Unexpected Visitors

*Note: this is also available on the Starbase 10 Specifications page for future reference. Some of the containment loops and the McKenzie's return are assumed but not written yet. Dashed lines are when they go the whole way around the Anomaly, and since that route can be assumed from the start and end points, I didn't draw the line in order to not mess up the map anymore than it already is.

Click to view it in full size.

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Earlier in the day... (87173.2)

The unexpected destruction of the Artemis' stardrive had set the initial containment plan back a few hours. Add to that the fact that the McKenzie was in a long campaign against the Horizon's Children and the disruption of the Lotus and the Spectre by the Klingons, and the plan was not looking good.

Additionally, Fleet Captain Samji fretted over not being able to communicate with any of the ships. Whatever extra power they were able to use to boost the carrier wave signal was gone and their auxiliary power was used up having been all delegated to shields for their surfing ride through photon torpedo explosions in order to stop their continued trajectory toward the Anomaly and turn them around. ((OOC: still has yet to be written... and not sure if I ever actually will since I don't have anyone left to write with))

"What can we do to get communication up so we know if the mission is even possible anymore?" he asked Ops in general.

"Well we have shuttles..." Trill Science officer Rexil mused. "Shouldn't we be able to send a signal through them?"

"They're close enough to the Anomaly now, that they have the same disruption," the Tellarite Engineer pointed out, arms crossed and brow even more furrowed in thought.

"True Mister Sangliar. But some are coming back... they need to bring back the pilots of the ones that will be exploding," pointed out his first officer, Karen Schmidt.

"Right, and then we should be able to create a line of shuttles between the Starbase and the abandoned ones. The empty shuttles' proximity are close enough to cut through the interference. And they will automatically rebroadcast distress calls based on Starfleet regulations!" said Rexil excitedly.

Suddenly a quite unique noise none of the officers had ever heard before came from the usually serious and professional Schmidt, and they realized it was a giggle. She clapped her hand over her mouth and felt the hot flush of her cheeks which were bright and red as an alarm klaxon.

"Something you'd like to add, Schmidt?" Samji asked, with a mixture of confusion and shock at hearing a laugh at such a time.

"Sorry, Sir, no... it's just that... I realized the shuttles would be arranged like a speech bubble..."

"A what?" the Tellarite asked.

"It's a human thing... in ancient animated stories called 'comics'. I used to read them as a child."

Samji was quite familiar with the concept. "How very apt," he put simply. "Now, let's get Operation... Speech Bubble..." he added as he grinned toward Schmidt to put her at ease, "into effect. Rexil, I want you to coordinate here. Schmidt and Sangliar, take a shuttle to start redirecting returning shuttles into the appropriate pattern."

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Current time... (87174.4)

Samji had been up for over 36 hours straight. His head was beginning to droop in the quiet Operations office as there was nothing really that they could do but wait. The sabotage performed by the Horizon's Children had long been quelled, the saboteurs were in the brig and relatively docile, and Engineers were doing their job and working to fix any remaining damage. The sound of a loud female voice echoing through the room shook him fully awake.

"Starbase 10 this is Commander Schmidt, come in, please."

Samji moved to the comm panel and activated the channel. "Commander, good to hear your voice. Are we set up?"

"Assuming the other shuttles rebroadcast properly, I don't see why not. The manned ones between Starbase 10 and the Anomaly have verified that the signal is working up and down the line."

"Very good," Samji said. "Send the distress signal."

Rexil nodded and broadcast the pre-recorded message: "This is Fleet Captain Samji to all Lotus Fleet ships. Please respond. You will need to also utilize the standard Federation distress frequencies to respond."

((OOC: Note, this occurs several hours earlier than the "ion pulse containment", so the Lotus and Spectre would still be out of range of the shuttles. The Artemis and Alsea arrive at their location several hours before the other ships. Also, there's a certain reason why the McKenzie can't answer that I don't quite want to give away yet since they're still earlier on in their part of the story))

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The slightly elevated eyebrow of the first officer of the Artemis was the only physical reaction he offered to the surprising announcement just stated from Lieutenant Lyrya's voice coming from the bridge.

Although the Vulcan officer did ponder reflectively on how the team on Starbase 10 managed to cut through all of the interference emanating from the anomaly to somehow reach them in this locale, Syntron merely turned his gaze to Captain Kheren in anticipation of his response.

The Andorian blinked his silvery eyes while his antennae straightened up with the same obvious surprise and puzzlement. But his voice stayed even as he answered promptly, knowing his telepathic communications officer had already modified transmission according to the requirements given by their headquarters.

"Starbase 10, this is the Artemis. Captain Kheren here, with Acting Captain Oseno Jureth from the Alsea right beside me. We are pleasantly surprised and deeply relieved to hear you, Fleet Captain."

"As I am to hear you, Captain Kheren," Samji replied. Looking around the room he saw each of his officers gesture a silent 'hurrah' or give a slight nod of approval that the Artemis crew was safe and sound. He passed along their sentiment. "It was good to learn of your success at saving the lives of yourself and your crew, but hearing your voice helps morale around here. I won't go into details right now, but you can thank my first officer and the other officers here for our ability to communicate."

"Indeed we do, Sir," replied the Andorian. "For a while, we thought we were going to find nothing but a sea of flames out here... Judging by our universe still being whole, for now at least, we assume the other ships' missions were successful."

"At least in stemming the tide, indeed," Samji said, adding, "We know that the Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, and Steamrunner are navigating around the Anomaly, and likely un-harassed at least on your side thanks to your dealing of the Romulans. We have no news from the Lotus and the Spectre, but I'd guess if there were Klingons, they're keeping them busy and away from the other ships."

"Mister Oseno. Was your containment pass successful?"

"Sir," Jureth replied "We were able to successfully navigate the anomaly. However, as I said before we began we did so at warp nine and were unable to separate the Alsea due to damage received during our battle with the Romulans and the saboteur now...relaxing in my brig."

"Very well, Lieutenant, thank you for your report," Samji said, in a reassuring tone. "This is why we are implementing the many different ideas from all the different officers who suggested them, including the trilithium-enhanced torpedoes of Mister Syntron and the looped singularity containment from Lieutenant Snowfire K'leysha."

"Additionally our shuttles, which are providing the means for our communication, are set up in place and programmed with the remote warp plus detonation procedure to widen the gaps that you and hopefully the other ships have created, and of course there is the ion pulses that will act against the Anomaly as water does against lava to harden the shell."

"With all these efforts combined, the setback of one piece should not eliminate the possibility of our success!" Samji said confidently.

Speaking of special guests," then chimed in Kheren, "you will be interested to know, Sir, that I have aboard one of my own; Admiral Tomalak."

Letting the surprised silence stretch a bit accross the subspace channel, the Andorian then added:

"He was leading the Romulan expedition against the anomaly from the bridge of the Shavok but, as he studied our data we sent him and understood the magnitude of their error, his ship commander took command of their mission and, according to him, tried to assassinate him. He requested asylum and we managed to beam him over but even he could not stop his rampaging subordinate before we were forced to destroy their ship. We've confined him to our brig until you see fit to grant him or not his request, Sir."

Samji nodded and said, "Acknowledged," but the revelation seemed lost on him. If there was any astonishment and having captured such a well known and historic Romulan representative, it was buried deep down.

He was more concerned about the operation to come and making sure all the little pieces fit together and all the ships were performing well on their parts of it. "I trust you are ready to implement the Ion pulse procedure on your side. Once I know the other ships are in place, I'll signal the shuttles to explode; that will be your sign to begin. Until then just sit tight."

"Sir, we are not only ready to complete phase 1 but phase 2 as well," assured Kheren with a nod of aknowledgement to his first officer and chief of science. "Thanks to Mister Syntron, and with the help of the Alsea, we will be immediately ready afterwards to dive in and deploy five hundred trillithium emitters to snuff out that fire... at least long enough for all of us to catch our breath and later have the fleet finish the job with Lieutenant K'Leysha's wormhole loop final phase."

He straightened himself.

"Awaiting the word, Sir."

Just then the signal broke down and the faces on the viewscreen became skewed. "Captain can you hear me?" he waited for a response, but could only hear a faint part of a word now and then.

"Can you get them back?" he said to his Operations Officer Grok.

"Trying to compensate, Sir." After he entered several more commands on the console, the screen just went black. "Sorry, Sir, the signal's gone."

On the Artemis, as the image of the Fleet Captain began to waver and then disintegrate into mere static, Syntron turned toward the Andorian chief tactical officer and inquired.

“Lieutenant Tyvya, is the loss of signal from us or the source?”

Before Tyvya could respond, Niomo interjected, "Assuming they were bouncing the signal off of shuttles, one of the com array's could have overloaded...or it could possibly be more interference from the anomaly. We might be able to raise them again using the Alsea. I don't recall seeing our communications array on the damage report."

By the time he finished speaking, the Andorian giantess had received report from the bridge.

"Our systems were fully restored and no malfunction has been detected. The loss of signal is definitely from an external cause, but sensors cannot yet analyse that cause due to interference from the anomaly."

On Starbase 10, Samji said, "Karen, come in. Anything on your end?"

The two in the shuttle had already been hooked in on the existing signal due to being part of the chain of shuttles that had routed it around the Anomaly. Therefore they were already in the process of analyzing the issue.

"It looks like we have lost two shuttles in the link, Sir," replied Sangliar.

"Can you route around them?"

"Yes, but the signal will be spotty. There you go, try now."

"This is Starbase 10 to the Artemis, come in." The faces previously seen in the conversation appeared back on the screen. They were recognizable, but not as crystal clear as before. "Captains," he said, addressing Oseno Jureth as well as his 'Acting Captain' status warranted. "We seem to have lost two shuttles from our link. Can you investigate?"

Niomo raised his eyebrow, "Romulans again?"

Jureth thought for a moment before responding "Possibly, but we took it to them pretty hard. I would say the more likely culprits are the Horizon's Children or the Klingons. Unless there are Romulan ships out there we failed to account for."

"And it could be due to the destructive unpredictability of the anomaly itself," said Kheren. "With long range sensors inoperative this close to it, and even short range sensors hampered as well, there is little else to do than move out and see up close."

The captain of the Artemis had been curiously quiet for a while. Looking alternatively to the acting captain of the Alsea near him and the slightly distorted image of the starbase commander, he finally sighed audibly. But his stare was straight and unblinking, his voice calm and firm.

"The Artemis is still fully maneuverable at impulse; in fact, even more now than any other ship in this region of space... but doing so and maintaining shields is heavily taxing on our energy output. This means our defensive capability is quite diminished, never mind our still pristine armor plating. And our offensive capability is now severely reduced as well, with only a fifth of our original phaser arrays left and all our torpedoes converted into probes."

Kheren was quite aware that he was the highest ranking field officer in their sector but, as he just stated, he was also just as keenly aware that his ship was definitely not the one with the highest tactical advantage.

The Alsea was.

And that meant, according to regulations, that command of their small force now fell on the shoulders of Acting Captain Oseno Jureth.

Jureth considered the situation in front of them further and as Kheren spoke the Bajoran felt the Andorian's gaze rest on him and he realized that there was a reason for it. He briefly recalled a regulation that allowed command of a squadron to pass to the ship with the greatest tactical advantage, and suddenly he got a feeling in the pit of his stomach. Thanks to that regulation the young lieutenant now held positional authority over the captain with irreplaceable experience. Jureth knew that there needed to be an investigation of the issues with the shuttle and tried to think of an alternative to leaving the Artemis to fend for herself..again.

"Sir," Jureth said addressing Samji "The Alsea is capable of investigating the problems with the shuttle though I would hesitate to leave Captain Kheren and his people to fend for themselves...again. Would one of the fleet's reserve vessels be closer?"

Samji looked at Lieutenant Commander Grok for this answer.

"Nothing within six hours, Sir," the young Ferengi replied.

"How far away is the disruption from the Alsea's current position?" Samji asked.

"It appears to be shuttles 256 and 258, Sir. That would be approximately 500 billion kilometers from their position."

Samji shook his head as he turned back to the screen. "It falls on you, Captain. We need those shuttle secured and the link up. If another one of those shuttles goes down, you will lose operational support again and we'll be back to every ship to itself."

Knowing Oseno's feelings on the subject of prematurely separating the Alsea, Samji did not want to get into another dispute, nor override the officer's authority on his own ship. So he first hesitated before saying, "Would you be able to take your two fastest hulls to investigate and leave the remaining one in support of the Artemis? The faster you can go the better, but even at Warp Nine you can make it in..." he paused as he calculated the approximate time in his head "...just over fifteen minutes."

Syntron noted individually to the Captain.

“If the Alsea leaves behind one section of their vessel, we could begin to commence with the next phase of our operation by preparing our vessels for the kayaking maneuver. We could then start placing these trilithium probes within the interior of the anomaly."

The first officer o fthe Artemis then gazed once again at the image within the main viewscreen.

"I am just … for a lack of a better term… apprehensive regarding our timeframe here Captain… while the anomaly continues on its erratic and increasing build-up within this now confined area and we are just stationary here; potentially within its grasp.”

Jureth listened to the suggestion from Samji and the input from Commander Syntron, and he could almost feel Commander Lire cringe at the thought of separating the Alsea. Still, he realized he may not have a choice.

"Sir," he finally said with the nervous apprehension of a junior officer about to contradict a superior "If we separate the Alsea, the possibility exists that we could cause catastrophic structural damage to one or all of the hulls and we almost certainly won't be able to put her back together again. Not without help from a shipyard anyway. So, the question is will separating the Alsea hinder or help us succeed?"

Samji nodded in acceptance of the response. "You know the status of your ship better than I, Captain. It was merely a suggestion, but I don't want you to risk your ship, because that would mean risking the security Artemis and the mission as a whole."

His gaze shifted to Syntron and he said, "I haven't forgotten about your concern, Mister Syntron. In fact, if you proceed with your trilithium probe plan, am I right in remembering you have to be in the Anomaly to proceed with it? If that is the case, Mister Oseno, you don't have to worry about providing for their security as I doubt an enemy will be able to follow them in there even if they wanted to."

Fleet Captain Samji rubbed his forehead alluding to fatigue and he was also overwhelmed trying to keep all the different ships' mission objectives straight in his head. Before Syntron could respond to his question, he added, "In fact, Mister Syntron, I am still not quite confident in my understanding of the plan. Could you give me a brief summary of the actions you will perform and and what it accomplishes?"

Syntron was caught a bit off-guard by this request since all of the information regarding their plans and procedure had been duly discussed and noted. But then he realized that Fleet Captain Samji had been out of their conversations since their run-in with the Romulans and the sacrifice of the stardrive.

“Certainly Sir, I will endeavor to provide you with a brief synopsis of our intent.”

First off Captain, we have a number of obstacle and limitations to contend with. Without our stardrive, we have no warp capabilities. Without the reserve power of a warp core, we will have very limited power available once we enter into the anomaly. We will have metaphasic shielding to initially protect us from the plasma storm itself, but this will be limited as well since the anomaly drains unshielded power sources rapidly… since our active engines will expose our power output to the anomaly's effect. Implementing inertial dampeners at minimum and running on thrusters only will help maintain reserve power to our shields, but we will need to stay inside the anomaly for a significant amount of time just to deploy the emitters and activate them… which will again continue to drain all available power.”

With only a mere breath, Syntron continued.

“While traversing the violent eddies and currents of the plasma ejections of the anomaly, we will not have torpedoes available to push them out of our way this time since they were all used to manufacture enough trilithium probes, and both tractor beams and phasers will be useless. Therefore, while monitoring and preventing power surges and drains from our EPS grid and instantly switching manually to secondary and tertiary circuits if any occur, we’ll be monitoring specifically calibrated sensors to detect hazards within the anomaly to give us better warning for course all corrections as our helmsman Ensign Snow “kayaks” the ship past all obstacles and into designated positions to deploy our trilithium emitters.”

He then looked intently at the image of Samji as he summarized their intention once again.

“In terms of expected outcome… To put this succinctly, we will be imposing an almost anti-endothermic like reaction equivalent to the biological phenomena of hypothermia within the entity. Basically, we will be using the trilithium emitters to deprive the anomaly of the extreme temperatures required to maintain its high energy state of existence. If successful, then the energy of this anomaly would eventually be reduced to the point of deionization, causing the anomaly’s plasma-like power source to revert back down to an innocuous gaseous state of matter.”

Concluding in a most fundamental archaic expression, Syntron stated “We would be pulling the plug on its source of power.”

Ever the tactician, Captain Kheren then gave further data.

"The only problem, Sir, is that even such a solution can only be temporary at best. If anyone would detonate but a few trillithium torpedoes into that inert mass, it would ignite it anew, just like it was done a few decades ago with the Armagosa star. Worse, it could even possibly start a chain reaction that could turn the anomaly into a meganova a cubic parsec in size... something to make even the Hobus catastrophy look like a candle flame."

The Andorian made a pause so that everyone could grasp the full meaning of his dire words.

"I fear that is what the misinformed Romulans unknowingly almost did here before we stopped them. Starfleet could certainly not muster enough ships to safeguard round the clock for the next millenia such an immense region against any possible intrusion by one lone ship with a full payload of torpedoes. So our... snuffing out... of the anomaly can only be considered as a secondary measure; and one we have to implement, Sir... and sooner than later."

Punching into the transmission the science files from their latest sensor readings and research, Kheren waited for the Ferengi officer seated nearest to Samji to confirm reception with a nod before explaining himself.

"Our subspace corralling of the anomaly by the whole fleet, if successful as far as we expect it to, could result in the plasma reaction being compressed within the containement area and having nowhere to go but through the only outlet left to it... through it's center; the entrance to the pocket universe."

His silvery eyes bore into those of the man on the wall-mounted viewscreen.

"In saving our universe, we may multiply the threat to another a thousandfold. With Mister Syntron's plan, we will at least postpone this apprehended catastrophy. That is... if we succeed."

Samji listened intently to the conversations and was thinking about how, if the return flow of the plasma effects through the Azimuth Horizon into the pocket universe was a reality, it would've been his doing in causing such destruction. Thanks to the excellent analysis and thinking of the officers under his command, they could very well prevent such a tragedy.

Samji nodded. "Very good. While the corralling of the anomaly is necessary, we still need to wait for contact to occur with the other ships before we can proceed. Therefore, Captain Kheren, as soon as you are ready, you will commence the deployment of the trilithium enhanced torpedoes. Report in when you have returned from the attempt."

"Aknowledged, Sir," answered the Andorian captain.

Kheren almost breathed a sigh of relief. By taking charge of the entire operation and directing the ships again, Allen Samji had resolved the uncomfortable command dilemma the rules had almost forced upon the young Bajoran officer next to him. Suddenly thrown into the command seat of the most powerful warship of the fleet by the accidental incapacitation of his commanding officer was burden enough; having to decide also the actions and fate of two ships during a catastrophy scenario... and that over the head of a more experienced captain cursed with only having but a remnant of his vessel... that might have proven too much even for the best of them.

And that, thanks to the ingeniously established communication line between them and headquarters. With the rest of the fleet about to join for the final phase of the operation, ensuring that this communication line remained secure thus became almost as important as facing the anomaly itself. Now tasked with tackling the Azimuth Horizon itself, Kheren could already guess that Samji would entrust this other major responsibility to the Acting Captain of the Alsea.

Samji continued with, "My understanding is that you have been assisting the Alsea in preparing some of their own. They will be backups in case your attempt is not altogether successful. Therefore, while the Artemis is doing that, the Alsea will investigate the destruction of the shuttles," he said as he nodded to Jureth. "Report in when you arrive with your threat assessment."

Jureth frowned as the commander of Lotus Fleet passed along his orders. He didn't like it one bit, but he also couldn't think of a better solution, and if there was something jeopardizing the success of Lotus Fleet's efforts it needed to be dealt with and quickly and the Alsea was by far the most qualified vessel not to mention the closest. So, despite his own private reservations Jureth responded

"Aye Sir we will get underway immediately provided Captain Kheren needs no further assistance."

"No need to worry, Lieutenant. We will shout real loud if it gets too hot."

Kheren, in typical Andorian cluelessness, spoke with a face as straight as that of his Vulcan first officer.

"Fleet Captain Samji, we will report to you in about two hours if all goes as planned... for once," he said to the wall screen. "Artemis out."

Kheren returned the viewer back to it's reconstituted scene of primitive earth's mammoth hunting then rose and nodded, Human fashion, to his guests.

"I will escort you back to our main transporter room. "

And while his left hand showed them the door out of the vast lounge, he turned to his right towards Syntron.

"Number One, make us ready for phase 2 by the time I'll join you on the bridge."

“We’ll be ready Captain” Syntron acknowledged as he then turned his attention back to his station to confirm the status of all trilithium emitters loaded and poised to be launched.

Syntron also initiated a precisely calibrated sensory system set up to triangulate the ionization effects of the plasma in each region in which the trilithium would be detonated as the emitters destabilized the plasma reactions. He could then measure the immediate impact that each series of detonations had on the anomaly in quantitative terms.

Oseno motioned to Commander Lire and they followed Kheren back to the main transporter room of the Artemis. As they stepped up on the pad Jureth looked down at Captain Kheren.

"As they say on Bajor Captain, May the Prophets guide and watch our paths."

"But still, let us keep our own eyes close to the ice we step on, as we say on Andoria," retorted Kheren in parting.

A nod from his white-haired head sent the Alsea officers back to their powerful vessel in a shower of sparkling blue light. He stood a moment before the empty platform, lost in the depth of his own thoughts.

"As fine a pair of officers as anyone can find, Sir," then said Tyvya from the door, breaking the lneghtening silence. "That veteran engineer and that young Lieutenant both."

"They are Lotus Fleet; they are the best," aknowledged Kheren before finally turning towards her and stepping to the door and the corridor beyond it's sliding panel. "Come on, time to get back into the fire... literally."

"The fun never ends," sighed the Andorian giantess.

With both officers' acknowledgement, Samji closed the channel and turned to his officers in Ops. "Tactical," he began, looking at Mandella. I want you to be ready with responses to aid the Alsea for whatever threat scenarios you can think of."

"Engineering," he began and paused. "Who do we have taking over for Mister Sangliar?" he asked looking around the room.

"Lieutenant Junior Grade Daxos, Sir," came the voice from an enthusiastic young Talxian officer already standing at attention.

"Ah yes, welcome to Ops," Samji replied. He recognized the officer from his dossier, but had not had a chance to meet with him personally since he was a new arrival sent during this all-too-busy time. "Please assemble a team to support the Artemis with any Engineering expertise you can provide in case they have a difficult time tackling the inside of the Anomaly. I want solutions that will allow them to easily replicate parts and perform quick patch jobs to keep them afloat."

"Thank you, Sir. Aye, Sir," Daxos replied and went back to his station to assemble his team.

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The transporter room of the Artemis faded and Jureth and Niomo found themselves back in the transporter room of the Alsea where Cat Steele was waiting for them with a security team. Cat nodded to Ensign Celes who stepped forward with a tricorder and scanned first Lire and then Jureth before turning to Cat and nodding.

"Identification confirmed Lieutenant," she reported "It's Commander Lire and Lieutenant Oseno."

"Thank you Ensign," Cat replied "Welcome back Captain," she said to Jureth with a smirk if for no other reason than to poke at her friend.

Jureth didn't react to Cat's good natured barb but turned to Lire instead "Commander, as soon as I get to the bridge we'll be going to warp nine. As Fleet Captain Samji indicated it won't be for very long, but do whatever you need to do to make sure our warp core doesn't go critical on us."

Niomo you can insert a response here if you like

Jureth stepped down from the transporter pad and motioned for Cat to follow him. She did so after dismissing the security team and as they entered the turbolift.

"Bridge" Jureth commanded

"So what did you find out?" Cat asked as the lift began its ascent

"Captain Kheren and I spoke with Fleet Captain Samji. Starbase Ten used the shuttles they have in place for the next phase of the operation to bounce a signal off of. Unfortunately they've lost one of the shuttles and the fleet captain has ordered us to investigate."

"We're leaving the Artemis again?!" Cat asked increduously

"It has to be done," Jureth replied calmly "Fleet Command needs to know why that shuttle went dark."

The lift stopped and the doors opened depositing them onto the bridge. Cat moved to the tactical station and Jureth to the command chair where Shawn Hunter rose go greet him.

"Report Mister Hunter."

"Still at station keeping Sir, no other changes to report."

"Very good, I have the conn"

"Aye Sir." Hunter replied returning to his helm position.

"Mister Hunter I am sending you a set of coordinates," Jureth said as he tapped in the shuttle coordinates on the command chair console, "Set a course warp nine."

"Aye Sir, course plotted, and laid in."

"Execute Mister Hunter."

On that order the Alsea maneuvered clear of the Artemis, and with the crackling plasma of the Azimuth Horizon as a backdrop, burst into warp.

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"Ship's Log: Lieutenant Oseno Jureth Acting Commander. We have broken off from the Artemis on orders from Fleet Command to investigate the reason behind the disappearance of two of the shuttles that had been positioned for the next phase of the Azimuth Horizon containment operation. While I am concerned about leaving the Artemis to her own designs a second time it is necessary for the success of the operation."

"Bridge to Oseno,"

The disembodied voice of Shawn Hunter finished Jureth's log entry for him and he tapped his combadge to respond

"Oseno here."

"Sir, we are coming up on the designated coordinates."

"Thank you Mister Hunter, Oseno out."

Jureth closed the terminal, rose from the desk and exited the Alsea's ready room out onto the bridge. Shawn Hunter stood from the command chair as Jureth sat down and resumed his helm station.

"Take us out of warp Mister Hunter."

"Aye Sir, cutting warp drive and engaging impulse engines."

The warp field disappeared replaced by searingly bright plasma of the Azimuth Horizon.

"Mister Hunter, close on the shuttle coordinates, one quarter impulse." Jureth ordered

"Aye Sir,"

The Alsea maneuvered carefully to the spot between where the two shuttles reported lost were supposed to be stationed. They were now even closer to the Anomaly than they were but they were still at a safe distance and no longer had to worry about the growing tendrils which were wrapping themselves around the Anomaly by following the paths defined by the ships.

"Sensors?" Jureth asked of Cat Steele

Cat looked at the sensor readings which were a a mix of true results and interference from the Horizon, but from what she could make out on the port side the Alsea's sensors could detect the debris and wreckage of a shuttle, but on the starboard side, the shuttle appeared to be intact.

"I'm detecting wreckage consistent with a Federation shuttlecraft just off our port side Sir and one intact shuttle to starboard."

"Just the wreckage of one shuttle?" Jureth asked suspiciously

"Yes Sir."

"Fleet Captain Samji indicated there were two shuttles destroyed."

"Is it possible he's mistaken Sir?" Ensign Wynn asked from Ops.

"Possibly, but I'm not taking chances. Red Alert, shields up."

The Alsea's alarm klaxon blared announcing the Red Alert to the entire ship and the ship's personnel once again returned to their battlestations.

"Cat, see if you can increase sensor resolution and filter out some of the interference to give us a better idea of what happened here."

"Aye Sir,"

Cat punched in several commands attempting to reduce the noise in the sensor readings being generated by the Horizon. It wasn't easy, the plasma reactions played havoc with the ship's electronics. After a couple of minutes she had what she was looking for, and the computer beeped at her as it analyzed the data, she did not like what she saw.

"Sir, the sensors are picking up trances of a portal to fluidic space."

Jureth practically jumped out of the command chair "Are you sure?"

"Yes Sir," Cat said firmly "The readings are consistent with what the USS Voyager recorded regarding the passage of the Undine otherwise known as Species 8472."

Jureth used the console on the captain's chair to open the ship's intercom "Attention all hands, this is the Captain. I am invoking ship's security alert protocols at this time and for the foreseeable future. All security officers report to your stations and secure all vital spaces, make security reports to Lieutenant Steele on the bridge."

Jureth closed the channel and turned back to face the bridge crew

"Mister Wynn, get me Starbase Ten."

"Channel open Captain." Wynn reported

"Starbase Ten, this Alsea, do you read?"

"Alsea, that was quick," Samji replied, impressed at their efficiency. "Have you determined the fate of our shuttles?"

"Yes Sir," Jureth said grimly "one of the shuttles is destroyed...we found the wreckage, but the other...Sir we've found traces that a portal was opened to fluidic space. I believe the other shuttle was stolen by an Undine infiltraitor Sir."

Samji's jaw dropped and he was silent as he tried to process the information. "Undine!?" he finally repeated in astonishment, and then recomposed himself. "What would they want with one of our shuttles?"

"Sir, could be they were curious why we had so many empty ones out there and they're working on finding our time sequence warp and detonation. In fact, it's likely they already have," offered his Ferengi third-in-command, Grok.

Samji nodded. "It seems like the most plausible explanation."

At that moment, Mandella stepped in and handed him a PADD with the data they had been compiling. About a dozen likely enemies with strategies for dealing with them, ranging from diplomacy to a direct assault. Undine was at the bottom of the list, clearly having just been added. The race hadn't been encountered by the Federation for decades and the last they had heard, then Captain Janeway had formed a temporary truce with the species.

He looked up from the PADD and said to Jureth, "We recommend you open with talks first. Remind them that their last encounter with us as a species showed them we wouldn't be kicked around. Remind them we didn't want to invade their space... that in fact we have no interest whatsoever in fluidic space... and that Janeway was their ally once."

"Oh and one more thing," he said, before Jureth took his leave. "We can't have a mere Lieutenant representing the Federation in diplomatic negotiations with a species we haven't encountered in over 30 years. Therefore, I am hereby granting you a field promotion to the rank of Captain, effective through the end of Operation Horizon."

Samji then proceeded to punch in several commands to transfer an encrypted package containing the codes and classified data only accessible by Federation Captains, including the secret Omega Directive. It would be waiting for him at his ready room console under a heavy security code only able to be lifted through his current acting command code, a DNA scan, and voice activation.

"Congratulations, Captain Oseno," he said with a smile that he knew the poor officer would probably dislike more than appreciate. But he had already proven his ability to handle the role and would not be able to argue himself out of this one.

Jureth started to object to the Fleet Captain's orders, he was a security officer not a diplomat but a look from the fleet captain stopped him and the Bajoran knew there was no getting away from this order so instead he asked a question.

"Thank you Sir...but Sir, are you ordering me to attempt to enter fluidic space? Wouldn't the Undine see that as a threat?"

Samji looked at him confused, and then realized his mistake. "Well, no... I assumed they must be lurking around there still. I meant to preface it with 'if they engage you'."

I must need some sleep, he thought. I'm confusing what I thought with what I actually said.

"Understood Sir...any further orders in the event we don't encounter the Undine? I can replace the two lost shuttles with ones from the Alsea. That should allow the operation to continue as planned."

"Aye, Captain, that would be ideal," Samji replied. "regardless of whether the Undine show up. I'm sending you the program that needs to be installed on the shuttles for the operation. Once you're finished, if they haven't caused you any trouble, return to your previous coordinates to support the Artemis."

"Understood Sir, we'll proceed immediately. Alsea out."

The channel closed and Jureth thought for a moment about who would carry out the shuttle placement and in conclusion could only come up with one person.

"Mister Hunter, download the shuttle program and get yourself another pilot. I want you to take charge of the shuttle mission."

"Aye Sir,"

Hunter rose from the helm position and the standby operations officer, whom Jureth recognized as warrant officer Jones, slid into the spot. Jureth then turned to Cat Steele.

"Any sign of the Undine out there?"

She shook her head "no contacts on sensors Sir, Federation or otherwise, and there is a Priority One message from Starbase Ten waiting for you."

"Alright, I'll be in the ready room. Lieutenant Steele you have the bridge."

"Aye Sir."

Jureth exited the bridge to the ship's ready room and as the door closed behind him he let out a sigh. This was not where he'd envisioned his career going when he joined Starfleet. In fact, he speculated he may be the most reluctant officer to accept command in the history of the Federation. He thought about the great captains throughout Starfleet history; Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, Riker, and wondered if they'd had any reservations about taking the command chair. It didn't really matter, as officially as it could possibly be under the circumstances he was now truly the captain of the USS Alsea whether he liked it or not; and he didn't have to like it, he just had to do it. He sat down at the desk and opened the terminal where the Priority One message alert was blinking at him.

"Computer, access Priority One message."

"Authorization code required."

"Authorization Oseno Bravo Juliet Six One."

"Authorization code accepted, voice verified, please stand by for DNA verification."

The computer, using the ship's internal sensors instantly verified the Bajoran sitting at the desk as current security chief Oseno Jureth.

"DNA scan complete, identity verified, accessing Priority One message."

Jureth read through the data contained in Fleet Captain Samji's message, including the Omega Directive which Jureth had heard of but had thought was just a rumor until now. It was a bit shocking, but Oseno knew he didn't have time to be shocked. There were other things in the message, policies, procedures, and his official field promotion which he transferred to the ship's computer.

"Computer, recognize Oseno Jureth, Bravo Juliet Six One."

"Authorization recognized."

"Computer, change command code, new code Oseno Six One Delta Sierra."

"Code changed."

"Computer transfer command of USS Alsea from Lieutenant Commander Rachele Rivers to Captain Oseno Jureth. Authorization Oseno Six One Delta Sierra."

"Transfer of command confirmed and verified with Starfleet Records. All shipboard access codes changed to new commanding officer Captain Oseno Jureth as of stardate 87174.4."

Jureth nodded in satisfaction and walked over to the replicator, punched in several commands and the unit first produced a new uniform tunic in command red, and then the four rank pips that were universally recognized as the symbol of a Starfleet captain. If he was going to do this he was going to do it properly and so Jureth donned the new uniform top and fastened the rank pips where they belonged. Then he walked out of the ready room and back onto the bridge.

"Captain on the bridge," Cat Steele said with a smile as he entered even though it was not proper protocol given the ship was still at Red Alert.

"As you were," Jureth said brusquely

Cat returned to the tactical station and Jureth took his place in the command chair, and tapped the intercom.

"Bridge to Hunter, what is your status Lieutenant?"

"Sir, Chief Ryland and I are programming the shuttles now. We should be ready to launch in ten minutes."

"Understood, keep me posted, bridge out."

Jureth sat back in the chair realizing that the only thing he could do now was wait. After almost fifteen minutes Shawn Hunter finally contacted the bridge.

"Hunter to bridge, we're ready down here Captain."

"Very well Mister Hunter, proceed."

"Aye Sir, Hunter out."

"Ops, Jureth said "monitor the progress of the shuttles."

"Aye Sir," Ensign Wynn replied

Several moments later Wynn reported "Shuttle Bay doors opening, shuttles away."

"Hunter to Alsea," Shawn's voice came over the comm "Do you read?"

"Affirmative Lieutenant," Jureth replied "We have you."

"We are going to move the shuttles into position now Sir."

"Go ahead Lieutenant," Jureth responded and then ordered Wynn "Put them on the viewer Ensign."

"Yes Sir, coming up now."

The Alsea's viewer displayed the two shuttle craft as they carefully maneuvered into position near the one remaining shuttle from Starbase Ten. They did so deliberately and one at a time, but it still only took the two skilled pilots about twenty minutes to position the two craft.

"Hunter to Alsea, we are in position and the shuttle program has been activated." Hunter's voice was distorted, but sill clear enough for Jureth to make out his report.

"Understood Mister Hunter, stand by for retrieval." Jureth closed the channel and tapped his combadge

"Bridge to Transporter Room One. Bring Mister Hunter and Chief Ryland home."

"Aye Captain, transporting now."

A few moments later the transporter operator reported "I have them Captain."

"Acknowledged Chief, please send Mister Hunter back to the bridge."

"Aye Sir, transporter room out."

"Now," Jureth said aloud "Let's see if the Undine are still lurking about."

Moments later, a series of concentrated beams of yellow plasma came shooting from the direction of the Anomaly itself, threatening to weaken the shields of one of the Alsea's shuttles, already causing the hull to catch fire in several places, which would slowly burn through to the inside, and would if not for the automated hazard emitter systems of the shuttle that were programmed to collect and dispose of active plasma.

Following this was a slow, powerful yellow fiery torpedo, measuring about half the size of the shuttle itself.

On the bridge of the Alsea Cat Steele reported what they could all see.

"Captain, something is firing on one of the shuttles! Its coming from direction of the Azimuth Horizon!"

"Source?"

"Unknown too much sensor interference, plasma torpedo inbound!"

"Cat, target and shoot down that torpedo! Helm get us in range!"

"Aye," Warrant Officer Jones replied from the helm

"Aye Sir...targeting.." Cat said brusquely

Just as she had done with the torpedoes fired at the Azimuth Horizon by the Romulan ships, Cat used computer guided manual targeting to line up the the plasma torpedo as the Alsea maneuvered toward the shuttle.

"Firing phasers" Cat said and the Alsea lashed out with her phaser arrays the first couple of shots missing, but with Cat correcting her aim the next shots were true and the torpedo exploded before it could impact the shuttle.

"Extend our shields around the shuttles Cat, and Mister Wynn open me a comm channel, all languages all frequencies"

"Aye," Cat replied "Extending shields"

"Channel open Captain," Wynn reported

"Unknown vessel, this is Captain Oseno Jureth of the United Federation of Planets starship USS Alsea, cease your attack on our shuttle and identify yourself."

The attack didn't cease as more plasma beams futilely attempted to cut through the shields and several more plasma torpedoes exploded against the invisible force that existed just meters away from the shuttle. Eventually realizing that only minimal fires were being laid upon the surface of the shuttle, the source of the attacks began to reveal itself. It appeared as if a hole had opened in the Anomaly. What looked like a brackish-blue lake was framed by the fiery light of the Anomaly, and from those waters emerged two pincer-like protrusions. Following this was the main body of the ship in a cylindrical form, and at the end three fins expanded like a menacing claw.

For several moments, the Alsea and the alien ship remained motionless, in deadlock as the Alsea waited for a response, whether verbal or hostile, they weren't sure.

Then a video was transmitted and displayed on the viewscreen. They were surprised to see an old man in a red Starfleet Uniform with Captain's decorations. The uniform was at least 30 years old, however, and everyone instantly recognized the face before them as it was the very face on a memorial statue in the gardens of Starfleet Academy. It was familiar, but a bit more menacing as instead of being framed by a beautifully tended flower garden, he was surrounded by three massive two and a half meter tripedal aliens... species 8472 or the "Undine", as they were also known. While there had been several skirmishes with Undine ships and soldiers, no formal talks had ever taken place since the USS Voyager had encountered them in the Delta Quadrant. The "man" standing before them who would call himself "Boothby" was there as well. The lifespan of the Undine was unknown, but it was assumed to be quite long. Of course it was impossible to know his true age, as the aged visage of Boothby was worn as an extremely hi-tech disguise.

"Captain. I have been chosen to speak with you. As you probably know, we normally communicate telepathically. However, this form has been something I have grown used to over the years, and it provides an easier way for me to tell you... that your species is finished. This anomaly that you have yourselves created with your carelessness will be your undoing. We welcome its destruction of your intrusive dimension that has so many times invaded and polluted our space. You have no chance. Stop fighting, it is futile. Take whatever time you have left and make peace with your demise."

Without waiting for a response, he cut off communications and the ship began firing again; this time directly at the Alsea.

The Alsea rocked slightly as the plasma beams impacted her shields.

"Shields holding," Cat Steele reported "but protecting the shuttles is going to strain them eventually."

"Cat, return fire," Oseno ordered "Full phasers, and quantum topredoes."

The Alsea struck out with her phaser arrays and a volley of quantum torpedoes that barely phased the Undine ship which continued its barrage of plasma beam fire and responded with torpedoes of its own.

"Enemy shields holding," Cat said as the Alsea shook again "Our shields to eighty percent."

Jureth was shocked to see one of the most powerful vessels in Starfleet barely scratching the alien vessel, and while that feeling only lasted a few seconds it was enough for him to know that his ship was going to need help to get through this fight.

"Keep up the fire! All reserve power to shields!" Jureth said "Mister Wynn open a channel to Starbase Ten using the distress frequency broadcast only"

"Open Sir."

"This is Captain Oseno of USS Alsea to Starbase Ten or any Lotus Fleet or allied vessel, we are under attack from an Undine vessel and request immediate assistance coordinates to follow."

Jureth cut the channel from the command chair and spoke to Wynn again "Repeat that message on the distress frequency Mister Wynn and give them our coordinates."

"Aye Sir,"

Shawn Hunter entered the bridge at that moment and retook the helm station CWO Jones.

"Your timing is perfect Mister Hunter, evasive maneuvers. Cat pull our shields back, they don't want the shuttles anymore they want us." Jureth ordered

"Aye Sir," both officers responded nearly in unison.

The Alsea maneuvered away from the shuttle formation and presented her reinforced starboard shields toward the Undine vessel as yet another plasma torpedo rocked the ship.

"Shields to seventy five percent Captain," Cat replied even as she returned fire on the enemy "Enemy shields at ninety percent and holding."

Another volley of plasma fire struck the Prometheus Class warship and Jureth rocked forward but was held in place and he was instantly grateful to Captain Kheren for the personal inertial dampener the Andorian had provided. Behind him an auxiliary console short circuited showering sparks outward and the engineer manning it was thrown to the deck.

"Comptuer," Jureth ordered "Activate Emergency Medical Hologram!"

The Alsea's replica of the ship's doctor from USS Voyager shimmered into view.

"Please state-"

"The auxiliary console exploded, that man is hurt!" Jureth said cutting him off and the doctor went to work mumbling something about Starfleet captains as the Alsea was hit hard by another plasma torpedo.

"Shields at seventy percent! Minor damage to the port side hull" Cat said with urgency in her voice

Jureth knew that they were fighting a losing fight, but they had to keep fighting. Operation Horizon had to succeed and if the Undine were allowed to continue they could simply ambush individual ships until Lotus Fleet was eliminated and the galaxy was lost. No, this had to stop here, even he had to sacrifice the Alsea and her crew to do it.

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On the Spectre, Lieutenant Tritter said, "Sir, distress call incoming."

They listened to it and after a few moments of silence, the young Ensign at navigation turned and with a shocked expression said, "Did they say 'Undine'?"

"Appears that way," Captain Summers replied more calmly. "Plot a course to the Alsea, maximum warp."

"Aye Sir," he replied and the glow of the Azimuth Horizon streaked across the port side of the viewscreen as the Spectre burst into warp.

A few minutes later they arrived at the scene of the arrow-shaped ship being framed by the larger Undine vessel as it retreated in order to come around for another pass, and the crew of the Spectre could see yellow plasma fires burning through the hull on their starboard side.

"Open a channel."