any
other single ship wouldn't have had sufficient firepower to dislodge the
Cardassians from Bajour, or defeat the Dominion fleet.  I can't avoid the
feeling that we've been lucky.

However, while we have been ensuring that the Cardassians will not be
able to violate the cease-fire agreement for some time to come, the fleet
from The Dominion has continued to work over the Bajoran home fleet,
which was already weakened after their defensive battle against the
Cardassian attack  force.  We were able to whittle the Dominion ships
down some, and stop the Cardassian invasion, but there is still a very
real possibility that the Bajoran civilization will be destroyed by the
Dominion, which claims that the influences coming from this quadrant of
the galaxy are disrupting their internal political relationships.  Quite
honestly, I can't say whether this is true, and because of the size  of
this vessel, and the serious depletion of its crew, I believe that
direct investigation would be difficult.  Hopefully we can come up with
an acceptable arrangement, as the Dominion has declared its determination
to destroy Deep space 9, and Bajour as well.

The destruction of the space station seems a reasonable goal, but it is
unclear to me why they wish to destroy the sponsoring government's
planet.  This is only one of the many issues to which we now return from
Cardassia.

"Helm, ETA at Deep Space 9?"
"At our current warp 9.6, we will arrive at DS9 in two minutes twenty
seconds."
Tactical, do we  have an evaluation of the military situation yet?"
"Sir, computer's working on it now, but preliminary results suggest that
the Bajoran fleet has held against the fighter forces, and DS9 is still
trading fire with the Dominion construct.  We are still too far to be
able to tell what the conditions aboard either the station or that ship
are.  It'll be another half minute before I can guess, and about eighty
seconds before we're close enough for a final evaluation."
"Right, disengage phase-cloaking device, power all weapons, and stand by."
"Phase-cloak disengaged, all weapons powered and standing by," replied
Schultz.
"Helm, adjust course so that we have the construct trapped between
ourselves and the space station."
"Aye, computer is handling tactical navigation, and has changed course
according to your new perameters," reported Moran.

The computers were best at making split-second changes in course, as they
could take simple perameters, and make the mathematical calculations
necessary to achieve the goal.  Therefore, when in battle, the helmsman
could just use a touch-sensitive surface and tell the computer where the
ship should be.  This was only useful in high-speed situations like this
one, where the actual course correction was tiny, only requiring a slight
change in the ship's angle of approach.

"Sir, we now have preliminary data on shielding and weapons," announced
Schultz.
"Report."
"DS9 is nearing shield failure, with moderate damage to many parts of the
outer areas of the station.  All of its weapons are still functional, but
with loss of shield integrity, this probably won't hold long.  The
construct has suffered much more structural damage, possibly due to the
weaknesses which would result from using that kind of modular design.
Their shields are in better condition than those on DS9, and they still
have full estimated weapons."
"Thank you, when we get into range, have the computer target shields and
weapons, I want to be sure that they can leave if they so choose."
"Aye, setting perameters."

The great ship closed on its target, and began to slow in order to come
into the proper position.  However, the commander of the Dominion ship
could see Ticonderoga closing on his vulnerable weak side, preparing to
catch him in a powerful trap.  There was no choice but to back off, any
other action being likely to result in the fiery deaths of his crew,
their mission not yet complete.

"Sir, Dominion construct is moving to avoid the vice," reported Schultz.
"Very well, then we take them on one-on-one. ... Helm, course 168 mark
299, warp 8."

The ship dove down and right,  nearly reversing its direction.  This
maneuver took it away from the Dominion vessel, which slowed its retreat.
"Now, come around to course 16, mark 24, warp 9.6," said McGinnis tensely.

The ship swung about sharply, and was suddenly closing on the surprised
dominion commander.
"Tactical, fire all weapons, target weapons and shielding, secondary
targeting on engines."

The ship spat torpedoes and then phased energy, all of which crashed into
the shielding of the dominion vessel, nearly crumpling it on the first
attack.  The ship shot past the Dominion vessel, and then began to swing
around for a second run.

However, the Dominion commander now knew that his opponent had better
speed than he did, and so depended on superior maneuverability.  The ship
reversed course hard, and caught Ticonderoga with a blast from its plasma
torpedoes.  The great ship staggered slightly, but remained practically
unaffected.

Now, it was a battle of maneuverability against firepower, and despite
its over-powered impulse drive, Ticonderoga could not maneuver as quickly
as the Dominion ship did.  However, it could use vastly superior
firepower to deal with the ship.

"Helm, bring us around to 196 mark 38, warp 2.  Then, when we're just
passing over them, bring us straight up, full impulse."
"Course plotted, laid in."
"Tactical, ready the main ring, and load aft torpedo tube with photon
torpedoes.  When we've swung up, the computer should fire the torpedoes,
and then hit them with the ring after they pass below us.  If it doesn't,
do it yourself."
"Aye sir, computers are in agreement with you, locks are already set."
"Good,..."
His comment was interrupted by a hard jolt from the enemy vessel which
was trying to get a lucky shot in on the forced quantum generator.
Unfortunately for them, the auxiliary shields took the hit, where the
main shields had temporarily been overwhelmed.  There was no damage from
the attack.  Ticonderoga, on the other hand,was much luckier.  Its
torpedoes slammed into the weakened shielding of the enemy vessel,
breaking it totally.  The blast from the main ring smashed into the
weapons section of the alien ship, utterly destroying it.  The force of
the blast was so great that the construct broke up into its constituent
parts.  Clearly, they could not recombine.

On the surface of the matter, this was good, meaning that the enemy had
lost their main heavy weapon.  However, some of the parts careened
through space, unpowered, and uncontrolled.  One of them struck DS9 a
glancing blow, causing massive structural damage to the habitat ring and
the new outer docking facility as well.  the station had clearly been put
out of commission for some time to come.

"Sir, those ships are headed for the fighter groups, I think that they'll
try to slug it out with the Bajoran ships, and I'd bet that they'll have
a respectable shot at it.  On a unit-for-unit basis, they're about a
match," said Schultz.

"Very well, we'll have to make sure that they've got fewer units.  Also,
since we're nearly out of resources, tell the computer to set the
torpedoes to hunt down groups of fighters and destroy them."
"Aye, setting perameters, computer is already locking on the construct's
units.  Firing the main ring."

Pulses of phaser fire struck at the scout-sized ships, which had no
chance of withstanding this heavy artillery.  After a few moments, the
combined efforts of the Bajoran and Federation weapons had knocked out
most of the construct's sub-units.

McGinnis now felt that he could push the commander of the Dominion's
forces to give him a cease fire, and a retreat from Bajoran space for
some period of time.

"Ms. Anders, get their ranking officer for me, put him/her on the main
viewer as soon as you have established contact."
"Aye Sir, it may take a moment."
"We have time."

Meanwhile, the great ship's rapid-fire weapons were knocking out more of
the fighters, which were trapped between it and the Bajoran space
forces.  McGinnis knew that if they broke the Bajoran line that there
were still far too many for the Bajoran air forces to handle, and that
their little photon-style missile weapons would do critical damage to
populated areas of the planet.  For this reason he was willing to take
added risk, such as allowing himself to be in a position in which he
could be hit hard by these same craft.  Clearly the pilots realized this,
and were maneuvering to fire at their large adversary.

The primary shielding was still down, but the auxiliary and secondary
shields, just as powerful as the primaries, were holding well, despite
the hail of three-megaton explosives hitting them.  Ultimately, it came
down to whether the combined fire of Ticonderoga and the Bajoran fleet
would destroy the fighters before they could take out either of the two
forces opposing them.  Clearly, the dominion's commander was willing to
wait until a clear decision came before discussion with McGinnis would
occur.

The final decision came when a number of short-range patrol ships from
the Federation's border fleet arrived in-system, in response to Commodore
Cisco's continued calls for assistance.  Their added firepower began to
allow for a slow, but steady offensive that forced the Dominion's fleet
back to the area of the wormhole.  As Ticonderoga was "behind" the
Dominion forces, blocking their escape route through the worm hole,
McGinnis decided to take advantage of his position on the "high ground"
of the battle.
"Helm, just sit here for a while, I want him to have to negotiate his way
home." said McGinnis.  With this, a signal from the Dominion forces
commander came through.

"Admiral McGinnis, you have bested us this day, but I do not intend to
leave the matter unfinished.  The presence of Alpha quadrant vessels, and
the strange ideas that they bring with them, in our spaces is dangerous
to our way of life, and The Founders are willing to fight to the death to
protect it."
"I understand their concerns, but there is little that I can do to
address them.  I suggest that they speak with the head of the Bajoran
government, it may be willing to restrict traffic through the wormhole
until a more satisfactory agreement can be made.  As commander of
Federation forces, I can only tell you that Federation shipping will be
given direct orders not  to pass through for some period of time, until
my superiors on Earth overrule me, or until they feel that we can make
Bajour safe from any attack that you may attempt."
"Very well, but I believe that you should be a part of this conversation,
as yours is the most powerful force on your side at the moment."
"Agreed, I shall set up the conference call.  If you will please wait a
moment."
"Certainly."

With this McGinnis waved to Anders to begin making the necessary calls.
He then turned to Walter Schultz.

"Mr. Schultz, what is your analysis of remaining forces, both sides? and
why we aren't facing Jem'hadar ships and technology here?"
"Sir, the Bajorans have taken heavy losses between the Cardassian fleet
and the Dominion forces.  I estimate that less than half of their fleet
is battle worthy.  Two of the light patrol craft from our own fleet are
destroyed, with four left more or less undamaged.  DS9 is seriously
damaged, repairs will take quite some time.  We have suffered major
losses in shielding, but only one of their missiles penetrated, and it
did practically no consequential damage as it struck the upper
engineering hull, just increasing the damage to the secondary collimator
there.  It was too weak to do much damage to the hull itself.

As to the other question, your guess is as good as mine, but I'd say that
The Dominion has other enemies that may be holding down its "front line"
forces."
"Thank you, dominion forces status?"
"Sir, they have only two of those construct parts left, one is the
command section, the other appears to have been part of the energy
production system, and is unusually heavily shielded and lightly armed.
They still have almost half of their fighters, but I am quite certain
that we can deal with those should it be necessary."
"Good, would the Bajorans be able to handle them alone?"
"No sir, not a chance.  There are too many of them and they're too mobile
for the remaining Bajoran forces to deal with without Federation assistance."
"Thank you, that is important to any hope of peace."

"Sir, Minister Kira on channel two, she is willing to confer with
Commander, Dominion forces."
"Very well, put them both on screen,"

"I am Minister Kira of the Bajoran Government.  You have invaded our
space, and tried to destroy The Bajoran people.  Now that you are
defeated, I demand your immediate surrender to either Federation or
Bajoran authority."
"Minister, your activities threaten the survival of the dominion, and we
can not permit you to continue to use the wormhole.  Therefore, we demand
that you agree to stop all missions through it, something that Admiral
McGinnis claims that he can not do."
"We have the power to do so, but you are not in a position to enforce terms."
"Minister, I can see all of your forces here, and although the Federation
is very powerful, its ships here are few, and I am unwilling to believe
that they would waste such resources here on the chance that we will come
back.  I will also tell you that ours was a probe force, and that larger
forces can be collected to defeat your defenses."

At this point, McGinnis cut in.
"Commander, you may be able to bring greater forces, but at the moment,
you would have difficulty getting home to inform them of what you have
seen.  As long as you are on this side of the hole, I can keep you from
getting back through, by simply sitting just outside the portal and
letting you try to pass.  Also, rebuilding your forces, even for another
attack might take longer than it would take for us to get enough ships
here to stop you.  I suggest that you accept a temporary halt to transit
through the wormhole, until such time as permanent negotiations can be
carried out.  Otherwise I will have to keep you from transiting the
wormhole, and you  can not get to Bajour, which would leave you totally
defeated and dead as well.  If you were completely defeated, your people
wouldn't know what you've found out, which would leave your government in
danger for a longer period of time, while the Bajorans continued to
sponsor use of the wormhole from this end.  At your end, you can always
stop ships coming out, and force them to return to this side."
"Admiral, you speak wisely, and I believe that it may be best, for the
moment, to blockade the effect on our end.  However, if ships continue to
pass through, we will be back, and with a force many times the size of
this one.  For the moment, I shall leave in peace, and hope that you can
resolve things for your allies here."
"I have something to say here," snapped Kira, thinking that she had been
ignored.  "We have the right to use the wormhole any way that we choose,
and as allies of the Federation, we demand that you protect us."
"Operations, close the commander's channel for a moment," said McGinnis.
He then turned to Kira's image.
"Minister, please accept a temporary truce, most of these resources are
needed by actual members of the Federation, and with our ... other
commitments at the moment, keeping a force of this nature here forever is
not possible.  I suggest that you follow the Dominion force commander's
lead and accept a truce that is less than what you want, as anything else
may prove to be far less acceptable."

Kira looked at him in shock, not fully believing that he was forcing her
to accept a peace that would threaten Bajour's economic security.
"I can't believe that you're doing this."
"Minister, their needs are as legitimate as yours are, my ship is
terribly undermanned, my crew is exhausted, I have very few torpedoes
left, I have long standing damage, and I must return to my home port soon
in order to make necessary repairs.  The federation is at war against
most of the powers of the galaxy, and I only barely avoided a war with
Cardassia, which would have been rather bad for Bajour no matter what the
situation with the dominion. I am not in the mood to negotiate over this,
and would be happy to leave you to the tender mercies of the commander
of the Dominion's fleet.  You don't have the resources to hold them off,
and you would be in a much worse place than you are now.  If you had
signed The Articles of Federation, things would be different, but you
have chosen not to, so I have little responsibility to you, and in fact,
have done more than I probably needed to."

She stared at him, unwilling to accept the fact  that, again, Bajour was
under the control of a power far larger than it would ever be.

"Very well, I suppose that I must accept this agreement, but know that I
shall lodge a protest concerning how you have treated the Bajoran
government and people.  I don't see that I have a choice, as far as the
current situation is concerned."

"No, unfortunately, I think that you don't have another legitimate option."

"Operations, put the commander back up in conference mode."

"Admiral, what is your decision?" asked the other being, understanding
well that the final decision lay in the hands of the person with the most
firepower in the area, no matter what the needs of the local governments
might be.

"The Bajoran government agrees to a cessation of hostilities, but if you
come back through, know that we will be ready for you," said Kira, not
waiting for McGinnis to begin speaking.

"It isn't my issue any more, you must leave, but I can guarantee that
Federation forces will not follow you, and the Bajorans are independent,
so I think that you have the word on their plans from The Minister." said
McGinnis before any more inflamatory comments could be made.  "However, I
do suggest that you two find a neutral third party to negotiate some kind
of agreement between you, I am not that person, and unless you choose to
make a request to the Federation diplomatic bureau, the Federation will
not involve itself in local affairs of non-aligned worlds." said
McGinnis.  "For now, please leave Bajoran space and let things cool off
for a while."

"Very well, good luck in your travels Admiral, I have grown to respect
both your ship and your strategy over the last few hours." replied the
Dominion commander before his ship turned and disappeared through the
wormhole.

quickly enough, all of the dominion craft were back on the other side,
leaving a few small Federation ships, and the tattered remains of the
Bajoran fleet to tend to the needs of the many wounded and dead on DS9.
However, before McGinnis could do anything, a signal came in from Star
Fleet Head Quarters.

"Admiral, Admiral Jellico on for you."
"Put him on screen," replied McGinnis, hoping that they would get some
time in port from this call.

"William, I know of the events in the Bajoran system, and congratulate
you on a good temporary truce.  You need to get back to your home port
for repairs, I don't want your crew out in space any longer than
necessary, you haven't had significant leave in more than seven months.
You will therefore set a course for your home port at maximum velocity,
and not divert for any reason, unless I order you to change your flight
plan personally."
Apparently, Jellico had expected to get some kind of resistance from
McGinnis.  He was terribly surprised when McGinnis said:
"Agreed, Sir, setting course immediately."

"Excellent, I look forward to hearing of your safe arrival at home soon.
Also, tell your crew that I share their loss, and wish that the Borg
campaign had not been so bloody.  I know that you and I have talked
several times in the last few days, but I have been too busy to remember
to deal with things other than those that are very immediate."
"We all understand, and know of the situation throughout the rest of
Federation space.  Thank you for your kind words, and unless there is
anything else, I should let you bet back to the business at hand."
"No, nothing else, travel safely and have your port commander contact me
when you arrive."
"Aye Sir, out."

With that, McGinnis sighed, and turned to the helm.
"Ms Moran, set course for the Polaris system, maximum possible speed."
"Aye Sir, course laid in, velocity is warp 9.75, ETA seventy-four hours."
"Very well, if I'm needed, I'll be in my quarters.  I want all of you to
get relief as quickly as possible, but until you have it, Mr. Schultz,
you have the bridge."

With these words, McGinnis left the bridge, giving himself and his crew
time to reflect on the victories won, the losses encurred, and life in
general.  he knew, as he entered his quarters, that this ship still had
many missions to perform, but at least they would get some rest,
relaxation, and medical care for those who needed it, before they would
see action in the widening war.  For the upcoming respite, all of them
were very thankful.  McGinnis could only hope that it would last quite
some time.  he knew that everyone was exhausted, and the time would do
all of them good.  With these thoughts, he fell asleep, while the ship
streaked toward home, and temporary peace.

*********************
comments to [e-mail]


SuperDreadnought: Part V: Chapter XXI:
By:
Matthew A. Weed

Personal Log: Stardate 57003.4: Admiral William McGinnis, in command of
USS Ticonderoga recording:

After the last few weeks, I am beginning to know what it is like to be a
hero.  People are giving me far too much credit for the victories against
the Borg, the Dominion, and the reinforcement of the Cardassian treaty.
Star Fleet Command wants me to return to Earth and take a desk job.  Like
James T. Kirk almost 100 years ago, I do not want to do it.  I think that
I can get around the request, but it may require a rather nasty break
with Head Quarters to do so.  I sincerely hope, both for my sake and for
that of Star Fleet, that this will not be necessary.  However, as with my
feelings of trouble concerning the arrival at DS9, I feel that I must
stay in space for a while longer.

McGinnis sat back in the command chair, feeling the quietness of the
ship.  The numerous work crews had much to do to get the ship back into
optimal condition, despite the fantastic work that his crew had done in
order to get them home.  He reflected, that in their case at least, the
last steps to optimality had been a lot harder than the first.  However,
the engineering hull was repaired, the auxiliary phaser collimators had
been removed as they had proven too sensitive to enemy fire, and had been
replaced with modular photon torpedo launchers.  The ship had gone from a
phaser-dependent configuration to a configuration that was approximately
balanced between phaser and torpedo firepower.

Considering the situation that Star Fleet found itself in, McGinnis had
the feeling that the torpedo launchers would prove more useful in any case.

As things now stood, the Federation was on retreat on nearly all fronts,
with many colonies lost to conquest or to bombardment.  Fortunately, none
of the major planets had been lost, save Betazed.  However, with the new
advances, the heart of the Federation was at increasing risk.  McGinnis
knew that this would be the next destination for his ship, once the crew
returned four days hence.  However, at the moment, they were spread
throughout the Federation, getting some well-deserved leave, after nearly
seven months of continuous fighting, fleeing, and repairing.  Only Kyla
was still at construction dock, saying that she hadn't any family to see,
and no places that she wanted to go.  McGinnis hoped that this was true,
considering that her motives might not prove so innocuous.  He didn't
think that he was quite ready for the attentions of a young woman who had
grown up to see him something like an older brother.  After all, he was
fifteen years her senior, and only four months beyond the death of his
wife of nearly twelve years.  He decided that if something happened, he
would find a way to deal with it.  For now, ....

"Admiral McGinnis, emergency communicae, all channels from Vulcan
government." announced the computer.
"Put it on screen," said McGinnis moving from the operations station to
his command chair.

"This is Vulcan Space Central to all Star Fleet units.  A large force has
appeared in orbit over this planet, and has begun transportation of a
significant number of troops to the surface.  There are currently
insufficient resources in this star system  to repel this assault force.
Any assistance available is needed at this time. ..."

The message repeated over and over, the face of the young Vulcan
Commander showing absolutely no emotion at what he was saying.
"Computer, status report, all systems, particular emphasis on weapons,
computers, shielding, engines, structural members, and service load status."

The computer took a moment to respond.
"All ship's weapons systems are properly tied into main network,
auxiliary and distributed hook ups are in place for main hull but not
available for engineering hull torpedo weapons.  All computer systems are
functioning at optimal perameters.  The main, auxiliary and secondary
shielding is available at all settings, and phase-cloaking shields are
fully operable.  All engines are fully optimized, and all power
production systems are available.  Ship's  superstructure shows nominal,
with all structural support fields available on demand.  Torpedoes are
fully loaded for both plasma and photon torpedo launchers.  repair
materials are at thirty percent load status, and systems spare parts show
fifty-three percent loaded.  The ship is at three percent of optimal
replicator materials load."

McGinnis began to think quickly.  None of the crew were around, but the
ship was needed, and needed now.  None of the construction workers were
could be taken into battle, as they were either totally inexperienced, or
working on a number of other heavy units at the moment.  It appeared that
only Kyla was available, and he immediately called her.

"McGinnis to Lieutenant Moran, priority alpha."
"Yes .... Sir, ....." she said, apparently just trying to wake herself up.
"Lieutenant, there has been an attack on the Epsilon Aeridoni system, and
they have put out a general distress call.  You are the only ship's crew
in dock, and we need to get out there immediately.  When can you be aboard?"
"Sir, it'll take about twenty minutes, I need to collect my armor and a
few other things dockside."
"Very well, I will be waiting for you in the weapons control center."
"Understood, I will be there as quickly as possible, sir."
"McGinnis to docking control, I need all of the replicator raw materials
that you can get onto this ship in the next fifteen minutes, I will be
departing on a priority mission to Vulcan in exactly nineteen and a half
minutes, so clear traffic for me."
"Yes, Sir, we are transferring replicator materials aboard your ship now,
all non-military traffic will be cleared for your departure."

"Very good, McGinnis out."
"Computer, set all systems to alpha two lockout, respond only to the
voice prints of myself and Lieutenant Kyla Moran.  Verify her voice print
with retina scan, my voice with finger print scan."
"Alpha-two lockout, conditions and cleared personnel recognized.
Awaiting lock down code."
"Code McGinnis, William R.  Alpha 35624-alpha two."
"Code recognized, alpha two lock down now in place."
"Computer, engage all energy production systems and shielding.  Stand by
for course input."
"All energy systems are now fully operational, ten minutes to warp
power.  Standing by for main course input."

With this, McGinnis left the Bridge, and hastened to the weapons control
center through the turbolift that was the best access to this heavily
armored and transporter shielded room.  Of course, it was not perfect, as
a transverter could pull a person through even the best transporter
shielding, but as far as Star Fleet knew, the Romulans didn't have the
technology.  McGinnis knew, however, that they were working on something
similar.  Therefore, assisting Star Fleet Command's staff in developing a
subspace scrambler that could deal with inverters would have to be one of
his engineering staff's first duties.  Without it, all ships would be in
danger of being destroyed through the simple tactics that had proven so
effective against the first two Borg cubes.

McGinnis was now in the Weapons Control Center, and he began issuing
orders to the computer immediately on arrival.  His first order brought
the ship to its highest level security status.

"Computer, lock down vessel for emergency warp, departure in sixteen
minutes."
"Lock down procedure beginning, security status per regulations is now
security one with clearance settings for security two maintained."

The change would not interfere with how the ship interfaced with its two
person crew, merely that as soon as it left, anything coming aboard would
be designated unfriendly by the computer and killed as soon as it had
finished transporting.  Transporter shields would be up, and the ship
would be using some of the repair units as a secondary patrol system
reporting to the distributed computing network.  With only two crew
aboard, most of the ship would be deserted, and so the computer had to
take over the security functions that crew performed simply by going
about their daily duties.

"Now ten minutes from departure," reported the computer.
"Computer, report load status on repair materials and replicator stores
as ten percent changes occur."
"repair materials now at sixty-four percent load, replicator stores at
thirty percent load.  Base has added medical stores for unknown reason,
ship is now forty percent over standard load for this subset."
"Understood, continue reports on medical stores as well."
"Lieutenant Moran is now aboard, proceeding to her quarters."
"Understood, report when she begins to proceed to the weapons control
center."

The next several minutes were dominated by preparatory tasks like setting
a course, and ensuring that the weapons control center was ready to
handle its function as the emergency bridge.

"Lieutenant Moran now departing her quarters, proceeding to turbolift."
reported the computer.
"Understood, give final ship load status, and power up warp engines."
"Power-up complete, ship load status is sixty-seven percent load on
repair materials, ninety-three percent on replicator raw materials, and
260 percent of standard medical load, with up to 400 percent in subsets
of storage load, such as first-aid supplies."
"Understood, stand by  to proceed at warp 9.8 phase-cloaking engaged for
the Epsilon Aeridoni system."

The inner doors of the air lock opened and Lieutenant Moran moved to her
station.  In the two-person configuration, she controlled all
non-tactical functions including communications, long-range scans, damage
control and intruder control systems.  McGinnis station controlled helm,
navigation, shields, weapons, and all engineering functions.
"Ready to depart?" asked McGinnis.
"Yes, ready to go," she replied.
"Open a channel to docking control," he said.
"Opened,"
"Control, this is Starship Ticonderoga, reporting that we are ready to
undock, and proceed on emergency mission to Vulcan."
"Understood, all space lanes are clear, you may depart when ready."
"Undocking now."

The computer handled the undocking procedures, and as soon as the ship
had cleared the great construction dock, McGinnis hit the "go" switch on
his console, and the ship dropped into warp and phase-cloak at the same time.
"Computer, ETA for the Epsilon Aeridoni system."
"Arrival in three hours, fifty-six minutes."

"Kyla, Take some time off, the computer will call us when we're five
minutes out." he said.
"Aye Sir," she said and rose to walk out with him.

SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part V: Chapter XXII:
By:
Matthew Weed

"Admiral McGinnis to the weapons control center," announced the computer
throughout the ship.
McGinnis had taken his com badge off, and was in the middle of his daily
work out.  With more than an hour to go before the ship reached Vulcan,
there was nothing else to do, and after his short nap, getting some
oxygen back into his system felt good.

He moved to the nearest wall panel and tapped it.
"Computer, report on command status."
"Lieutenant Moran is currently in her quarters, ship's systems are under
central computer control." replied the computer's husky female voice.
"Very well, clear weapons control center access," he said, hastening to
the nearest turbo lift.

The ride to the WCC was fast enough, and as McGinnis left the car, he had
to wonder what the computer felt required human intervention.  The
programming in the new systems was not unlike that in the M-series
computers that Dr. Richard Daestrom had experimented on nearly a century
ago.  This was what gave the ship the ability to handle complex tasks
like tactical analyses with nearly equal creativity and far greater
efficiency than a human weapons officer could.  The bureaucracy at Star
Fleet HQ had objected strongly to the modifications to the basic
programming, but McGinnis had been able to drive the changes through, for
Ticonderoga at least.  Whether the three other planned Ticonderoga-class
ships would receive the programs was anyone's guess.

"Computer, Weapons Control Center access, voice Print William R. McGinnis."
"Voice print approved, taking retinal scan," replied the computer.

The new retinal scanners didn't require a beam of light, the new scanners
were so accurate that the check could be done by any of the ship's
on-board sensors.
"All security approved," replied the computer as the doors to the WCC opened.

McGinnis moved to the command seat and punched up the ship-wide status
check.  It was clear, and so he turned to find out why he had been summoned.
"Computer, report," he said.

"Long range scans of the Epsilon Aeridoni system have been completed,
main tactical analysis suggests no less than fifteen heavy units in orbit
over Federation member world Vulcan.  Tactical analysis indicates that
this ship's capabilities will be insufficient to defeat
currently-deployed forces."
"Are there any Federation forces in the area?"
"Affirmative, however, they are very light, comprised of system defense
vessels, which will be destroyed by the time that this ship is
in-system.  No military response has been made by Earth Defense Command,
and other planetary governments in the area have chosen to refrain from
commitment to the situation at the moment."

McGinnis was glad that he had not had to ask the computer to search out
this information, as it would have taken several minutes for it to deal
with the mass of data that poured over the Federation data net.  Even
with pattern matching algorithms, there was a lot to search through in
order to get the proper information.

"Very well, put a tactical analysis of the situation on the main view
screen, shut down all non-essential life support and other systems, and
accelerate to maximum possible velocity."
"Ship-wide systems review now in progress."

Thirty seconds later, the computer had finished its analysis, and had
managed to squeeze enough energy out of the ship's systems to get it to
warp 9.82.  This would mean that they would be within visual range of
Vulcan in about eight minutes.

"McGinnis to Lieutenant Moran, report to WCC on the double," he said to
the air.
"On my way," she said, surprise ringing in her voice.

Three minutes later she walked through the inner doors and stared in
surprise at the counter on the screen.

"What's happened?" she asked, while taking her station.
"The Romulans have brought a much heavier force than I expected.  We
don't have enough firepower to handle their ships, most of them are
either their new class of warbird, or something that looks to me a lot
like their version of a heavy dreadnought.  Apparently, they've decided
to take advantage of the Federation's lack of preparedness and reunite
with the Vulcans their way."

Kyla looked at him with surprise and concern on her face.
"If that's so, then what can we do here?"
"We certainly can't remove them from the system without help.  However,
we can get a good tactical look at what we'll be facing when we get
back.  Earth-1 can get scans of the ships, even at this distance.
However, they won't be able to count the troops on the ground or tell
where the troops are located.  I want to get a full orbit in to look over
the situation, so that Admiral Jellico and I can plan a strategy."
"I understand," she said.  "What are we going to do after we scan the
planet?"
"We are going to Earth, under phase-cloak, and I am going to talk with
Admiral Jellico.  You will need to get the ship's systems ready to
accommodate a lot of troops.  They'll have lots of equipment that will
need to be transferred, and since we can land, after a fashion, I would
think that they'll want to bring some heavy materiel aboard.  If we
decide to bring troops back with us, you will liaise with the CO of the
ground forces units to set up space."
"Understood," she said.
"Now decelerating into outer Epsilon Aeridoni system." announced the
computer.
"Computer, set up a tactical scan of the system, highlight ships and
troop concentrations."
"Acknowledged," replied the computer.
"Ms. Moran, plot an orbit that will give us the most information possible
concerning the number and position of troops on the planet and its space
facilities.  We can't come out of phase-cloak, so take this into account
while you're plotting the course.  I don't want to be here more than an
hour or two."
"Got it, plotting ..."
*    *    *
Two hours later, the ship's scans were completed, and the picture that
they presented was, in McGinnis' opinion, damned depressing.  Nearly four
thousand troops were spread across the surface of Vulcan, with thousands
more still in troop transports in orbit.  There were twenty heavy ships
orbiting the planet, and their combined firepower was at least three
times that of Ticonderoga.  Some of the vessels were of types that
McGinnis had never seen before, and his own personal estimate was that
these might be even more powerful than the computer gave them credit
for.  He knew that the force would have to be thinned before there would
be a chance of recapturing the planet.  This would have to happen through
either a larger Federation star force, or a diversion elsewhere which
would force the Romulan High Command to withdraw some of their heavy
ships from Vulcan.

McGinnis knew that he needed to sit down with Admiral Jellico to plan
strategy, and see what resources might be available.  usually he wouldn't
even expect to command such a mission, as he was more a tactical genius
than a great strategist, but Star Fleet's resources were stretched to the
maximum, and he knew that Ticonderoga was one of a very small number of
large ships which might actually prove useful in this situation.

"Ms. Moran, plot a course for Earth, maximum velocity."
"Plotted, and laid in." she replied.
"engage." he said as he watched space shift on the viewer.
Only minutes later, the ship dropped from warp.  McGinnis knew that the
Romulans were able to scan Earth from Vulcan, and so he couldn't come out
of phase-cloak until after the ship was docked.  Fortunately, even Vulcan
scanners weren't yet up to the task of seeing what was going on inside
docking facilities from a distance of more than ten light years.
Therefore, the ship could dephase as soon as it docked.

"This is Starship Ticonderoga to Star Fleet Command," said McGinnis after
opening the communications channel.  "Request secured docking facility
and priority meeting with Admiral Jellico."
"Star Fleet to Ticonderoga, welcome to Earth, Admiral, you are to dock at
old space dock, main bay.  Admiral Jellico will see you as soon as you're
able."
"Understood, out."

The docking assignment wasn't that much of a surprise to McGinnis, since
the ship was likely to be departing soon, the smaller, and almost never
used, facility at old Star Dock was an excellent place to put it.  It was
also a good place to transfer cargo, as the ship could be serviced by the
full facilities of the base.  It could also leave via comparatively quiet
space lanes, ensuring that its departure wouldn't be disturbed by the
still-active civilian traffic in the Sol system.
"Sir, they've left the doors closed," said Kyla as the ship came around
the side of the dock.
"I'm not surprised, since they only use this facility for high priority
traffic, and since we can just go through the doors while phased, they'll
make it look like there is no priority traffic in the system," replied
McGinnis.
"Yes, but won't the Romulans know anyway?"
"Probably, but since our home port is the only facility which is out of
scanner range of all neighboring systems, we have to do with the fact
that they'll have to get the report by hand, rather than simply by using
Vulcan Space Central's long range scanners to keep an eye on us.  it may
be all the time we need to give them a surprise.  Since this ship is
supposedly still in dock, they won't be expecting to see this ship for at
least another eighteen hours.  It'll take at least that long for our
crew, both new and old, to get back to Polaris point."
She nodded and then returned to maneuvering the ship through the dock's
doors and into the center of the great cavity.
"We're in place," she said.
"Very well," you have command.  "If you need me, I'll be at Star Fleet
Headquarters for at least the next few hours.  If you need time off, just
have the computer take care of things, leave the ship at security status
one, whether you're here or not."
"Yes Sir," she said.
"I'll shut the phase-cloak off from the transverter console, so don't
worry about that.  The ship can't be scanned in here, at least not from
Vulcan, so just stay cloaked unless they want to start moving troops and
equipment aboard."
"Yes Sir,"
With this acknowledgment, McGinnis stepped through the inner doors and
headed toward his meeting with Edward Jellico, a man who had been
maligned as an unreasonable hawk until only a few years ago.  Now, he was
Chief of operations, Star Fleet, and the second most powerful being in
the Federation.

SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part V: Chapter XXIII:
By:
Matthew A. Weed


The shimmering effect of the transporter ended, and McGinnis stood in the
great central transporter facility of Star Fleet Command.  The activity
in the room seemed even greater than the last time that he had been here,
not quite a month ago.  Then he was leaving after receiving his Fleet
Admiral's commission, and continued command of Ticonderoga.  Like James
Kirk, a hundred years ago, he had wanted to stay in space, and his
continued command had been the price of his continued service.  Star
Fleet had not been happy, but heroes are not generally denied what they want.

He looked around for an escort, knowing that command would send one,
whether he needed it or not.  However, he saw no one, and decided that
since he knew the way, that he should simply go to Jellico's office.

As he left the great room, he looked around, and realized what had been
bothering him ever since he had transported down.  The activity level
was, indeed, higher, but there was almost no noise.  Apparently, things
were even worse than he had thought.

After moving into the central hub of Star Fleet Command's buildings, he
took the turbolift to Jellico's office which was on one of the top
floors.  He entered the outer office, and saw that the Admiral's aide was
slumped down in her...its chair, fast asleep.  He felt awful having to
wake it, but there was really no choice, as he needed to make sure that
he was expected.

Standing a few feet from the desk, he quietly said:
"Captain ...." when there was no response, he tried again.
"Captain ..."
This time the Chalerian awoke with a start and turned to see who was
talking to it.  When it realized that it was Fleet Admiral McGinnis, whom
it was supposed to meet in the transporter nexus, its normally light
green skin darkened noticeably.
"Sir!  I'm sorry, I was to meet you below, but I haven't slept in more
than four days, and ...."
"Captain, it happens, and everyone here is under terrible stress.  I
won't tell Admiral Jellico, but I should probably see him."
"I'll page him for you."
The response from the inner office was nearly as slow as the aide's had been.
"Oh, yes, send him in," replied Edward Jellico as soon as he was told who
was waiting to see him.
"Sir, you may go in," said the captain to McGinnis' retreating back.

*    *    *
McGinnis looked at his old mentor and friend, Edward Jellico across the
small office.  Jellico, though not much older than McGinnis, looked as if
he had aged tremendously in the last few years.  Clearly the
responsibilities of command had not worn on him well.  His hair was
white, his mouth a tight line.  The tension lines, always present, even
when he had been younger, were now much deeper. McGinnis was glad that
his rise through the ranks had been loaded with less continuous stress.
Certainly the dimensional transit, and the Cardassian campaign had been
hard, but there had been long periods of peace and tranquillity when he
had been able to explore the galaxy and support science missions with his
heavier ships, all of which had been stimulating, both intellectually and
physically.  Sitting behind a desk had never appealed to him, and he now
remembered why.

"William, it is good to see you again, although I hadn't expected to see
you quite so soon." said Jellico, extending his hand.
"Admiral, I am glad to see you too, but wish that the circumstances of
our meeting weren't so ... tumultuous."
"Yes, I know." sighed Jellico returning to his seat.  "Please, sit down."
McGinnis did, and then told Jellico what had brought him to Star Fleet
Command.
"Sir, eight hours ago, I was sitting in dock when I received the
planetary distress message from Vulcan.  The ship was, is, not fully
loaded with replicator materials and a few other non-essentials, but I
knew from the fleet dispersal reports that there wasn't any way that the
forces in the area would be able to handle a major assault.  I,
therefore, decided to take it in under phase-cloak, with the help of one
crew member, to get a tactical look at what's going on the planet.  We
completed the scan, and then came here to report directly, as I was
concerned about the possibility of the Romulans intercepting my message
and realizing that they had missed Star Fleet units in the Vulcan system."
"William, what you did, it was foolish.  Even your ship, with all of its
technology, can't handle what is in orbit over Vulcan right now."
"Sir, I realized that as soon as we were in range for the strategic scan
to image the system.  However, the phase -cloaking device is impenetrable
by transporter, and as far as I know, the Romulans aren't very good at
finding phased ships as yet."
"That's true, but they're getting better, as their own phasing technology
is nearly as good as ours.  They'll be able to find, and pinpoint, phased
ships soon, which will take away much of the benefit of the phase cloak."
"I know, but it seemed that quick information was best.  From what I know
of Star Fleet assault techniques, the special forces prefer to hit a
target as quickly as possible, especially when its invaders aren't fully
settled in yet."
"Yes, its best if we can get through quickly, the Romulans won't have the
chance to fortify themselves well."
"I know, that's why I wanted a look, without data, we'd need to send in
cloaked probes, and delivering them would have taken at least a week, as
I understand it."
"That's true, but still, I want you to consult with me before you try
something like that again."
"Understood, Sir." replied McGinnis, knowing intellectually that although
Jellico agreed with the strategy, he had to maintain the chain of command.
"In any Case, Admiral, what do you have to report?"
"Sir, there are at least fifteen heavy units in the system, most are in
orbit over the planet itself, although a few seem to be detailed to
patrol the inner system and watch for any move on our part.  There are at
least four thousand troops already landed, and there were a number of
transports in place, which appeared to have most of their  troops still
aboard.  I was only able to complete one orbit of the planet, but it
appeared that many of the troops are still in the various stations in
orbit over the planet, and only a few have landed in some of the major
cities as yet.  Mt. Silaya is still free, and the Vulcan Science Academy
was only lightly occupied as we passed over it.  However, I wasn't able
to scan for any Vulcans with weapons, and I must assume that both
Government forces and Fifth column members are also on the planet."
"At least as far as the government's concerned, they have surrendered, as
the Romulans told them that they would bombard the planet if resistance
was offered.  The Vulcans, quite rightly I think, said that it was
"logical", to surrender and avoid bloodshed.  However, they have
contacted the Federation, and have requested assistance in dealing with
the forces.  Of course, the Federation council gave all kinds of
assurances, assurances that Star Fleet, at least, can't back up at the
moment."
"Why not?" asked McGinnis, shocked to see Jellico apparently bending to
the Government's desire to force the Federation to wait to move against
their forces until it was too late."
"Because I don't have the resources to hold down all of our other fronts,
and divert the necessary firepower to both defeat that fleet, and get
enough troops onto the ground to make a difference."
"Sir, I have an idea, but its risky."
"Well, an idea is better than none, and we're out of them here."
"What if we were to organize a major offensive, which might divert some
of the forces from Vulcan.  I don't have the resources aboard to do it
now, just because I only have one crew member, and she's a security and
weapons specialist, not an engineer.  However, we could use some of the
tactics that worked against the Borg, like inverting torpedoes through
their shields, and we could then send troops down to help the government
with the land-based opposition."
"A good plan, and one that I'd already thought of, but the Romulans know
of our development of subspace transportation technology, and they've
built subspace scramblers into their ships, making it damned near
impossible to destroy them that way."
"yes, but the transverter doesn't work like a subspace transporter."
"I know, but its close enough so that it won't work.  I'm the only one
who knows about the work that you have done at Polaris Point, but you'll
have to trust me on this, those that I have shown the rutian data, say
that those inverters won't work.  Considering that your transverters work
on the same principle, if not the exact same equipment, you won't be able
to do it."
McGinnis sighed, ... <well,> he thought <that's one idea down the tube.>

"William, the only way to do this is through sheer hard work, and lots of
casualties.  The strategists here estimate that it'll take thirty
starships, fifty thousand troops, and two years to clear the planet."
"Sir, I refuse to accept that, you know all too well the risk that the
Romulans pose to all of Star Fleet's operations from Vulcan.  They can
watch what's going on here, directly, and can tell what ships are in and
out of dock with probes on the outer edge of the Epsilon Aeridoni
system.  Not to mention the fact that the Vulcans have been a prime
member of the Federation from its inception, sit on the Federation
Security Council, have a veto, and could seriously damage war policy
through simply shooting down anything that might cause the occupation
force to take revenge on their civilian population at home.  We've got to
get them out of there, now, no matter the cost.  I wouldn't be so
determined on this, if I weren't so convinced that we've got a huge
problem here."
"Don't you think that I've considered those issues?!" exploded Jellico.
"We don't have the resources to get the Romulans out of Epsilon Aeridoni,
and that's that!"
"Sir, if I put Polaris construction facilities to the task, we can finish
two of the three remaining Ticonderoga class ships within three months.
However, if I stand down on those projects, divert those construction
crews to building a bunch of small, light ships, say run-abouts, for
example, we could get a couple hundred of them ready in a few weeks.  If
we can get them into the system, they'll be able to  keep the Romulans
busy while I get control of the stations that control planetary defense,
and get the ability to knock out their troops on the ground.  The
run-about crews will be sacrificed, but if we try a full-system assault,
especially with two years for the occupation force to prepare, the Vulcan
civilization will be blasted from the face of the Galaxy."
"How many casualties do you think you'll take?"
"I don't know, I'm thinking on my feet here, I suppose that total
casualties might total fifty-thousand military personnel and an unknown
number of civilians, largely depending on what ships stay in orbit over
the planet.  Every ship that I saw in orbit can be defeated by
Ticonderoga, and it would take three or four of them to pose a serious
threat.  I would think, though, that we could assume that more than half
would be busy with the smaller ships.  Then, it'll be a matter of making
them decide that my assault is more interesting than blowing up the
planet with which they want to unify.  I'd give it half a billion
ground-based casualties, before I could either use planetary defenses, or
destroy them."
"Half a billion?  That's a lot of casualties for a long shot."
"Yes, but much better than twenty billion with a plan that may or may not
work, and will require two years of time to prepare for."
"How long would you have to delay Agencort and Louisbourg?"
"It depends on how our plan shapes up, and how badly Ticonderoga is
damaged in the actual battle.  I would think that given serious damage to
my ship, and heavy construction costs in smaller ships, something like
six months."
"That's a lot of time to lose the three heaviest units I have in the
works.  The mass-produced ships are doing surprisingly well, but the
Klingons and Romulans have a lot more heavy ships than we do, and since
most of the Science fleet is still going through conversion, we're at a
terrible disadvantage.  I don't even know that I can keep our promise to
keep the Gorn trade routes open.  If we lost those, we'd be totally on
our own, economically speaking, and most of the new Federation members
would be out on a limb against the Ferengi."
"Sir, we can't hold those routes open with the heavy ships anyway,
they're not built as trade protectors, and as soon as they're out, we'll
need flotillas of smaller ships for them to support. On their own, the
Ticonderoga-class vessels can do a lot, but its not like we can assault
the home system alone, without a lot of smaller ships for support.  I
think that the delay is worth clearing the Romulans out of near-Earth
space, and getting the resources of the Vulcan alliances back in the
hands of the Federation, and not tied up in a balancing act between
Federation obligations and Romulan threats.  Particularly when the Vulcan
colonies don't have as many residents as the home world, and so it would
be "illogical", to do anything that might result in bombardment of
Vulcan.  I don't think its likely, but its a realistic possibility, and a
terribly effective threat."
"Yes, you're right, much as I don't like to do it the traditional way, I
think that your plan has as much chance as any other of working, and it
will have the Romulan government on the defensive within three or four
months.  Go ahead and do it, is there anything you need from here?"
"yes, Sir.  I've got plenty of construction people, but more wouldn't
hurt, we've got the space, and with the expansion of Polaris starting in
ten or fifteen hours, we'll be secure from subspace probing as the star
will jam any scans that probes might try to take for a while.  What I
really need, though, is lots of security and marines.  I don't want to be
taking engineers off of other work to train them how to use heavy
weapons.  If you can get me as many as you can spare from any Earth-base
facility in the next twenty-four hours, I'll take them back to Polaris,
and we'll get them equipped from there.  They will need heavy equipment,
we've not got the facilities to build that, but we can outfit them, and
arm them with anything up to heavy phaser rifles."
"Very well, your ship is in Star Dock?"
"yes, Sir, but we're cloaked to avoid scan or sighting.  I can send you
coordinates, or you can beam the people to the dock's transporter
facilities and we can transfer them on from there, if you think that's
best.  Oh, and sir, we'll need pilots and gunnery specialists for the
run-abouts, I can make another trip for those later, I'll need tactical
information about Vulcan in any case."
"That's a long shopping list, but I think that we can fill most of it."
However, you will not make another pass over Vulcan, the risk is growing
to high for that.  You may go into the system a day ahead of your other
forces to look things over later, but in general, you'll need to go in
blind on this, ..." McGinnis objection was cut off by Jellico's next
words. "... we'll try to get some probes in to find out what we can to
help you brief your troops."
"Very well, Sir, but I must tell you that I don't like having so little
information on a mission like this.  We need more data to make sure that
people know what they're going after, and what the resistance will be like."
"I know, but I distinctly remember telling you what a risk it is to have
phased ships too close to the Romulans right now.  The less it happens,
the longer it'll take for them to learn what our phase-cloaking
signatures look like."
"Understood, but I must say that in this case, I think that the possible
cost in military and civilian casualties justifies any danger to us in
terms of lost advantage later."
"Your objections are noted," said Jellico, ending the conversation.
"I'll be aboard Ticonderoga, contact me there if you need to."
"Understood, we'll only do so via subspace squirt, so that interception
of both message and recipient are cut as low as possible," replied Jellico.
"I'll have the computer watching for them sir."
"Excellent, dismissed."
McGinnis returned to old Star Dock, where the loading process would soon
begin with a vengeance.

By the end of the following twenty four hours, they had brought nearly
four thousand personnel aboard, most of whom were marines equipped with
everything from mobile armored units to phaser artillery and short-range
micro photon missile launchers.  Lasers, particle canon, armor,
communications gear, all of it was beamed aboard.  It was a massive
undertaking, both finding space for all of it, as well as ensuring that
the ship could carry everything that it needed to.  By the end of the
process, McGinnis was exhausted, but pleased that there seemed to be
enough personnel to have a chance, given upgrades to their armaments, and
element of surprise, to retake Vulcan.  The force movements had, almost
unquestionably, been noticed by the Tal Shiar, which would probably be
expecting an assault within the day.  The fact that it would take at
least six weeks, assuming that the plan could be kept secret, would help
too.  Since by the time that the assault could be mounted, their warnings
would have less credibility than normal, after the first had proven
inaccurate.  In this game, anything might help, and McGinnis was willing
to play every card.

"Ms. Moran, set course for home, maximum warp."
"Course plotted, and laid in, maximum velocity under phase-cloak is warp
9.6, estimated time of arrival is four hours, thirty-six minutes from now."
"Understood, you may depart space dock, and proceed to Construction
facility at your earliest convenience."
"Yes Sir, we're on our way."

SUPERDREADNOUGHT: Part V: Chapter XXIV:
By:
Matthew A. Weed

Fleet Command Log: Stardate 57252.6: Admiral William McGinnis, commanding
Vulcan relief Fleet, and Starship Ticonderoga recording:

The last months have been terribly busy.  We have been working double,
and even triple shifts in order to build the ships that we need.  The
effort, here at least, has taken on all of the characteristics of the
holy wars that dominated Earth eight centuries ago.  The ten thousand
personnel that I have brought from Earth have worked as desperately as
anyone else, and in the last months, we've done a tremendous amount of
building, sweating, and for those who still choose to, praying.  All of
this effort has been directed toward the impending attempt to break the
hold on the Epsilon Aeridoni system, and on Vulcan in particular.

The situation on Vulcan has not changed much since I left Earth on my
first supply run.  Since then, I've made two others, and we are now ready
to make our move.  We have nearly two hundred run-about sized  attack
ships, with ... armament added.  USS Louisbourg's engineering section and
systems have been completed, and Captain Data will be commanding this,
the second Ticonderoga-Class vessel, as a command ship.  They only have
modular torpedo launchers and phaser collimators, enough to defend the
ship, but certainly no more.  All ships are capable of cloaking, but only
Louisbourg and carry phase-cloaking technology, as it is easier to pick
up at long range.  the idea, in this case, is to come in as stealthily as
possible, in order to get the small ships as close in as possible.  After
they've launched their attack, they have been ordered to close on the
planet, transport their crews to the surface, and set their computers for
suicide runs against the forces in the area.

Unfortunately, There is no more that we can do.  Only ready the fleet for
launch and do our jobs.  Hopefully, if fortune smiles upon us, we shall
be able to liberate Vulcan, if not ... we shall make the ultimate
sacrifice in order to do what we can to break the hold on one of the
oldest, and most civilized, races of the Federation.

McGinnis turned off the log recorder, and turned to the view screen.
Hundreds of small ships floated throughout the docking facility, all
crewed by one pilot, who could handle the weapons as well.  These ships
were run-about in size only.  They were longer, more slender, with
weapons almost everywhere on their outer hulls.  Since they were meant to
act like the old patrol/Torpedo boats of World War II on Earth, their
primary benefits were heavy weapons, tremendous maneuverability, and
loads of electronic countermeasures gear.  They couldn't stand much
weapons fire as their engines weren't powerful enough to support shields
powerful enough to handle the high-powered disrupter fire of the Romulan
ships.  Therefore, the ships would strike once, unloading all of their
photon torpedoes, and then self-destruct, after transporting their pilots
to the surface below, where they would hopefully be able to assist the
ground forces.  Meanwhile, Ticonderoga would wait, phase-cloaked, in the
best-available position.  As soon as the effectiveness of the first
strike could be determined, the ship would move against the most powerful
of the remaining ships in orbit over Vulcan.  With luck, there wouldn't
be enough of them to overwhelm it while the thousands of lightly armored
troopers were transverted down to Vulcan.  The heavier equipment would be
off loaded using an atmospheric pass, with the heavy armor and artillery
dropped on antigravs from the ship as it passed low in the atmosphere.
The ship's main artillery would also support the troops on the ground, if
everything worked right.  McGinnis knew his Von Klausewitz well, and
expected that something, somewhere, would fowl up the plan.

With this thought, he turned his mind toward preparing for departure.

"Operations, notify traffic control that we are prepared to leave dock."
Janet Anders moved to fill his order.  in spite her promotion to full
commander, with its attendant ability to take a small command of her own,
she did not feel ready to take a command in these violent times.
Therefore, she remained aboard Ticonderoga, where she felt that her
skills as a command and communications specialist could best be used for
the time being.
"Traffic control reports that we are clear to depart, and they wish us
good luck." she reported.
"Tell them that the good wishes are appreciated, and that Louisbourg will
be the contact ship until the main force has departed."
"Aye Sir," she replied, knowing that McGinnis' reminder to dock control
was more due to his nervousness over having to command the fleet, than to
any lack of trust in the dockside controller.
"Space doors opening," reported Thale, who was finally back at his
station and in full health.
"Very well, engage thrusters, ahead one-half." replied McGinnis.
"Tactical, engage phase-cloaking device, and metaphasic shielding."
"Phase cloak is now up, metaphasic shields are at fifty percent power,"
replied Walter Schultz.
"Sir, we have now cleared main docking perimeter, ready to engage warp
drive."
"Very well, Helm, set course for Vulcan, maximum warp."
"Course plotted, laid in, and ready for warp 9.75."
"You may proceed."

The ship leapt to high warp, preparing to plunge into the heart of the
occupation force around Vulcan.  its job was to get a tactical summary of
the current positions, plus figure out where the weapons depots, supply
dumps, and other key points of the occupation were.  it would then report
back to the fleet, which would be gathered at two diameters beyond
maximum estimated scanner range.  After this, the troops would get their
final briefings, and the action would begin.
*    *    *
"Now decelerating from warp, range is one trillion kilometers to Vulcan sir."
"Very well, science, tactical, scan the area, tell me what you can before
we go in.  Anything may be significant, so report everything that you see."
At least two minutes passed while T'mayek and Walter Schultz did their
jobs.  T'mayek was the ship's only scientific compliment, simply because
the rest could do little to help in this situation, considering the
limited scientific resources of the ship, and the equally limited space,
most of which was being taken up by heavy marine invasion equipment.  Her
report was completed first.
"Sir, the Romulans have strong subspace jamming equipment in place
throughout the system.  It is impossible to get any readings at all on
the planet, and I assume that whatever resources they have there will be
unable to scan for activity beyond their jamming fields.  I believe that
they are communicating between vessels using short-range subspace shunts
which can penetrate their jamming field.  With this equipment, however,
it is impossible to provide information concerning the size or location
of the various vessels."
"Very well, ... Tactical, what's your assessment?"
"Sir, I agree with Commander T'mayek on most of her analysis.  With the
available equipment , I can find no buoys, cloaked ships, or other
communications and sensory pickets in the system.  However, we're still
at long range for tactical scanners, so we could be missing ships or
objects hidden closer to the planet."
"Right, what do you think our chances of getting in and out phase-cloaked
are?"
"Sir, a ship in standard cloaking mode will be able to find us, and if
they've got a link to the rest of their fleet, they'll be able to get
enough firepower ready to make our life difficult.  Of course they won't
be able to do any direct damage to us, but they would be warned that
Federation ships are in the area, and that we may be planning something.
I suggest that we go in under standard cloak, and then engage the
phase-cloaking device just inside their jamming field.  It will require
all of the ship's power to make the switch, so we won't have any defenses
or weapons for about ten seconds, but we should remain invisible to the
at all times."
"That sounds reasonable to me, anyone else have suggestions, we're going
into a dangerous situation, and if we make a mistake it will be nearly
impossible to complete our mission.  So I want to be sure that all
alternatives have been considered."

No one had any other ideas, so McGinnis decided to proceed into the system.
"Tactical, keep the  cloaking circuits only, divert power to main
shields, fifty percent power.  Do not charge any weapon or other system
without express permission."
"Science, Tactical, all scanners on passive mode, ... navigation, have
the computer navigate according to star charts and visual observation only."
"Aye Sir," replied the three officers.
"Helm, set course for Vulcan, warp eight.  Decelerate to 5,000 kilometers
per hour just outside the field.  Reaction control thrusters, only after
that."
"Aye Sir, course plotted, and laid in." replied Thale.
"Engage,"

The ship moved rapidly toward the center of the Epsilon Aeridoni system.
the thousands of beings aboard knowing that if any major mistakes were
made, that the mission that they had been working on for nearly three
months would be lost.  All that most could do was sit and wait, a job
that the marine assault troopers were used to.  However, used to it or
not, waiting was never easy, and the tension aboard ship was increasing
by the moment.

Minutes later, Thale turned to McGinnis.
"Sir, we are now beginning programmed deceleration, we'll be in orbit in
about fifteen seconds.  I'm using visual scanners to try to ascertain
where all of the Vulcan stations are.  We won't be able to find the ships
and other new objects, as they'll likely be cloaked, but at least I can
plot an orbit that will avoid the Vulcan installations."
"Fine, I understand the other problem, but have the computer keep an eye
on the gravimetric scan, it may give enough warning to avoid a collision."
"Aye Sir, but with the sensor jamming, I doubt that we'll be able to pick
their ships up in time."
"Understood, hopefully we'll get lucky, this mission depends on luck and
good wishes."

Thale nodded before turning back to his station.  As he did, the ship
decelerated out of warp, and moved into a polar orbit that would allow it
to cover the entire surface of the planet with a minimum number of
passes.  With partial, or non-existent sensors, the best that they would
be able to do was take a lot of pictures, and hope that they could
discern the location of the military implacements from the photographs.
"Sir, beginning mapping operation, I have almost no sensors, and only
limited life sign scan." reported T'mayek.
"Sir, I'm in even worse shape, most weapons scans require much greater
sensitivity than life-sign scan.  However, I've got some limited data
coming in, most of it on the space stations that we're passing close
enough to get some idea of what is going on inside."
"Understood, don't try to push too hard, if the soldiers on those
stations realize that someone's looking around, their command will be
notified.  "
Schultz nodded and carefully edged the power shunt down a bit on the
scanners.
*    *    *

Twelve hours later, the great ship snuck back out of orbit.  McGinnis
hoped that the Romulans didn't know that they had been there.  The one
benefit behind their subspace jamming was that it made it as hard, or
harder, for them to find Ticonderoga, than it did for his ship to find
them.  It helped that he was looking not to be found, while the  Romulans
on the ground just couldn't be invisible all of the time.

"Sir, we're out of the jamming field, accelerating and engaging
phase-cloaking device.
"Very well..."
AT this moment, the ship rocked violently, and everyone was thrown about
the bridge.
"Red alert!" yelled McGinnis climbing back into his chair.  "What happened?"
"Sir, we had just entered phase when we struck an object of some kind.  I
don't know what it was, but I'd guess that it was a cloaked ship.  Since
we were not fully in phase, we suffered some impact shock, but clearly,
since neither we , nor anything that I can see, were damaged, I have to
assume that the phasing operation probably saved us." replied Schultz,
who was still trying to shake off the effect of the sudden disturbance.
"Anything that you can see?" McGinnis asked, wanting to clarify the
Commander's last statement.
"Yes, Sir.  The computer had already begun a scan by the time I could get
to the controls.  It couldn't find any visible object in the area of
space that the disturbance occurred."
"Right, so you are assuming that if it was a ship, that they weren't
damaged sufficiently to result in a failure of their cloaking device?"
"Yes, Sir.  I'm almost certain that it must have been a ship or other
object, simply because there are no subspace  distortions in the area at
the moment."
"Understood, ... Helm, continue course for the meeting point, notify me
when we have arrived.  Mr. Schultz, you have the conn."
"Aye Sir," replied the two officers, as McGinnis arose to have a look at
the preparations occurring throughout the rest of the ship.  The last
thing that he saw as the turbolift doors closed was Schultz moving to the
center seat.

McGinnis stepped off of the turbolift and hastened down the short
corridor that ended at the shuttle bay.  This was where General Morris
was currently located.  The doors opened onto a scene of controlled, but
still quite frenetic activity.
"Admiral, how are things throughout the rest of the ship?" asked Morris
as he turned from one of his officers to the mission commander.
"General, we are closing in on the rendezvous point, I expect to be there
within the hour.  I wanted to be sure that you didn't suffer any severe
problems as a result of that little tremor a few minutes ago."
"No, nothing serious, what happened?"
"We struck a ship which was also cloaked, but due to the phase-cloak's
effects, neither ship suffered major damage.  When I left the Bridge, we
hadn't seen any unusual activity as a result of the accident, so I must
assume that their communications were down, or that they will report the
incident directly, either because they can't do so via communication
link, or because they don't know what happened."
"That seems reasonable to me, I have the troops assigned to various
missions, according to the information that you sent me.  Since it
appears that most of the Vulcan defense platforms were either destroyed,
or cloaked, I have had to assign most of my troops to the recapture of
Vulcan Space Central, or the ground assault.  I must say that I don't
like having to drop from a facility like this, but there aren't too many
alternatives I suppose."
"No, you know the philosophy behind this mission, and you know the
reasons for doing things this way.  We will give you all possible
support, but you know that there will be a lot of activity for this ship,
so you'll be on your own until we can clear them out of the system."
"Yes, and we're prepared for that.  One area that we definitely have an
advantage, is the firepower of our mobile units.  Between those, and the
new assault armor, we should have a fair shot at dealing with the troops
on the ground with a significant advantage in terms of firepower at least."
"Good, I suspect that the situation in space may be less fortuitous."
"I tend to agree."
"Well, I should probably return to the Bridge, I'll notify you half an
hour before we enter the system.  After that, as you are already aware,
you'll be working with my tactical officer."
"yes, we're all ready for that, good luck Admiral."
"And the same to you, General, I look forward to speaking with you in the
central halls of the Vulcan Academy of Sciences."
"I shall look forward to that as well."


With this, Morris hastened across the bay to help with a recalcitrant
plasma canon that was not linking into the energy systems of its
anti-grav sled.  McGinnis watched the activity around him for a few
minutes, and then turned to go back to the Bridge.

When he arrived, Schultz was just ordering the ship to decelerate from
warp and begin scanning for the fleet, which had orders to remain
cloaked, except for a few of the small attack craft which were not
cloaked in order to help find the fleet, which would be given extra
camouflage by its position inside a large cloud of hydrogen and dust that
would, in a billion years or so, become a blue giant star.

"Sir, I've got the pickets, awaiting your orders." said Schultz.
"Very well, Operations, signal them, and have them transfer our tactical
analysis to the rest of the fleet.  Then get me a channel to Captain Data."
"Channel open sir," replied Anders.
"Captain, You are now receiving what little intelligence we could
acquire.  I think that the only way to successfully prosecute our mission
is to send in the torpedo craft cloaked, and then decloak when they hit
the jamming field, over Vulcan, which is very intense.  If the Romulans
don't respond, then we'll just have to fire the torpedoes in some random
pattern, which will cover as much of the near-planetary space as
possible.  Hopefully that will do the job knocking out some portion of
the fleet.  As we could find no phased regions of space, I must assume
that they're just using standard cloaking, to avoid the phase tracking
problems that we are familiar with."
"That would seem reasonable, sir." replied Data.
"If you can have your staff calculate the best positioning for the ships
so that we get space coverage from the torpedoes, I would appreciate it.
I will wait to move into the atmosphere until after the first wave of
torpedoes is fired.  We will make our drops around SheKhar, and then
around Mt. Silaya, as planned.  The troops for Vulcan Space central will
be sent in immediately before we begin atmospheric operations.  After
those moves are made, we'll send troops to wherever it appears that they
will be the most useful.  Unfortunately, the sensor jamming went far
enough into the atmosphere to make it impossible to get an accurate
picture of the troop concentrations on the ground.  You will do what you
can, but remember that your primary job is to pick up any survivors of
craft that are destroyed before they can self-destruct after their pilots
have beamed clear."
"Understood, Sir.  AS you know, our weapons are not fully ready for use,
so we shall avoid direct confrontations when ever we can.  I will have
the tactical staff begin the calculations for vessel placement
immediately after this communication ends."
"Very good, and Captain, good luck.  I look forward to seeing you on
Vulcan, or at Star Fleet, after the successful completion of our mission."
"Thank you, Sir, and good fortune to you as well." replied Data.
" out."
"Louisbourg out."

*    *    *
"Now entering standard orbit sir," announced Thale.
"Excellent now we wait for the rest of the fleet to arrive." said McGinnis.
"How long do you expect them to take?" asked general Morris from his
position just outside the starboard lift doors.
"The attack craft can only make warp seven, so I would expect that it
will take them about six or seven hours to get here.  Until then, we
remain in phase-cloak, until they begin decloaking.  At that point, we
are to drop into the atmosphere, and drop you at your various start
points.  The Vulcan military has not been apprised, they only know that
it would be "logical", to expect a planetary assault at some point or
other.  I don't know if they've got any weapons or contingency plans, so
if I were you, I would expect that any Vulcan with a weapon was a member
of the fifth column.  However, if you can, stun them, rather than killing
on sight, as I understand you are to do with the Romulans?"
"Yes, we're to kill them unless they've got hostages, then we stun them
and then transfer them to a safe holding area that will be set up in the
heart of Vulcan's Forge."
"Very well, the Vulcan Government can decide what to do with them from
that point."
"Yes, Sir." replied Morris, knowing that the Vulcans would want the
troops held in protective custody, somewhere on one of their colonies.
"General, I suggest that you get some sleep, you've not had much over the
last few weeks, and I suspect that you will be rather busy over the next
few hours."
"A good idea, Admiral.  I will speak with you in five hours, and then
I'll await your signal."
"Sleep well, general." said McGinnis.

The general left the Bridge, and everyone turned back to the main view
screen, hoping to get some last-minute idea of what they were about to
face.  McGinnis knew that Star Fleet had sent cloaked ships into the
system before Ticonderoga's recent visit, but they had been able to find
out even less than the superdreadnought, simply because they were small,
and didn't have the analytic, information processing, and data storage
facilities that the big ship had.  <Of course, it wasn't as if all of the
facilities aboard the big ship were that helpful, the damned Romulans had
done their job too well for him to have a free hand ... yet> thought
McGinnis, as the third shift officers came on deck to give the first
watch people a few hours added rest.  With the phase cloak working
perfectly, and the computer ready with the standard cloaking device,
should the main system fail, McGinnis was confident that the ship would
remain hidden until the time came for action.
*    *    *
Six hours later, the ship was at full alert, and everyone was waiting for
the proverbial other shoe to drop.  The strike fleet was less than ten
minutes out, if they had calculated things properly, so in about ten
minutes, fifteen seconds, two hundred small attack craft, whose combined
firepower was nearly sixty times that of Ticonderoga would unleash their
weapons on the hidden fleet.  Although the low-power scans that could be
performed  were inconclusive, McGinnis doubted that the Romulans were in
phase.  If they were, things would get more complex, as the small ships
only had one load of torpedoes, and all were to fire in the first blow.
None were held as a back-up, simply because that was Ticonderoga's job.
They could help with their phasers, but ultimately, they would be able to
do very little to help out if it turned into a slugging match, their
shields and structure weren't up to that kind of battle.  This was why
they had been ordered to set for suicide self-destruct, with the pilots
beaming down to the planet to help the ground assault.

McGinnis' reflections were interrupted by Schultz words.
"Sir, now five minutes to ETA, all systems still nominal."
"Very well, continue as you are, tactical, ... Helm, get us to a position
as close to both Vulcan Space Central and the SheKhar/Mt. Silaya area as
possible."
There was a brief pause, and then Thale reported that:
"Sir, Vulcan Space Central Space Station, and the Vulcan's forge are
currently on opposite sides of the planet.  Which is the preferred target?"

McGinnis stared at Thale in shock.
"You mean that we're unable to have direct access to both?"
"No, Sir." said Thale.
McGinnis was furious with himself.  He thought that they had taken every
contingency under consideration.  Clearly, this had not happened.
"The station is more important, its probably being used as their main
orbital command center. ... Tactical, can we transvert the necessary
troops over through the planet?"
"Yes Sir, but it will take time, as the subspace jamming from their
jamming antennae and our photon attack will make all forms of long-range
matter/energy transportation difficult for several hours after we begin."
"Very well," said McGinnis, a frown on his face. "Plot course for Vulcan
Space Central, maximum possible velocity."
"Sir, we'll show up like a star going supernova should they decide to
take a phase scan," warned Schultz, who was performing his duty as first
officer flawlessly.
"I know, but if they do, it won't help them much, as they won't know what
kind of vessel we are, and if they suspect anything, and they clear
interference to look for other ships, they'll only put themselves at a
disadvantage, since they'll make it easy for us to find their ships."
"I agree," said Schultz after a moment's thought.
"Helm, execute course," snapped McGinnis.
"Aye Sir, and after the transversion, where next?"
"We'll have to do it the hard way, and take the ship into atmosphere at
maximum impulse.  Keep us as high as you can, while we move into position
over SheKhar, and then drop down as fast as you dare."
"Yes Sir, ... that'll take about a minute, before we can start the drop
operation."
"I know, but as they've clearly moved the space station since the last
time we were here, we'll have to make do with what we can.  We'll outgun
anything on the ground, and I suspect that the remaining space forces
won't be willing to face us until they've made sure that all the smaller
ships are gone. Since they're going to crash into whatever their
computers  can find, I suspect that the Romulan fleet will be too busy to
do much down here for awhile, and their forces will be seriously reduced."
"Yes Sir..." replied Thale.  "We're now in close proximity to Vulcan
Space Central, awaiting your orders."
"Operations, notify those troopers to be ready, we'll beam them over as
soon as we can take a picture of what's going on in there."
"Done sir, their commander reports that they're in position now."
"Excellent, Tactical, take us out of phase, and a full-power
high-intensity concentrated scan on that station, helm, we have two
minutes, so if Mr. Schultz needs to move us, make sure that you do it
quickly."

Thirty seconds later, after a number of minor changes in position,
Schultz sent the information that they'd collected to the marines, and
set the transporter sequence.  As they had suspected, there were about
two-hundred troops aboard the station, most concentrated in the old
traffic control center.  Those that weren't there were either moving
about as if on patrol, or stationary, either asleep or relaxing.

"Sir, ready to begin transportation," said Schultz.
"Execute, divert whatever power you need from any system, except life
support, cloaking, and shields."
"Energizing now!" said Schultz.  After a few moments, he said "Thirty
seconds to recharge, forty-five to fleet arrival."
"Continue as planned," said McGinnis, hoping that everyone couldn't see
how tense he was.  Fleet operations weren't his specialty, and they'd
planned everything so carefully.  Already they had lost a bit of their
timing sequence because of the unplanned for jump from Vulcan Space
Central to  SheKhar.  However, there was nothing to be done about it now.
"Second wave away, battle has been joined." announced Schultz.
"Very well, drop out of the jamming field, and reengage phase-cloaking
system."
"Now clear of jamming, reengaging phase-cloak." reported Schultz, who had
taken over helm functions at his station, due to the need for rapid movement.
"Sir, I have a light flare on the dark side of the planet, I assume that
its a general warning of some kind." said Schultz.
"Damn!" said McGinnis.
However, before he could say anything further,  space seemed to tear open
and the fleet of small attack craft appeared in the space surrounding the
planet.
"Sir, they're firing!" said Schultz, watching as nearly eight hundred
modified torpedoes began to move through the space surrounding Vulcan.
"Helm, execute planned maneuver, and notify all aboard that operation
"John Thomas" has begun.

SUPERDREADNOUGHT: Part V: Chapter XXV:
By:
Matthew A. Weed

The operation began with more of a whimper than a bang.  The torpedoes
had to look for cloaked ships in a situation in which their very limited
sensors were practically useless.  The only truly effective way they had
of finding ships was to simply crash into them as they moved through
their search patterns.  Fortunately, since the cloaking device had only
limited capability as a shield, the torpedoes could travel even farther,
as their warheads didn't have to explode with much force to score
critical damage.  Therefore, the range had been increased to five million
kilometers, at the cost of a 2/3 decrease in yield as compared with the
standard sixty-four megaton blast.

Therefore, rather than being a wild scene of torpedo explosions, there
was a long pause during which only occasional explosions occurred.  With
all of the hardware in orbit, these explosions were spread widely around
the planet.  Finally, when those torpedoes which had not found a target
had hit the end of their search range, all of them simply detonated where
they were, hoping to cause damage via this method at least.

Meanwhile, the small ships were plunging toward the atmosphere, and a
point at which their pilots could beam down to the planet in order to
assist the marines that was putting down at that very moment.
Fortunately, the attack had now been registered by all commanders, and,
mostly out of a desire to join in the battle, they had begun to decloak,
making both the torpedoes, and the computer-guided suicide runs
increasingly effective as time passed.

"Sir, now descending through the atmosphere at maximum safe velocity.
Range to SheKhar is ten seconds, the first wave of antigrav units should
drop now."
"McGinnis to General Morris, you may begin immediately."
"Right, first wave is now off," replied the general's voice through some
kind of microphone.
"General, good luck," replied McGinnis as he turned off the comlink.
"Sir, first wave is clear, they're encountering some resistance, mostly
anti-aircraft ," said Schultz.
"While we pass over, you may suppress that fire as you see fit," replied
McGinnis.
"Aye Sir, particle batteries firing now," said Schultz.

The ship's phasers, each as powerful as those on the old
Constitution-class Enterprise launched a devastating response to the
limited fire coming up from below.  Like all phasers, these were tightly
targeted, and there was little damage to the surrounding buildings, with
only minor flash damage and broken windows resulting from the incoming fire.
"Sir, now passing out of range, coming to second drop," reported Schultz.
"Very well, transport the troopers down, the Marines know the schedule,"
replied McGinnis.
"Aye Sir, shock troops are down, heavy equipment is now on its way to
assist, some of the attack craft pilots are already inside Mt. Silaya,
they report that they are encountering very limited resistance."
"Good," send the last wave down, and climb for altitude," this respite
won't last long...."

At this moment, the first response to Ticonderoga's activities came, in
the form of heavy disrupter fire from an orbiting dreadnought-class ship.
"Shields holding," yelled Schultz.
"Return fire, main ring only," said McGinnis, leaning forward in his chair.
The flash of the ring's discharge was brilliant against the background of
Vulcan's skies.  The impact caused the enemy ship to stagger, but little
real damage resulted.
"Sir, only minor damage to their shields, they're recharging?"
"Set main ring for autotargeting, it may fire as full charge is
available, target at computer's disgression," snapped McGinnis.
"Aye, computer now taking over main ring systems," said Schultz.

This setting was by far the most powerful weapon that the ship had.
Against the Borg or the Dominion fleet, it was useless, as the first had
shields that required special frequency combinations to break, and the
second had too many small craft to make simple raw energy output a
factor.  In this case Ticonderoga, ship-to-ship, had the advantage in
energy production and shield/weapons capacity, and it   became quite
obvious over the next half minute.  By the fourth blast, the enemy
shields were gone, and the fifth struck the forced quantum singularity
generator dead on, turning the ship into a blinding white fireball.
Ticonderoga, on the other hand, had only lost one layer of shielding, and
had suffered no major hull damage from the Romulan ship's fire.
"Sir, the attack craft are beginning to suicide," said Schultz, as he
watched the growing toll in craft.
"What's the count?" asked McGinnis.
"Sir, I have eight ships destroyed, most of their jamming apparatus is
gone, and there are a number of damaged ships in orbit.  Louisbourg took
heavy damage from a cruiser, but their modular weaponry knocked it out
before they took any critical damage.  We now have no small craft left,
and I estimate three fully functional heavy units, with a number of
damaged smaller units on the enemy side."
"I see, do we have any more marines aboard?"
"No sir, we got the last set off just before that first attack, those
portable transporters were extremely helpful in getting all of them clear."
"Yes, an increase from eighty to eight-hundred transport cycles per wave
is definitely a help.  I think I'll suggest that more transporters should
be built into the next class of Federation heavy ships," said McGinnis.
"The added troop carrying capacity is a real help."
"yes Sir, its too bad we didn't have it against the Borg." said Schultz.
"Agreed."

The ship came to an altitude of about 1,000 meters, and began to move
rapidly through the atmosphere.  The troops had been off loaded, and now
it was patrolling in order to use its heavy weapons to support the troops
as they moved against the forces which still held most of the key points
on the planet.  This kind of activity was risky as it left the ship under
powered and with only limited maneuverability should the Romulans strike
with their remaining space forces.

"Sir, the marines are having solid success against most of the Romulan
ground troops and fifth column groups.  However, the Romulans have a
strongly fortified base in the mountains near Vulcan's Forge. I think
that our weapons will be the only way to break that position quickly.
However, there are two heavies orbiting above the site, and we will be in
serious danger if we don't try to take them out first," reported Schultz
as the image of the passing landscape was replaced by a tactical
depiction of the fortification.
"Helm, reverse course, I want to get enough distance between those ships
and us to allow us to climb without being in danger from short-range
disrupters."
"Aye Sir, course is now reversed, our velocity is 1,500 KPM, and we are
climbing at 5,000 meters per minute."
"Good, tactical, engage the main ring, autofire, supported by photons as
the computer sees fit, computer controlled targeting and weapons selection."
"Aye Sir, settings now in place, diverting energy from auxiliary phasers
to main power grid."
"We are about four seconds from clearing the upper atmosphere, Romulan
ships are already moving to intercept.  I estimate one minute to close
range for disrupters," said Thale.
"Very well, clear the computer to open fire," said McGinnis.
"Main weapons cleared to fire, ... charging cycle is complete." replied
Schultz.

At this point, the main ring flared white, and the by-now-familiar bolt
of brilliant light connected to the dreadnought-class vessel above and
behind the great ship.  The vessel took only moderate shield damage, and
no structural damage.  Its response, and that of its sister ship was
immediate, and even less effective.

 Ticonderoga struck again, concentrating both phaser and torpedo fire on
the ship which it had first attacked.  This time, the added firepower
directed against its shields caused more serious harm, nearly draining
the shields, and causing minor structural damage as well.

However, a number of ships had now moved to support the first two.
Although these were all damaged, they were capable of adding noticeably
to the firepower directed at The Super Dreadnought.  The combined effect
of their weapons fire was great, and as a result of the damage that had
already occurred, the main shields fell completely, and the auxiliaries
were weakened.  However, the ship was now clear of the atmosphere, and
able to move more quickly and efficiently in pursuit of its enemies.

"Sir, computer suggests that we re prioritize to destroy the damaged
ships first, and maneuver to avoid the heavier ships for the moment."
"Very well, bring the remaining weapons systems under the control of the
computer."
"Done sir."

Immediately the ship's weapons began striking against the ships which
were either small or damaged.  Within minutes, the five damaged attackers
had been reduced to debris, and the heavier ships had been forced to
retreat by occasional strikes which McGinnis had inserted in order to
keep them at bay and off balance.  Now there were only two heavy units
left, but both were at near peak operating condition.  Unfortunately,
Ticonderoga,was not in equally good shape.

The Romulan fire had weakened the auxiliary shields, and minor structural
damage had occurred as a result of energy bleed-through.  The main
shields were still under repair, and this set of defenses could do
nothing to withstand incoming attacks.

"Sir, we're at about half of optimal shielding capacity and structure
shows just barely below nominal.  All weapons are still available, and I
would estimate about a fifty-fifty chance of successfully knocking out
the enemy vessels.

McGinnis had to think on this.  If the fortifications could not be
destroyed, they would be able to withstand the Vulcan and Federation
forces for some time, and with reprogramming of their ground-to-space
plasma weapons, they could destroy most of the cities on the planet.
However, to destroy these targets, would have to use its weaponry, as
there was nothing in the area that could do the job, and the ground-based
forces hadn't sufficient firepower to do it themselves.  Doing so would,
however, result in a several-minute gap during which Ticonderoga would
not be able to defend itself against the two dreadnoughts still in the area.
"Tactical, I need to know whether we can successfully knock out those
ground bases and still have enough shielding to handle the space-based
resistance, or not."

Seconds passed while Schultz worked with both his computers and his
instincts.  McGinnis knew that the technology was the best available, and
Schultz' instincts were as good as his computers.

"Sir, I would say that either way we go, we're not sure to carry out the
mission.  I'd say that its better to cripple the ships first, deal with
the fortifications, and then finish off whatever remains in space.  I'd
suggest taking prisoners, except that I expect that we won't have any
shielding by that point, and if they have operational weapons..."
"Understood," replied McGinnis with a sigh.  Clearly this would be a
tough, and close-run, job; but it had to be done, and he was actually
rather surprised that things were going as well as they had been,
considering the resources that they had started out with.

At this point, the Romulans took the initiative.
"Sir!" yelled Thale, his normally quiet voice cutting the atmosphere on
the bridge like a knife.  "The enemy ships are moving toward the planet,
their disrupters are charged for firing."
"Helm, close in, ... tactical, choose your target, maximum firepower, ...
throw the kitchen sink at either ship."
"Aye sir," Thale and Schultz replied.

Moments later, the by-now-familiar white lance flared from the
mega-collimator ring, and a salvo of photon and contained plasma
torpedoes impacted on the ship which was closer to the planet.  The
effect was less than McGinnis had hoped for.  The Romulans' shields were
severely weakened, but clearly they couldn't count on being able to kill
these new ships in one broadside.
"Sir, they're returning fire," Schultz said.

The effect on Ticonderoga was staggering.  The plasma torpedoes hit
first, shattering what remained of the auxiliary shields, and biting
deeply into the secondaries.  Then the next weapon--old-style nuclear
fusion weapons to be exact--took their toll.

"Sir! they're firing ... nuclear weapons at us!" cried Schultz.

Nearly twenty warheads appeared around the ship.  Their combined yield
was nearly half a billion tons of TNT, and in spite of the inefficiency
of their energy/mass conversion, and the fact that their impact couldn't
be directed as photon and plasma torpedoes could, the raw energy in the
attack took its toll.

"Damage report," cried McGinnis as he climbed back into his chair.
"Sir, auxiliary shields are gone, secondaries at about thirty percent.
Serious radiation leakage as a result of that last attack, many crew are
suffering radiation burns and other injuries in the ship's outer areas.
Sickbay is responding..." said Schultz.

McGinnis looked over to see why both tactical and injury reports had come
from him, and saw that Anders was knocked out cold and lying on her
station's console.
"Science, take over operations systems," said McGinnis.
"Operations is now at science," intoned T'mayek.

"Tactical engage cloaking system, no phasing.  Helm, come around to 314
mark 47 and charge the ring."
"Aye Sir," replied Schultz and Thale.

Long before, when McGinnis had been working over the design
specifications of the ship with MacLeod and Thaerael an escaped Romulan
engineer who had helped the Federation with the quantum core project,
they had realized that one of the keys to building a nearly
indestructible warship, was energy production.  Without it, shielding,
phasers, warp drive, torpedoes, everything that makes a ship hard to
beat, becomes impossible.  This was the reason for the truly fantastic
expenditures on power production in the four planned Ticonderoga-class
super starships.  This planning, which had already proven invaluable
against the Borg, would prove even more important now.

The ship came around, and swung so that it was slightly above and behind
the weakened ship.  This allowed it to bring its main phasers, the
contained plasma torpedoes, and two of the modular photon launchers into
firing positions.  With this, McGinnis could pull one of his few
remaining trump cards.

"Tactical, fire available weapons."

As far as the Romulans were concern, a bolt of phased energy and a mix of
plasma and photon torpedoes came crashing into their weakened vessel.
Some of the torpedoes struck just before the phaser bolt, and as a
result, the shields were temporarily weakened, allowing the phaser strike
to crash through the weakened deflectors, incinerating the aft disrupter
array.  Nearly simultaneously the remaining torpedoes came through the
same region of the shields, effectively blowing apart the engineering
sections of the ship, leaving it powerless in space.  With this, McGinnis
knew that the Romulan officers  would destroy themselves, rather than be
captured by Federation forces.

However, the brief firing sequence allowed the remaining Romulan craft to
lock in and strike in the general direction of Ticonderoga.  Although all
of the energy directed at them did not hit, enough of the disrupter fire
and plasma torpedoes hit to further weaken the auxiliary shielding, and
temporarily overload the cloaking device.  Unless McGinnis chose to go
into phase, the ship would remain visible.

"Report," said McGinnis, "Operations, then tactical."
"Sir, we now have twenty-five percent auxiliary shielding. Engineering
reports that the main and secondary shielding will not be available for
at least forty minutes.  standard cloaking device will remain inoperable
for no less than two hours, and there is no other damage to the ship.
There is, however,  a report from sick bay which states that seventy-two
crew members were injured in the previous attack, most are suffering from
radiation burns in the second third and fourth degrees.  Twelve are not
expected to survive." said T'mayek.
"Tactical?"
"Sir, as you have seen, the Romulans have only one remaining ship, but it
is fully functional, in all respects.  I suggest that we gain some
distance, and try to get them with long-range plasma torpedo fire."
"Very well, Helm, course 45 mark 318, warp one, with emergency reciprocal
should they choose to move on the planet, rather than follow us."

The commander did as McGinnis expected, following, rather than helping
his people on the ground.  Like McGinnis, he knew that if The Federation
Commander  could survive battle against his ship, the Romulan occupation
of Vulcan would end.  Therefore, the dreadnought closed on its prey.
McGinnis now chose to perform a maneuver which had, in defense fleet
circles, become known as "Picard II".

"Tactical, fire aft torpedoes, use any other weapons to cover our retreat."

As with Picard's Enterprise, the big ship fired its aft weapons, hoping
to beat off its pursuer by causing damage, while avoiding an outright battle.

The enemy Commander also recognized the maneuver, and accelerated while
turning to avoid the aft weapons fire.  Ticonderoga, Of course, Unlike
Enterprise, was a fully distributed ship, with all broadsides at equal
weight, save the forward broadside, which was greater than the others.
Therefore, as soon as it had moved away from the aft-directed weapons,
the auxiliary phasers and the ring could make their contributions.

"Tactical, autotargeting on the ring, computer may fire when ready."
"Aye Sir, firing ... now."

Although Ticonderoga's main phaser weaponry was the heaviest
phased-energy weaponry in the known galaxy, it didn't have the range that
torpedoes carried.  Therefore, all the Romulan Commander had to do was to
make sure that his ship avoided the arcs of her enemy's photon and plasma
torpedo batteries.

Of course, this was as obvious to McGinnis as it was to him.  He,
therefore, ordered the computer to handle maneuvering while Schultz took
whatever shots became possible.  Sadly for the Commander,  his navigator
was not as qualified as the most powerful distributed computing system
ever built by the Federation, and Schultz was able to give better than he
got. A good thing, considering the still-deteriorating state of the
ship's defenses.

"Sir, auxiliary shields at thirteen percent, repairs continuing on main
and secondary shields, but weaponry repair expects that it will be at
least half an hour before either set of shields can do much." said Thale
whose responsibilities at the helm allowed him the time necessary to take
part of Walter Schultz's job so that he could concentrate on getting in
effective shots.
"Understood, Mr. Thale, what's the enemy's status?"
"Their shields are at about forty percent, no damage to super-structure
as yet."
"Understood."
"Science, could we get in for a transverter shot?"
"We are, of course, capable of such action sir, but local subspace is
very disturbed by the recent action, and I believe that there is almost
no chance of success. What chance does exist is negated by the added risk
posed by the enemy's short-range disrupters."
"Understood,"

All that this meant was that Schultz would have to work for long-range
shots while hoping to avoid enemy strikes when they themselves came
within range.

"Coming around, ..." said Thale who was helping with tactical monitoring
while his systems were under the main computer's control.
"Now four million ... 3 and a half million, ... lock ... fire!" he said.
As he counted the distance down, Schultz was finalizing his lock, and as
the fire notification was given, he struck his board, causing the great
ship to launch a volley of long-lance photon torpedoes and contained
plasma weapons as well.  However, with the Romulan ship barely in warp,
and the great distance, their defense computer had nearly a second to
estimate which areas of the shielding would need reinforcement.  With the
technology available to both combatants, a second might as well have been
a century.  While his computers were allocating energy to the shields,
the weapons officer was allocating energy to her ship's long-range weapons.

Their fire was not terribly effective either, but Ticonderoga's auxiliary
shields were knocked down to only ten percent of optimal power.  As a
result, the ship took damage for the first time since the battles with
the Borg nearly nine months earlier.  However, the damage was limited,
and no injuries were caused by the attack.

"Sir, we're vulnerable to further damage now, the shields aren't very
effective anymore.  We're going to need to do something soon," said
Thale, whose words drew a short nod of agreement from Schultz.
"Understood, accelerate to warp 8.5, and come to the outer edge of the
system.  You may choose your course."
"Reasserting helm control over nav' system," said Thale, coming to course
17 mark 28, and accelerating to warp 8.5."
"They're following, sir," reported Schultz, his words surprising no one
on the bridge.
"Good, as they match our speed, continue accelerating in one-tenth warp
stages until we achieve warp 9.4, or until we hit their maximum velocity."
"Aye, Sir."
"Mr. Schultz, get the computer to lock onto that ship and charge all
available weapons."
"Aye Sir, ... weapons locked and charging."

The ship was now at slightly less than warp nine, and was accelerating
for that velocity.  The Romulan commander was continuing to push, and as
yet, neither vessel was seriously strained.  The gap had widened
somewhat, but the Romulan, not fully aware of Ticonderoga's various
abilities was counting on his ship's ability to gain added energy at high
warp through the added efficiency of its forced quantum generator.  When
at high velocity, more matter could be collected for immediate use in the
forced quantum power generation system, allowing the ship to increase its
energies as it accelerated.  Of course, there was a theoretical limit to
this ability, and McGinnis was willing to bet that he could force the
Romulans beyond it.  <Of course, there is another way...> McGinnis
thought to himself.

"Now at warp 9.4, our lead is about half a billion kilometers, or less
than half a second at this velocity." said Thale.
"Good, Mr. Schultz, auto lock the computer on target, and allow it to
control weapons fire.  Have it set to fire the microsecond that ship
comes within range."
"Aye Sir," said Schultz, beginning to guess McGinnis' next tactic.
"Operations, put me on general address."
McGinnis was so occupied in his work that he had temporarily forgotten
that Janet Anders was not on the bridge, and that he had ordered T'mayek
to take operations, as there was little that she could to contribute, as
a science officer, in this situation.
"Sir, the channel is now open," she said.
Before he spoke, he glanced at T'mayek, hoping that she would understand
his temporary lapse.
"All decks, we are about to reverse warp, please take your emergency
positions, I suspect that the ride is about to become rather rough."
"Mr. Thale, come to warp eight."
"Aye Sir," replied Thale.

The ship slowed, and although the enemy commander's navigational
computers had been following Ticonderoga's actions, the superior
technology in the Federation ship allowed it to slow more quickly, which
brought the ships nearly within range of each other.  Now McGinnis pulled
his surprise.
"Helm, full reverse on all engines," he said.

The ship shook violently, not fully able to overcome the enormous stress
of deceleration with most of its spare energy and computational power
directed to either weapons or engine systems monitoring.  This shaking
was, however, beneficial, as it caused some of the weapons which were
able to fire as the two ships passed each other at the equivalent of warp
four, to miss.  Fortunately, Ticonderoga's computer did not miss.

The first torpedoes bit deeply into the shields.  The auxiliary phasers
added to the damage, opening a hole for the main ring to take advantage
of as soon as the ship moved beyond the engineering complex, which caused
a blind spot in the aft part of the ship's lower hemisphere of fire.

The, by now, all-to-familiar white bolt of energy flared and impacted
against the Romulan ship, and held it as it passed.  Although the total
contact time was less than a second, the effect was still terrific.  The
blast tore through what remained of the shields, ripping a tremendous
gouge through the enemy ship, cutting the bridge module from the rest of
the hull, and puncturing the vessel's impulse engines.  These exploded,
shorting out the remaining power systems, leaving the vessel dead in space.

"Mr. Thale, move in on their ship, transport any remaining crew to the
shuttle bay, make sure that all of their weapons are deactivated."
"Operations, damage report on this vessel?"
"Sir, we have no shielding, and there is serious flash damage on the main
hull.  Auxiliary phaser batteries number 25 and 26 are unavailable, and
there is a temporary breech in the supporting structure for the
mega-collimator which will require an unspecified time to repair.
Thirteen crew were injured, four killed in the last action."

"Thank you," McGinnis said with a sigh.  Considering the shoestring
nature of the recent operation, he knew that they were lucky, but like
most commanders, he hated to lose the lives of his crew in battle, he
always felt as if he had failed them in some way.
"Sir, we're now within transporter range, there are about forty alive,
and their quantum core is moving toward instability, so I suggest that we
make this quick," said Thale.
"Very well, Science, beam them aboard, ... Helm, as soon as the Romulan
crew is in the shuttle bay, accelerate to maximum velocity, and set
course back to Vulcan.
"Aye Sir," replied the two officers.  Thale's voice, however continued,
louder than any of them had ever heard it.
"Core instability has accelerated, laying in course and executing!"

The ship leapt forward, but unfortunately in his haste, Thale had
miscalculated the optimal escape course, sending the great ship toward,
not away from, the dying Romulan vessel.  Fortunately, the ship was just
able to pass the Romulan vessel before its quantum singularity exploded
with a force equal to that of ten million megatons of TNT.  The computer
could do little to protect the ship in this situation.  Its automatic
defense protocols could only reenergize the available shielding, and
direct it all aft-ward, before the sub-space shock wave hit, carrying the
still-accelerating ship forward at uncontrolled speeds.  Between the
tremendous acceleration caused by the engines, and the force from the
explosion,  the ship hit warp 9.98, while its warp field was only able to
support warp four.  Before he blacked out, McGinnis thought that he saw a
wormhole,--blue not orange like most others he had seen, either
personally or recorded-- open before the advancing ship.  Then, like the
rest of his crew, he blacked out, overwhelmed by the
tremendous gravitational forces caused by the
uncontrolled charge into high warp.

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

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SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part VI Chapter XXVI:
By:
Matthew A. Weed

Darkness ...
The feeling of utter darkness around him brought McGinnis awake, although
he didn't yet realize that he was awake.  He shook himself, slowly coming
out of his stupor.  The first thing that he noticed was that it was dark,
absolutely, totally, dark.  The second was that he was lying on the
floor, head padded against some rather hard object, which seemed to be
wet in some way or other.  As he continued his rather slow return to
consciousness, he realized that the wetness was his blood, and that he
was lying on the floor of some room, his head propped against the support
for one of its pieces of furniture.  He then remembered, hazily, a great
explosion, and the feeling of horror, realizing that he had done this...
whatever this was... before.  For the life of him, he couldn't figure out
what was going on, and the utter lack of light was neither helping him,
nor comforting him either.
He shifted, feeling above him for anything that might hit his head when
he sat up.  Feeling nothing, he moved to a seated position on the
carpeted floor.  Doing so, caused him to become extremely dizzy, and he
remembered that his head was bleeding.  Apparently, he had hit it rather
hard.  He sat for a moment, before moving backward gently and coming in
contact with the piece of furniture under which he had come to rest. ...
Interesting that his mind would phrase it like that, he thought to
himself, wondering just exactly what had happened.

After trying to remember for a minute or two, he felt around, and quickly
realized that he was leaning against his command chair.  With this, he
quickly remembered that he was on the Bridge, and that the ship had
entered some kind of wormhole, or other subspace anomaly.

Quickly now, he got into his chair, and struck his com badge.
"Bridge to weapons Control Center, Kyla, report."
There was no answer.

"Bridge to all decks, come in," he said into his combadge, despite the
fact that people wouldn't be able to report back to him this way.

Again, no answer.

Now, he was nervous.  The ship could eject the "mushroom", if things were
bad, and in this way, the command center, computer core, weapons control,
auxiliary computer core, and a small bank of impulse engines could act as
a lifeboat for the command crew, which was unable to evacuate the ship if
emergency egress was necessary.  Gravity seemed normal enough, but still,
the lack of response from the rest of the ship, and the lack of other
sound on the Bridge was not encouraging.

He turned to the arm of his chair, and punched up emergency lights.  With
the exception of the small light on his chair arm, nothing else came up.
However, this was enough to see by, and he saw that the Bridge looked all
right, but that the crew therein did not.

All were knocked out, and with the exception of T'mayek, it appeared that
most had lost a good deal of blood.  McGinnis knew well that just because
there is no blood, one can not assume serious internal injury.  However,
in this situation, he would take what he could get.  Schultz had a good
deal of blood on his head, and it appeared that his left arm and right
leg had suffered compound fractures.  Thale was lying on his console, and
it appeared that he had some broken ribs, or whatever passed for ribs in
an Andorian.  There was also a lot of blood underneath his station,
suggesting that something had happened to his legs.

At this moment, T'mayek groaned, and McGinnis moved toward her.  He leant
over her, attempting to deduce her condition, when, very quietly, she spoke.

"Admiral, you must strike me."

McGinnis had spent two years on Vulcan in his early career, and so knew
about the Vulcan heeling trance.  However, considering his own condition,
he wasn't sure that he could do what she needed him to do.  However,
there was no one to do it for him.  He swung with all of his reduced
strength, and his hand connected with her face with a resounding
*crack*.  He swayed, hauled off, and slapped her again, somewhat less
effectively this time.  Again, he tried, connected, and then fell back,
overwhelmed by his own injuries.

When he had recovered sufficiently, he realized that the Vulcan was
leaning over him.

"Sir, are you well?" she asked, the tension of the situation clear, even
in her normally well-controlled features.

"No, but my current condition will have to do for the moment.
What...happened...?

"Assuming that he wanted to know how he had come to be lying near the
Sciences station on a very dimly lit bridge, T'mayek began to reply.
"You were attempting to bring me out of a healing trance and ..."
"No, I know that, I mean to the ship," he snapped, somewhat testily.
"I am not fully certain.  I was conscious longer than any other being on
the Bridge, and I am quite certain that we entered some type of subspace
anomaly, in some way related to worm holes.  however, this phenomenon
differed in some ways, which will require significant computer analysis
to fully elucidate.

"Fine.  How long has it been?"
Normally, with most beings, it would be impossible to tell without a
chronometer, but Vulcans were extremely self-aware, and although her
estimate would not be as accurate as Data's, it would be enough to give
him some idea of the seriousness of the problem.
"I am not fully certain, but I would estimate some three to four hours."

This was more than McGinnis had hoped, but less than he had feared.

"Very well, let's see what we can get out of the computer, so far, I know
that comlinks are down, and that my chair's control circuits seem to be out."

"I shall run a systems check, Commander Schultz and Mr. Thale will prove
of little help, their injuries are extremely serious, and require
attention in sick bay.
"Very well, I shall try to check some of the near-by compartments to see
whether any of the systems are working there.  Since the subspace
controllers are down, and the optical links are apparently out too, you
will need to find me, if you have anything important to report."
"Understood, sir.  When should I expect you back to check in?"
"Half an hour," he said, moving to the aft access doors, which would lead
him into the airlock that would take him to the Bridge access corridor.
He got to the doors, and grabbing the big wheel-shaped emergency handle,
cranked the half-meter thick tritanium doors open.  Through the growing
gap, he saw that emergency lighting was indeed working, in this small
place at least.
"Commander, the air lock has emergency light, I'm going to get our armor,
put yours on before I proceed any further."
"Very well, Sir." she said, moving to receive the bulky mass of material
and working equipment from him.

As soon as both were fully enclosed in the suits, and the fusion
microcells were operating, McGinnis moved to open the outer doors.
Unfortunately, if he was met with hard vacuum, although T'mayek would
survive, Thale and Walter Schultz would die of exposure, as there had
been no way to get them into their protective gear without adding to
their injuries.

Fortunately, when he opened the meter-thick outer doors, McGinnis found
only a deserted, and fully-pressurized corridor.  Here, the lighting was
also at emergency levels only, but it appeared that the computer consoles
were at least somewhat active.  he stripped his armor off, after using
its added strength to receal the bridge's inner and outer doors.

he then turned to the computer console, and, noting that it appeared only
partly functional, called for a status report, only half hoping that he
would get one.  It appeared that his luck had turned, as the computer's
voice responded immediately.

"Ship's systems are currently on main and distributed computing support.
Life support is maintained in all sections of the vessel, except the
forward observation lounge, all sections of the mega-collimator ring and
its support structure, and the main-hull quantum core access  tube."
"Report on other systems," said McGinnis, hoping that things were less
bad on the rest of the ship than they were on the Bridge.
"Computer and structural damage makes a complete report of ships' systems
status impossible," replied the computer.
"Give me a report on communications status," said McGinnis, now sure that
things were as bad or worse, than they were on the bridge.
"Optical communications are available to all sections of the main hull,
with the exception of the Bridge.  Limited optical communications are
available in the Engineering complex, subspace communications are
unavailable for all sections of the ship." said the computer.

McGinnis could now get some idea of the well-being of his crew at least,
and for this he was thankful.

However, his first need was to get to the Weapons Control Center, as the
Bridge was unserviceable without communications, and he needed to be able
to begin the process of getting his ship back on its proverbial  feet,
and finding out where they were.  Within ten minutes, he had gotten to
the Weapons Control Center, where Kyla Moran was just recovering from her
own, rather nasty, bump on the head.  As soon as he was sure that the
lieutenant was all right, he sent her to tell T'mayek to come to the WCC.

"McGinnis to sick bay," he said into the com unit on his station.

"Sick bay, Anderson here, sir." replied one of the younger nurses.
"Ensign, there are wounded on the Bridge, if you can send a team up
there, I'd appreciate it."

"Sir, I would be happy to, but we only have three people here, and we're
trying to treat the casualties here, and log the dead."

"I see, what is the count so far?" McGinnis asked, not wanting to hear
this report at all.
"Sir, most of the burn victims died when we hit the ... whatever it was,
there were too many objects and shards of equipment flying around here.
The gravimetric pressure was usually too much for their dressings, and
their skin came off, ... they bled to death sir.  There are many
seriously wounded from around the ship, and at least fifty confirmed
dead.  Many of the wounded have suffered serious internal injuries due to
falling equipment,  and none of us here has the training to help them.
I'm putting them into stasus as quickly as they come in."
"What happened to the senior staff?"
"Drs Peters and MulHollen died when a stasus unit broke loose and crushed
them.  Slan the heeler is in trance, his arm and a number of ribs were
broken when he was thrown against a wall when the compensators failed."

"Thank you, Ensign, you are doing a fine job down there, and I'm proud of
the work that you are doing.  Continue doing what you can, and when he's
able, have Spel contact me at the Weapons Control Center."

"Thank you Sir," she said, "I doubt that he'll be awake for some time,
but when he is, I'll have him find you."
"Very well, ... McGinnis out."

The fact that Alecia Andrews was running the sick bay was unsettling to
McGinnis.  She was one of the highest-ranked graduates of Star Fleet
nursing academy, but she was barely two years out of school, and her
battlefield experience was limited.  His mind moved to other, equally
important matters.

T'mayek was now in the WCC, and Lieutenant Moran had found some people
who could help transport Thale and Schultz to sick Aye.  It was now time
for these officers, now his command staff, to begin collecting a
ship-wide damage report.

SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part VI: Chapter XXVII
By:
Matthew A. Weed

Command Log: Stardate 57275.0, estimated: William McGinnis, in Command,
USS Ticonderoga recording.

I now have a full damage report on this vessel's systems.  The anomaly
which we created via an uncontrolled warp acceleration combined with the
energy from the destruction of a Romulan dreadnought, has done extremely
serious damage to this vessel.  We currently have no sensors, external
monitoring systems, and shields.  Fortunately, we have not been struck by
any objects, wherever we may be.  The ship's super-structure has suffered
varying levels of damage.  Fortunately, neither the main hull, nor our
core super-structure have suffered major damage.  However, many of the
bulkheads, and other less-well-supported sections of the
micro-super-structure have suffered serious damage, and this, combined
with a partial failure of the artificial gravity system, has resulted in
a large number of deaths in the crew.  We have not been able to ascertain
the situation in the shuttle bay, and are not even certain that we were
able to successfully transport the Romulan survivors from their ship
before it exploded.  The bulk heads between main engineering and the
shuttle deck are very thick, and we must proceed carefully, since if we
break into open space on the other side of the bulkhead, main engineering
will lose all atmospheric containment.

The main phaser array, many of the auxiliaries, and all of the modular
photon torpedo systems are off-line, and will either require repair, or
replacement in the case of the torpedo launchers, which apparently broke
away from the ship in transit.  All computer systems, communications,
transporters, and internal monitoring systems are now back on line, and I
expect to have limited maneuvering control up soon.  We have apparently
suffered systems failures on the main reactor and the forced quantum
core.  It is unknown at this time whether these problems result from
unseen computer damage, or a more serious problem.  However, almost all
of our secondary fusion reactors are operable, and are slowly being
worked into the main energy transferal grid for the time being.  My
biggest problem at the moment is my terribly understaffed, and
demoralized crew.  This is the second time that many of us have suffered
a major disruption in our lives which has been directly tied to an
anomaly of some kind or another.  Many of the rest of us are in shock
over the nearly two-hundred casualties which have resulted from this
experience.  added to those suffered during the engagement in the Epsilon
Aeridoni system, and the losses resulting from the need to leave some
crew behind for the mission, I have less  than fifty able-bodied crew
available at the moment.  There are still some who are listed as missing,
most importantly, Commander MacLeod.  Until he is found, I must hope that
the computer will be able to provide the necessary support to assist us
with repairs.

"Sir, I expect to have external visuals up in a few seconds, sensors are
going to take a bit longer." reported Moran from somewhere in the ship's
innards.
"Good, If we're going to be without main engines for a couple of days, we
might as well know where we are."

T'mayek's voice came from engineering.
"Admiral, I have found Mr. MacLeod, he appears to be unconscious, and the
doors to his office have been warped by the anomaly's effects, and it
appears that his communications system is out.  I will have a repair
droid open the doors, and see that his injuries are tended to."

"Good, I want you to do everything that you can to get him out, and back
on duty.  Should you need any other resources, make sure to call upon them."
"Understood, Sir."

"Sir, Moran here, I have external visual link, bringing up forward view
on the WCC viewer," she said.
Moments later, the holo projector came on line, and showed McGinnis what,
at first, appeared to be the image of a distant class "M" planet, with
unusually heavy cloud cover, and more than average water coverage.  He
glanced away, and then looked back, and realized that this was indeed
what he was seeing, but that the planet's image seemed to be growing
rapidly, as if the ship were closing on it at a great velocity.
Considering that the repair crews didn't think that  the impulse drive
would be back up for at least an hour, he sincerely hoped that Kyla had
made an adjustment to the viewer's circuitry.

"Lieutenant Moran, did you just make an adjustment on the external camera
linkage?"
"No sir, why do you ask?"
"Because I'm getting the image of a planet, and by the rate that its
image is growing on the screen, I'd guess that either we've got camera
trouble, or we're closing at about five percent of light," he said.
"We haven't changed the settings since I got you the link," she said.
"the computer shows all hull breaches have been repaired, so we might
land and try to finish repairs if its class "M"," she suggested as an
after-thought.
"We might land, but considering that we have no drive control, I think
crash might be the more appropriate description for what's going to
happen, divert all of your droids to engineering, and return to the WCC
immediately, I'll need to take over down there."
"Aye Sir, I'm on my way." she said, more than a slight tremor in her voice.

Less than a minute later, she was in the weapons control center, and
McGinnis was on his way to main engineering.

On his arrival, he redirected all of the ship's resources to the repair
of the impulse drive, the shields, and the navigational control circuitry
which connected the engines to the main computer.  Without this
circuitry, the ship would crash, no matter how well its engines were
working.  McGinnis didn't have time to think on the pure bad luck
represented by the loss of all six of the control pathways from the
various computer systems to the impulse engines.

Several minutes later, Moran's concerned voice came over the optical link.

"WCC to Admiral McGinnis, please come in."

McGinnis, whose first duties had been as an engineer on one of the
Federation's great Nebula-class starships was hanging upside down in a
jeffrey's tube when the all-call came, and was not able to answer right
away.  When he finally disentangled himself from the ship's systems, he
immediately moved to the nearest com panel.

"McGinnis here,"
"Sir, I've been running calculations here, based on the aspect ratio of
the planet that we are approaching, and I estimate eleven minutes to
atmospheric contact."
"Thank you," replied McGinnis with a sigh.  Atmospheric contact was as
good as planet fall, considering that their best estimates put their
approach velocity at something approaching fifty thousand kilometers per
minute.  At this rate, the ship's impact on the planet would have greater
kinetic energy than had been contained in the asteroid that had ended
Earth's "age of the dinosaurs," sixty-five million years previously.  In
short, the mission to Vulcan would end in a mighty bang, at an
undetermined distance from that planet.  McGinnis reflected that this was
decidedly not a tempting thought.

"Commander T'mayek, what is your status?"
"Sir, I have all of the computer-to-engineering links back on-line, and
the computer is running a diagnostic of the impulse drive and thrusters.
It estimates that the complete diagnostic will require thirty-seven more
seconds."
"Very well, but fix anything that you can see, we have less than eleven
minutes before we intersect that planet, and we must either slow or
divert the ship before that point," he said, unnecessarily reminding the
Vulcan of something that she already knew all-too-well.
"I am aware of the situation sir, and have already begun to make a visual
inspection of the starboard main-hull antigravimetric systems."
"Excellent, report progress as it seems necessary, I will be in impulse
engineering."
"Sir, Commander MacLeod is there, although Ensign Anderson wanted him to
remain in sick-bay, once the repair droids had brought him there, he
ordered her to give him stimulants, and he then left sick bay to direct
repairs in engineering."
"Thank you, in that case, I will be in shield control."
"Understood, Sir."
"McGinnis to MacLeod."
"Here," replied the engineer.
"Robert, I'm glad that you  are well, but next time, let Sick-bay agree
with you before you go off, and help me save the ship."
"Help *you*!," MacLeod's voice returned, more than a hint of mirth in it,
"I thought that you were helping *me*."
"Never!" replied McGinnis before his voice became serious.  "Seriously
though, what's the situation in impulse?"
"We're three minutes from start-up on the auxiliary reactor here, and I'm
shunting power from the operational particle phaser batteries as their
reactors are reconnected to the grid.  We're not going to get main power
for a while, so we'll have to depend on the auxiliaries.  It should be
enough for about one-quarter  impulse power, internal systems, and one
layer of shields, as long as we're not trying to do anything else."
"What about the antigravity units?"
"Damn!" replied MacLeod, "I forgot about those.  If we have to go
atmospheric, ..."
"Which appears very likely," interposed McGinnis.
"...then we'll either have to give on the impulse engines or the shields
once we're actually in atmosphere."
"Very well, what about the forced quantum core?"
"The computer estimates that it will  be available in ten minutes, so we
shouldn't count on it for our current emergency."
"Right," replied McGinnis unhappily.

There just wasn't enough time, as McGinnis personal estimate gave them
about three minutes, fifteen seconds to atmospheric contact, and limited
impulse power would not be enough to avoid a contact.  It was better to
try to slow down than to turn, as this would not allow them to escape an
unfortunate meeting with the planet's atmosphere, and since the ship's
engines wouldn't have been used for breaking, their impact, glancing
though it might be, would be at a terribly high speed ... <too high>
McGinnis thought.
"Sir..."
"Sorry, Robert, keep working, and  prioritize on bringing up any extra
power that you can, we'll need everything that we can get for breaking."
"Understood, MacLeod out."

There wasn't enough time for McGinnis to do much to help the repair
effort on the shields, so while he moved back toward the Weapons Control
Center, he called for a report.
"Lieutenant Thompson, what's your status?"
"Sir, we're just bringing the main shields on line, the auxiliaries could
be powered to 50% if we need them, and the auxiliaries are out of the
question for at least an hour."
"Good, you'll need to configure the shields for atmospheric entry and
breaking, we're going to try to set down to finish our damage repairs,
and figure out where we are, but the impulse drive is only marginal at
best, so we're going to hit the upper atmosphere rather hard."
"Understood, inputting the configuration now, we'll be ready in about a
minute," she said.
"Excellent news, energize as soon as you're able."
"Aye Sir, Thompson out."

Immediately after this, the doors opened onto the WCC's access corridor,
and McGinnis quickly entered and pulled his armor back on, ordering all
who could do so to do the same.
"Now forty-five seconds from atmospheric contact," reported Kyla Moran,
who was already in her gear, and strapped into her station.
"What's our present velocity?"
"We're still moving at about thirty-five thousand kilometers per minute,
we should make contact at about a tenth that speed.
"Very well, adjust our angle of entry to maximize atmospheric breaking
while also putting us down in the deepest water available."
"Aye Sir, adjusting course .04 degrees to starboard, we can't turn much
more than that on available engine power."
"Very well, can you tell whether the planet is inhabited?"
"No sir, but it is certain that they have no space-going technology, if
they exist, as there is nothing in orbit with an albedo sufficiently high
to suggest machined metal, and no objects have crossed out path in
anything but a stellar orbit."
"Good, hopefully we'll be lucky and end up on an uninhabited Class-M
planet," said McGinnis.  <The last thing we need right now is a prime
directive violation on top of the ship's damage.> he thought to himself
as they continued to close on this unknown world.

Of course, if they had found signs of limited space-faring technology,
McGinnis would have had to destroy the ship, as the Prime Directive
forced ship commanders to avoid disturbing a planetary culture at any
cost, including their ships and the lives of their crews.  Since
Ticonderoga could not cloak, and they could not avoid the planet, there
would be no choice but to destroy the ship.  So, as they began to knife
through the outer layers of the atmosphere, McGinnis was glad that there
was a good chance that they might avoid either a violation, or the
command decision that all Federation commanders feared most of all.

"Now entering upper magnetosphere, shields at full power, impulse drive
is still at maximum available reverse thrust.  Our current velocity is
3,000 kilometers per minute, decelerating at 100 kilometers per minute
every second.  Our current altitude is approximately 1,000 kilometers."
reported Moran.
"Continue reverse impulse, but shields have unconditional priority.  When
we're five seconds above the water, reset to maximum hydrodynamic form on
the shields." replied McGinnis.

He knew well that the ship would hit the water hard, but with the shields
at full power ... and then McGinnis had one of his now-famous strokes of
genius.  If his idea worked, it would be hard on the shields, but better
for the super-structure.

There wasn't time to have Kyla implement the maneuver, so he switched the
helm to his console, and despite the difficulties inherent in trying to
pilot the ship with his armor's gloves on he managed to turn the ship so
that it was now entering with its "upper" surface toward the water.  The
problem was that at this attitude, there was no way for the antigravs in
the gravimetric drive to assist them in slowing their fall.  McGinnis was
counting on the tremendous mass of the engineering complex and the warp
drive to force the ship to alter its momentum just enough so that its
shields could be used to, in effect, flatten the impact angle of the
upper--and now temporarily lower--surface into something like that
presented by the surface of a flat stone that one would skip across a
lake.  If the ship didn't turn too far, it would hit just right, so that
most of its forward momentum would be transferred into lateral momentum,
in effect, forcing it to skip across the top of the ocean, like a rock,
nearly a kilometer long, and weighing something like 14,000,000 tons;
whose impact velocity would be about fifty kilometers per minute.  If it
worked, the shields would take the brunt of the impact, rather than
transferring it to the super-structure. An impact of that force would
almost certainly tear the ship apart as it descended into the ocean;
probably to a depth far greater than its 4,500 meter (400 atmosphere)
pressure tolerances.

As they descended toward the water, Kyla Moran's voice counted the last
few seconds:
"Now fifty meters above the surface, our forward velocity is 160
kilometers per minute, descending at ten meters per second."  After these
words to McGinnis, she went on the all-call, her voice ringing throughout
the ship.
"Now four seconds to impact ... three ... two... one ..."

SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part VI: Chapter XXVIII
By:
Matthew A. Weed



The first impact threw those who weren't strapped into stations about
with terrific force.  Any equipment that wasn't bolted down flew wildly
about the ship.  However, all of the active crew had their armor on, and
their suits' shields and inertial dampeners were enough to protect them
from most of the  impacts.  McGinnis, who had been forced to strip off
some of his armor to program the ship was stunned by the first blow.  The
ship skipped across the water thirteen more times before finally coming
to a rest.  After this, the computer reoriented it so that it was quantum
core-side down, as it was supposed to be when in the water.  As soon as
this maneuver was completed, McGinnis, who had recovered quickly from the
shock of the first blow, ordered that the ship be locked down while they
considered what to do next.

*    *    *

Command Log: Stardate 57267.4: Admiral William McGinnis, commanding USS
Ticonderoga reporting:

Our situation could not be much worse.  We are at least four days away
from having warp drive, our sensors are not fully functional, we are
hundreds of miles from land on a planet whose meteorology is utterly
unknown.  We can not tell whether there are other intelligent life forms
here, and are being forced to assume that there are none, simply because
we did not observe anything which would suggest them during our decent.

We have lost long-range communication, and can not try to find out where
we are via the Federation locator system.  I estimate that repairing the
ship will require at least a week, and hope that nothing untoward happens
between now and that time.


With these sobering words, McGinnis rose and walked across his quarters.
There were about forty-five minutes before the briefing was to begin, and
he decided to go to the aft observation deck and look at the life which,
according to T'mayek, filled the waters of this ocean.
*    *    *

McGinnis' officers came in, until all six sat around the room.  only half
had been in charge of their departments less than a day before.
Fortunately, McGinnis had recognized the inherent weaknesses in a ship so
heavily focused on military capacity.  Therefore, he had ensured that his
crew was deep in experience, and because of this, only one officer, Kyla
Moran, had less than seven years of deep-space experience.  She,
fortunately, was charged with tactical, a department that would be of
comparatively little import in the near future.

In his opening comments, McGinnis wanted to be sure that everyone was
agreed on the situation, and fully aware of his thinking.

"I am glad that you could attend at this time." said McGinnis.  "You all
know our situation, and that we have no idea where we are, and that we
need significant time in order to repair the damage caused by the recent
battle, and our recent transit through the unknown anomaly. ... Tactical,
your report?"
"Sir, we are still repairing the strategic scanners, but I have
short-range scans, and they suggest that there are no intelligent life
forms nor significant land masses  within a thousand kilometer range of
this vessel.  Doubtless the Science officer will be able to clarify the
tremendous diversity of life in the ocean, but I have never seen a scan
this rich in lower life forms."
"What about the rest of the planet?"
"We can't scan that yet, our main sensors are still under repair,"
replied Moran.
"Very well, engineering?"
"Sir, we're still in pretty bad shape.  Many systems, including warp
drive, the auxiliary computer, and large sections of the
micro-super-structure are still in need of repair.  Ms. Moran has already
noted the damage to the sensors, and secondary shields are still
unavailable.  our recent transit through the atmosphere has knocked out
the primary shields, so we're only able to operate the auxiliaries, and
they can only be rigged to about 70% power.  I expect that all systems,
except the micro-super-structure and warp engines will be back on line
within twelve hours, structural repair will be completed in two days, the
warp drive will be back up within eighty hours."
"Very well, thank you.  Medical?"
"Sir, many of the injured crew are recovering well, and I believe that
only seventy-two will require care for which this vessel is not fully
equipped.  I have chosen, therefore, to begin stasus treatments on those
crew members.  The rest of the crew currently in sick bay are recovering,
and will return to duty as they become fit," said Slan, the Vulcan heeler
who was now in charge of the ship's severely depleted medical staff.
"Lieutenant, what is the status report on Mr.s Schultz and Thale?"
"The tactical officer is recovering somewhat slowly  from his wounds,
which included a fractured skull, a broken arm, and a large number of
bruises and abrasions. ... Mr. Thale is recovering quickly, but his
wounds were extremely serious and he will require no less than ten days
before he will be able to resume his duties."
"Thank you," replied McGinnis.  He then turned to the officer whose
report was the one he was most interested in hearing.  "Science Officer,
your report?"

"Admiral, I have limited data on which to make an analysis of the planet
on which we find ourselves.  It appears that there are two large polar
land masses,  each approximately equal in size to Earth's Asia.  There
are at least two small continents which are located near the planet's
equator, each is approximately equal in size to Earth's Europe.  I have
gathered most of this data via a careful computer analysis of the images
which we received during our entry into this system. Unfortunately, that
data is not sufficient to make any well-reasoned estimates concerning the
climatic, biological, geological, and other conditions prevailing on this
planet.  When the main sensors come back on line, we will be more able to
make a thorough analysis."

"Thank you, Ms. Thompson, do you have anything which you feel deserves
consideration?"
"No sir," replied Karen Thompson who was being pressed into service as
the ship's navigator while her husband recovered in sick-bay.

"Very well, we shall continue to make repairs on the ship  while we
consider our future actions.  repairs on the sensors, communications, and
computers have unconditional priority.  We shall set a course for the
nearer of the two equatorial continents, and on reaching that place, I
shall grant limited shore leave to any and all crew who desire it.  Ms.
Thompson, discuss optimal naval courses with Commander T'mayek, and
remember that since we are not familiar with this planet's meteorology,
that you will need to stay in constant contact to avoid any unusual
phenomena until our structural repairs are certified complete by
Engineering.  You are all dismissed."

With this, all of the officers left in order to complete their assigned
duties.

*    *    *

Command Log: Stardate 57269.3: Admiral William McGinnis, Commanding USS
Ticonderoga: Recording:

For the last twenty-four hours, we have been moving on a course of 245
degrees, at a steady thirty-seven knots.  This is probably the first time
in three centuries that a Federation vessel has been piloted across an
ocean like a naval vessel of old.  All of us have benefited from limited
break time topside, and we hope to make landfall on a medium-sized
continent within thirty-six hours.

McGinnis finished his log entry and looked up to see the image of T'mayek
on his desk viewer, her mouth just opening to summon him.  He quickly
struck the two-way visual link and requested her report.

"Admiral, I have just been notified that all sensors are now back on
line, and I am beginning sweeps of this planet, and the surrounding
region of space in order to improve our understanding of this vessel's
current situation," said T'mayek from the Bridge science station.

"Very well, as soon as you have anything to report, call me to the
Bridge.  I will continue to supervise the repair work until then."
replied McGinnis.
"Understood, Sir."

McGinnis turned back to the enormous work which still needed to be done
to ensure the ship's return to optimal function.  Damage to the sensors
had proven to be far worse than originally expected, and so many of the
other repairs, such as those needed by the auxiliary computer and the
warp drive had been delayed, as there were few people who could handle
directing the ship's self-repair functions on these difficult-to-repair
systems.  Fortunately, the computer was able to handle the repairs to the
bulkheads, deck plating, and other parts of the micro-super-structure
without any assistance, so this part of the work was not behind schedule.

However, McGinnis thought morosely, there was enough work left to do to
keep a thousand hands busy for many days.  If it weren't for the ship's
self-repair systems, the ship wouldn't have been back to full
functionality in anything less than a month.  With the systems ... ten
days if they were lucky.

With this, somewhat encouraging, thought in mind, he returned to work.
Several hours later, the sound of T'mayek's voice on the all-call brought
him down from the inside of a jeffrey's tube.

"McGinnis here," he said, straightening his back to work out some of the
kinks that had formed during hours of cramped work.
"Admiral, I have completed a thorough scan of this planet, and the
surrounding spaces to a range of four parsecs.  You may be interested in
the results...."
"I'm on my way," he replied.

Moments later the turbolift opened and he walked onto the Bridge.  As
soon as he appeared, T'mayek began her report.

"Sir, we are now approximately one thousand kilometers from the continent
on whose northern shore we intend to complete our repairs.  The continent
itself is heavily forested, showing a broad diversity of forests, with
many types of plants which, although not exactly similar, are quite
analogous to species found in the Eastern United States and Southeastern
Canada on Earth.  There are major mountainous regions, however, we will
not come near these on our current course.  The life on this continent is
extremely diverse, but none of it shows more than an extremely
rudimentary intelligence.  In short, it should be an acceptable continent
for both scientific study and shore leave parties.  The planet has two
other small equatorial continents, and two major land masses which
dominate its polar regions.  Like this continent, the equatorial land
masses show significant vegetation and lower animal life, but no
intelligent life forms.  The polar land masses are largely devoid of all
but the most rudimentary life forms, and are largely covered by ice caps,
which are up to 3.5 kilometers in thickness.  The ocean on this world
covers nearly eighty percent of the entire surface, and due to the fact
that much of the land mass is outside the planet's general east-to-west
jet stream flux, the planet has a somewhat higher than expected amount of
cloud cover, which tends to raise precipitation, and lower temperatures
in the equatorial regions.  Average rainfall on the three equatorial
continents seems to be approximately two hundred centimeters annually.

The planet itself is in a star system of eight planets, whose inner
planets include two class-M bodies, and two small rocky planetoids, whose
orbits are unusually close to the corona of the central class G-6 star.
There are three gas giants and one small ice planet in the outer system,
with the outer-most gas giant being nearly large enough to become a red
dwarf star.  The system is located some two hundred light years beyond
the current limit of Federation-explored territory, nearly three thousand
light years from Earth.  The nearest Federation colonies are a number of
science colonies which have been established by the Vulcan Academy of
Sciences and other research institutions.  I should note that the Ferengi
do pose a significant threat in this region of space, and that we should
expect some difficulties from them once we depart the system."
"Thank you Commander," said McGinnis.

"Sir, what are we going to do once we reach land?" Karen Thompson asked
from her station.
"We have at least ten days' repairs yet to go, and we're still more than
a standard day from land.  Although we could, hypothetically simply  make
repairs where we are, I think that some time off-ship would be good for
all of us.  Therefore, once we reach a suitable natural harbor, we shall
take two weeks for repairs, with half crews on the ship to assist the
computer with its work where necessary.  When not on duty, all are
expected to get some rest.  Therefore, you may organize landing parties
and other activities as you see fit.  All holofacilities are to be
available for recreational programming, as long as you understand that
the programs will we wiped after this leave period."

This pronouncement brought smiles from all of the bridge crew.  Many of
them were quite fond of nature, especially considering the unusually
sterile conditions in which they worked.  All knew, instinctively at
least, that some rest would be a good thing, particularly in a place in
which Federation ships would not be expected, and therefore not looked for.

"Sir, what are your plans?" asked Lt. Moran.

"At the moment, I am thinking to lead a party to the mountainous region
in the Northwest of this continent.  Obviously any officers and crew are
welcomed, but no one is expected to come with me, and considering the
nature of this world, I think that general Order 15 does not apply, so no
security will be assigned to me, unless they *choose* to come along."

No matter McGinnis orders, Moran had her own agenda, and a multi-day
camping trip would do quite nicely to forward it, so her decision was
already made.

"Ms. Thompson, please set a general notification concerning shore leave
arrangements.  Clear any extra space you need for general in-ship
discussion on the distributed computer net. ... Oh, please note that any
who choose to accompany me will need to plan their leaves for the second
half of our stay."

"Aye Sir," said Thompson who was now doubling as Operations Officer, now
that T'mayek was required to return to her duties at the science station.

After making sure that all continued to run well, McGinnis rose and went
to his quarters for some well-deserved, and medically prescribed, sleep.

SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part VI: Chapter XXIX:
By:
Matthew A. Weed

Command Log: Stardate 57279.3: Admiral William McGinnis, Commanding USS
Ticonderoga: recording.

We have been in harbor for approximately three days, and I must say that
I have never been in a place with so much natural beauty.  The effects of
our surroundings on the Crew have been outstanding, both mentally and
physically.  Many who were having difficulty recovering from their
injuries have made great progress in Slan's make-shift recovery unit
placed under the trees on shore.  Those who have not needed medical
attention have been working and playing hard, and we are learning much
about the planet, through the simple expedient of sending tricorders
along with those parties that have chosen to explore various areas as
part of their shore leave.  Because of our need for rest, and the
unusually dense nature of the planet's flora and fauna, I have chosen to
extend our stay here by another week, while we finish repairs on the
ship, and do some simple test runs in the system to make sure that all is
back to normal.  The added time will be good for both ship and crew, as
we can get the first significant rest that we've had in three and a half
months, and can also replenish our stores of tritanium, as there are rich
deposits of that rare ore on the planet's eastern-most continent.  As
soon as Commander MacLeod is able, he will proceed to set up a processing
center there, using this ship as its base.  However, we will not be ready
to move for nearly a week yet, and when the move occurs, the computer
will handle it, allowing those who are on leave to continue their
relaxation without significant interruption.  As for myself, I will wait
until we have moved and will then leave the ship for ten days of hiking
and mountaineering in this continent's highest mountain range, some
thousand kilometers to the north-west of our current position.  I look
forward to the exercise, and the company of most of the Bridge staff,
whom I look forward to having a chance to relax with after our latest
period of work.

McGinnis turned the log recorder off, and returned to the frustrating
task of coordinating the massive repair effort.  He truly envied the crew
members who were already taking advantage of the immense natural beauty
of the great bay in which Ticonderoga now lay.

It had apparently been formed by a terrific volcanic explosion some time
in the last million years.  One of its great advantages as far as
McGinnis was concerned was its great depth and the steepness of the
under-water cliffs which formed its edges.  This meant that Ticonderoga,
despite the fact that its lower-most parts were nearly 160 meters below
the surface, could lie very close to shore.  Because of this, the crew
could walk from ship to shore on the ship's gangways which could be
extended from some of the mega-collimator ring's support struts.

Many didn't like to transport such a short distance, either because they
still suffered negative side effects as a result of the transporter's
actions, or because it was simply more fun to walk ashore, and explore
the great forests which surrounded their temporary center of activity.

The forests came to the edge of the cliffs, and many of the trees were
more than 100 meters high, with comparatively thin growth under the
nearly-impenetrable canopy.  Many of the crew had set up hammocks or
other sleeping places in the trees, and even those who were not on leave
were permitted to sleep in the trees, as long as they were within easy
range of the ship, as transporter technicians were not always available
for duty, as their skill was needed elsewhere.

Despite the shore leave parties, there was still a great deal of activity
aboard ship.  All power systems were back on line, and most of the
micro-super-structure had been  repaired.  Only a few bulkheads in the
main hull and some support struts in Engineering still required repair or
replacement.

Because of the need for monitoring during its transit, no repairs could
be affected on the ship's warp drive, and this system, the most complex
aboard ship, was far from operability.  Repairs to the warp engines would
require at least two weeks, and McGinnis had no intent of leaving the
planet until the ship was fully warp capable.  Even though it was fully
operable in every other way, the ship would be at a serious disadvantage
versus other heavy ships without a fully functioning warp drive.

Fortunately, the ship's weapons were fully repaired, and shielding would
be back to optimal status in only a few hours.  If it became necessary,
the ship could maneuver on impulse power and use its weapons to maximum
possible effect.  Since all power generators were available, the only
disadvantage that they might face would be speed.  In every other way
they were ready for anything, and though McGinnis didn't expect trouble,
he was truly comforted by the amount of progress that had been made over
the last few days.

*    *    *
Command Log: Stardate 57295.5: Admiral William McGinnis Commanding USS
Ticonderoga recording:

We are under way to the Eastern continent of this resource-wealthy
world.  I have chosen to temporarily call off shore leaves while we make
our move, primarily due to the need for careful monitoring of all ship's
systems while maneuvering in atmosphere.  We are about twenty minutes
from our new site, which lies off the northern tip of this new
continent.  Rich veins of tritanium exist there, and we hope to be able
to process around eighty thousand tons in the coming days.  As soon as we
have achieved our new docking point, I will be taking some much
anticipated leave in the Northwest mountains of the continent which we
first visited.

McGinnis sat back in his chair, admiring the view of the ocean as it
passed some 15,000 meters below the ship.  Even from this altitude, the
deep blue of the water was inviting, except where puffy clouds disrupted
the view.  Meteorological reports had indicated that the tropical
latitudes were prown to powerful cyclones, particularly in the huge
expanses of the unbroken ocean on the other side of the planet.  However,
this area, with its comparatively small and broken oceans was less prown
to such disturbances, at least at this time of the year.

"Sir, now beginning decent to docking point beta.  Our altitude is now
14,000 meters, dropping at one kilometer per minute.  Atmosphere is clear
of any turbulence which will pose problems for us, but it is surprisingly
unstable considering the lack of meteorological systems in the area,"
said Thale.

McGinnis was glad to have the Andorian back at the helm/navigator's
station.  The recent missions had been hard on him, and McGinnis had a
growing feeling that there might be something wrong in the design of the
station at which Thale worked.  Usually Andorians just weren't prown to
the kind and number of injuries which the lieutenant had suffered.
However, when he had mentioned it to Commander MacLeod, the engineer had
strongly disagreed and put it down to a run of bad luck.

"Sir?", Thale's questioning tones broke through McGinnis' musings.
"Sorry Lieutenant, I heard your report, I was just considering some other
concerns.  ... Continue reporting our status every three minutes until we
reach final decent altitude, then place us into the course which you and
I agreed on."
Aye Sir," replied the Andorian, his curiosity concerning the Admiral's
distraction not fully hidden.

The panorama below them grew slowly on the monitor, which McGinnis had
ordered represent an true-vision image of what was below them, rather
than with computer enhancement.  Of all of the parts of the planet which
McGinnis had seen, either live or via pictures sent back from the ship's
scouting parties, this was clearly most ... interesting.  McGinnis knew
that unusual formations were common in areas with high levels of
tritanium, it had been one of the key signs in the early search for this,
the hardest of natural (or semi-natural, depending on whether you
believed the oft-proposed theories that suggested that previous
civilizations had left it about as a waste product, or as a gift for the
less-well-developed civilizations that might explore space later) ores.
In any case, the hardness of the ores allowed for unusual weathering
patterns, which often left the land heavily ridged, with pinnacles and
other deposits more reminiscent of a volcanic region.  This was certainly
not unusual, but the fact that these areas were usually extremely
geologically stable was the key.

"Sir, now entering final decent, one minute to surface, estimated depth
in this area is 400 meters, there is no place sufficiently shallow to
allow us to send parties in at the tip of the peninsula, but four
kilometers southeast of here is a suitable place, although it is exposed
to the open ocean."
"Very well, alter course, and set down there, program the gravimetric
compensators appropriately,  if you think that our mass will be
insufficient to hold the vessel steady."

McGinnis hadn't ordered a check for landing spots, as this part of the
trip would be more work-oriented, and  for that reason, the main work of
the parties in this area had been looking for the richest tritanium
deposits.  This concern, included with the fact that they had reported
that the climate was incredibly rainy, even for this unusually wet
planet, caused McGinnis to feel that there would be comparatively little
opportunity for the kind of frolicking that his crew had done, and still
intended to do, in their first resting place.

"We have set down, sir" said Thale.  "we won't need stabilization unless
swells exceed fifteen meters, and minimal added support for the natural
shielding of the warp engines and ring installation will be necessary
with swells over ten meters.  Currently, the sea is running at about five
or six meters, and there are no meteorological systems which could result
in heavy seas."
"Very well, lock down the vessel, call replacements to your stations when
you are ready, and meet me in the shuttle bay in four hours, at which
point leave for those who have chosen to accompany me will commence."
"Aye Sir," replied those who would be going on the ten-day hike in the
mountains.
As  he was about to leave the Bridge, McGinnis turned and signaled to
Thale, whose injuries would make it necessary for him to stay aboard
ship.  For this reason, he would be in temporary command while Commander
MacLeod directed the re supply process. "Mr. Thale, please accompany me
to the engineering deck."

Thale rose quickly, while Walter Schultz waved to him to tell him that
his duties would be taken care of.  The Andorian nodded in thanks and
hastened to join McGinnis.

After the turbo-lift doors closed, McGinnis turned to Thale to prepare
him for his duties.  "Lieutenant, Although the Chief Engineer outranks
you, I want you to retain over-all command of the vessel, as you have
tactical experience, and your duties should be minimal.  As you know, the
Chief Engineer will be very busy with the refining operation, and I don't
want that duty interrupted with shipboard duties unless absolutely
necessary.  Should a tactical situation arise which precludes your
contacting the command party,  take whatever decisions you feel are best,
you have full clearance to use all of the ship's resources to defend your
people here, we will get back aboard in the attack craft as the situation
permits."
"Do you expect trouble sir?" asked Thale, please with the compliment
which his responsibilities implied.
"No, we are far from Romulan and Klingon spaces, and the Ferengi, though
close to this system, apparently don't know about it, otherwise they
would have a large processing operation here."
"Aye Sir," said Thale as the turbo-lift doors opened.

The conversation with Commander MacLeod followed the pattern of the
previous one  with Thale, and McGinnis was pleased to see how relieved
the Engineer was that he would be  relieved of any command
responsibilities while he worked to replenish the ship's tritanium stores.

After this conversation was finished, McGinnis hastened to his quarters
to finish packing for the trip.  Although the planet seemed quite safe,
he had decided to let his party mates take weapons if they chose, as he
was planning to do.  Therefore, along with the dried stores, spare
clothing, light tent, and other things that went onto his hiking frame
(he refused to use an anti-grav sled for this, the idea being to get away
from technology for a bit, at least as he saw it), he slung a heavy
phaser rifle and a small transceiver unit, ... just in case.

*    *    *
Three hours later, he stood in the ship's shuttle deck, next to one of
the four attack craft which also served as half of Ticonderoga's fleet of
small launchable ships.  Each of the four light attack craft carried port
and starboard phasers, as well as ten micro-photon torpedoes, with three
million kilometers range and twenty megatons yield; mixed with a number
of long-range nuclear-tipped micro torpedoes, each with a range of
thirty-million kilometers, and a yield of about four megatons.  These
ships were twenty meters long, four deep, and of the delta-wing variety,
expanding from a sharp prow to a ten-meter section at the tail, which
protected the ship's powerful micro-warp drives.  The ships could hit
warp six if necessary, had cloaking devices, dive to ten thousand meters,
and had on-board facilities for four crew.  All-in-all, a very versatile
ship, as long as you wanted to  spy on or kill something, not talk to it.

However, for his current purpose, this kind of ship was better than the
ship's two shuttles or a run-about, simply because the ships had a better
chance of  getting back to Ticonderoga than the other types of ships did
if something were to go wrong

While he have been packing his gear, T'mayek, Walter Schultz, Kyla Moran,
Slan and Karen Thompson had arrived in the great shuttle deck.

"Well, it looks like everyone's here," said McGinnis.  We'll be taking
the attack craft Sherman and Montgommery, so stow your gear as you see fit."
"Admiral, I would like to take a shuttle if at all possible for the
collection of samples for further analysis either here aboard ship or in
the Federation," said T'mayek.
"Commander, I know that you'd like the extra computing power and storage
space, but we don't know what the situation is outside this system, and I
am worried about the risk of Ferengi excursions on this space.  I don't
know if you heard the report from Ensign Kamerev, but they have found
signs that the Ferengi have found the tritanium deposits here, but
weren't able to stay for some reason.  A planet as 6-rich as this , in a
war.... would be an important base."
As always, the Vulcan's face showed no emotion, and her counter-argument
was quite solidly based in logic.
"Sir, you are quite correct, there is a logical chance that the Ferengi
might return, however, the chance is less than one in a thousand that
they will return during the next ten days, and with the combined
firepower of this ship, and the two attack craft that you already intend
to take, I find it very unlikely that a shuttle would be at great risk."
"Commander ... I agree with your reasoning, but, admittedly quite
illogically, I don't like giving you a shuttle.  A run-about is too large
for some of the places that we will be entering, would you be willing to
take a third attack craft."
T'mayek was surprised that McGinnis was willing to consider something of
the sort at all, but considering his own, quite illogical form of
reasoning, this "concession," was probably an improvement in the tactical
position, and he was still giving her permission to take a third craft.
Even though more could be done with a properly equipped shuttle or
run-about, the attack craft were capable of doing a number of things that
the other ships couldn't, and she would have the ability to work
independently if she felt the need.
"Sir, if I may have an hour to make some modifications to one of the
remaining vessels, I will join you at landing place alpha."
"Very well, take the Rommel, I will expect to see you in two hours at our
original landing point."
"Thank you, sir." she replied as she turned to begin the work of
downloading the necessary programs into the third ship's powerful
tactical computers.

McGinnis turned to the rest of the landing party, which by this point,
had stowed their gear and were awaiting his next ... suggestions.
"Very well, let's get a move on.  I'll pilot Sherman, Walter, you put
your things aboard Montgommery, didn't you?"
"Yes, ... William, its there, and I think I'm the most qualified
navigator aboard, so I'll pilot her."
"Great, let's get out of here!" said McGinnis, finally allowing his
anticipation to show through.

An hour later, the first two ships had landed on the western edge of the
great bay in which Ticonderoga and her crew had spent the last ten days.
McGinnis and Schultz had wanted to do some diving in the bay, and between
the Admiral's command duties and Schultz' recovery from the injuries that
he had suffered during the transition through the anomaly, they hadn't
had the chance.  As T'mayek had also wanted a look at the life in this
part of the ocean, a return trip to this area had seemed logical.  A
number of other parties had expressed interest in the area, so as
McGinnis wanted some peace during his time off, they had agreed to stay
only long enough for a couple of dives, and the Science Officer's
studies, most of which would be carried out at extreme depth aboard her
science-modified attack ship.

By the time they had completed their first dive, T'mayek had come and
checked in with those who had chosen to remain on shore.  McGinnis could
see the sensor blip which represented her ship, nearly 2,000 meters below
the surface of the bay.  She was apparently studying the deep-water
chemistry, as their scans had shown that few life forms lived that deep,
even in these comparatively warm and nutrient-rich waters.  As he was
tired, McGinnis chose to stay ashore with the rest, while Schultz took a
deep-water diving suit and went to have a look at the waters near the
mouth of the bay, where some very large under-water life forms had shown
up on the scans that Ticonderoga had maintained while here.

Almost immediately after checking in on T'mayek, McGinnis set up his
hammock some fifty meters up in a tree, stretching it from the trunk out
to an branch that jutted upward from the first lateral branches of the
tree, which were about three meters below the hammock's level.  The
others had set up tents or hammocks depending on their feelings about
heights.  McGinnis was concerned to see that Kyla had waited to set her
sleeping place up until he had done so, and that when he did, she chose a
high place for her antigrav-supported sleeping cot, which floated beside
a tree within speaking range of his hammock.  Yet another sign that there
might be an ... attraction that he would need to deal with at some point
in the future.  However, until she made a move, he wouldn't say
something, for fear of embarrassing them both.

*    *    *


The next morning, five out of six party members collected for an early
breakfast.

"Where's Kyla?" asked McGinnis, after noticing that she had not joined them.
"I don't know sir," said Walter Schultz.  "I thought that she was
sleeping somewhere near you."
"You're right, but I didn't see her hovercot when I got up," he said.  As
he did so, he was finally able to put his finger on  what had caused him
to think that something hadn't been quite right all morning.
"McGinnis to Moran," he said after pulling out his old-style (but more
powerful), communicator.

There was a pause, and then Kyla's voice came back to them.
"Moran here, ... Sir, I think I have a problem."
"What's the matter Kyla?" asked McGinnis, a smile trying  to appear on
his face.
"Sir, I think that I must've forgotten to secure my antigrav to a tree,
and now I'm ... somewhere out in the middle of the bay."

McGinnis barely kept from cracking up, and the only thing that held him
back was the fact that he was her commanding officer.  Thompson and
Schultz were grinning so broadly that McGinnis was afraid that their
faces would crack from the strain of it.  The two Vulcans simply looked
at each other, quite obviously confused over this clearly illogical burst
of human humor.  All that the rest of the landing party members got from
them were a couple of arched eyebrows.

"Kyla, ... I'll come with Walter and we'll pick you up in  a minute,"
said McGinnis, before either Schultz or Thompson could start laughing,
which would have almost certainly broken his own self-control.
"Thank you Sir," she said, embarrassment ringing in her voice.

McGinnis decided to take advantage of this ... unusual reason for getting
started, and told the others to pack their gear so that as soon as they
had ... retrieved Kyla, they could set out for the mountains.

Some twenty-five minutes later, McGinnis and Schultz, aboard the Sherman
were closing on Moran's position.  During the night, she had been blown
about twenty kilometers across the bay, and in the general direction of
its mouth.  As they closed on her position, Schultz pulled on his armor,
(as second-in-command and tactical officer, he felt it was his duty to
bring it along, even on shore leave), and prepared to go out and pull the
close enough to the shuttle so that he could lift Moran across and then
return for the bed, which he would put into the ship's small cargo hold,
which had been cleared of most of the  other gear.

As soon as Schultz had brought Kyla aboard, McGinnis turned to her, and
grinning broadly, took the shot that his somewhat sarcastic sense of
humor had almost required.

"Kyla, please don't float away like that again, because if you do, I'll
have to get T'mayek to have a look at you."
As he suspected she would, she flushed for a moment and then, seeing that
Schultz wasn't back aboard yet, She began to smile as well.
"Sir, I always thought that I was my own best company, ... and the time
last night was quite refreshing."
McGinnis smiled back, and was about to respond when Schultz' head
appeared in the open hatch.  Seeing this, McGinnis changed what he was
about to say.
"Kyla, we're headed for the mountains, I told T'mayek to look for any of
your gear that you might have left..."
"I had it all with me," she said, glad that she wouldn't have to go
through the embarrassment of inconveniencing another senior officer.
"Very well, then go and clean up, we'll be there in a few minutes."

Quickly enough the three ships arrived at a suitable starting point, and
McGinnis suggested that they take the rest of the day to explore as they
liked.  The were particularly in favor of this plan as they wanted to
continue cataloging the planet's incredibly rich biosphere.  Quickly
enough everyone moved off to explore the thick forest into which they had
come.  Kyla had chosen to come with him, and after the morning's
incident, McGinnis was happy to have her along to make sure that she
hadn't been too embarrassed by what had happened.

They walked through the forest for a while, and McGinnis couldn't resist
the feeling that they were intruding on a place which had not been meant
for the presence of intelligent life forms.  It was very cool here, and
the dense trees formed a very thick canopy through which little light
could pass.  There were few noises, and beyond those of the insect-like
creatures that flitted past from time to time, only the occasional howl
or shriek suggested the presence of larger creatures.
"Uncle William," said Kyla, who had not used this term of endearment
since before she had entered Star Fleet Academy.  Although not her
biological uncle, McGinnis had spent a lot of time with her when she had
been younger, and when she had begun to call him uncle william at the age
of three, the young Star Fleet ensign that he had been then hadn't
objected to it at all.
"Yes Kyla?"
"I don't know about you, but I feel sort of like we don't belong here,
like this place was supposed to stay undisturbed by us."
"I know what you mean, its a bit spooky, but its also very beautiful, and
I don't think the forest will object as long as we're careful.  Still ...
I think we'll move before we set up camp for the night.
"I agree, I definitely feel like we should just leave this place as
undisturbed as we can."
Although he didn't want to deal with the issues that were coming up
between them, McGinnis did want to thank Kyla for her support during the
trip home from Borg territory.  She had taken on many extra
responsibilities so that he could have time to grieve the loss of his
wife, rather than always having to worry about the ship's repair effort.
"Kyla, ... I wanted to thank you for helping out with some of the ship
repair concerns while we were coming home from Borg territory.  You,
probably more than anyone else aboard, knew how much I needed the time,
and no matter how much Star Fleet tells its officers to push aside their
own problems during a crisis situation,  I don't think I could have
pushed that aside for two months."
"I'm glad that I could have been there, The doctor knew that you and I
have known each other for a long time, and he asked me to do what I could
to keep some of the ship's  day-to-day business off of you, and even
though I wasn't a full bridge officer, I did what I could to help out."
"I know, and I have been very impressed with how you handled your duties,
both then and during the Vulcan campaign.  I think you'll make a fine
commander some day."
Kyla's smile was very broad as she thanked him for the compliment.
"Well, let's get back to camp and see what everyone else has found today."

After their return, all of them felt that they should move to another
area, as they had all gotten the feeling, even the in their own "logical"
way, that they shouldn't disturb the forests here.  Walter Schultz had
come back early and scouted about in one of the attack ships, and had
found an area that had higher mountains and lots of streams and rivers
some two hundred kilometers to the west, not far from the western coast
of the continent.  McGinnis agreed that this sounded good, and they moved
to this new place.

SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part VI: Chapter XXX:
By:
Matthew A. Weed


McGinnis awoke suddenly, wondering what it was that had awakened him.
Over the last eight days, the travelers had moved about the great
mountainous region which McGinnis had wanted to explore.  Their travels
had been highlighted by a climb to the top of a 5,000 meter mountain,
whose peak offered a clear view of all of the lands of this beautiful
planet to a distance of more than 400 kilometers.  They had also hiked
through one of the deepest and narrowest gorges which any of them had
ever seen.  In some places the walls were nearly 2,000 meters high, with
the fifty-meter-wide bottom being in perpetual shadow.

On a personal front, Kyla had finally come out with her interest in him,
and although his rejection of her had been as gentle as possible, he
could see that it had hurt her.  However, his previous personal and
command relationships with her didn't allow for any kind of romantic
relationship, even if he had been ready for one.  However, he was still
far too close to the death of his wife to be able to think about anything
new.

However, he was quite certain that these things had not been what had
awakened him.  He couldn't put his finger on it, but whatever it was had
registered strongly enough to awaken him, despite a number of days of
strenuous activity.  At this moment, Walter Schultz' quiet voice came to
him from the tent which he could barely see in the unusually bright night.

"Sir, I think something's going on..." he said, his voice slightly tense.
"How do you mean "something's going on," commander?"
"Well, I was awakened about two minutes ago by a brilliant flash in the
southeastern skies, ... as far as I know, this planet's aurora australis
isn't supposed to be bright enough to see this close to the equator."
"You're right," replied McGinnis, now realizing what had disturbed his
own sleep.  "I'll contact the ship and see if they've got anything there."

McGinnis moved to touch his communicator, knowing that the fact that he
was checking in off schedule would probably concern both MacLeod and
Thale a great deal ... <unless there's already reason for them to be
concerned> he thought to himself.
"McGinnis to Ticonderoga ... come in," he said into his communicator.
There was no response.
He tried again.
"McGinnis to Ticonderoga ... respond."
Again, there was no answer.
"Walter, try your communicator," said McGinnis, concern creeping into his
voice.

Like the Admiral, Walter Schultz was unable to reach the ship, and when
he tried to reach the attack crafts' computers, he had no more luck.
"Damn!" he swore, some of his fiery nature flaring to the surface.
"How far are we from the attack ships?" asked McGinnis, wanting to
confirm what he already knew.
"We're about two kilometers' walk from there, at night it'll probably
take us about an hour to get there.
"Well, we'd better get Kyla and Karen up, while you're doing that, I'll
try to get T'mayek on Rommel."
"Right," said Schultz, now as worried as his commanding officer.
"McGinnis to Rommel, emergency code five, come in immediately if you are
able to respond."
As with Ticonderoga and the other ships, there was no response for a
moment, and then McGinnis got an answer ... of a sort.
"Look!" cried Karen Thompson pointing to the west.
McGinnis turned and stared in disbelief as a small Ferengi shuttle craft
streaked above the trees, traveling at nearly mach one.  Almost
immediately behind it was the larger, but still quite recognizable form
of T'mayek's attack ship.
"Sir, the Ferengi must have brought in a ship in hopes of restarting
their own quarrying operation," said Schultz as he threw himself on top
of Karen in order to try to hide them both from the Ferengi pilots, whose
sensors were probably as inoperative as the Federation communicators were.
"Probably, but if their ship came into orbit above Ticonderoga, why is
there still a lot of jamming," asked Kyla who was lying next to McGinnis.
"Who knows, maybe they've got more than one ship," replied Schultz,
clearly not liking the thought as he spoke it.
"It doesn't matter how many ships they've got, we need to get back to
Ticonderoga to assess the situation," replied McGinnis.  "Take only the
critical gear, weapons and anything that will speed our trip back to the
other ships.  Walter, you and Karen go back independently of Kyla and I,
and don't come back to help us if it looks like we're in trouble."
"But Sir, ..." said Schultz before McGinnis interrupted him.
"Mr. Schultz, you or I must get back to the ship, as we're the
best-trained tactical people aboard, and Ms. Moran will act as armed
escort to clear your concerns about General Order 15."
"Aye Sir, ... but what about the, neither of them is a tactical
specialist, and Slan has almost no combat experience, save this last
mission."
"I know, and I don't expect that they'll be able to do much, I'd like to
have Kyla aboard that ship right now, but unfortunately she's not, so
we'll have to hope that T'mayek's legendary skill with the computer will
be enough."
"Aye Sir," said Schultz as he and Lieutenant Thompson began to run back
to the small clearing where they had left their ships.
"Kyla, let's take the other path and keep an eye on the sky, if you see
*anything* report it immediately."
"Understood," she said, having to slow herself down to avoid outrunning
McGinnis.

The first kilometer or so was no problem, McGinnis warned Kyla of
anything that they might trip over, while she kept an eye out for either
friendly or unfriendly craft.  However, just as they broke over the crest
of the last ridge before the long sloping run into the valley in which
the ships lay, a small craft streaked just barely fifty meters over their
heads.
"Sir! Ferengi patrol shuttle, get down!" cried Kyla, throwing herself to
the ground in hopes of hiding from the small ship, whose armament, though
not powerful, was more than they had available at the moment.
McGinnis, who was lying a few feet downhill, turned and as if to ask a
question.  Before he could, however, another Ferengi shuttle shot past,
also headed in the general direction of Ticonderoga's original landing
spot, which was now about two hundred kilometers southeast of where they
now lay.

After a few minutes without activity, McGinnis cautiously rose and waved
Kyla up as well.
"We'd better keep moving, we're only about 800 meters from the ships now."
"Right," she said, and it looked to McGinnis as if she might say more,
but an odd rumbling which seemed to come from all around them cut her off.

It lasted nearly half a minute before coming to an end.
"What the hell was that!" was the call from Walter Schultz who had been
forced to track toward McGinnis and Moran.  Although McGinnis still
couldn't see him, and assumed that it was a rhetorical question, he
thought that it was a damned good one in any case.
"Well, what do you think," said McGinnis to Kyla in a voice barely above
a whisper.
"I don't think it was an earthquake, there wasn't any ground motion.
Maybe a photon exploded somewhere and we didn't see it.  That would be
the right kind of sound, if it blew a couple hundred kilometers from here."
"That could be, but I haven't seen anything that bright in quite a bit,
and even though sound propagates slowly in atmosphere, ..." McGinnis
shook his head, there wasn't time to wonder, just keep moving back to the
ships.
"Commander, whatever it was, don't worry on it, just keep moving," yelled
McGinnis.
"Sir, where are you?" replied Schultz, who hadn't realized that McGinnis
was close enough to hear him.
"A bit behind you and to your left, keep moving!"
Schultz' response, whatever it might have been, was overwhelmed by the
roar of a couple of small Ferengi ships, almost immediately followed by
T'mayek in Rommel.  Immediately after the ships passed overhead, a bolt
of red energy passed from one of the Ferengi ships and struck Rommel's
shielding.  T'mayek returned fire, the yellow phaser bolt striking the
much smaller Ferengi shuttle, blasting it out of the sky.

The other shuttle turned and opened fire on the forest below, hoping to
start a forest fire, whose smoke would allow it to hide until its mother
ship could do something to support it.  T'mayek knew that the rest of the
landing party were somewhere in this forest, and so she struck with her
phasers, hoping to disable the small shuttle without knocking it down.

Unfortunately, the blast missed the Ferengi ship, as all targeting had to
be done manually, as the + sensors were being jammed by the Ferengi
subspace suppressing fields.  The bolt crashed into the forest, not two
hundred meters from where McGinnis and Kyla stood, watching the action
above them.  As soon as it struck, the forest began burning, and McGinnis
decided that it was high time to be elsewhere.
"Come on!" he yelled, grabbing Kyla who was somewhat shocked by the
effects of phaser blast from Rommel.

As they ran on the ground, the two ships, one powerful and somewhat less
maneuverable, the other, highly maneuverable but with few weapons
maneuvered above them.  McGinnis knew that the Ferengi ship was too
nimble to be caught by T'mayek who, had little training in tactical
operations without the assistance of  the computer.  Unfortunately, the
best that she could hope for was another lucky shot like that which had
knocked the first enemy ship out of the sky.

McGinnis knew that he had to get to the other ships if they were to deal
with the small Ferengi craft effectively.  His other concern was that,
quite simply, a ship that small could not be of the interstellar
variety.  With this in mind, he knew that there must be other, larger,
ships in the area, and even though the Ferengi didn't  have truly
powerful ships, the inexperience of the people that Thale had to help him
command Ticonderoga was all-too-great for his comfort.

He thought that it was fortunate that whatever the Ferengi were using to
scramble communications seemed to scramble their sensors as well.  With
this in mind, he saw that it would be a simple test of wits and luck,
with whichever side could destroy their opponent first, winning
possession of this planet and all of its massive stock of biological and
geological resources. McGinnis had no intention of losing this particular
battle.

As the thought came to the forefront of his mind,  McGinnis saw that they
had reached the clearing where the party's remaining ships should have
been.  However, instead of their reassuring bulk, McGinnis and the others
saw absolutely nothing, beyond the grasses and tree-like forms that had
been there when they had arrived.

"Where are they?" asked Lt. Thompson more than a bit fearfully.
"I don't know," said Schultz and McGinnnis at nearly the same time.
"...Wherever they are, I think that we should get to that side of the
clearing, as I remember the forest there is much thicker and we'll have a
better chance of avoiding detection for the moment," said McGinnis.

Without another word, Commander Schultz began to race across the
clearing, straight for the other side.  However, he had run less than
fifteen meters when he suddenly disappeared, and then reappeared, his
arms flung out in an attempt to halt his fall.
"Well, I think he's found them," said McGinnis, hastening over to help
Schultz to his feet.
"Thanks, sir."
"No problem, any guess which ship you ran into?"
"No, but I think I hit about five meters ahead of the warp nacelles, so
I'll get aboard and de cloak, that'll tell us which ship I have, and
where the other is."
"Fine, ... Ms. Moran, go with the Commander, I'll take Ms. Thompson with me."
"Yes sir," replied the two lieutenants in near-stereo. McGinnis, however,
did not miss Kyla's sharp lance at him, and knew that despite the week's
events things were not fully settled in her mind as yet.

Schultz and Moran hastened around the invisible attack ship and then
Schultz disappeared inside, after calling for the airlock, which
obediently opened, showing a rectangle of white light floating nearly a
meter above the ground.  McGinnis thought that it was a rather
disconcerting sight, but kept the observation to himself.

Moments later, there was the typical hum of a cloaking field being shut
down, and Sherman wavered into view.  As soon as he saw which ship
Schultz had taken, he ran about forty meters further down the clearing,
and then turned left, his hands touching the cool surface of the equally
invisible Montgommery. By the time McGinnis and Thompson had climbed
aboard, Schultz had reengaged the cloaking device aboard Sherman and
lifted off, hoping to assist T'mayek in destroying the small Ferengi ship
which was still flitting about, just barely avoiding her shots, any of
which would have resulted in the death of everyone aboard the tiny craft.

McGinnis and Thompson were quickly on their way too, Montgommery's
impulse drive straining to keep up with McGinnis' rapid-fire sequence of
maneuvers.  As soon as they had cleared the trees, McGinnis set an
immediate course to cut off any escape that the small enemy shuttle might
make to the east, while holding a higher altitude in order to prevent a
run for orbital space.  The Ferengi shuttle quickly descended into the
canyons of the mountain range, and would have gotten away, except for
Schultz' determination to see this persistent problem solved ... using
all force necessary.  In this case, he apparently felt that one of his
ship's nuclear-tipped micro missiles would be best.  It streaked forth,
and detonated only a few hundred meters in front of the Ferengi ship.
Between the heat of the initial four-megaton blast, and the atmospheric
shock wave that accompanied it, the small ship's navigation systems were
over-taxed, and with a violent explosion, several times greater than that
of Schultz's original shot, it ploughed into the side of a mountain,
nearly obliterating it in the process.

After they were sure that the Ferengi ship was really destroyed, McGinnis
turned his ship toward Ticonderoga's last position and accelerated,
keeping low in the atmosphere in order to avoid visual detection by
anything in orbit.  However, the flash of the destruction of the shuttle
had been seen, and a bast of disrupter energy ripped across the face of
the planet from somewhere behind them.  Fortunately the first bolt
missed, and McGinnis and Schultz immediately engaged their ships'
cloaking devices.  T'mayek who had less familiarity with the attack craft
took a moment longer to find and engage her cloaking device, and for the
enemy gunner, who was also working by sight only, it was enough.

McGinnis watched in horror as a second bolt of yellow energy slammed
between his ship and Eisenhower, striking the partially-visible Rommel on
its starboard side.  As with all other ships with cloaking devices, save
the  Ticonderoga-class super-starships these ships couldn't both cloak
and maintain full shielding at the same time.  Therefore, T'mayek wasn't
able to protect her ship from enemy fire while cloaked, ... they had
always hoped that the cloaking would be enough.  The attack craft
reappeared, its cloaking device compromised and its starboard warp
nacelle and phaser cannon blasted away from the rest of the ship.
McGinnis and Schultz could only watch as it fell the few hundred meters
to the ocean below.

"Karen, can we get down there and pick them up?" McGinnis asked,
suspecting that he knew the answer already.
"I don't think we should risk it, it didn't look like the passenger
compartment was compromised, and with the capabilities of these ships, I
think we'd be better off marking the location and returning after we've
returned to the base," she said.
"Very well, drop a marker buoy in the area, I can't control those
functions from this console," said McGinnis.
"Done, sir."

McGinnis watched as another marker fell from a slightly different angle,
knowing that Schultz had probably had the same conversation with Kyla.
Knowing that Schultz's ship was more-or-less in between him and
Ticonderoga, McGinnis swung Montgommery far to the left, and then climbed
for altitude, hoping that his simple evasion would be enough to avoid a
mid-air collision.

Only seconds later, Thompson pointed at a rapidly-growing flare of light
which seemed to be moving toward them.

"What's that?" she asked.
"I ... think that's Ticonderoga," said McGinnis, staring at the white
ship, covered in a coruscating shell of blue discharge flares, apparently
caused by the ship's shields.

Almost immediately McGinnis realized that Ticonderoga was not quite
headed in the direction of the attack ships.  With this in mind, he
decided to set a parallel course and wait to see if he could figure out a
way to signal Thale that he wanted to be brought aboard.

Within seconds Montgommery was flying only a few hundred meters off
Ticonderoga's starboard-aft quarter, which gave it protection from the
fire of the known enemy in front of them, and also allowed McGinnis to
observe his ship's actions without much difficulty.  Seconds after he
came into his parallel course, he saw Schultz's Eisenhower drop out of
cloak a few thousand meters directly behind the larger ship.  Schultz had
apparently decided to take the more direct approach, and was headed in at
high speed toward the aft sections of the ship.  McGinnis hoped that
Thale, or whomever else might be in charge, would be smart enough to drop
the aft shields and let him aboard.  Unfortunately, the opportunity did
not arise just then.

Just as Schultz was getting close enough to begin docking approach
procedures, the Ferengi ship which had damaged Rommel took a shot at the
new, and far larger, target which was closing in.  Of course, the blast
did no damage, and clued whomever was I charge aboard Ticonderoga that
there were targets about.  McGinnis couldn't quite resist the opportunity
to watch his ship in action from a better angle, and almost before he had
consciously decided to do so, he had moved Montgommery into a position
which put it alongside the far larger ship.  Moments later, McGinnis
watched in near-awe as the ring, which had been dormant to that point,
flared to life, climbing through the visible spectrum almost more quickly
than his eyes could follow.  Of course, the most awesome thing was the
absolute brilliance of the magnetic discharge which preceded the firing
of this, the most powerful weapon in the Federation's vast arsenal.

The characteristic white bolt flared from Ticonderoga, but due to the
ship's position in the middle atmosphere of the planet, a large number of
unfortunate molecules got in its way.  These were destroyed, either by
plasmatization, or by fusion of their constituent atoms.  In either case,
the atomic matter was severely shocked, resulting in a bluish corona
around the main beam, which in some places was nearly a kilometer
across.  The other thing that shocked McGinnis was the noise of the
thing.  Even through Montgommery's heavily shielded hull, and its own
powerful deflectors, the roar was nearly deafening.  McGinnis suspected
that had there been any glass windows on that side of the planet that
they might have been broken.

Of course, the bolt didn't care about its aesthetic effects, and ripped
free of the atmosphere, just barely missing its intended target.  The
Ferengi ship in question tried to run, but it found its path blocked by a
smallish ship, which had already unloaded twenty micro-photon torpedoes
into it.  As soon as Schultz realized what had happened, he had "pealed
out," and had streaked at full impulse toward the Ferengi ship's
approximate location.  As soon as he had broken free of the atmosphere,
at nearly the same time that McGinnis was pulling even with Ticonderoga,
Schultz had found the Ferengi ship, and had set an immediate course
directly toward it.  At almost the same moment as the bolt from
Ticonderoga had passed it, Schultz had dropped into a position that would
prevent the Ferengi commander's quick departure.  In actuality the
Ferengi warship was far more powerful than Schultz's craft, but he had
surprise on his side, and so when he struck with his entire load of
photons, the Daemon in charge could only register his presence before a
large number of explosives struck his ship.  The hits were far from
deadly, but they did give those on Ticonderoga something to use as a
visual target.  They did so, and the next blast from the ship struck
home, finishing the work that Schultz had started.  With this, the
jamming field, which required at least two ships to maintain, fell and
before it could be caught by the larger ship, the third Ferengi warship
turned and ran before it could be detected.
The ore carriers which they had brought along to carry the tritanium back
to a large processing center were neither fast enough nor well enough
defended to withstand Ticonderoga's weapons.  McGinnis realized this
immediately, but because he was to far away, he felt that it was best to
order Schultz and Moran to get aboard Ticonderoga.

"McGinnis to Schultz, come in," he said, is voice tight due to the time
pressure that he knew that they were now under.
"Schultz here,"
"Commander, get aboard Ticonderoga, take care of the convoy as best you
can, I doubt that you'll get the remaining warship, but you may get rid
of most of the other ships."
"Sir, shouldn't you be doing that?"
"Unfortunately, I'm too far away to get to the ship quickly, and I think
that you will be quite capable of dealing with the convoy while I deal
with the situation on Rommel."
"Understood, I'm already on my way, ETA about thirty seconds."
"Very well,  we'll meet you at Commander MacLeod's processing site.  I
hope that the will be with us."
"Right," replied Schultz.
"McGinnis to Ticonderoga," he said while beginning to bring Montgommery
into a rapidly arcing turn which would allow him to make a rapid decent
toward the surface.

"Ticonderoga, MacLeod here," replied the chief Engineer's voice.
"Robert, what in hell are you doing there?" McGinnis snapped, truly
surprised to find his friend and Chief of Engineering both alive and
well, and also aboard ship.
"I was aboard getting some stores set in place when the Ferengi tried to
attack us, Thale knocked their closest ship down so fast that I couldn't
even get to the bridge before it happened.  We decided that he would
maintain command until we could reach one of you, and then I'd take over
until either you or Commander Schultz was aboard."
"Good thinking, how many did we lose at the mining site?"
"Only three as far as I know, the rest were supposed to be in protected
areas at the time, and shouldn't have been hurt insofar as I can tell.
There may be a few more casualties, ... I haven't been able to talk with
them yet."
"Understood, ... as Soon as we have Rommel able to limp back  to base,
I'll check up on them.  Schultz will be aboard any second, so I'll be
leaving the ship to him for a bit."
"Aye Sir," replied MacLeod. ... Ticonderoga out."

McGinnis turned to the other matter at hand, the rescue of his science
officer, ad the ship's sole remaining doctor.

"Admiral, when we get back to the crash site, what can I do to help?"
asked Lieutenant Thompson, temporarily disturbing the state of
concentration into which McGinnis had fallen.
"I suspect that the ship will have sunk to an equilibrium depth, probably
about twenty to thirty meters below the surface.  our sensors have
cleared, so communications have probably cleared also.  Try signaling
them, and get me a full damage report.  We're about three or four minutes
from them, and I need to keep an eye on Ticonderoga's progress against
the Ferengi cargo ships."
"Understood," she said, immediately beginning to hail T'mayek and Slan
aboard their crippled ship.

As he navigated toward the sensor markers, McGinnis watched the
long-range scanners, and found that the Ferengi ships which remained were
no match for Ticonderoga.  This was no surprise to him, but still, if all
of them could be destroyed, the Ferengi would e forced to wonder what had
happened to their convoy, rather than being certain that a Federation
warship was in the area.  McGinnis knew that if the Ferengi had to wonder
what had happened to their convoy, they might not send a sufficiently
powerful force to investigate.  If that happened , he might get a chance
to weaken them further, while keeping the knowledge that a heavy
Federation unit was far from where it should be, out of their hands.

"Sir, I have a text-only message from Slan, he reports that Commander
T'mayek is unconscious, and in heeling trance.  He says that they are
approximately twenty-five meters below the surface and that all power
from the starboard warp nacelle is out, and some other systems are
unresponsive.  He believes that no hull damage has occurred, but due to
his lack of familiarity with the tactical/structural readouts, he can not
be certain."
"Very well, it is worse than I had hoped, but not as bad as it might have
been," replied McGinnis.  "...Tell him that we are approximately ninety
seconds from his position, and that we will evacuate them from the ship
and return for it later."
"Sending, sir."

The rescue operation was somewhat more difficult than McGinnis had
expected, simply because when they had built the attack craft, no one had
expected to have to rescue the crew while under water.  The ships had
been built with the submersible capability, more as an added stealth
device than for any other purpose.  Therefore, it had been expected that
the ships would remain cloaked or on the bottom until friendly forces
could transport the crews aboard or the ships could be repaired or scuttled.

McGinnis finally decided that the easiest way to get the off their craft
would be to boost it up to surface level and then simply have them take
one of the tried-and-true inflatable life boats until he could return and
have Thompson assist them aboard Montgommery.

After Thompson had notified them of the plan, McGinnis brought
Montgommery just under the damaged Rommel and then engaged, ever so
gently, the antigravity generators.  Because they weren't built for this
kind of work, the antigravs took time to lift nearly twice as much mass
as they were rated for to the surface. As soon as Rommel broke the
surface, the exited through the aft hatch, and inflated the small life
boat. As soon as he was sure that they were safely aboard, McGinnis
simply turned the antigravs to about two/thirds of their standard output,
and the two ships slipped slowly below the waves.  His plan would have
worked perfectly, save for the fact that a major weather front was moving
in, and the surface chop was growing by the minute.  The weren't at risk
as their lifeboat was capable of cealing its passengers in, so that the
worst that they were likely to suffer would be a serious case of
seasickness, as the boat was nearly unsinkable, unless something were to
puncture it.

The problem lay with Rommel, which was powerless and being tossed about
by the surface activity. finally McGinnis decided to drop down as quickly
as possible so that Montgommery wouldn't be threatened by its jostling
burden.  The decent was performed nearly perfectly, but a sudden strong
wave swept Rommel from the top surface of McGinnis ship.  As it moved,
the powerless craft turned on its side, smashing its still-attached port
warp nacelle against the edge of Montgommery's hull.  The nacelle broke
loose, and water poured into the opening, quickly threatening the systems
which maintained  the power generators' containment no matter what the
ship's other systems might be suffering.
McGinnis watched as the now-totaled craft sank off his starboard bow, and
almost didn't notice as Thompson's body suddenly went rigid with tension.

"Sir! sensors show that Rommel is going to lose anti-matter containment
in about two minutes, we've got to move!" she cried, seeing the readouts
on the sensors, which hadn't held his attention for the last few moments.
"What?" he said, his attention turning to matters aboard Montgommery,
which, fortunately, was not damaged in the accident.  He then saw that
she was right, and that they were in serious trouble.

"Lieutenant, get the aft hatch ready, we're only going to have one chance
at this.  When I come along side the raft, tell them what's happening,
and give them each a hand.  Be sure that you're braced, they are strong
enough to pull themselves aboard, assuming that you don't slip."
"Understood, sir."

McGinnis brought the ship around, meanwhile thanking his good luck that
it had suffered no appreciable damage.  Meanwhile Karen moved to the
narrow projection behind the seats which served as open cargo storage and
access way to the hatch.  There was little that she could brace against,
save the frame of the airlock, which was already cycled open, with only
the outer hatch between her and the waters which were still rushing past.

Quickly enough, the ship was on the ocean's surface, and only meters from
the.  However, the maneuver had taken precious time, and they had less
than ninety seconds left before the nearly fifty kilograms of antimatter
aboard Rommel would make themselves felt in an explosion yielding
approximately two gigatons.
"I'll be in position in ten seconds, you have only thirty before we must
evacuate, so move!" yelled McGinnis over the now roaring wind and waves.
"Right!" Thompson responded.

McGinnis brought the ship to a halt, less than a meter from the violently
bobbing life raft.  Although the attack ships were small compared with
Ticonderoga, they were still nearly seventy feet long, and massed in at
more than 500 metric tons.  Such a craft was far less affected by the
violent waves than the almost massless life raft with its less than 250
kilograms of living cargo.

"Sir, they're going to be hard to reach!" Thompson cried in frustration.
"The waves are very large, and I can't reach them!"
"All right, We'll take the raft on the top of the ship, tell them that
you'll get them if they swing down from the top surface."
"She relayed this news, plus the fact that there were less than eighty
seconds until, as she put it, "all hell will break loose when your ship
blows up!"

The didn't waste comment on the illogic of her statement's formation,
simply moving so that they could grab any available handholds as soon as
they landed on the ship's upper surface.

Seconds later, the ship had moved so that the next wave washed over it,
and the raft came to a crashing halt against the upper phaser collimator,
an impact that caused McGinnis to groan with frustration at their bad
luck.  While they were now able to use the collimator as a handhold,
McGinnis had hoped that the would end up almost anywhere else, as the
collimator was probably the most sensitive part of the ship.

"One minute to explosion, fifteen seconds to departure!" yelled McGinnis.
"Understood," responded Thompson who relayed the news.  "Commander
T'mayek is about a meter from me, I'll have her as soon as she can get
through the next wave."," said Thompson, hoping that the ship's force
fields would protect the inside from getting overly wet.
A moment passed, and then T'mayek was aboard, dripping wet, clearly cold,
but with no new injuries as far as McGinnis could tell.  Slan,
unfortunately, was clearly a different matter.  It appeared that one of
his ankles had been broken by the hard blow against Montgommery's hull,
and he was not able to move easily as a result of the combination of his
injury and the occasional wave hitting the top of the ship.
"Sir! I don't think that we can get him oriented as we are, turn the ship
180 degrees, then we can at least try to get him when the waves push him
toward us," said T'mayek, who had replaced Thompson due to her advantage
in physical strength.
"If you miss Commander, we will be without any serviceable doctor!"
warned McGinnis.
"I am aware," she replied, not sparing any further words as she hung on,
hanging out through the force barrier which protected the inside of the
ship from the nearly-continuous waves.

McGinnis turned the ship quickly... almost too quickly, as T'mayek
reported a moment later.
"Sir, Slan is now hanging onto this side of the ship with only one hand,
his only chance is to release the hull and trust that my training is as
good as Star Fleet Command has told you it is."

The sarcasm caught McGinnis off guard, but he had no time to respond as
the sensor board, which had been monitoring time, began to chime softly,
warning him that there were four seconds before the ship would begin to
enter that period of time in which it ... might be destroyed by the
detonation of Rommel's power core.

"Four seconds!" he said.
T'mayek leaned out, gabbed Slan's leg, just above the broken ankle, and
began to swing him so that she could bring him aboard.  Her grip nearly
failed, and as it was, she was only able to bring him into a position
from which, with some clambering on his part, he could bring himself in.

At this moment, the board chimed, and McGinnis knew that their safety
margin was gone.

"Hurry! we're over the margin." said Thompson who stood by, ready to help
if either Vulcan needed it.
"Sir, Slan will require three more seconds in order to come aboard," said
T'mayek.
"Right, powering up for immediate departure," replied McGinnis working
over the board.

Moments later, McGinnis heard the thump of a body hitting the deck, and
T'mayek's words to the airlock computer which commanded it to ceal the
doors.  McGinnis knew that their window was already closing, and that
their chances of escape were somewhat slim.  He brought the ship nose-up
on the waves and pushed the impulse drive for all that it was worth.
With less than forty seconds before Rommel's core would explode, he knew
that the greatest risk to the ship was not the primary explosion, but the
vast atmospheric shock that would follow.

The ship climbed rapidly, but between the thickness of the lower
atmosphere, and the need for velocity and shielding, neither impulse
engines nor shields could get full priority. If the engines pushed the
ship too fast, it would be destroyed by friction heating.  If McGinnis
didn't move quickly enough, the atmospheric shock would do the little
ship in.

The ship was at about fifteen thousand meters when the ocean below seemed
to part for just a moment.  The flash of the explosion, even though it
had been damped by the water in which it had occurred, was still bright
enough to cause the windows to polarize to blackness.  Despite the fact
that the ship was moving several times the speed of sound, a blast as
great as that which had just occurred could result in transonic de
stabilization of the atmosphere, as well as the acceleration of some
objects to extreme velocities.  These threats were McGinnis' primary
concern as the little ship continued to rise as quickly as its impulse
drive could manage.

As the windows depolarized, McGinnis could see the enormous plume of
steam rising skyward above the still-boiling surface of the ocean.  The
tidal shocks which the violent release of energy had doubtless caused
were not yet apparent, but McGinnis was willing to bet that the coasts of
the two near-by continents would suffer from a number of rather large
tidal waves.  Fortunately, as far as he could see, no objects had been
thrown their way, and the ship's external scans showed that within ten
seconds they would be able to warp out of the upper atmosphere without
serious risk.

Just as they were about to achieve escape altitude, a warning sensor went
off, and a brilliant flash lit up the space off the starboard bow.
McGinnis immediately realized that one of Rommel's nuclear warheads had
been thrown out of the conflagration below, but apparently without
escaping enough damage to cause it to explode, rather than simply going
into stand-by mode until found by either a friendly craft or by an
enemy.  If found by an enemy craft, the warhead would act as a
self-guided mine and explode at a pre-programmed distance from its new
target.

In this case the blast had occurred nearly a mile away, and the autonav
had been able to bring the ship around the blast zone, but in any case,
this was a reminder that even the upper atmosphere was not totally safe.
Fortunately, they had escaped with no damage, and only minor bumps and
bruises from the ship's sudden maneuvers.

"Sir, what was that," asked Slan, an unusual tightness in his voice.
McGinnis knew without asking that the jarring had doubtless aggravated
the Vulcan's injuries, which though not life-threatening, would doubtless
cause pain.  Pain that would be difficult to  control, even with a
Vulcan's training.

"We had a nuclear detonation off the starboard bow, doubtless one of the
warheads off Rommel, the navigation systems took control and brought us
around the blast zone.  We're about a minute from Ticonderoga, it would
appear that Schultz has handled all of the Ferengi ships in the area,
except the one warship that, I think, turned and ran before they could
get in position."
"It is fortunate that we are closing on the ship, Slan must enter healing
trance soon if it is to be fly effective, and I am the only one who can
help him should he need it," said T'mayek.
"I know, we're forty-five seconds out."
McGinnis opened a channel to the only ship that he truly considered his.
Even the earlier ships which he had commanded hadn't felt quite right.
He had been important in all phases of the design and staffing of
Ticonderoga, and although he recognized that it had flaws, he felt that
it was the best design that had ever been implemented by the Federation.
"McGinnis to Ticonderoga, I have a medical emergency and request
immediate landing clearance."
"Clearance granted," replied Schultz's voice.
Thirty seconds later, Montgommery sat beside Sherman in the landing bay,
and McGinnis was headed for the Bridge.

After getting Schultz's report, he thought for a few moments on what they
should do.  As soon as things were as clear as they were likely to get,
he set the crew to preparing the ship for a reentry to the atmosphere in
order to pick up their mining equipment.

Command Log: Stardate 57330.6: Admiral William McGinnis, Commanding USS
Ticonderoga: Recording:

I believe that we should return to the surface in order to retrieve
Commander MacLeod's processing equipment which had to be left behind
during the ship's recent battle against the Ferengi mining convoy.  It is
interesting that they sent any warships along with this group of vessels,
considering that Federation probes have barely entered this part of
space, and that the front of our  manned exploration is still nearly 100
light years away.  However, no matter the reason for their dispatch, two
of three of the Ferengi ships have been destroyed, the third has,
however, managed to escape and will doubtless bring news of the presence
of this ship to the Ferengi trading council.  Along with the two warships
that we destroyed, Mr. Schultz destroyed thirteen ore carriers, calling
the action "like shooting monkeys in a barrel,".  No matter the exact
meaning of the statement, the fact is that all of the ore ships have been
destroyed, and we now know about another valuable source of tritanium in
our galaxy, a discovery of tremendous import.

It is reserved to the future to see how this discovery will be dealt with.

***
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SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part VII: Chapter XXXI
By:
Matthew A. Weed
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Command Log: Stardate 57358.4: Adiral William McGinnis, Commanding USS
Ticonderoga: Recording:

It is three days since we fought with the Farengi convoy in the
still-unnamed star system which we are now leaving behind.  In those last
three days, we have collected all of the mining equipment, the nearly
100,000 tons of pure tritanium which we have refined, and our few
unboarded crewmembers.

The planet which we leave is a vast treasure house of minerological,
pharmacological, and other treasures whose scope is still not fully known
to us.  I know that this planet should have the right to develop as it
will, along with its class-M sister.  There are few solar systems in the
galaxy which have two class-M planets, not to mention planets as rich as
these apparently are.  We could only scan and catalog the other at long
range, but their biodiversity seems to exceed that of our landing place,
and although it seems somewhat less-well minerologically endowed, but
what exists there will certainly do for the development of a wealthy
space-going civilization at some point in the future.  The other class-M
planet already shows limited development toward civilization, but only on
the copper or early bronze-age level technologies as yet.  For this
reason, I have set mines throughout the system which will take a serious
toll on anyone who returns without the proper shut-down codes.  If we
can't get a science party out to study the system, the mines will
self-destruct when the planet's civilization begins to show space-going
activity, or a Federation protective presence can be established.

Originally, I had intended to return to our home base, in order to
ensure that all of our repairs were checked in drydock, and to get a
replacement for the attack ship lost in our recent battle.  However, I
now believe that the near-by scientific colony established by the
Earth-Vulcan league of universities is now the best place for us to go,
as these institutions may have the scientific resources to do the studies
that Starfleet can't carry out while the war rages on. Therefore, we are
proceeding at warp seven toward the nearest of these colonies, which is
orbiting Suban, a star which used to be a pole star guiding the
bronze-age mariners on Earth.  We will arrive there tomorrow, and will
then proceed home, assuming that the colonists feel safe in allowing us
to do so.  Unfortunately for them, their homes are far closer to Farengi
free trading spaces than I would like, and I feel that we must be certain
that their position is reasonably secure until such time as Starfleet can
deal with the comparatively threat posed by the Ferengi.

McGinnis shut off the log recorder and left his quarters, headed in the
general direction of the recreation deck.  It wasn't time for his
work-out, but the rec-deck was always a good place to gauge the mood of
the crew. They were still benefitting from the long rest that they had
recently had, but there was also some stress, considering that they had
been out of contact with the Federation for nearly a month.  Although the
crew was, in general, young and comparatively unattached, many had
families spread throughout the Federation, and they were growing restless
as they considered all of the things that might have happened in that time.

"Admiral McGinnis, please report to the bridge immediately," said the
computer through McGinnis' com badge.

McGinnis course changed automatically, and soon he was headed toward the
bridge in the company of Kyla Moran, who had already occupied the
turbo-lift car that stopped to pick him up.

Ever since his rejection of her romantic advance, she had been a bit
stand-offish toward him.  Although he wasn't sure, he thought that he
might be her first crush, and he had silently rebuked himself for his
words to her a number of times over the past few days.

Fortunately, the doors of the car opened before the situation became
overly tense, and he strowed onto the bridge.

As soon as he arrived, T'mayek quietly signalled to him that she wished
to speak with him without bringing her concerns to the attention of the
rest of the crew.  As soon as he was standing behind her station, she
turned, and in a voice barely loud enough for him to hear, she told him
of their latest trouble.

"Admiral, I have been able to pick up some long-range signalls from the
Federation News Service and some other civilian and military
organizations.  Their content is of some concern, but they hold some
information which is of immediate concern to this vessel."
"Is this something you can discuss on the Bridge?"
"I believe tat the rest of the crew might find the news somewhat disturbing."
"Understood, come with me." he said.  Turning to the helmsman, he said:
"Mr. Thale, please monitor ship's operations station."
"Aye Sir," replied te andorian, as he set one of the auxiliary monitor
pannels to notify him if anything of import occurred at ops.

The two officers then departed the Bridge, and hastened the short
distance to the ship's primary conference room  As soon as they entered,
McGinnis turned, his body language demanding a report.

T'mayek, despite her unemotional facade had become quite adept at reading
the emotions of others, particularly her crewmates on the Bridge, with
whom she had worked for nearly a decade.  This being so, he did not need
to prompt her for her report.
"Admiral, we appear to have been shifted forward in time, apparently some
five hundred standard stardates, or one half of an Earth year."
"I take it that this is as a result of the anomoly through which we
passed?" he asked, after a brief period of shocked silence.
"Yes, sir.  I would further note that we were unaware of the problem as a
result of the extremely limited duration of the time jump, and our
comparative unfamiliarity with the section of space into which the
anomoly placed this vessel."
"I see," he said.
  "We should return to the Bridge, and check in with Star Fleet
Headquarters."
As they turned to leave, Thale's voice interrupted their movements and
thoughts.
"Admiral, we have a very strange signal coming in over extremely
high-frequency subspace."
"Understood, I'm on my way."

Moments later McGinnis and T'mayek were back on the bridge, and Schultz
was releasing the command chair to him.

"Put the message on screen," said McGinnis.
T'mayek's fingers moved over her console, and then a wavery picture came
up on the main viewer.

The screen showed a young human, probably no more than ten or twelve
years old.  It was immediately obvious to everyone on the bridge, that
the girl was terrified and near tears.

"My name is Anna Sanchez, and I need help," she said as soon as she
realized that there had been a response to her signal.
"I am William McGinnis, ... commanding a Federation starship in the area,
why are you on this frequency?"
Almost immediately, Anna began to cry, and it was a moment before she
could collect herself sufficiently to tell her tale.

"I was in the caves west of Research City, and when I came out, there was
a strange light in the sky, and big explosions everywhere."
McGinnis was just about to ask her what planet she was on when the
tactical overlay from Schultz's station told him that she was on the
planet toward which they were currently headed.  McGinnis had trouble
believing this, as it was still nearly forty light years ahead, and the
frequency that she was on could not carry a signal more than a few
hundred million kilometers.
"Ana, I want you to get off your com unit, don't transmit anymore until
we can get there.  It should only be a few minutes and then we'll help you."
"OK," she said and cut the transmission.
"Helm, emergency warp, main course. ... Tactical, stand-by on shields and
particle phasers, full power on scanners and sensors, we don't know what
kind of enemy we're facing."
"Aye Sir," replied thale and Schultz.

The ship streaked through space, its mighty engines bringing it toward a
planet whose people might be beyond even the mighty vessel's ability to
help.


SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part VII: Chapter XXXII
By:
Matthew A. Weed
Comments to [e-mail]

Command Log: Stardate 57815.4: We are now in orbit over the Consortium
colony in the Suban system. I have brought the crew up to date on our
current placement in time, and although many are concerned about the fact
that we are doubtless presumed missing and probably destroyed, everyone's
main concern is the needless attack on the colony below us.

There were practically no defenses, and those that did exist were
obviously insufficient for the task of defending the colony against
whatever attacked it.  As far as we are able to discover, there are no
ships in orbit now, but I have decided to keep the ship on red alert
until such time as we are certain that we are reasonably safe.
Unfortunately, we need to transport many parties down to look over the
situation, and rescue the one remaining colonist, so I have ordered that
the ship be cloaked, so that we can transport our people down with as
much little danger to the ship as possible.

McGinnis switched the log recorder off and began to put on his armor.
Unlike most captains in the fleet he had always refused to be kept off of
landing parties, and although he had had to work to find first officers
who would not be too difficult about the regulations, he had always been
able to find personel who weren't particularly concerned about following
regulations to the letter.  In his mind, there should be no difference
between a "regular", and "dangerous", situation, considering that no
situation was ever truly safe.  The fact that he was taking along all of
the heavy weaponry for his armor would probably help to convince Schultz
of the comparatively limited risk, and of his determnation to be on the
surface.

***
Minutes later the first landing parties began to appear throughout the
devastated colony.  Despite its great distance from the center of the
Federation, its importance as a research center had grown rapidly, and
its population had grown as a measure.  At least a quarter of a million
people had lived in the bustling city which was the single center of
activity on the planet.  As soon as they had come into orbit, it was
clear that most of them did not live there any more.  However, the level
of devastation on the surface had not been clear until their first
parties had been set down.

At that point, it was clear that most--if not all--of the colonists were
dead.  However, there had been that one voice in the night, a voice which
by all rights they should not have heard.  The ship's main scanners had
been able to pick out the likely site of the small transmitter which had
been used, and McGinnis headed the party which was to look into that
question.

"All right, I want you all to take this carefully, we don't know much
about the situation down here, and if she knows how to use one, I
wouldn't be surprised if that little girl didn't come out firing a weapon
first and asking questions later." said McGinnis over their comlink.

There were silent nods of agreement, and the team spread out, in order to
provide both friend and foe as numerous and diverse a set of targets as
possible.  Fortunately all wore their armor, so whatever weapons might be
on the surface would pose them no threat, but despite the negative signs
from the scanners, they couldn't be sure that whatever enemy had caused
the destruction might not still be about.

"I'm going to try to signal her now, I want all of you to wait until I
have a response ... or until I give the word to move in," said McGinnis.

The party members stopped moving immediately, and crouched down to wait.

"This is William McGinnis to Anna Sanchez, if you can hear this signal,
please respond."
There was a pause, and no response.
"Anna, if you can hear me, I need you to either respond or come out of
your building, we can't see you on the sensors, and can't beam you up to
our ship."
Again, there was nothing, but then McGinnis saw one of his crew bringing
a small girl toward him.
"McGinnis to alder, is that the girl?"
"Yes, Sir." eplied a young engineer whom McGinnis had brought along
specifically because she was young and might be easier for the girl to
associate with.
"Very good, call the ship and have them beam you up, I have a bad feeling
about this place."
"So do I, sir."
With this, there was a flicker of light and the two disappeared in a
standard transporter effect.
"McGinnis to party, the girl has been taken aboard, I am going up to see
what she can tell us.  I want the rest of you to stay down here, and try
to assist the phorensics crew with their work, we need to know who did this."

McGinnis received their acknowledgements of his orders and then
transported up to Ticonderoga in order to find out what had happened, and
hopefully who was responsible for the massacre.

***
After Anna had been released from sick bay, McGinnis met her in the small
guest quarters which had been assigned her until she could be taken to a
star base.  The rooms were smaller than the main guest quarters, but
provided direct access to both sick bay and to one of the smaller
recreation areas, both of which McGinnis thought were important in this
case.  The rooms themselves were barely thirty meters square, and
contained a small outer area, a bedroom, and a closet-sized bathroom.

Anna was seated on the bed, her face showing the blank expression which
Slan had reported in his brief medical report.  Clearly she was in
emotional shock, and unfortunately Ticonderoga was minus its part-time
counselor, who, being a psychiatrist, also had duties in the standard
medical section.  Without this professional aid, McGinnis could only hope
that it would be possible to keep her busy enough to allow them to hold
off any psychological crisis until such time as they could give Anna over
to a more competent medical facility.

As soon as the doors had closed, McGinnis sat down on one of the two
chairs and prepared himself to ask the innumerable questions which he
must try to put to this young and frightened girl.

"Anna, I'm glad to see that you're OK, the doctor says that if you need
anything at all, that you are to contact sick bay immediately.  I also
want you to know that I'l be available to you when I'm off duty, and
we're getting a list of people together that you can check in with if you
want company.  You're free to move around the ship as long as you don't
go to the engineering sections, the bridge, and the weapons control
centers.  If you're not sure if you can go somewhere, just call the
security office and ask, they'll tell you and you won't get in any
serious trouble if you go somewhere that you're not supposed to be."
All that he got was a nod in reply.
"I know that it will be hard for you, but we need to know everything that
you know so that we can find out who attacked your colony.  If its OK,
I'm going to ask you a few questions, please tell me everything that you
remember."
Again, only a nod.

"How long were you in the caves before you came out?"
Clearly surprised by the question, she looked up at him, a somewhat
fearful expression crossing her face.
"I was there for a few hours, probably three or four, ... I know that I
wasn't supposed to be there, am I in trouble?"
"No, you're not in trouble, being there probably saved your life, and it
gives us the chance to catch the people that attacked your colony."
"OK," she said, a clear look of relief passed over her face.
"When you came out of the caves was anything unusual happening?"
"Yes, the ground had already started shaking and I thought that there
would be an earthquake, so I got out of there as fast as I could."
"OK, ...what did you see when you got out of the caves?"
"There was some kind of a light in the sky, and every few seconds, there
was some kind of light that came down from the big light and there were
these big flashes and explosions every time that happened."

"I see, were the lights that came down beams like phasers, or big balls
or bolts more like lightening?"
"...I don't remember for sure, ... I think they were more like lightening
than beams of any kind, but when they hit, the place that they hit just
exploded.  Kind of like what they said the old Romulans used when they
fought Captain Kirk."
McGinnis thought that what she had reported was more like plasma fire
than phasers, but she hadn't probably been looking at the weapons effects
with a mind toward telling whomever found her what had happened, but with
a mind to hiding somewhere safe.  The light in the sky was interesting
though, no wepon that McGinnis knew of would emit that much light before
it was fired.
"That's fine," he said, realizing that his silence was probably making
her nervous.  "Did you see any kind of vessel near the light in the
sky?"
"No, I didn't look for one I just tried to hide."
McGinnis tried not to show his disappointment, if she had been able to
tell him something about the attacking vessel, ... <if there was an
attacking vessel> he reminded himself, looking for the responsible party
would be a hell of a lot easier.
"I'm sorry that I didn't look, did I do anything wrong?"
"No!," he said very forcefully.  "You couldn't do anything about what was
happening, so it was definitely best that you did hide.  I only wish that
you'd seen something, it would make finding the responsible ship easier."

She relaxed a little, seeing that he was, indeed, not angry at her.
"I'm glad that you found that transmitter though, it means that we have
some chance of finding out who did this before it becomes impossible to
track them down. "
"I'm glad too, and thank you for picking me up," she said, relaxing even
further.
"I'm glad tat we found you alive, I need to know about your family so
that we can get you to someone who can take care of you once we're done
here, but for now I've got to go to the Bridge and find out what my crew
knows about what happened down there."
"OK, I'm going to get some sleep, I'm tired."
"That's fine, you know how to work the replicator and the other things in
the room?"
"Yes, Dr. Slan showed me how to use the stuff," she said.
"Good, call him if you need anything, someone will drop by to see how you
are in a few hours, if you don't want to be disturbed then, just set the
privacy lock on the door, that person will know that you're resting and
will check back later."
"OK," she said.
With this McGinnis left the rooms, his mind occupied on three key
questions:  Who  was responsible for the attack, what in hell did they
use for weapons, and where were they now?


SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part VII: Chapter XXXIII
By:
Matthew A. Weed
Comments to [e-mail]

McGinnis was still in the turbo-lift when his communicator came to life,
Walter Schultz's concerned gvoice ringing out in the small space.
"Sir, we've just changed to a polar orbit, in order to monitor all of
near-planetary space, and we're closing on an unknown object whose
profile is difficult to make out due to extreme interference from the
planet's magnetic field."
"Understood, repeat the signals for red alert, alert, remain cloaked, I
don't want to tell them that we're aware of them until we can pick up our
landing parties."
"Aye Sir, repeating red alert," The klaxons and computer repeated the
ship's status, immediately telling the crew that there was something new,
and more specific, to concern themselves with.
Seconds later, the lift doors opened and McGinnis strowed to the command
chair which Schultz had already vacated.
"Status report?"
"We've just passed the unknown ship on its starboard side, and a bit
below.  We're still cloaked, so I doubt that they know that our status
has changed,  if they know that we're here at all.  The magnetic
interference must be as serious a problem for them as it is for us,
unless their technology is utterly superior to ours.  We're about eight
minutes from optimal transport location, and will be able to bring up all
of our people in one shot then.  If they're aware that we're here, I'd
guess that the alien ship is aware that we sent people down, and will
probably pick up our transporter activity, or at least the change in the
number of life forms on the surface, as soon as we begin transport," said
Schultz.
"Very well, do you have any pictures of the ship?"
"Yes, computer analysis is just coming in now, unfortunately their
commander is quite crafty, and has hidden within the polar disturbance on
the winter side of the planet, making clear images more difficult to
get.  However, the computer has been able to enhance what little light
there was, and it has given us workable images."
"On screen," said McGinnis, hoping to learn quickly what power was
responsible.

The image was still unclear, but McGinnis couldn't immediately say that
he recognized the ship that he saw.  It was much like a Farengi warship,
but it was *far* too large, and there were a number of odd protuberances
all over its surface.  The most noticeable was a huge cone-shaped
structure below the ship which was angled down and forward at about a
forty-five degree angle to the ship's fore-aft axis.  Other smaller
objects were placed randomly about the vessel, many mirroring the first,
except that they were far smaller.

"What is *that*?" said Schultz and Thale at nearly the same time.
"Gentlemen, ... I think that its your job to find out," replied McGinnis,
a dry tone ... more than creeping into his voice.
"Aye Sir," they replied and immediately began to think on ways of doing
just that.
"Science Officer, ... do you have any ideas?"
"Sir ....... I have little evidence on which to base a theory.  I,
however, would say that the ship does seem to show limited Farengi design
influences, but is far too large and resource-costly to have been built
by that power unless their ship-construction philosophy has changed a
great deal in the last standard year."
"Then who would you say built it?" McGinnis asked, having come to similar
conclusions himself.
"It would be unwise to come to any conclusions at this point, but the
weapons suggest an accelerator-based or plasma-dependent technology.  I
would estimate, however, that simply due to its charging volume,  that
the weapon could, quite conceivably, rival our main array in total output."

This brought McGinnis up short.  Certainly there were powers in the known
galaxy capable of building a weapon equal in firepower to the
Ticonderoga-class mega-collimator, but most Federation intelligence
experts thought that such technology was still several years from field
usage, and McGinnis had seen nothing in the last year that would deny
this supposition's acuracy.

"Very well, do we know of any power in this region of space that *is*
capable of mounting this kind of weaponry on their ships?" McGinnis
asked, his question directed to the bridge as a whole.
"No, Sir.  In fact, I think that the only power that might have the
ability is the Romulans, they've got plasma launchers on their starbases
that are larger than that one, but we've had absolutely no intelligence
concerning a mobile version of it, and their previous ships, unlike ours,
don't lead to the conclusion that they were thinking in terms of massive
single-weapon technology," said Schultz from his station.

"I agree, only the Federation through the Mycenae project and the
Galaxy-class before it, has been working in this direction.  However, we
must accept the possibility that they have been working on such a ship."
"Agreed Sir, but what about the fact that the ship shows strong Farengi
influences," said Thale whose station was linked with Schultz's in such a
way as to allow each to see what the other was doing.
"You've got a point," said McGinnis.  "Any thoughts?"
"They're framing  the Farengi," said Moran, more to herself than to the
room at large.
"Possible," replied Schultz, "but in that case, we'd better remember that
even though they don't seem technically capable of it, the Farengi might
be trying to do the same to the Romulans."
"Commander, your logic is flawed, as there is no profit to the Farengi in
doing so." replied T'mayek.
"I'm not so sure," replied Schultz.  "Think of it as a great way to
divert the Federation from the southern border.  They know that our
economy is far more able to build massive numbers of ships than any
other, long-term, and in a protracted war we're the most likely to win.
So, if you follow that logic, they would benefit from our paying very
little attention to this part of space as they would be more able to
supply the military needs of both sides without suffering from Federation
interference in their trade with the Klingons."
"You forget, commander, that until approximately stardate 56315,  The
Klingon Empire was a close ally of the Federation.  It seems very
unlikely that the Farengi would have known that any such change in the
galactic balance-of-power would occur."

"On that Commander, I must side with Mr. Schultz," said McGinnis.  "It is
quite conceivable that the Farengi could have been informed by house
Durass that they would act against the Klingon high command if the
opportunity arose.  If they have built only one of these ships, it is
quite possible that they would find the "risk" in such an investment
worth the possible gain.  Not only would they be able to make greater
profit in a situation like that which Mr. Schultz suggests, they could
extend the war many months by simply supplying a greater proportion of
the items which we all need to the Klingons.  It wouldn't tip the balance
in the end, but it would do a hell of a lot to lengthen the war."
" Admiral, you are correct in stating that such a policy would have very
great returns.  However, the cost of building such a vessel is beyond any
single Daemon, and the central government of the Farengi Alliance is
insufficiently wealthy to engage in such a project."
"Yes, that's true, but the Grand Naegis is capable of financing the
project, if he chose to use future profits to pay off any investment that
he might have make now," said Moran who was now watching the interplay
between the senior officers with great interest.
"If so, he is clearly willing to take a much higher-risk approach to life
than his predecessor," said Schultz.
"Well, in any case, we need information, before we can act.  Have you
gentlemen come up with any ideas?" asked McGinnis.
"Yes Sir, but we need another ten minutes to see whether we'll be able to
pull it off.
"Why?"
"We need to have a good look at the southern polar region.  If they've
left a sensor buoy there, we're probably best-off to perform a ...
experiment." replied Schultz.
"What kind of experiment?" asked McGinnis.
"It'll be almost as easy to attack a full convoy of ships as to take that
single ship on alone.  If it comes to aid them, we'll know that its a
Farengi ship, and we'll be able to confirm with life-form scans.  As long
as that thing's hanging in the polar magnetic flares, we'll be unable to
scan it here, without getting *very* close."
"I see, and if there isn't a buoy, we can launch a ship to take the
close-in scans while cloaked?" asked McGinnis, the plan quickly coming
into focus in his mind.
"Yes, Sir."
"Very well, if there is anything that you need to do before that time,
get it together.  Take your readings and report as soon as possible."
said McGinnis.

*    *    *

Half an hour later Schultz and Thale turned from their station in order
to make their report.  The looks on both of their faces showed their
disappointment.

"Sir, there's a passive buoy network here, it will preclude our launching
a shuttle or other craft on this side of the planet," said Schultz.
"Well, as we don't know for sure that this is either a Romulan or Farengi
craft that we have here, we'd probably better see if we can find any
Farengi convoys to muck with if we're going to find anything out.  We
can't attack that ship without full knowledge, as it is more than
possible that it comes from an unknown power, and although its actions
haven't been friendly, we don't dare strike back for fear of adding
another power to those that already face the Federation." said McGinnis.
"Helm, plot a direct course for the southern shipping lanes, warp nine,
let's see what we can find."
"Aye Sir," replied Thale.

Just as Thale was about to execute the new orders, T'mayek's head snapped
up, its movement mirrored by Schultz who was turning toward the command
chair.
"Sir!," they stereo'd, after which there was a brief pause.  Finally
T'mayek deferred to Schultz, and by doing so, gave McGinnis the feeling
that he might not like whatever news was about to come.
"Report," he said.
"I have two ships on long-range scan, both are preceeding here at
extremely high velocity, but at this time I am unable to tell what their
class and affiliation are.
"ETA?"
"They're travelling at about warp 9.965, and since we picked them up at
extreme scanner range, I'd say about three or four minutes."
"Well, whoever they are, they're not wasting any time, or energy on
stealth," said Moran as the screen began to show a tactical image of the
surrounding spaces.
"True enough," replied McGinnis, who was now waiting to see whether the
ships in question would be Federation, Farengi, or ... something else.


SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part VII: Chapter XXXIV:
By: Matthew A. Weed
comments to [e-mail]

Command Log: Stardate 57818.3: Admiral William McGinnis, Commanding USS
Ticonderoga: Recording:

We are still in orbit over the former research consortium colony in the
Suban system.  An unidentified vessel is still orbiting near the opposite
pole, and two other unidentified ships are approaching the system at high
velocity.  As we are both cloaked and in the polar magnetic region, I
doubt that our presence will be discovered for some time, and hope that
we will be able to identify at least some of the ships in the vicinity
before any more ... noticeable actions are necessary.

"Sir?" said Schultz.
McGinnis turned the log recorder off, and turned toward the tactical station.
"Report,"
"The unidentified ship slowed to about warp 9.5, and then engaged some
form of cloaking, at this range I haven't a chance of finding them."
McGinnis fingers tightened on the arm of his chair, this was not what
he'dhoped to hear.

"All right, keep your eyes open.  If they continue at their last-known
velocity, how long would it take for them to arrive in planetary space?"
"I'm not fully sure sir, they were still decellerating when they entered
cloak.  Even though they were travelling from widely separated points,
its pretty clear that they were in some form of communication.  The ship
coming from the heart of Federation space is probably about ten minutes
out, assuming that they stopped decellerating at the moment that they
entered cloak.  The ship that was coming along our warp trail is probably
a bit closer, ... say eight-and-a-half minutes out.  However, as they're
probably in touch, I'd guess that they'll arrive together, probably no
less than fifteen minutes fron now.  The best that we can do is to keep
an active scan out for them, and as you know, we're already running the
risk of telling that other ship out there exactly where we are," said
Schultz.

"Agreed," replied McGinnis.  "...Tactical, engage phase-cloaking device,
and commence full-power scanning and sensor sweeps on all available
frequencies."
"Aye Sir," said Schultz.

Immediately the ship shifted from "standard," to full phase-cloaking
mode.  Despite a great deal of work during the Borga Campaing, and during
their lay-over at Polaris Point, there was still a great deal of sensory
interference from the use of the phase-cloak.  While it made ships
perfectly impervious to weapons fire, and almost impossible to pin down
with sensors, its use could be easily detected if someone knew what to
look for.  Therefore, McGinnis was trading the comparative safety of
being nearly impossible to find in standard cloaking mode for the
comparative safety of being nearly impossible to damage under the
phase-cloak.

"Phase-cloaking device is fully functional sir, and scanners effective to
a range of half a parsec," said Schultz after checking his board.
"Good, keep an eye on your equipment, I don't want anything to go
unreported, even if its only slightly unusual."
"Aye Sir," replied Schultz.

*    *    *


Command Log: Stardate 57818.6: Admiral William McGinnis Commanding USS
Ticonderoga: Recording:

We have been awaiting the arrival of the two unidentified vessels which
appeared on our sensors some half an hour ago.  Unfortunately they
engaged some form of cloaking device before we could make any firm
determination as to either their affiliation or class.  As the
unidentified ship that we found in orbit some few hours ago is still
there, I feel that it is best to wait until we have some idea about the
situation in this system.  The phase-cloak should provide sufficient
protection until we can make some firm conclusions.

After making his log entry, McGinnis sat back in his chair waiting for
... something ... anything to happen.

Half an hour later, they were all still waiting for ... anything to happen.

As the wait dragged on, the forensics devision was able to make its
report concerning what had happened and the kind of weapons that had been
used on the colony.  However, before McGinnis could do much thinking on
what he had been told, their situation began to change.

Finally, nearly two hours after their wait had begun, Kyla Moran, who had
taken over Schultz's duties while he was off-shift, turned toward McGinnis.

"Sir, I'm not sure, but I think that there is a phase-cloaked object over
Research City."
"I see, do you have any idea whether its a Federation ship or not?"
"Its hard to get a fix on the signature, but I think that its probably a
Ticonderoga-class ship, or something equally powerful."
"Very well, open a tight-band hailing frequency to the cloaked object,
Federation talk-between-ships frequencies only."
"Frequency open, Sir."

McGinnis straightened in his chair, instinctively preparing for the
encounter with the  unknown ship.

"This is the Federation super-starship Ticonderoga to unidentified
vessel.  We request that you identify your vessel and intentions."

Almost immediately the screen flipped to show the image of a Federation
starship's bridge.  In fact, save that this bridge was done in yellows
and whites, not greens and blues like Ticonderoga's command center, it
was an exact duplicate.
"Admiral McGinnis, this is Vice-admiral Sanstrom, commanding the United
Starship Britania, and I'm glad that we've finally chased you down."

McGinnis' relief was a nearly physical thing.  He could see by looking
aroundthe the bridge that the rest of the crew felt as he did.

"Vice-Admiral, I'm glad to see you here, ... and not more of the people
responsible for what happened down below."

"We've only been able to scan the surface from up here, but it does look
like they were thoroughly pounded."

"That's for sure, I've only seen damage similar to that done by one other
ship ... and I command it." said McGinnis, not certain that he was proud
of that fact.  "In any case, there was another ship, maybe more, that
entered the system recently.  Can you tell me anything about them?"
"Yes, there was a serious disruption in subspace after your final battle
with the Romulan Dreadnought.  It was obvious, however, that your vessel
hadn't been destroyed, and so we were sent along the path of the
distortion in order to try to find you.  The effect weakened as it passed
through the lower Federation, so we assumed that you would have been
tossed out, either intact or not, nearby.  Considering that the Ferengi
would have been able to learn much from the wreckage of a
Ticonderoga-class ship, we were ordered to find you, alive or not, and
destroy anything that couldn't be brought back to the Federation."

"I see,"

Yes Sir, we were already beginning to  to monitor Farengi activity in the
area before we found your reentry trail.  We've been working out the last
bugs in the ship on our way out, Star Fleet felt that only a very heavy
vessel would be appropriate for the search task, and they couldn't yet
assign us to combat, which explains why we are here, rather than one of
the Mycenae-class variants."

"So you're still in shakedown?"
"No, Starfleet has certified this ship operational as of about thirty
hours ago.On our way into the system, we received nearly simultaneous
signals from Starfleet and from Gettysburg notifying us that the research
colony here had sent out a distress notification, and that Gettysburg had
been asked to check out the situation as it was uncertain that we could
get here in time."

"I take it that you were just able to contact them and decided to come in
until you could get a long-range scan and then cloak in the rest of the way?"
"Yes, how did you know?"
"You were just on the outer edges of our scans when your ships dropped
off scan."

"Oh, you were already here?"

"Yes, we've been in orbit for nearly half a day.  We were hailed by a
little girl who got her hands on a short-range com unit, and somehow, it
managed to attract our attention at a range of nearly forty light years.
I don't know how it happened, but in any case she told us what had
happened, and asked us to come.  Needless to say, I thought that we were
the only ship in the region, and brought the ship to full battlestations
as soon as we got the signal.

By the time we arrived, the perpetrators appeared to have left, but in
any case, the damage that had been done was so massive that it was quite
clear that we wouldn't have to spend much time looking for survivors.
The girl who contacted us seems to be the only one who was left alive.We
have been able to determine that the weapon used is some form of phased
plasma bolt that is equal to or superior in power to the discharge of the
Ticonderoga-Class mega-collimator.  I have no idea about its maximum
range, and wouldn't have been sure about the exact kind of weapon if we
hadn't found the attacking vessel still in orbit."

"So you gave battle?"

"We didn't do anything, as the only data that we have is images, as the
ship was hidden in the planet's north magnetic field pole.  Its design is
a combination of Farengi and Romulan influences, and the phased plasma
weapons that it appeared to support were more in keeping with the Romulan
designs.  Without any sure evidence, it would have been foolish to attack
them, particularly as their design is original enough to allow for the
possibility of an unidentified power as its sponsor.  I had just come to
the realization that we would have to leave the system rather than try to
discover more about that ship.  I decided that the most profitable method
of discovering whether the ship was Farengi-sponsored as some of my
officers believe, was to attack a near-by convoy in hopes of drawing the
ship out, in order for us to get some clear data, and hopefully destroy
it.  Just before we were to depart, Your ships appeared on long-range
scan, and I decided to wait out the situation to see whether you might be
friendly, unfriendly, or similar in design to the first ship.  After you
disappeared, it seemed best to wait to see what would happen on your
arrival in the system."

"Now that you know that we're here, what do you intend to do?"

"I think that we should try to push the commander over there to make some
kind of move that may give us more information.  If he's Farengi or
Romulan, we destroy his ship, and then go from there."

"Are you certain that we can take him?"

"Yes, with three Ticonderoga-class ships, particularly yours, we have a
massive firepower advantage in phasers, and Gettysburg gives us an
equally large missile-weapons advantage."

"Aye Sir, ... I'll get everything ready on this end."
"Very good, ... Notify Gettysburg that you've found us, and that they
should come to a position two million kilometers off the northern
planetary magnetic pole, and then rise to one million kilometers above
that point.  They should remain phase-cloaked until they hear from me.  I
want you to come to a position two million kilometers north of the pole,
and then slide down and to starboard at a forty-five degree angle for two
million kilometers.  I'll be mirroring you to port.  I want both of you
in position in twenty minutes."
"Aye Sir."

The three ships moved, each to its assigned position.

McGinnis was hoping to  surprise the alien commander by trapping him
against the planet.  To escape, the ship would have to either fight
through three of the four most powerful ships in the Federation, or slip
away along the planet's orbital path, which would allow them to get a
detailed scan from at least two of the three vessels.

As Ticonderoga wasn't at full strength due to the loss of the modular
photon launchers on the engineering section, McGinnis was hoping that the
alien would simply try to escape.  If not, his ship still had its
in-board weapons, and the powerful targeting system, which was far
superior to those on the other ships as he had only been able to get the
M-5-style processing capabilities installed aboard his ship.

The other ships, however, had their full weapons compliments, and each
was quite capable of outgunning any ship known to the Federation.
Gettysburg carried ten photon launchers, rather than Ticonderoga's three,
plus fifty micro-photon launchers to replace the particle phaser
batteries.  It had the mega-collimator, but this was the only
phased-energy weapon that the B-variant of the Ticonderoga-class ships
carried.  Other than its added photon storage, and reduced energy
conduate system, the ship was just like Ticonderoga.

Britania was the only Type-C variant of the Ticonderoga-class
Super-starship.  It carried only phased-energy weapons, adding two of the
Mycenae-III class super-collimators around its main hull, supported on
the struts connecting the mega-collimator ring to it.  Along with these,
it had a new type of strip collimator down each side of the engineering
hull.  There were thirty more particle phaser batteries located on the
two super-collimator rings, and each had a fusion reactor to support it.
The main systems could support the strip collimators, and another set of
high-output fusion reactors had been installed in the somewhat thickened
neck between the main and engineering hulls to support the
super-collimator rings when their internal reactors were over-taxed.

When this variant had been proposed to him nearly five years ago,
McGinnis had been concerned about the danger from having no long-range
missile weapons.  When he had been shown that the particle weapons, when
in distributed targeting mode, could knock out more than ninety percent
of incomming torpedoes, his objections had immediately ended.

As the ship maneuvered into its assigned position, McGinnis thought that
he was glad that he was on the giving end of the upcomming surprise.

"Position achieved," said Thale.
"Very well, stand by. ... tactical, prepare to decloak, bring the ring to
full power, raise all available shielding, and slave all weapons to the
tactical computer.  Ops, open a TBS frequency to Britania and
Gettysburg,  send the following, text only.  ... Twenty seconds, decloak
mark!"
There was a chorus of affirmative replies as the crew bent to ready the
ship for action.

"Ten seconds to decloaking cycle," said Schultz.
"Very well, Ops, give me a hailing frequency, open it as soon as
decloaking cycle has begun."
Aye Sir," said Moran.

"Five, ... Four ... Three ... Two ... One! decloaking now!," said Schultz.

The tactical view changed to show the positions of the three heavy ships
and the estimated position of the alien craft.  All ships had their
phasers charged, and Britania's photon torpedoes were also ready.  There
was absolutely no response to either the decloaking ships or the ping of
the subspace hail.
"No response, sir," said Schultz.
"None on communications either," added Moran.
"All right, give me a split-screen conference with the other ships."

The screen flipped from its tactical display to a split-screen image of
Krista Sanstrom, and the commander of Gettysburg, a Vulcan captain named
Slar.
"The ship hasn't moved since we scanned it several hours ago, unless it
has engaged a cloaking device and exited the system.  If this is the
case, the Romulans would seem to be our likeliest candidate for the
attacking party in this system.  As they planet's magnetic field is
unusually disruptive, and the ship was hidden low in orbital space, we'll
need to move in close enough to make a visual determination.  I want all
ships to converge at the point shown on your tactical displays as the
likeliest hiding place of the alien vessel.  Should it be there, bring
all of your weapons up, I want to try to scare them into either firing or
moving.  Try, at all costs, to get them to move, rather than fire.
Obviously, if any ship comes under attack, all are ordered to take all
measures necessary in order to ensure the safety of all.  Are there any
"No, Sir." replied both subordinate commanders.

The three ships moved in slowly, their shields and weapons still fully
charged.  Although McGinnis still believed that the ship was there, it
was still possible to feel the slight decrease in tension that the
possibility of avoiding combat provided.  If the ship had cloaked and
run, there would be more evidence to support the view that it was a
Romulan ship which had been built to emulate a Farengi ship closely
enough to cause doubt in Federation commanders' minds.  <If that's what
they're up to, they're succeding!> McGinnis thought to himself in
frustration.

"Now one million kilometers distant, we're within easy visual range now,
I don't see anything," said Schultz whose board was split between a
tactical view from the sensors and a live view from the ship's forward
telescopic array.

"Very well, its certainly possible that the ship has been colored for
camouflage, our visual images certainly suggest that, so keep looking."
Aye Sir," said Schultz.
"Ops, get me a channel to the other ships."
"Channel open,"
"This is McGinnis, continue forward until you're 100,000 kilometers from
the target point, then stop.  If we can't find the ship by that point, I
will order one final test, and then we'll have to assume that the ship's
left."
"Admiral, are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" asked Christa
Sanstrom.
"I think you know what kind of test I propose," replied McGinnis.
"Yes Sir, ... We'll be ready here," she replied.
"Admiral, unlike the Vice-Admiral, I can not intuit what your plans are,"
said Slar from his bridge.
"Captain, getting that close to a possible enemy ship would be extremely
unwise, particularly as they're working hard to remain hidden.
Therefore, we shall fire our auxiliary weapons in a blanket spread to
cover the polar region.  The fire won't seriously damage their ship, but
it will tell them, friend, foe, or otherwise, that we mean business."
"I see," replied the Vulcan before his image disappeared from the main
viewscreen.

"Sir, we're now in position, no visual sighting, sensor readings are, at
best, indeterminate," said Schultz from his station.
"Science?"
"All science sensors concur with the tactical report," said T'mayek.
"Very well, ... Ops, get be both of the other ships' commanders."
"O, sir."
"All right, it appears that our friends aren't there anymore, which
suggests that they've got a cloaking device of some kind.  I, however,
want to be sure, so we shall set a fifteen second barrage with all
secondary weapons in order to be absolutely certain that there isn't
anything in that polar region.  Sweep your fire from the outside in, and
don't stop firing until you've started to hit the planet's surface.  We
don't need to fire to damage, simply to figure out whether there's
anything between our weapons and that planet's surface.  If no, then
we'll reconsider our options;  ... If yes, you are ordered to open fire
at full power, work to disable, not destroy.  Are there any questions?"
"No, Sir," came the nearly simultaneous  answer.
"Very well, ... commence fire."


SUPER-DREADNOUGht: Part VII: Chapter XXXV
By:
Matthew A. Weed
comments to [e-mail]

Command Log: Stardate 57819.1: Admiral William McGinnis, Commanding USS
Ticonderoga, and associated battlegroup recording:

We have ascewrtained that the alien vessel has, in fact, departed
planetary space.  For the last few hours, I have ordered that the three
ships currently under my command continue to sweep the system in order to
assure that the ship has truly departed.

The ship's departure, in itself, would tend to support the belief that
the Romulans were responsible for its construction, not the Ferengi.
Unfortunately, there are still a number of key arguments against this
hypothesis in my mind, the greatest of which are the proximity of the
attack to Ferengi space, and the concurrent distance from the Romulan
Empire, and two, the fact that the ship showed far greater affinity to
Ferengi designs.  We have nearly completed the system-wide sweep, and
unfortunately there are no signs of the alien craft anywhere in the vicinity.

Without such signs, I must decide whether to return to Federation space,
as Starfleet would doubtless want me to, or to continue searching for the
craft and maintain a strong presence in this highly undefennded area.
Ultimately, I suspect tat either decision will have its price, and I must
decide whether my current standing in Star Fleet, which has apparently
increased since the Vulcan Campaign, is sufficient to allow me to
complete my work, no matter what decision I make.

"Sir, I have a signal from Britania," said Lt. Moran.
"Very well, put it on the main viewscreen," he replied.
The viewer shifted from the tactical overlay of the entire solar system,
as constructed by the three ships, to a view of Krista Sanstrom's bridge.
"Admiral, I can't find any signs of an enemy ship in my section, awaiting
orders," she said.
"Very well, I'm waiting to hear from Slar, as soon as news comes in from
him, I want to have a command conference aboard this ship.  You are
welcomed to make preparations for a beam-over, as I doubt that the
captain will have anything hard to report either."
"Understood, If I don't hear from you, I'll beam over in ... twenty minutes?"
"That sounds fine."
"Understood, Sanstrom out."

"Tactical, do you have information on Gettysburg?"
"They're just finishing up a sweep through the system's outer asteroid
belt, as soon as they're done with that, they'll be done with their
section of the search."
"Very well, ... Ops, as soon as they have finished their sweep, signal
them for a report.  I'm going to be in the main conference room, should
you need me, call me there."
"Aye Sir," replied Moran, clearly uncomfortable with McGinnis' delegation
of ... demanding a report from Slan.

*    *    *
McGinnis arose, and turned toward the turbolift doors.

The flash on the main viewer was so brilliant that its reflection off of
the bridge's back wall was nearly bright enough to blind McGinnis.  The
rest of the crew, except T'Mayek, whose Vulcan physiology allowed her to
withstand the brilliance, was temporarily blinded, and few were able to
report what their instruments showed them when McGinnis, now back in his
chair, demanded a report.  T'Mayek, knowing the difficulties of the
others, volunteered what little information she had first.

"Sir, a tremendous energy surge appeared briefly on long-range scans,
approximately two hundred thousand kilometers from the starship
Britania's position."
"Can you tell me any more?"
"Negative, sir;  the science scanners were not calibrated for that region
of space, as they were directed toward Gettysburg in an attemtp to assist
them in their final sweep, which is through a particularly dense cloud of
ice crystals and other space-borne materials."
"Very well, Mr. Schultz, can you give me any information?"
"Sir, my vision's still a bit sparkly, but from what I got in the second
before the flash, I'd say that a cloaked vessel switched off its cloaking
shields, and fired a high-powered phased-plasma bolt at Britainia.  I
can't give you damage estimates as yet, we're in a bad position for them,
and I'm still having a bit of trouble with my equipment.  All ship's
systems are currently under the control of the distributed tactical
computing system."
"Computer, report ship's tactical status?"
"Working:  ... primary and auxiliary defensive systems are at full power,
the main phaser array, and all remaining photon torpedo launchers are at
maximum power, and all particle weapons are currently at stand-by.  All
energy production systems are at optimum capacity, and all switching and
power transferral systems are functioning within optimal perameters."
"Very well, Ops, can you get me through to Britainia?"
"No, Sir.  Their main tranceiver array is out, only their disaster beacon
appears to be functional at the moment.  However, my communications scan
suggests that most of the internal communications gear is working, at
least to the degree of having power in it.  As you know, we can't see
whether the optics are actually moving data, and so I'm not absolutely
certain that they have any form of communications at all."
"Very well, ... Weapons Control Center, your report on the situation?"
"Sir, this is Lieutenant Thompson, I've been reviewing the log of the
incident here, and it appears that Britania was  struck by a high-energy
phased plasma bolt.  The ship's computers were able to raise some
shielding, so there was no critical damage to the ship, but it appears
that most external systems, including warp drive, communications,
phasers, shields, and the shuttle craft bay doors were damaged to varying
degrees by the energy from the blast.  Damage appears to be superficial,
but I would think that they'll be busy repairing over there for at least
three or four hours."
"Thank you, continue to monitor, we've all suffered from the effects of
the flash before the main screen could compensate, so it may take a few
minutes before the Bridge is fully functional."
"Understood, Sir, standing by to assist as necessary," replied the
lieutenant.
"Helm, as you are able, set course 156 marc 23, warp one to Britainia's
position. ... Tactical, keep your scanners pealed, I would suspect that
our friends are still around, and they've shown that they can mark a ship
as powerful and well-defended as this one.  ... Tactical, maintain the
computer's tactical status until further orders, but if you see anything
starting to decloak, fire immediately, don't wait for orders."
"Aye Sir," replied Thale ans schultz.
"Ops, keep trying to get a signal through, I'd like to know how bad
things are over there.  Also, get Gettysburg up on the main viewer," said
McGinnis.

Kyla manipulated some controls on her station, and almost immediately,
Slar's image ... somehow tighter thaan before, appeared on the screen.
"Admiral, we have noted the weapon's discharge in-system, and await your
orders.  We are currently at full red alert, and have loaded seeker
torpedoes into all launchers."
"Very good, fire the torpedoes, set them for sweeps in as many areas as
possible, have them detonate according to standard procedure if they find
anything."
"Aye Sir,"
With this, Gettysburg's torpedo launchers spat forth a vast number of
small seeker weapons which were primarily an impulse engine, scanners,
and a small thermonuclear warhead.  Like the torpedoes on the attack
craft, these were made for long range, and limited firepower.  Each could
travel fifty milion kilometers, scanning for anomolies characteristic of
a cloaking device up to a million kilometers from their positions.  If
they found these anomolies, small tranceivers would send the coordinates
to the tactical systems aboard Gettysburg and its companion vessels,
which would then be able to lock weapons on the area.  Even if you didn't
get a direct hit on a cloaked vessel, a near miss would do serious damage
to the comparatively unshielded ship.
"Sir, Gettysburg has fired its pattern, they're loading with standard
torpedoes now," said Schultz whose vision was, if a bit sparkly still,
more-or-less back to normal.
"Good," ask their tactical officer to send complete sensory updates from
the torpedoes every half minute to us, and to Britania, should her
communications arrays come back on line," McGinnis directed.
"Sir, we have reached Britania's position, awaiting further orders."
"Very well, ... Ops, put an image of the ship up on the main viewscreen,"
said McGinnis, hoping to make a quick visual inspection of the damage on
the other ship before deciding what to do next.
"Aye Sir," replied Moran as the main viewscreen shifted to an enhanced
image of the phaser-dependent version of the Ticonderoga-class ships.

The image displayed was of a ship that had had none of its major
structures destroyed, but most at least superficially damaged.  Almost
all of the ship's numerous collimators were slightly wrenched out of
true, and there were small burn scars on both warp nacelles, and spread
randomly across the ship's entire outer skin.  However, it appeared that
all of these scars did not run deep, and even as they watched, the repair
work of Britania's crew, and computer-controlled repair systems, could be
seen progressing at a respectable rate.
"Ops, can you tell whether they've got any off-ship communications yet?"
"No, ... yes sur, I have a signal coming in now."
"Put it on screen,"

With these words, Moran switched the screen from its external image, to
one of Britania's slightly-desheviled-looking bridge.  From what little
McGinnis could see, it appeared that little damage had been done to
systems there, and that what little trouble had been caused had already
been repaired.  However, Krista Sanstrom did not appear as calm and
collected as her ship did.

"Admiral, we were attacked by a large, cloaked vessel, which was only out
of cloak for about two seconds during its strike.  As your tactical crew
has probably already realized, we were able to get half shielding up on
main and secondary shields, which was enough to prevent truly serious
damage, but the shields, phasers, warp drive, long-range communications,
sensors, and many other systems took surge damage, and the phasers and
warp drive were knocked slightly out of allignment.  All should be back
in shape within two hours, with warp drive being the last system to come
on line."
"Very well, we will act as near centry until then, Gettysburg is
continuing the search for the unknown ship, can you tell me anything that
might help Slar in his effort?"
"A couple of things, but nothing certain. ... The ship seems to use a
standard-style cloaking device, with even better emission control than
any that we have seen until now.  We had absolutely no idea that there
was a ship in the area, until about two tenths of a second before the
actual decloaking process began.  At that point, there was a tremendous
flux in quark emissions, strong enough to jam our local sensor gear.
When the ship appeared, it was already in the charging cycle for its
weapon, which appears to be quite similar to that used on the research
colony.  It is, as you postulated, a high-powered phased-plasma
generator, with about three fourths the output of our main phaser
arrays.  I can't say that they fired at us at full power, our readings
seem to show a greater energy transferral capacity than what was actually
used.  However, we don't have much to go on, as the sensors were still
recovering from the quark jamming, and the ship disappeared at almost the
same instant that they fired their weapon."
"Do you have any estimate for how much greater their energy discharge
capacity might be?"
"Don't hold my people to this, Admiral, but we estimate a discharge
capacity of two-to-three times that displayed.  However, the charging
cycle for that level of fire is probably five to fifteen seconds, which
would mean that any Ticonderoga-class vessel could get in at least three
shots for each made by the enemy."
"Very well, life-form scan?"
"Inconclusive, but the computer says that the patterns fall within
familiar constraints, suggesting either an already- known  adversary, or
a race whose basic structure is quite similar to races already-known to us."
"Very well, Vice-admiral, continue your repairs, report every half hour
on your status.  I can send some people to help if you think that will be
of any use."
"No, Sir.  You're already seriously under-staffed, and I believe that its
best to avoid pulling any of your people away from your ship.  We've got
everything under control, and I believe that any help that you can
provide will not push our work forward much more quickly than we can do
on our own."
"Fine, we'll be in the area, should you not hear from us, its because
Slar's found something, and we've left communications range.  If that
happens, do as you see fit."
"Understood, Britainia out."

"Ops, open a channel to Gettysburg, ... Tactical, stand by to engage
standard cloaking device, maintain power to shields and the main ring,
all other weapons systtems to stand-by,".
"Aye Sir," said Schultz.
"Sir, channel to Gettysburg now open," said Moran, as the viewscreen
shifted from the now-receeding image of Britania to that of Slar.
"Captain, While we're looking for the attacking vessel, I am going to put
Ticonderoga in to standard cloaking mode, and will remain within a three
million kilometer range of Britania.  Their shields are now back on line,
so should that vessel reappear, they should be able to protect
themselves.  You are free to do as you see fit in this matter, but if you
see anything, even slightly suspicious, don't waste time analyzing it,
you've got plenty of weapons, use them, and then notify me."
"Understood, sir. ... However, I should, logically, note that we don't
know what affiliation the unknown vessel has, and it will be difficult to
ascertain if they are damaged and forced to withdraw without decloaking."
"Agreed, but your vessel has more raw firepower than either of the other
ships in the area, so I suspect that you'll be able to do serious damage
to them, assuming that their shields aren't fully operable while
cloaked.  Only the Ticonderoga-class ships are so-equipped at the moment,
and as you know, even our ships are strained to the limit under such
conditions."
"Your analysis is true, sir, in so far as it goes.  However, it is
logical to consider the possibility that whatever power is involved in
this situation has developed a superior power generation and distribution
system."
"I know, but for some, ... very illogical ... reasons, I suspect that
this is probably not the case in this situation."
"Very well, sir, however, I shall log my concerns in this vessel's
records as a matter of procedure."
"Understood," replied McGinnis, who had done similar things so often in
his career, that he didn't take any offense at all to what the Vulcan was
doing.  After all, there was a very strong possibility that he might be
right.
"...Captain, I understand your concerns, but so far, in these kinds of
situations, my intuition has served me, and I will continue to play it,
until I learn otherwise."
"Very well, I am beginning my search pattern.  Like you, I have set
orders that this ship will be cloaked and shielded, However, I can fire a
full broadside at any object that appears worthy of suspicion.  I suggest
that we maintain an open telemetry frequency at all times for complete
situation awareness and analysis."
"Very well, my Ops officer will make the appropriate arrangements on this
end, unless you have anything else, I wish you good luck."
"No sir, I am beginning search immediately, ... Gettysburg out."

*    *    *

Long minutes, then hours, passed, as first, two, then three, Federation
super-starships moved throughout the system, looking for a ship whose
cloaking device, in so far as Federation equipment was concerned, made it
perfectly impossible to find.  The tension level aboard all of the ships
was growing, and everything that all of the commanders did to try to
increase the breadth and thoroughness of the search, proved to be utterly
unsuccessful.  During the fourth hour of the search, Britania came back
on line, and began to work the outer solar system in hopes of closing the
routes of escape.  During the tenth hour, McGinnis ordered that all
cloakable small craft should be launched in order to increase the number
of working search craft in the area.  Within fifteen minutes, ten attack
craft and six run-abouts were moving through the system in packs of four
vessels each, trying to move close to objects whose proximity to other
large bodies made it impossible for the heavier ships to approach.

McGinnis was becomming increasingly convinced that the alien craft had
escaped the system.  However, he had also developed a great deal of
respect for the enemy commander, whose tactics had managed to occupy a
noticeable part of the Federation's strength in heavy starships in a very
distant portion of the known galaxy.  He was becoming quite certain that
whatever power was responsible, it was a "known" power, and that it had
important plans for which it had no intention of allowing the presence of
McGinnis and his accompanying ships.  However, Starfleet Command, which
had been notified of both the "finding" of Ticonderoga, and the current
situation, knew nothing, and saw no reason for diversion of any part of
McGinnis' forces.  However, all were becomming increasingly concerned by
the comparative quiescence along the entire Klingon-Romulan border.
Unfortunately, as Edward Jellico had put it, "William, it doesn't have
the feeling of a slackening in activity, ... more a sense of impending
... activity."

McGinnis, and the other commanders, didn't like the situation at all.
However, as long as they felt that the ship might be in the area and that
it, therefore, posed a threat to the other, still-present colonies in the
region; there was absolutely nothing that they could do.

"Tactical, status report?"
"Sir, we're about 600 million kilometers away from the star, in the
system's second asteroid belt.  Gettysburg is in the upper portion of the
system, and Britania is patrolling at a point nearly opposite to our
own.  All four patroll groups are currently clustered in the inner
asteroid belt, about fifty million kilomters away from the former
colony.  Thale, commanding this sortie, says that he's seen nothing, and
that all of his ships will need to come in soon for refuelling and
recrewing."
"Understood, tell him to disperse as necessary, and have the group
commanders make arrangements to dock as they see fit."
"Aye Sir," replied Schultz, who was handling both tactical and ops
functions while Moran and Thale were not on the bridge.
"Helm, set a course so that we can perform pick-up operations between the
first and second asteroid fields in twenty minutes," McGinnis said.
"Aye Sir," said T'mayek, who was handling the helm and science stations.
While on most ships, other crew would be expected to handle such duties,
all Ticonderoga-class ships were designed to be run by computers when the
primary station officer or his/her designee was not available.  As with
the m-5 style tactical computing system on Ticonderoga, this had caused
many waves in Starfleet Command's inner circles, many of whom had a
strong mistrust of full automation after the M-5 incident and some other
... mishaps over the previous eighty years.  However, McGinnis had been
able to drive the automated system through, based on the argument that
there was no way for the ship to ... lose control, as the system was an
enhanced distributed neural net, rather than a human brain, augmented by
computer technology as had been the norm in such attempts before.

*    *    *
"Sir, all craft from the fourth sortie are back aboard, Commander Schultz
reports that he found no activity," said Thale from the tactical station.
"Understood, signal the others, I want to take a four-hour rest, before
we do any more.  Even with all of the time that we've taken during our
patrolls, we're all tired, and will be sharper after some relaxation."
"Sir, as Commander Schultz has taken the least rest over the last seven
duty cycles, I will act as watch officer while the rest of the bridge
crew is aslee," said T'Mayek.
"Very well, but I want you to notify either myself or Commander MacLeod
if you feel that you need any time at all, after all, you and Commander
Schultz are the best-trained sensor operators on the ship."
"Your concern is noted Admiral, however,my vulcan physiology is more than
sufficient to the task of remaining fully functional for at least the
next fourty-eight hours."
"Very well, but the offer still stands," replied McGinnis.  "... As to
the rest of you, you are dismissed for the next four hours, rest as you
will, but know that if we haven't found anything by that time, we shall
depart the system."
The only response that he got was a general movement for the burbolift
entrance.
"Commander, you are to notify me if you see anything, even slightly
unusual.  However, if you believe that immediate action is required, do
whatever you feel is necessary, as you may not be given sufficient time
to wait for me to come to the Bridge."
"Understood, Admiral."
With this, McGinnis left the Bridge.
*    *    *
Command Log: Stardate 57834.2: Admiral William McGinnis, Commanding USS
Ticonderoga and Associated battlegroup recording:

We have been searching for the alien vessel responsible for the
destruction of the research colony in the Suban system, and the abbortive
attack on Britania for nearly two days.  I believe that the ship is still
in the system, but that its cloaking technology and current position make
it impossible for us to find.  I have, therefore, decided to leave the
system, in hopes that the alien commander will feel able to either
decloak, or take another action that will make it possible for us to find
the ship.

"Helm, plot course for Polaris Point, velocity warp factor eight, and
notify the navigators on Britania and Gettysburg of your exact
coordinates," said McGinnis.
"Course plotted, and laid in, coordinates shared with helm consoles
aboard our comapnion vessels," said Thale, who looked much better after
the rest that almost all had taken advantage of.  McGinnis was always
shocked by the recuperative powers of the Andorian race in general, and
his navigator/helmsman in particular.  "... both ships show confirmation
on the signal, and Gettysburg is moving into the aft-protect position."
"Very well, ... engage and copy to the other vessels."
"Engaged, command sent."

The three ships, still under standard cloaking settings, raced toward the
Federation and their home port.

"Now passing warp five, warp seven, ... sir, object decloaking to stern,
very near the outer asteroid belt of the system."
"I suspected that might happen, continue on main course, accelerate to
warp 9.5, and copy the order to the other ships."
"Accelerating, orders sent," replied Thale.
"Sir, why are we leaving the system now that the enemy ship has
decloaked?" asked Robert MacLeod who had just entered the bridge from the
starboard turbolift.
"I don't know, yet, why they were delaying us, but that commander clearly
wants to keep us from returning to Federation space at the moment.  Even
with that super-weapon, we seriously out-gun them, and doubtless that
commander knows it.  However, he has a new form of cloaking technology,
and he thinks that we'll have to try to knock him out so that he doesn't
pose a threat to any of the remaining colonies in this area.  However,
I'm convinced that someone, I'm not sure who yet, is planning something
on another front, and I don't dare allow us to be delayed any further by
playing cat-and-mouse with that ship anymore."
MacLeod, who had not been fully involved with the activities and
decision-making processes on the bridge for the past several days, simply
nodded and frowned at the implications of McGinnis' statements.
"Sir, alien vessel is accelerating, now warp 9.6 ... .7 ... .8, and
holding.  They're on a direct intercept course, ..."
"Understood," interrupted McGinnis.  "...All stations, red alert, all
decks to battlestations, cloaking device to stand-by, and accelerate to
maximum possible velocity."
Various versions of "Aye Sir," came from all of the bridge stations,
while the ship's red alert klaxons rang throughout the rest of the hull.
"Sir, all stations show green, and are either monitored or manned
directly.  All internal and external weapons and defensive systems are
ready, and cloaking device is now at stand-by." said Schultz.
"Sir, we're accelerating, now warp 9.85, ...986, still accerating.  The
alien has moved to match our speed, and Britania and Gettysburg are also
now approaching warp 9.9," said Thale.
"Ops, tell the others to push their ships to the maximum, we've got an
energy advantage since we are a bit short of photon torpedo launchers
right now.  We'll be albe to make better time than they can, so tell them
to do everything to squeeze extra speed out of their ships," said McGinnis.

The three ships continued to increase their speed.  Finally, Britania,
whose extra phaser weaponry drained more energy from the ship's engines,
despite the added power generated by the heavier quantum core, and added
auxiliary reactors, topped out at warp 9.93.  Gettysburg topped out at
warp 9.945, and Ticonderoga, depending as always, on Robert MacLeod's
legendary creativity, managed to achieve warp 9.96 for a brief time.
"Sir, Admiral Sanstrom for you," said Kyla Moran over the ship's tortured
wail.
"Put her on screen,"
"Admiral, we can't hold this speed much longer, and the enemy is closing
in on us, I suggest that we're not going to get away under current
conditions."
"I know, I'm going to have Gettysburg drop to your position, try to trap
the ship between your vessels, but don't let him get you in a position of
firing at each other," replied McGinnis.  "I'm going to swing around, and
attack as a rogue.  You'll be in charge of all operational maneuvers for
your vessel and Gettysburg."
"Understood, Britania out!"
"Lieutenant Moran, send text orders to Captain Slar, include a transcript
of this conversation, and tell him that Admiral Sanstrom is in
operational command."
"done, Sir."
Britania and Gettysburg quickly split, one continuing on the previous
course, the other swinging around to catch the alien ship on its
starboard side.  Ticonderoga accelerated to its absolute maximum speed,
hoping to use the added speed to grab the unknown vessel if it tried to
escape the two-sided trap.  Unfortunately, the alien was determined to
keep the chase going, so as soon as the trap became clear, he swung
sharply upward and to the left, hoping to escape both ship's fire, while
leaving Britania open to a blast from the great weapon, whose main firing
window was forward and below the ship's centerline.  Britania moved
quickly to stop the upward advance, but was out of position to swing
around and herd the ship back toward Gettysburg.  It was also not fully
prepared for the enormous blast of energy that crashed forth from the
alien vessel as it passed within half a million kilometers of the great
Federation ship.

The phased plasma blast tore through the shields, which had been riased
to full power, as the computer had had plenty of time to prepare during
the fifteen second charging cycle of the alien weapon.  Despite the
shields, its effect was shattering, ripping a fifty meter hole in the
mega-collimator ring, and tearing a great chunk out of the forward
sections of the ship's main hull.

In the meantime, Ticonderoga haed swung around, and was now headed toward
the alien craft, its computer preparing a retalliatory strike.

"Sir, closing at enormous velocity, closing speed is something like warp
9.9956," said Thale.  "...Distance is three billion, one billion, we've
fired... distance now three billion and increasing."
"Change course, match course and speed with the alien no matter what the
cost.  If you need to, put the auxiliary computer core onto the
navigational problems.  I want to be about 2.5 million kilometers behind
that ship, and once we've settled in there, ... tactical, fire torpedoes
at your convenience."
"Aye Sir," replied Thale and Schultz.
"Tactical, what damage did our little shot do a moment ago?"
"None, Sir.  We missed, we were moving too fast for the computers to fire
acurately."
"Damn!"
"Ops, get me a channel to Gettysburg."
"Channel open, sir."
"Captain Slar, you are to come alongside this vessel, and use your
long-range weapons to maximal effect.  I'll do what I can from here, but
you've got better torpedo capacity, and Ticonderoga's weapons will be
most effective at close range, where we can use our phasers as well."
"Agreed Sir, however, I should note that one shot from that weapon has
partially crippled Britania, which had superior weapons capacity, as
compared with your vessel."
"I am well-aware of that fact, however, I will be monitoring that weapon,
we now know that it has enormous capacity at close range, but I suspect
that its range is limited."
"Understood, I am closing to support."

Within a minute, Gettysburg, straining its engines to the absolute
maximum, had overhauled the two duelers, its effort assisted by the fact
that Ticonderoga was getting an occasional shot against the alien
shields, something that, although it didn't do much damage, was forcing
the enemy commander to divert power from his weapons and engines.
McGinnis was glad to see that although the alien vessel had enormous
capabilities, its power generation systems were, as he had suspected,
less-...over-powered, than his own were.  The fact that Ticonderoga was
missing some of its weapons helped a bit too.

"Sir, Gettysburg reports that she's ready to begin long-range attacks."
reported Moran.
 "The alien commander continues to vary speed and trajectory, but we've
been able to keep a tactical advantage through careful computer
monitoring," said Thale, "I suggest that we notify their navigator of our
current resource distribution."

 "Admiral, I'm already in touch with their navigator via computer link,"
said Schultz.  "she reports that she's already begun a similar program,
at the direction of Captain Slar."
"Very well, ... Helm, accelerate to maximum possible speed, close to half
a million kilometers, and then return to warp ... our current velocity,"
said McGinnis.
"Aye Sir, accelerating from warp 9.63 to warp 9.965, we should be in
position in about twenty seconds, give-or-take unexpected maneuvers."
"Admiral, enemy is charging that weapon," said Schultz.
"Understood, helm, if he even looks like he's trying to get position on
us, change course by ... Z minus ninety degrees, dcontinue at maximum
possible velocity."
"Aye Sir, ... I'm ready."
"Good, keep your finger on that switch."
"Sir, we're in position, half a million kilometers off his aft-starboard
quarter, and just slightly above his ship's centerline," said Schultz.
"Excellent, main ring to maximum charge, ... tightest possible
concentration, ... fire!"

The ring flared, but the bolt of energy that it threw at the enemy vessel
was so tightly focused that it wasn't even visible to those on
Ticonderoga's bridge.  However, its effect was quite visible, as the
alien ship's shields flared brilliantly and then collapsed for just a
moment.  The computer struck again, before they could be fully raised,
and blasted a hunk from the ship's main body.  Unfortunately, little
damage or system disruption occurred as a result of the second,
largely-deflected, shot.
"Sir, alien slowing, the computer's keeping us in position, so far he
hasn't been able to get position on us, but that thing is fully charged
again," said Schultz.
"Very well, ... helm, bring us to port, ... one degree, I want to try for
closer range fire."
"Sir, I think that I should remind you that there are other weapons on
that ship, some of them do appear to be quite formidable," said T'Mayek
from her station.
"I am aware, but most appear to have limited firepower, and as long as we
can keep out of the way of that super-weapon, we'll be alright."
"Sir, we're now 100,000 kilometers out, still closing," said Thale.
"Right ... Engage phase-cloaking device, continue closing."
"With all due respect, Sir; why engage the phase-cloak?" asked Moran.
"Because, Lieutenant, I want to get *very* close, and if we give him
enough time, he can simply suicide by simply crashing into us at
high-warp velocity.  If we come in under phase-cloak, he will know where
we are, but he won't be able to take the initiative, he'll have to wait
for us to move."
"Phase-cloak is now engaged," reported Schultz who had been working to
perform the operation while McGinnis had been talking.
"Now 50,000 kilometers," said Thale.
"Good, Ops, get me Gettysburg, have Slar close to a million kilometers,
and open full-scale bombardment with all weapons," said McGinnis.  "...
Science, scan Britania, I need to see what her situation appears to be."
"Aye Sir," replied the officers concerned.
"Sir, Starship Britania is currently at sublight velocity, the ship's
mega-collimator ring is severely damaged, and many compartments have been
vented to space.  The ship's shields appear to be under repair, and most
auxiliary and secondary weaponry appears to be functional.  Without
direct scan, i believe that it is logical to assume that the vessel is
not warp capable at the moment."
"All right, ... Helm, tactical, make sure that we don't get too close to
Britania's position, I doubt that it would survive another blast from
that weapon."
"Aye Sir,"
"Sir, now five hundred kilometers directly astern of the alien, we can't
approach any closer for fear of warp field contact."
"Understood, bring us to a position of 500 kilometers' range, at about
ten degrees above their midline."
"Executing," replied Thale.

At that moment, Gettysburg, which had closed to a million kilometers
began firing every weapon in its arsenal.  Fortunately, with quantum
power as well as the ship's main matter/antimatter reactor system, they
were able to put an enormous amount of energy into their systems for a
few minutes.  Therefore, photon torpedoes, both standard size and
micro-photons poured from the great ship, slowly working the alien
vessel's shields down.  Interestingly, they appeared to be of a new
design, whose primary improvement was the disruption of intradimentional
space as well as standard subspace frequencies.  This new feature meant
that the transverter could not be used to try to destroy the ship from
inside its own shields.  It also meant that, given limited subspace
jamming inside the vessel, that the type of lifeform aboard could still
not be determined by Ticonderoga's scanners.  A science vessel, with its
superior life-form scans would probably have been able to make the
determination, but, as McGinnis knew, --all too well-- it was impossible
to equip a ship for everything.  However, the jamming was barely
insufficient to keep Ticonderoga's computers from monitoring power
dispersals, and this alone had been what allowed the computer to keep the
ship from crashing into its enemy, despite the fact that decisions were
being made based on data received only picoseconds earlier.

"Sir, Gettysburg's torpedoes are beginning to have an effect, but they
were able to re-power before the new attack, and so we're going to have
to wait a while before the torpedoes can open a hole for us," said Schultz.
"I was afraid that would ahppen, ... Tactical, Science, it appears that
that ship uses matter/antimatter power only, but what do you think the
chances are that they've got some kind of forced quantum singularity or
other gravimetric/transdimentional energy conversion system in there?"
The two officers looked at each other, and then Schultz deferred to T'Mayek.
"Admiral, that vessel, assuming that it is of either Ferengi or Romulan
design, has three times the volume of the largest ship in either fleet.
It is more tha possible, when both size and new all ready demonstrated
new technologies, that such a system has been built within the vessel.
The forced quantum singularity generators with which the Ticonderoga
class vessels are equipped could be placed within the hull of that vessel
with more than sufficient volume remaining for other systems."
"Thank you, ... tactical?"
"I concur with the Science Officer's analysis," said Schultz.
"Fine, all that this means, is that we're going to have to try to
overwhelm their ability to produce energy.  ... Helm, maintain position,
... Engineering, begin dumping matter into the forced quantum core, use
the Bussard collectors as soon as we drop out of phase."
"Aye sir," came Thale's reply and MacLeod's echoing voice from engineering.
"Tactical, drop phase cloaking and open fire, all phased-energy weapons,
continuous bombardment tightest dispersal, but have the distributed
targeting systems take advantage of any growing weakness that they find.
H... Helm, I think that we should start backing off just a bit, make
range ... 20,000 kilometers, increase to 45 degrees above their centerline."
"Phase-cloaking system is disengaged, weapons firing," reported Schultz.
"Backing off," reported Thale.
Despite the fact that Ticonderoga had backed off, it was still well
within the range of the enemy craft's formidable secondary weaponry.  As
Ticonderoga's main ring, and about twenty particle weapons blasted away
more and more of the alien's shield energies, a heavy return fire
including both phased plasma bolts and some form of torpedo shook the
ship and forced the main computer, which was running the shields,
engineering, and life-support, along with the systems suporting the main
ring, to strain the ship's vast energy-generation system to its absolute
maximum tollerances.
"Sir, all systems are under terrible strain down here, how much longer?"
came Commander MacLeod's concerned query over  the bridge speakers.
"I don't know, we're knocking their shields down, but this new shield
design is *tough* and they've still got more than fifty percent capacity,
if we've got it right," said McGinnis.  ...  I assume that the computer's
already shut all non-essential areas down?"
"Yes, and all particle batteries, in-hull reactors, and other systems are
at maximum rated power.  We've got about ten minutes before the quantum
generator has to be reset, and I'd guess that they're in about the same
shape on Gettysburg."
"I know, ... what about the batteries?"
"Sir, those have significant reserves if all you're trying to do is stay
alive, and make repairs.  That doesn't take much energy when compared
with what we're doing now."
"I know, but they're enough to run life support, and some other major
systems on, and that way we can push that energy, plus whatever else we
can get by overloading the particle reactors into one ... mighty blast."
"Sir, that'll blow our particle batteries for the rest of the mission,
and only get us about 150 percent on the main ring."
"Agreed, but we've held off on photons, because we're not in position.
They're less acurate, but they'll drain those shields faster than
anything short of the main ring."
"Not only that sir, but if we can coordinate with Gettysburg, they can
let fly with everything they've got at the same time, and it should be
enough to breach the enemy shields.  At that point, Gettysburg can blow
that ship out of space with her micro-photons for all that it matters,"
said Schultz.
"Well engineering, what do you think?"
"Its risky, we'll lose a lot of our subsystems, they're not built for
that kind of power flux, only the main systems are built for that kind of
overload power.  We may lose the ring, ... for a while, and we'll
certainly have to replace every auxiliary reactor in the particle phaser
arrays.  ... On the other hand, we're only about eight minutes from
quantum shutdown, and it'll take a lot longer than that to do the job any
other way. ... I don't see much of a choice Sir, just give the orders and
we'll get started."
"Mr. MacLeod, ... your orders are given."
"Aye Sir, engineering out."

"Sir, Gettysburg is ready to implement strategy, we've turned about, and
are now headed back toward Britania, within a minute from estimated alien
weapon range," said Schultz who was now handling most of the ship's main
systems at his console.
"Understood, ... Engineering, we've got a minute before that ship is in
range of Britania.  I need not say what'll happen when they get there."
"Right, sir.  Only problem is that we'll need at least two minutes to get
things ready."
"You don't have them,"
"If we hurry this, we'll have to replace all ring systems, the quantum
core, and probably most of the shielding mechanisms, ... and that's the
best-case scenario."
"What's the worst-case?"
"Oh, we'll survive, its just that it may take us a few thousand years to
get home, without help that is."
"Considering that those aboard Britania will, unquestionably not survive,
we'll have the fair end of the deal.  Proceed, you now have thirty seconds."
"Understood, Engineering out."
"Tactical, set autosequence, full weapons' discharge in twenty-five
seconds, synchronize with Gettysburg."
"Sir, that'll mean that there is only about a second's window for error,
they may be able to get in most of that first shot before the secondary
effects cut in."
"I know, but we can't modify any faster," said McGinnis.  "As you have
just heard, we'll be almost defenseless, save the photons and doubtless
Gettysburg will be in equally bad shape.  We don't even know that this
will destroy their ship, it may only damage them, in which case, we'll
still have to fight a sublight action, if I understood Commander MacLeod
correctly."
"Right...."
"Now ten seconds, ... five ... four .... three ... two... one...." said
Schultz, before space itself went white.

The force to the combined blast tore through the weaknesses that had been
developing in the enemy shielding.  Fortunately, as with most Federation
ships, no spares had been incorporated, and the combined photon attack,
launched a tenth of a second later, finished the shields, and ripped the
aft section of the alien vessel in half.  However, as MacLeod had
feared,there was barely enough time for the great alien weapon to come
within range, and for its own microcomputing and targeting system to
unleash its stored energies.  The blast went wild, but not quite wild
enough, ripping another enormous chunk out of the extreme port-edge of
Britania's  the mega-collimator ring.  The blast effect destroyed two of
the still-operational fusion reactors on that side, and did enough damage
to two others to cause an uncontrolled directed core breach, which caused
the ship to be thrown to port, and collapsed the entire port-side support
structure for what remained of the ship's main weapons array.

As for the other ships, the energy released in the final explosion of the
aft section of the unknown craft blew out all shielding, and buffeted the
crews about severely.  However, most of the damage encurred was
self-inflicted.  A fact that gave McGinnis small pause for only moments
when he realized that Britania's crew, in large majority, had survived
the enemy's last gasp.

"Sir, now decellerating, ... we are now at sub-light velocity, as is
Gettysburg."
"Sir, receiving distress signal from Britania,"
"Alien vessel neutralized, some sections remain physically intact, but
there appear to be no life signs. ... " The flash of another explosion
filled the main viewer. "... alien vessel has self-destructed," said Schultz.
"Very well, stand down from red alert, and order engineering to put all
but the most critical repairs on stand-by until we can clarify Britania's
situation," said McGinnis.

*    *    *
Starship log: Stardate 58365.8: Admiral William McGinnis Commanding USS
Ticonderoga: Recording:

We have just returned to the Polaris-ssystem Construction center, after
nearly six months of hard travel.  The crew is utterly exhausted, and
this ship, though not seriously damaged over the past year, does require
systems refits, and new modular phaser weapons.  We were able to repair
all of the damage suffered at the hands of an enemy whose technology is
very reminiscent of a combination of the Romulans and Ferengi, but whose
identity remains unclear.  Britania's repairs, unfortunately, were
difficult to make, and due to its exposed position, we were forced to
accompany her at low speeds for several weeks, until the damaged forward
structures were finally jettisoned, leaving the moderately damaged
engineering section to continue back to base.  A new main hull is under
construction, and will hopefully be fully operational soon.

Considering the current situation, this can not happen soon enough.
Fortunately, all powers have fought themselves out, and a new treaty has
been signed.  However, mistrust amongst all of the powers has grown
markedly, and the fifty billion casualties which we have collectively
suffered, do not make things any better.  The only good news is that
Gouron has been able, with Federation help, to retake control over the
Klingon High Council, and has been able to destroy the secret base from
which house Durass launched their attempt too control the Empire.
Although Gournon's place is very uncertain, this means, at least, that we
only face a neutral Klingon Empire rather than an enemy.However, the
mistrust now so dominant in all diplomatic relations in the alpha
quadrant is not my primary concern at the moment.  The second invasion of
our quadrant in the last two years by the Dominion, in an attempt to, as
they put it, "impose order on your part of the galaxy", dominates my
attention.  Ticonderoga, Gettysburg, Louisbourg, and Britania, when she
is ready, will attempt to set a limit on the Dominion's activities here.
The fact that the Cardassians were utterly unable to defend against the
massive strike force sent by the Jem'Haadaar is gauling, and poses a
serious tactical problem, but was unavoidable.As the Dominion has
primarily focused its attention on Cardassian and Bajouran space, the
Federation has time to come up with a response.

Sadly, the diplomatic problems now extent in our quadrant will make
alliance amongst the great powers here nearly impossible.  For that
reason, we are beginning construction of a new, more powerful and
flexible, warship whose goal will be to occupy the Dominion's forces on
their side of the wormhole for as long as possible.  It will be my duty
to direct the construction of this vessel, and I will spare nothing in
the effort to make the perfect military vessel.  The vessel, code named
sword, will contain every new piece of technology that we can squeeze
into it.  Unfortunately, it will not be completed for at least a year,
and I hope that the currently-available technology will hold the line
until the new vessel comes on line.

*****************************
End of Super Dreadnought Part VII: and of the current work.
Stay tuned for Superbattleship, which should be under way by January 1
next year.
All comments on this work should be directed to Matthew Weed,
[e-mail]
Matt



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