Thirst for Fire
by Mike Wright
TEASER
At the ends of space, nothing seems certain. Particles of free roaming matter seem to litter the galaxy in no particular logical order. Planets keep themselves in perfect orbits around stars, with no particular force to keep them from being sucked into its gravitational pull.
And yet in all the uncertainty, amidst defying odds, the universe had order.
Perhaps it was the same kind of order which allowed a stable wormhole to be created by a man not belonging to the universe, and never allowed to be recreated again. But no matter what the circumstances, the universe allowed it to be so, and the universe allowed it to open now.
Or was it really the universe?
Over three hundred years ago, humans from the planet Earth had hypothesized that the nature of a wormhole was to travel between dimensions. Of course so little has ever been learned about them simply because it had only been six years since the first stable wormhole had been discovered, and only one year since the second.
Nevertheless, as the small shuttle of unknown class left the blue aura of the wormhole's outstretched mouth, sensor alerts went off on Federation starship throughout the Grahalla system, without even needing to do intensive sweeps. It was if the readings had simply sought out its prey and easily neutralized it.
And before any of the ships could realize what was going on in time to respond, the shuttle warped out of sensor range. And the wormhole closed, leaving the area as peaceful as before.
At least as far as the universe goes.
* * *
Captain Wincott looked around Ops, wondering just what the hell had just happened. One minute they detect a ship coming out of the wormhole and the next thing he knew, every computer console on the deck was locked off, with a strange symbol on every monitor. After getting a good look at it though, he suddenly realized just what had happened.
"Martinez, sound general quarters. I'll be in my ready room."
"But sir..."
"Just do it!" Wincott said in an uncharacteristic manner.
"Aye sir," Martinez said, staring at the other officers.
ACT I
Riva Marie Costello grinned as she watched ensign Seal bent over the EPS conduit, attempting to attach a magnetic flow shunt to the lower compartment housing. She was finding it very hard to resist the urge to walk over and push him.
She heard a knock, and sighed as she saw Lavelle step inside.
"So how's it going commander?" he asked smugly.
"It would go faster if I didn't have all these interruptions," she said.
"Anything I can help with?"
She stopped a moment, staring at a padd. "Yeah, as a matter of fact you can." She picked up the padd and handed it to him. "The deflector array has been acting up since we got out of space dock, I need someone to go over the isolinear array in auxiliary control to make sure nothing over there is fowling up the system. Thank you lieutenant."
Before he could protest, she left her office and headed for the engine room turbolift. As she passed the EPS conduit, she gave ensign Seal a swift slap in the ass, startling him and making him fall face first to the deck.
Lavelle shook his head. "Great one Sam. Real slick."
After feeling the frustration of denial, he headed for auxiliary control. As he walked in, he noticed captain Arkcana sitting at the library computer station.
"Burning the midnight oil?" he asked, causing the captain to gasp.
"Lieutenant, sorry... I was just looking over some old files of mine..."
"What kind of files?" Lavelle asked.
Tom smirked. "Well I don't think I'm allowed to tell you... But you can keep a secret, right?"
Lavelle threw his hands in the air. "Can I keep a secret...Captain, I'm a walking secret."
The two of them laughed, and Tom moved aside to show him the screen.
"Recognize this?" He touched the console, bringing up a picture of an apparent Federation Starship.
"It kind of looks like a Defiant class starship... only meaner. Vicious would probably be a better word."
"And I would imagine that's what they created the ship for."
Lavelle shot a look at him. "You mean this is an actual starship in service?"
Tom laughed. "Of course it is... though probably not the service you're thinking of. It's a ship from the Alternate Universe."
"You're kidding... And we won the war?"
Tom laughed. "Yeah, we won... but you're right, I doubt we would have if they had this thing at the time."
"So... if they didn't have it then, and they have it now, where did you get the plans for it?"
Tom grinned. "Well that's for me to know, and hopefully you to never find out."
Before Sam could respond, the alert klaxons went off. "Red alert, captain to the bridge," came the voice of commander Reameus.
A few moments later, and the two of them were walking onto the bridge. "Report," the captain ordered, taking the center seat.
"We just picked up a distress call across the border of Bijan," he said.
"Let's hear it," Tom ordered.
The audio sensors filled with static, only barely letting the voice of captain Ralph Sharum escape. "This is captain Sharum of the USS Inferno requesting assistance. We're under attack by Dominion forces and can't hold out much longer."
"The message repeats sir," lieutenant Dyson said.
Arkcana didn't need time to think, as he turned to the helm. "Graham, set an intercept course, maximum warp. Dyson, raise shields and arm weapons. Nathan, send a message that we're on our way. Helm, engage."
At that, the Thunderchild banked about, its warp nacelles charged and exploding as the ship entered warp.
ACT II
The small Defiant class starship banked about hard, trying to avoid the incoming torpedoes launched by the two Dominion battle cruisers. Several fighters had broken off the attack on Starbase 134, and were shadowing the Inferno. Captain Sharum had taken the helm, as Erin was laying at the floor with a serious head injury. Commander Riker was at the tactical station, desperately trying to get a manual lock with only one phaser emitter working.
"Report!" Sharum ordered.
"Impulse drive is fluctuating," Dara Lapel reported from the engineering station. "Shields are at ten percent, and ablative armor is about gone."
"Helm is getting sluggish, is there anything you can do about that?" The ship rocked again and sparks flew from the engineering station as Lapel ducked out of the way. "I've lost engine control," she said. "I'll have to reroute from engineering."
The captain could tell this was a lost cause. "Get to the escape pods," he said, sounding general alert. As he slung Erin over his shoulders, the computer began blinking. "All hands, abandon ship. Repeat, all hands abandon ship."
"Wait a minute!" Riker exclaimed, "I've got an incoming ship... It's the Protostar!"
Though not much larger than the Inferno, the Independence class ship blocked what would have been the death blow to them had the torpedo hit. The shields fizzled a bit, and the ship returned fire with a full barrage of quantum torpedoes that destroyed the first fighter. The second wasn't going to give up so easily however, and came about for another round on the Inferno. Escape pods were being jettisoned by now, and the two cruisers began firing on them instead of the two armed ships. They wouldn't get a clean shot however, as the Protostar again closed in, protecting them with its own shields. Once the small pods drifted inside the shield perimeter, they were easily beamed into the various cargo bays about the ship. The final deathblow of the Inferno was imminent, as flames began exploding from the plasma vents as it lost inertial control. Captain Kazintski decided to take advantage of the situation, locking a tractor beam on the small ship and hurling it into one of the oncoming cruisers. The structural integrity fields had lost all power before impact, causing a self-implosion that first rocked the cruiser, pelting it with pieces of the ship. Next the warp core itself breached right in range of the bridge of the Dominion battleship. Both ships finally collided, causing a massive supernova of energy that destroyed five other fighters in the process. By now, the last cruiser was hopping mad, and began concentrating fire on the Protostar. They didn't do a lot of damage however, as a sudden burst of power from the warp engines propelled the ship into warp, leaving the cruiser to nothing but a giant pile of floating space debris about it.
* * *
Captain Kazintski walked into the cargo bay as medical units were exiting with lieutenant Dara Lapel. He could see just from a glance that she had a massive skull fracture, and would spend a good three days in sickbay. Captain Sharum walked towards him as well, with the assistance of doctor Rimes. He lifted his bloody hand and shook the other captain's as firmly as the broken man could.
"Thanks Anthony," Sharum said. "We'd have been goners for sure."
Kazintski allowed a small grin, but after the latest battle he wasn't in the mood to keep it. "Sorry about the Inferno captain, but you'd be glad to know she lived up to her name."
Ralph laughed. "I always knew that name would get us into trouble some day."
"Come on," doctor Rimes said, pulling him out of the cargo bay. "You need to get to sickbay, you've got a compound fracture of the left tibia."
"Story of my life," the captain laughed.
The comm system chimed. "Sir, we're receiving an incoming message from the USS Thunderchild," lieutenant Scott reported. "They received the Inferno's distress call and would like to know if any more assistance is required."
"What's the condition of that cruiser we just left?" the captain asked.
"They've retreated back into Bijani territory."
Tony sighed. "Signal the Thunderchild that we'll meet up with them at Starbase L45. Captain to helm, set a course for the Grahalla system, speed warp six. Kazintski out."
ACT III
"I just receive word from Starfleet," lieutenant Henderson said at the conference table at the center of Ops. "The Sierra Nevada and Orion are operating in the area and have responded to our request for assistance. In addition, I also received word from the Thunderchild and the Protostar that they will be arriving later tonight to discuss the situation across the Bijani border."
"I don't see the situation across the Bijani border being resolved anytime soon," Wyncott said. "Initial reports from the Inferno say that the Homeworld was taken almost instantly. The orbital defense system has been rather taxed since they seceded from the Federation. And frankly I don't see why we should put priority resources in a system that no longer wants our help anyway."
"Sir, in the message from the Protostar..." Henderson said, "The Inferno was destroyed this morning."
Wyncott swore under his breath. "The fifth fleet is down to thirty-two ships now," Martinez said. "There's no way we can hold sector L-45 if this continues, especially with the Dominion in control of Bijan. I don't see any other option to evacuate the station and collapse the wormhole."
"Let's not jump to conclusions," Wyncott said. "The Grahalla shipyards are still weeks away from completion of repairs. Until then, sector L-45 is worthless to the Dominion. Even the wormhole."
"Exactly the point captain," commander Gibson said. "The Federation should concentrate its resources."
Lieutenant Huron, the resident Vulcan science officer, raised an eyebrow. "I believe the expression, commander, is 'putting all your eggs in one basket.'"
Wyncott actually laughed. "Vulcan humor never ceases to amaze me."
The ops panel lit up. "Captain, the wormhole is opening..."
"On screen," the captain said.
The bright blue aura of verteron particles swarming about the wormhole opened, and a ship emerged that looked very similar to a Defiant class starship, save the large weapons array protruding like icicles from the saucer section.
"That doesn't look very friendly," Lieutenant Henderson said.
"It's trailing warp plasma," Martinez said. "It's got to be from the Alternate Universe."
"Red alert," the captain ordered. "Shields up, arm all defensive weaponry."
"They are hailing us captain," Huron said.
"On screen," Wyncott ordered.
The screen blipped to show the face of captain Chakotay. "Greetings captain," he said. "I know we had an agreement, but after recent events you will understand this incursion."
"As long as it's a friendly face, I don't mind," captain Wyncott said, relieved. "May I ask the reason for this visit?"
"Two days ago we tracked a small vessel of unknown class travelling through the Grahalla system. After only an hour of contact, it entered the wormhole and disappeared."
"We had a similar experience," Wyncott explained. "It left the wormhole, gave off an unusual protometric signature, then warped out of the system. Starfleet has been unable to track it ever since."
"Protometric?" Chakotay asked. "Captain, is there anyway you can put me in contact with Captain Arkcana?"
"Yes, he'll be arriving tonight. Why, is there anything I should know?"
"I don't know yet," Chakotay said. "But if I'm right, neither of our universes will be safe."
* * *
Captain Arkcana stood at the observation window in the forward lounge, watching as the long streaks of cerakov radiation passed by. It was an old habit he held aboard the Protostar, and since taking command of the Thunderchild he had not taken it up again. However, after the recent news of Bijan falling to the Dominion, he only had one thing on his mind.
"Myla's still on the homeworld," Dara Sorauf said, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"My only hope is that she stays out of sight," Tom said hesitantly. "Unfortunately, knowing my wife she's all ready started up the next revolution. She's that stubborn."
"Even after being eight months pregnant, she'd fight a revolution?"
He turned to her with a grin. "I see you don't know anything about Bijani pregnancies. They only last six months."
"She had the baby?" Dara asked excitedly.
"I can only assume," he said sadly. "Bijan has been through strict communication silence for two months. That message I got a month ago was all ready forty-seven days old. She was lucky to get it out. But knowing her, I may be hearing from her soon."
"Captain Sharum said that commander Mackenzie was still with her in the main city. Maybe she can help her get under cover."
Tom grinned. "I can only assume that Special Ops still has several operatives laying in wait on Bijan. We will eventually retake the system."
The long lines of what looked like flying stars outside the windows slowed, finally resolving into their original form. Directly ahead lay Grahalla III, and Starbase L-45.
"Bridge to captain, we've arrived at the Grahalla system. Captain Wyncott wishes to speak with you as soon as possible."
"Very well," the captain said after tapping his comm badge. "Have commander Reameus meet me in transporter room three. In the mean time, lieutenant Lavelle is in command."
"Aye sir."
He turned to Dara. "How would you like to see Starbase L-45?"
"I'd love to," she said with a grin.
* * *
The conference room was packed tight. When built, the Federation hadn't expected the Starbase to become the official home of the Fifth fleet in the Grahalla sector, so it was only meant for the original Operations staff. Captain Wyncott sat at the head of the table, with captain Arkcana and Chakotay to either side of him. Included in the briefing was captain Kazintski of the Protostar, Davis of the Orion, Harriman of the Sierra Nevada, and all the first officers. Wyncott had just gotten through reporting on the situation with the Shuttle.
"Captain Chakotay, I think you and I should discuss this later in private," captain Arkcana said. "Meanwhile, lets worry about the most certain problem at hand.
"Tom, I don't think we can worry about the Bijani," Harriman said. "They chose to secede from the Federation, and we don't have the resources to help."
"Maybe we don't," captain Davis offered, "but there is an ally of ours that does. The Romulans."
Arkcana almost laughed. "The Romulans? Are you out of your gourd? The Romulans may be attacking the Dominion, but they have yet to make an alliance out of it. In fact, they've shown no interest at all in fighting with the Federation."
"I agree," Kazintski said. "Odds are, after the war is over the Romulans are planning on coming after us next."
"We don't necessarily have to fight with them," Davis said. "But if the Romulans should happen to be in the area of Bijan, and the Fifth Fleet were there at the same time, we could sort of 'unofficially' combine our efforts."
"Now why would they even consider that?" captain Harriman asked.
"A few years back captain A'Pok and I met up with a Romulan captain named T'Chek. He was, how should I put it... interesting in his dealing with the Federation. Have any of you heard of the incident at Verde IV?"
"It sounds vaguely familiar," Arkcana said. "Wasn't the Cheyenne involved in that?"
"Yes. Commander T'Chek and captain Haru worked together to chase Breen raiders off the planet. The Commander is now in command of one of the Romulan fleets, he might be convinced to take Bijan."
"But if he takes Bijan," Arkcana says, "What makes you think they will give it back?"
"They don't have to give it back," Davis said. "They just have to keep the Dominion out of there long enough for us to evacuate the rest of our Starfleet personnel. And if I remember right, there was a Starfleet weapons depot near Bijan. If we can get to that, we might be able to restock the Fifth fleet."
"Correct," captain Sharum said. "That's where we sent the Nova for what must have been the third time..."
"What's the condition of the Nova?" captain Arkcana asked.
"Last I heard, they'd removed most of the primary systems. My guess is the ship isn't worth salvaging. But there are other ships in the area that are in perfect condition. The Dark Horse for one."
"The Pegasus is there as well," commander Riker mentioned. "I noticed her when we passed by Starbase 221."
"Special Ops reported only one Prevaricate class ship operational in the area, and three more in space dock. None of which were equipped with cloaking devices though."
"Bijan VIII has a Defiant class ship hidden in a class five asteroid depot," captain Sharum said. "More or less I think it could be said that retaking Bijan could be important."
"Why would your Federation leave so much important equipment lying around?" captain Chakotay said.
"I wouldn't call it important," captain Arkcana said. "Most of this stuff is all pre-built spaceframes and hulls with no functioning components. We keep them in storage in case an emergency incident in a sector calls for the need of a specialized Starship, it can be refitted within two weeks. There are many such depots kept in deep areas of Federation space, however the Bijan helped a great deal with this equipment."
"So we have an agreement going here," captain Wyncott said. "Captain Davis, you'll be contacting this Romulan commander of yours, and we'll go from there. Meantime, lets get the Fifth Fleet together. By the way, if at all possible our engineering team could use the help of the teams on all your ships, so we can get the fleet yards back up and running. With a good deal of help, we could have them back online in one week. Agreed?"
"Sounds great," Captain Arkcana said. "Meantime, it's time captain Chakotay and I had that talk."
ACT IV
Captain Wyncott tapped his personal computer display, bringing Captain Davis on screen.
"I've contacted Commander T'Chek. The Romulan fleet will meet us at the Bijani border in three days."
"Excellent," Wyncott said. "Wyncott out."
As he turned off the display, the door chimed. "Come," he said.
Captain Arkcana stepped in with captain Chakotay. "Captain, I'm leaving the Thunderchild in my first officers command while I go with captain Chakotay here," he said.
"Have you learned the source of this shuttle?"
Arkcana glanced hesitantly at Chakotay. "We can't say for certain. But if we're right, the Dominion is going to be the least of our worries."
"All right," Wyncott said. "How long will you be gone?"
"Unfortunately I'll miss our rendezvous with the Romulans and the battle for Bijan. I don't know how long this will take. I've talked to Admiral Norton over subspace, he agrees and has given my XO a field commission of Captain till I get back. But I thought it only to inform you of the temporary change in command."
"I appreciate that," Wyncott said. "Meantime, you take care of yourself."
"And you as well captain. And do me a favor."
"Anything."
"Bring back my wife safely."
* * *
Acting Captain's log, Stardate 51932.6.
The remainder of the Fifth Fleet has assembled at various points along the Bijani border in preparation for the upcoming battle. There have been a few incidents with Jem'hadar border patrols, but we have managed to not loose any ships. We are still three hours away from the arrival of the Romulan fleet, and the 'thirst for fire,' as lieutenant Lavelle put it is building.
Reameus out.
The Romulan fleet approached, blocking out everything in sight for the Federation fleet at more than a few hundred kilometers away. Seventeen Warbirds, twenty battle cruisers and five Birds of Prey made up the fleet.
Captain Kazintski grinned at the showing. "Scotty, what's the word on our other forces?"
"The Tholians regret they won't be able to make it to the first round, but they'll be there within a couple hours of our initial attack."
"Good. Very well then, helm lay in a course for the Bijan homeworld."
ACT V
The first border patrol of Dominion vessels didn't expect the sudden convergence of the Fifth fleet on Bijani space, and was quickly flattened out with little trouble.
The second wave wasn't so forgiving.
Captain Reameus held on tight as another torpedo rocked into the port running blade, knocking out the primary torpedo launcher. "Hard about, return fire!"
"Phaser power down ten percent!" Lavelle said frantically.
"Compensating," Dyson calmly reported.
"Costello, auxiliary power to weapons system!" Nathan ordered.
"The Protostar has lost helm control," Taurik reported.
The Protostar began tumbling end over end as one of the Dominion cruisers concentrated its firepower on the small vessel. One torpedo completely breached the shields and tore into the DEM support struts, tearing it from the ship. Another torpedo impacted on one of the nacelle support struts, sending the engine and the ship careening in different directions.
"Come on, abandon ship..." Reameus rooted.
His concerns must have been misplaced however, for he never knew the true purpose of an Independence class starship. Twenty Specter class runabouts emerged from underneath the running blades. Two of them tractored the ship and began to tow it out of the fighting zone, as the other fighters converged on the cruiser. Minute by minute went by as they fired on critical points in its spaceframe, eventually rendering it a floating ball of wreckage.
The deck rocked again as another fighter converged on the Thunderchild. Several consoles about the bridge exploded, sending officers about the bridge. Lieutenant Lavelle pulled himself off the floor, and looked about the dark, smoking remains of the command center. None of the other officers were standing, and his console was completely dark.
To him, there was only one thing left to do. He pulled himself over to the emergency alarm system, and called for abandon ship.
* * *
Captain Davis watched in horror as escape pods began lifting off from the Thunderchild. The Protostar had barely managed to limp her way away from the battle, and the Orion was doing no better. It was clear to see that even with the help of the Romulans, the battle was hopeless. A lost cause.
She turned away as the great Akira class vessel, by a strange coincidence being the largest starship in the fifth fleet, erupted into a ball of flame.
A few moments later, the bridge of the Orion itself went dark as the ship lost all power.
* * *
Captain Wyncott listened in horror as reports came over subspace from the remains of the Fifth fleet. Twenty-seven ships destroyed. He couldn't bear to listen any longer.
"Signal the rest of the fleet... fall back to Sector L-45."
"Incoming message from the Protostar sir," Henderson said with dread. "They're being followed by another wave of Dominion forces. It looks like they don't plan on stopping with the Protostar."
Wyncott watched with dread on the tactical screen as hundreds of Dominion vessels began pouring over the Bijan border towards the Grahalla system. At that moment in time, the fate of the entire Alpha Quadrant seemed sealed forever.
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