Starbase 10 preparations

With the abrupt departure of the USS Artemis and still waiting on the Alsea to aknowledge readiness to follow, the command center of Lotus Fleet's headquarters had been shaken with a sudden surge of activity that barely settled down with the condition yellow now putting half of the entire station's complement at their post, with the rest on standby. The department heads of Starbase 10 were still grouped around the large holomap where tactical sensors and computers poured out in schematic display and columns of data updated information about the current position of the intercepting Ambassad0r class starship and the, estimated, location of the approaching Romulan dreadnought.

When it became evident that not much would likely change for the next hours, Allen Samji broke the ominious silence that had made every beep and chirp of surrounding consoles as loud as torpedo detonations.

"Status report on the Operation."

"Anomaly's position and rate of growth unchanged from last measurement," was the first answer heard. Lieutenant Commander Rexil then added: "Estimated time before contact ; six days six hours and six minutes."

Samji looked at him as if to make sure he was not joking; to which stare the Trill chief of science shrugged.

"Give or take a few minutes..."

The starbase commander then turned towards the Vulcan Koral in charge of flight operations.

"All five hundred shuttles are ready to depart for the final phase of the containement operation. At their fastest speed of warp 6, it will take them approximately twenty-two point four hours to get to the anomaly's coordinates and about three point sixty-seven days for all ot them to modify engine alignment and get into position to... "picket the fence" as Mister Sangliar so colorfully but adequately likes to say."

"Commander; order them to launch immediately, warp 5."

"Sir, you might want some more coffee. this should bring them on the theater of operations in forty-one hours; with nearly four days more needed to deploy, this does not leave us much time to complete the operation."

"I know, Mister Jorga; please cut on your cafeine dosage. We might know now where the Romulans are but I do not intend to send fifteen-hundred people out there, before our ships are in place, just to be simply shot down by marauding Klingons and Cultists."

"No confirmed reports on Horizon Children activity in the sector," then stated chief of Intelligence Ja'Hark as if on cue. "Artemis and Lotus have reported and transfered to us several sympathisers and suspects among their own crews, and we caught a dozen here on the base. All are detained and interrogated as we speak; but three managed to commit suicide before we could stop the rest of them and remove their deathpills. As for the Klingons, Starfleet Intelligence confirms a task force was launched near their border yesterday; nothing much known yet except that there is at least one capital ship with its escort. At best speed, they could be in the vicinity of the anomaly in less than two days at the latest."

"Ships status, Mister Grok," then asked Samji with a deepening frown.

"Artemis on course to intercept the Romulan battleship still beleived to be en route towards us," answered the Ferengi chief of ops. "Still waiting on Alsea's confirmation to follow the Artemis. All other ships are still in final stages of preparations."

Samji closed his eyes and sighed before looking at the statuesque woman standing on his right.

"Commander Schmidt; verify that their essential supplies are on board and then order them out now; they all will have no less than three hours to chat among themselves while en route to their designated zone; and I don't care if they don't have time to load their crate of Château Picard."

As his executive officer contacted each docked starship, he turned towards his chief medical officer who reported:

"Emergency protocols are implemented and ready to face catastrophic situations, including emergency evacuation of all personnel. Five hundred remaining shuttles and four transport ships are on standby."

Samji then shifted his eyes to the starbase's chief of the diplomatic corps.

"We have attempted contacting the X'ell, Sir," reported John Van Hook apologetically. "Captain Kheren suggested it, using his name and a recorded plea he himself made this week to ask them for asylum. No reply so far..."

"Keep trying, Mister Van Hook. Send a message buoy at them or even a piloted shuttle with some of your consulars on board to knock at their door if subspace channels fail. Their Dyson shell has as much inhabitable areas as no less than thirteen times the surface of all the estimated M class worlds of this whole galaxy... and it is now impervious to the anomaly's effect, thanks to our technology the Artemis provided them with a year ago. They could help save all sentient life in this galaxy... they should... they must!"

Samji rubbed his face to chase the lines of worries that were multiplying on his somber face before asking:

"Anything to add to ruin my day as usual, Mister Sangliar?"

The Tellarite barely answered the customary insult with one of his own as he reported glumly:

"Boy do I wish... Sir. All station's systems are checked and operational at full capacity. Power reserves are at maximum and as long as we can maintain metaphasic shielding around the starbase, we will be able to survive even if the anomaly would swell to engulf us... although I would not wish to spend the rest of my life in a three-kilometers wide universe with just the rest of you people. I do hope the birdies will agree to make some room in that big cage of theirs... if all hell breaks loose..."

"We're not there yet, chief," said Samji with a firm tone. "We still have a few aces yet to play in this game."

His eyes were up looking to the numerous viewers around them showing the USS Lotus, the USS Spectre, the USS McKenzie and the USS Alsea.

Karen Schmidt, who had been talking in the background, now addressed her commanding officer.

"Sir, the Alsea is confirming launch orders. They have to start up their warp core as it had been put offline for extensive modifications. But those are completed so their departure is scheduled in thirty minutes."

True to the starbase executive officer's words, the request for launch of the Prometheus class warship came half an hour later, to which flight control officer Koral confirmed launching priority and directives. Through one of the large transparencies ringing the command center, they all saw the sleek, dagger-shaped form of the four-nacelled Alsea move out , turn and jump into a flash of light on the same heading taken by the much larger but much slower USS Artemis.

The Vulcan flight officer then turned towards Samji.

"USS Alsea's departure confirmed, Sir. ETA with the Artemis; forty-eight minutes. ETA of both ship with the intruder is eleven hours, thirty minutes according to last sensor contact."

"If they find them," grumbled the starbase commander. "Wouldn't be surprised if this Romulan managed to slip last them, with that cloak of his."

"They will have to work hard for it, Sir," science chief Rexil chimed in while he studied the last report from the USS McKenzie's science officer transmitted by Captain Crist. "Lieutenant Pel confirmed implementation on all three sections of the Alsea of the sensor and deflector modifications her colleague Syntron from the Artemis came up with. Between the Artemis and the Alsea, the sensor coverage of their improved sensor capabilites will assuredly locate them if they maintain a trajectory towards us."

"And that will be the easy part," growled Lieutenant Commander Grok, his immense Ferengi ears catching the whole conversation even accross the vast, busy, noisy room from his ops station.

"Captain Kheren is a decorated diplomat and experienced tactician," said Samji with a confident tone, "and he can now count on a resourceful Vulcan scientist as his right hand. And both Commander Rivers and Lieutenant Jureth have more than proven their mettle as well... not to mention that Niomo Lire, their new chief engineer, is one of the most experienced officers we have in service. If anyone can find and stop those Romulans, it's them."

Lieutenant Koral's calm voice rose again.

"Sir; the shuttle fleet has launched."

Everyone's stare went to the large windows to watch tiny luminous dots fill space with moving stars. Five hundred shuttlecrafts poured out from the various landing bays of the immense starbase and grouped into over a hundred of small squadrons that disparreared in flashes of lights as they warped out, creating a firework display that spontaneously broke the emotional tension in the command center in a thunderous applause.

Samji let the people vent out their tension in this abrupt display of hope and optimism. It was at the heat of their whole effort after all. But, contrary to the self-serving delusion of pessinistic and cynical people, hope and optimism did not mean any less realism and pragmatism.

"Any word from the rest of the fleet?" he asked then in a sobering tone.

"The Republic has just confirmed launch and is heading at warp 8 towards the designated area where the Artemis and the Alsea will join with her for their part of the operation. The Wisconsin, the Steamrunner, the Aurora and the Pittsburgh have confirmed readiness and already moved out, waiting for their command ships to join them," answered Commander Schmidt, her hands at her back in her usual formal posture. "The Spectre and the McKenzie have powered up, but we still awaits confirmation; no word from the Lotus either."

"Come on people, get this show on the road," mumbles Samji, looking again at the lead ships of Lotus Fleet still berthed inside the vast cupola of Starbase 10.

He was thinking about the Klingons, coming with an undefined force of ships to claim the anomaly as their cosmic tool of conquest; Samji knew that they would not be as lucky as they were with the Romulans in seeing them coming. They might even already be there...

And there was the Cult; the Horizon Children's foiled attempts to again infiltrate their ships and even the base or gain support within Lotus Fleet was but the tip of the iceberg they were in their path. The McKenzie was the only other ship and crew besides the Artemis with any actual experience with the cultists... and it was not much. Whatever they had in mind, they might already have set in in motion.

Let's hope the Klingons are the ones to find out first... and both break a few teeth on one another, prayed Samji silently.

He was starting to fear that they would all be late for the party.