Coordination

It was late in the afternoon on March 5th, 2410 when the call came through to Starbase 10.

"Starbase Ten, this is Alsea, do read us?"

It had been a long several hours on Starbase 10 with no communication from any ships. Fleet Captain Samji had been busy organizing repair teams and security teams to finally get the base back in order.

"Aye, this is Samji. Good to hear your voice Captain Oseno. What do you have to report on the situation with the Undine?"

Jureth took a breath before responding "Sir, while we were repositioning the shuttles we were attacked by an Undine warship. If not for the timely arrival of the Spectre the Alsea might very well be in pieces at the moment. After a pitched battle I was able to lure them toward the Azmiuth Horizon by powering down the Alsea enough to make them think we were dead. Once the Horizon had them Sir, I gave them the option of accepting our help and they refused to do so. Thanks to the telepaths on the Artemis bridge module Sir we were able to determine that the Undine act out of fear wholly and totally. So, I changed our strategy and we pulled the them clear of the Horizon and allowed them to leave freely. The Aenar on the Aegis seem to think they were confused, and dumbfounded by the fact that we would help an enemy when we could have just as easily left them to die."

"It sounds like you gave them something to think about alright," responded Samji.

"Yes Sir, but there is something else Sir. Just before the Undine warped out, while I was preparing to beam over to the Spectre with repair crews, a shuttle from the Lotus arrived baring Commander Tomah and a passenger. The informed Doctor Nasaro-Myth that they were here to negotiate with the Undine. As it turns out Sir I believe they were both Undine infiltrators returning to their base of operations. They left the shuttle behind and transported willingly to the Undine ship, and the environmental controls of the shuttle had been modified to match those aboard the Undine vessel."

"That is troubling news. We will have to check for more infiltrators on the Starbase," again replied Samji. "At least it sounds like the Artemis crew has survived another one-in-a-million. I would like to hear it directly from Captain Kheren, however."

"Fleet Captain Samji to all Lotus Fleet ships. Please come in on this channel if you can hear this."

One by one the hails came from all ships able to hear the hail since they were well within the vicinity of the shuttlecrafts that carried the signal to avoid interference from the Anomaly.

"Captain Onia of the Wisconsin. We're here, Sir, at your designated coordinates for the Ion pulse operation."

"Steamrunner, reporting in, Sir."

"Pittsburgh, ready at your command, Sir," growled the voice of the Kzinti Captain.

"Doctor Nasaro-Myth, reporting in from the Artemis bridge module Aegis."

"This is Captain Crist of the McKenzie. We're here and ready, Sir. The Horizon's Children are dead or scattered and we have two special guests in stasis. Sir..." with a pause he added... "Commander Sorripto didn't make it, but his actions saved all of us, including our guests."

"Commander Rogers of the Spectre here, Sir. Captain Summers is currently unconscious and being treated in sickbay."

There was then a moment of silence that seemed like an eternity to Samji. There were one ship that hadn't reported in yet and the status was only slightly known due to the telepathic bonding of an Aenar. The two captains on that ship were still in sickbay and only able to know of the hail once the officers on the Bridge relayed it to them.

On board the USS Lotus, both Captain Kheren and Captain Gould reacted simultaneously to the call from the flagship's bridge.

"Bridge to Captain."

"Go ahead," they both said together.

The Andorian lowered his head in apology and to let Gould answer as was his prerogative. He was not in command... not anymore.

On the imtercom, the bridge officer's voice went on after a little moment of surprise.

"Sir, we have Starbase 10 on a clear subspace channel. Fleet Captain Allen Samji is requesting a status report from all ships of the Fleet."

"Vary good Lieutenant, patch it though to me, I'm sure Captain Kheren will want to join in as well."

"Channel is open sir" replied the Lieutenant.

"Gould here Admiral, reporting in sir."

"Good to hear your voice," Samji replied. "Is Captain Kheren there?"

"Aye Admiral, we were successful in recovering the crew of the Artemis, if not the Artemis it self sir, I'm happy to report there where no casualties."

"Good. You will have Lieutenant Commander Syntron there with you to coordinate the next plan phases from the science department's perspective."

"Too all ships: we will be out of contact after this phase since the shuttles will be destroyed in order to dig the trench. Reconvene afterward at the position of the Alsea and Spectre. We will set off the mid-warp detonations of the shuttles from here. You may want to back off a bit if you are too close to the Horizon. But remain close enough to fire off the ion pulses. That phase must be complete within 2 minutes of shuttle detonation."

As Samji continued the briefing, he motioned to his Trill science officer "Mister Rexil, my science officer, will fill you in on the next part."

Rexil spoke. "Since Lieutenant Snowfire K'Leysha and Commander Syntron are on opposite sides of the Anomaly, I'd like them to initiate Phase 3. Precise coordination of both phases of the operation is paramount, so please coordinate your chronometers to do so at 1900 hours."

"I'm sending data on phase 3. Since this is theory only at this point, there will likely need to be mid-operation adjustments, so you'll probably want to run quite a few simulations and discuss your findings before we blow up the shuttles. If there is any unknowns, be sure to let us know..."

Rexil paused at that statement. He knew he wouldn't be receiving any questions going forward. Under orders from Samji, he didn't mention that the true source of the idea to essentially lock the Anomaly into an artificial wormhole -- leaving Starfleet, and specifically Starbase 10, with the keys -- was from Snowfire K'Leysha, and instead made it seem like it was developed by scientists on Starbase 10. They would be the ones to publicly receive credit to protect the Ilythyrii officer from punishment by her own people. Documents classified at the highest level would officially record her ingenuity... assuming that it succeeded, he mused.

"That is all," he added, glad to be officially off the hook for the plan that he barely understood himself.

"Very good," said Samji to finish off the discussion. "We will reconvene at 1700 hours to destroy the shuttles. Get what you need to get ready before then. I will leave this channel open in case any questions arise."

As the com was closed, Kheren jumped off the biobed he was on and, while Doctor Bindo dilligently scanne dhim with her medical tricorder, he addressed the commanding officer of the Lotus.

"Captain Gould, if I may, i would like to witness the final phase of the operation from your bridge."

"As long as your fit for duty Kheren, I would appreciate your presence on the bridge captain."

The Betazoid woman powered off her instrument and nodded with a smile that had more to it than a simple aknowledgement.

"Amazingly enough, Captain Kheren is as strong as the proverbial ox... or whatever equivalent there is on his homeworld."

"We do have them on Andoria, Doctor..." Tyvya chimed in with a smile of her own mirroring that of the smaller woman. "It's just that they too have antennae... and a chitinous carapace; they're much more akin to the milkfleas Earth ants farm on Earth than any bovine... but still, they are indeed... quite... vigourous."

The former commanding officer of the starship Artemis took note of the smile both women exchanged and, keeping his head high, he then purposedly looked only at Vi'Rell Gould.

"What is left on my crew aboard could assist your own if you so wish, Captain. Lieutenant Tyvya here is my second highest ranking officer available among them so she can help coordinate both crews. Mister Syntron could join us on your bridge for the operation."

"Vary well, coorrdinate your activitys with Mr. Vincent."

On this simple signal from Gould, they all went to their respective stations.

Listening to the detailed message from Fleet Captain Samji, Syntron was already contemplating this next phase of the operation as he received the summon and came first to the bridge. Once there, he gazed downward at the chronometer on the Lotus. One hour and thirty-seven point four minutes until the scheduled destruction of the shuttles; from that point on, their long-range communications with the Starbase and others would be nullified. They would need to have their specific procedures established and in place before the 1700 hour deadline arrived.

As soon as the two captains stepped into the command center, the first officer of the former Artemis asked Captain Gould to engage a communications channel that would link them with the USS McKenzie positioned on the other side of the anomaly. A nod from the flagship captain allowed him to reach the smallish warship, thanks to the comm network erected by the cleverly laid out starbase shuttlecrafts.

“Lieutenant Commander Syntron aboard the Lotus to the McKenzie… I am attempting to reach your CSO... Lieutenant K'Leysha. Is she available?”

----

"Lieutenant?" The voice was quite soft, threaded with suppressed worry, and the woman on the bed in sickbay responded to it faintly, eyes flickering faintly.

"Ensign...May?" The smooth voice was cracked.

"Yes ma'am." The Deputy Chief smiled faintly. "We were worried there for a bit ma'am."

"Had...worse." Snowfire tried to chuckle, but the dryness of her throat turned the attempt into a gagging cough. "Water?" She asked.

"Right here." May handed her a bulb of cool water, which she brought to her mouth and sucked greedily on, the fluid seeming to revitalize her as it hit her mouth. Several moments later, she pulled herself upright, legs dangling off the side of the bed. "You all ok?" She asked, voice stronger now - and far less...damaged.

"We're all fine. The modifications held. We lost the Commander though." She said. "Apparently he was a triple agent." Snowfire smothered a vicious curse, and shook her head.

"So...it would be Phase Three of the operation you're here about then, wouldn't it."

"I...yes. Lieutenant Commander Syntron has been trying to contact you. The Artemis was lost, but the crew got out - with some help from the Lotus." Snowfire nodded.

"Good." She pushed herself up from the bed. "Doctor? I'm needed in my lab. Ensign?" She walked out, Ensign May just behind her. Fumbling in a pocket, she pulled a hypo free and pushed it to her throat. There were a few moments as the stim went to work, then her step straightened and she headed directly to her lab. Waving away the welcome of her subordinates, she slid into her station. "Nolanis, Daniel, I'm going to need the two of you working up a subspace tensor matrix. I'll tell you the exact point on the Cochrane range that we're going to need once I've conferred with the Lieutenant Commander. Keladry, I need you to reconfigure the deflector dish to emit a continuous mageton pulse.

"Tanya, Jaylen, start reconfiguring the active sensor grid to emit phase-conjugate graviton beams." She tapped a few buttons on her console, accessing Syntron's transmission. "Oh, and Nolanis, if you could tell the Captain that it might be a good idea if we head for the Starbase. If we're doing this, we're going to want a gatekeeper. And we can move one hell of a lot faster than Starbase 10." She turned back to the screen and tapped a final button to open the transmission.

"Lieutenant K'Leysha here, Lieutenant Commander. This would be about Phase Three of the operation, I assume?"

Hearing the clear and articulate voice of the Ilythiri woman, Syntron responded.

“Affirmative Lieutenant. I have analyzed the data received from Captain Crist and we are currently preparing to proceed with phase three of the operation. As you may be aware, we were able to complete phase two of this operation with the trilithium emitters, although at the cost of the remaining Artemis; except what remains of the Aegis bridge module.”

Gazing down at his PADD, the Vulcan scientist focused on the forthcoming coordinated mission as he continued his communication.

“According to recent calculations, we will need to generate a subspace tensor matrix to 27,354 cochranes, and then send out an intersecting magneton pulse using each of our ships. The pulse emitting from each of our ships on opposite sides of the anomaly should then interact with the matrix to produce the appropriate subspace distortion; which if coordinated precisely, will create an opening in the space-time continuum in the designated region.”

Syntron then paused for a moment as he continued entering data in the simulations he was executing in his PADD.

“However Lieutenant, an unknown factor in this equation will be the actual effect related to the duration of these pulse drains on each ship’s available energy. We may need to make some modifications rerouting additional energy as this procedure progresses.”

Snowfire nodded carefully, tapping the specifications into a PADD and passing it across to her staff so that they could start working. Tapping a few other sequences into her own device, she paid rapt attention to the precise voice of the Vulcan on the other end of the transmission - splitting her focus, whilst not easy, wasn't entirely hard either. Thank the Goddess.

"Twenty seven thousand, three hundred and fifty four Cochranes. Understood and passed to my team." She said, wincing internally at those last words. Vulcan or not, Syntron probably missed his own science division. No need to remind him of its separation from him. "And your analysis of calculations is essentially correct, the exact subspace dynamics aside. As to the question of energy..." she hesitated. Only for an instant, a single blink of her onyx eyelids, but it was noticeable. "I would not know." She said finally. "I intend to ask Captain Crist to reposition the McKenzie to Starbase 10 before commencing this operation. Considering the theoretical cost, I would advise that you call in any ships you can to support you in the event that more than allocated and auxiliary power is required."

Syntron listened attentively through the temporarily opened communication channel as the words of the Ilythiri scientist were received. This would be their last opportunity to confirm their plans before the impending destruction of the shuttles severed their link.

“Acknowledged Lieutenant. I will check with Captain Gould on the possibility of eliciting additional fleet support in our endeavor… although it may be logistically improbable given our distance and time constraints.”

Looking down at the chronometer once again, the Vulcan scientist proffered “Nevertheless, we can agree on the precise time to commence with the third phase of this operation. Perhaps, we can implement our magneton pulses in a series of increments occurring fifteen minutes from when the last attempt concluded. We should be able to use our sensors to register the immediate effects of our efforts and re-calibrate these pulses at a higher energy output each time; until we establish the required opening. The interval of time in between could be used to allow our crew to reroute additional power from other noncritical ship subsystems… if required.”

Again came an eyeblink of hesitation, but Snowfire seemed to quash it much more swiftly than before, and the Ilythirii Lieutenant nodded. They didn't have much time left anyway, so working out the sequence would be all important at this stage.

"A series of pulses would definitely be a wise idea," she replied, "although all things considered I would advise that we shorten the interval between attempts to five minutes at the absolute most. If there are still some that wish to stop us, the pulses will be obvious in the extreme in conjunction with the tensor matrix. As for system order...I would recommend auxiliary power, warp drive, shields - after redeploying the Lotus's ablative armour - and then...

"Impulse engines, external sensors if you have other ships there or deploy some shuttle as eyes, and then weapons. Beyond that...possibly try shutting down power in unused portions of the ship." She shrugs. "With all that though, I'd recommend shortening the interval to a minute between pulses. It should be more than possible."

Syntron added the information into his PADD at rate in which the Ilythiri scientist articulated her recommended course of action. Although he was a bit weary of shortening the time-frame between each pulse to this degree, he recognized this was merely one in a series of many calculated risks that had occurred throughout this perilous endeavor with this anomaly.

After swiftly readjusting his protocols, sequence of events and reduced intervals, he responded back to the scientist on the other side of the anomaly.

“All procedures are now confirmed and in place Lieutenant” the Vulcan scientist spoke calmly.

“Awaiting detonation of the communication shuttles to begin the countdown to the implementation of phase three.”

Looking back at the chronometer, Syntron could see that the countdown was less than one hour and twenty-eighty point two minutes. He realized that this would allow him time to set up the series of power reductions with the crew of the Lotus. He did not have the familiarity of this vessel that he had with the Artemis. Fortunately though, the crew of the Lotus was more than capable of handling this task. He also had crew members of the Artemis available to lend a hand in each of the departments as well.

With the communication line still open with the Ilythiri scientist on the McKenzie, Syntron stepped away from his post for a moment and approached the commanding officer of the Lotus.

“Captain Gould, will there be any additional ships or other fleet support available in our vicinity to assist us in phase three of this operation? It will commence in one hour and twenty-seven point six minutes.”

"Not unless Lotus fleet command has acquired a few new ship's we haven't heard about." He said with a slight shrug. "We'll have to make due with what we have."

"I'll see you on the other side then, Lieutenant Commander." She said simply, bringing her hand up in a salute. "In the hope that you won't need it, good luck." She stood, tapping her commbadge, and opened a channel to bridge. "Captain?" She asked. "After the shuttles are destroyed, I'm going to need everything we've got to get us to Starbase 10 by 1900 when Phase three will commence."

"Understood Lieutenant." Crist replied, nodding to Hughes. "Simmons I am going to need maximum power to the warp engines."

Hearing the call in Engineering Simmons responded.

"Aye Sir. I will give you all I can manage but we are still trying to put everything back in order here sir."

"Order?"

"Yes sir it was the way Commander Sorripto used to run things. He had a huge network of power relays taking and giving power to each other. It maximizes our power beyond limits I thought possible but with him dea... er uh not here to walk me through what I am looking at I can't really make heads or tails of what might get damaged if I route power the wrong way. "

"Understood give us what you can and then get back to work I do not not have time for a learning curve"

With a sigh Ensign Simmons got back to work "Who would have ever thought I would be wishing this hard for a Cardassian to come save the day". He thought to himself

Back at the panel Simmons carefully worked to boost power to engines a small alarm warning showed a power drop in the main shuttle bay Simmons silenced the alarm and continued to work and within a few seconds it cleared and power was at 114%

The McKenzie turned in place, lining up on course for the home of Lotus Fleet, and waited for their science officer to give the go ahead to proceed to the next arena of the operation.

Captain Kheren listened to the scientists discussing the final points of their operation while watching Captain Gould and his crew bring the Lotus to full readiness, for once having nothing to do but watch others at their duties. That left him free to reminesce on his own past experience on the flagship. On this very bridge he had first set foot for his first deep space assignment as a freshly minted Security and tactical Ensign... a lifetime ago it seems. He had then served as her CTSO under then Captain Felez Connora'tu, until the Borg War and the final secret mission into the Neutral Zone that had precipitated the retirement of the Efrozian ship commander and his own transfer to the newly recommissionned USS Artemis. They had refited the Lotus just before operation Horizon had been initiated, but the bridge was still the same as he remembered; only the faces had changed... and he himself was now but a passenger.

I lost my ship... and so, here I am, a simple spectator while others still have duties to perform, a task to finish. Will I too be sent into retirement... or worse... to captain a desk?

The Andorian slowly shook his head, chasing away the nascent gloomy thoughts from his mind.

None of this will matter if there is no universe left . We did our bit for King and Country. Time for others to save us all.

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

"Captain's Log, Stardate 8714.85:

The Alsea with measurable assistance from the USS Spectre, has successfully fended off and Undine warship which attacked us without provocation. The Undine are an intimidating foe and something tells me this was not the last that Lotus Fleet or the Federation will see of them. We are about to enter phase 3 of Operation Horizon, and it will be the coming actions that determine the fate of the entire galaxy. For all of our sakes I hope that we are successful otherwise we will have few options left, and I for one do not like any of them so, as I prepare to ensure the readiness of our science department I know that we cannot fail.

I find it sobering that I have ended up in command of the Alsea. It reminds me of just how real the risks we take are, and that at any given time we may find ourselves doing a job that we never had in mind for ourselves. Still, I vowed to Captain Siduri before we left Starbase Ten that I would bring this ship home, and I will if I have to do it piece by piece."

Jureth closed the terminal in the Alsea's ready room, and stepped out onto the warship's bridge and observed the bridge crew at work. They were the ship's third shift crewmen as he had ordered everyone to get as much rest as possible while they prepared for the third phase of Operation Horizon. The officer in the command chair, Ensign Tomek, looked over at Jureth and started to get up, but Oseno waved him off. Jureth then proceeded to the turbolift and rode it to deck five where he found Lieutenant Tor, the science department's temporary commander. The Cardassian stood up as Jureth entered and Jureth looked at the man for a moment knowing all too well that it was Tor's people that had enslaved Jureth's father, mother, and all of Bajor for years. "He had no part in that" Jureth reminded himself internally, and then he questioned the science officer.

"Mister Tor, are we ready for the ion pulse portion of the containment?"

"Yes Captain, I have the mission data programmed into the computer and we are ready to initiate the pulse on your command."

Jureth nodded "Good, I want you on the bridge for that part of the mission."

"Aye Sir, as you say I will be there."

"Thank you Lieutenant, see you in a couple of hours."

"Aye Sir."

Jureth returned to the bridge, and this time he took the command chair from Tomek who returned to one of the Alsea's auxiliary stations.

"Helm, back us off from the shuttles, to a distance where their detonation will not interfere with our deployment of the ion pulse, and Senior Chief Ferar advise the Spectre and the Aegis to do the same."

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

The Alsea backed away from the positioned shuttles, and settled herself at a distance where they would be unharmed by the massive detonations of their warp cores.

"And now," Jureth said to no one in particular "we wait."

On the only surviving part of the USS Artemis, the message from the lead ship of their specific group was aknowledged by Counselor Lyrya and relayed to the Deltan Doctor still in command.

"Not that we will do much of anything in this glorified runabout of ours," Elliago mumbled.

Then looking up at the screen where the two starships of Lotus Fleet were taking up their designated position for the upcoming final phase of the operation, he spoke more loudly.

"Advise both the Alsea and the Spectre that we will stand by at the rear with three dozen cross-trained technical, scientific, medical and security personnel available for them."

"Message sent and aknowledged by botn ships, Doctor," the Aenar confirmed after a moment.

"Doctorr," then said tactical officer Mrriish, "I rrecommend that, while the otherr ships worrk on phase 3, that we use ourr own sensorrs to monitorr the sectorr against any furrther ... interruption."

The Deltan nodded his bald head in her direction, the ever charming smile back on his handsome face.

"I knew there had to be a reason why the captain did not lord alone on the bridge of a ship... Let's just do that. Those Undine did leave in a hurry... but who knows why... where... and for how long?"

"And Romulans could try again to interfere," reminded them Ops chief Cheonghi with his shrill voice. "And there was talk of Klingon meddling from the Spectre's theater of activity..."

"Never rains but it pours," commented Elliago in response. "All the more reasons to be vigilant while the others work at saving the universe."

"Not that we have anything better to do anyway," offered with a smile of his own chief Baoule acting as his XO from his right hand.

"Right," agreed the Deltan.

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

As the ships made their preparations, Fleet Captain Samji was finally able to report in to Rear Admiral Kotari.

"So the containment is about to be finished in the next few hours," he said, as he finished the report.

"Good work to you and your Fleet," the grey-haired Boslic man said from behind his desk in San Francisco. "I knew you could handle it when I gave you that position. Your fear of not having enough mission experience was clearly not justified," he said, managing a slight smile... as much as he could under the circumstances.

"It was all thanks to our officers, Sir," Samji replied, proudly. "They all showed a dedication above and beyond. I couldn't have done it without them."

"We have a ship on its way to back you up," Kotari said, bringing a slightly surprised look from the Fleet Captain.

"What ship, SIr?" Samji asked.

Kotari just gestured to the monitor indicating the details being transmitted to the screen. It was clear he was being coy for his own amusement, but the specifications were transmitted in full.

"Hmm... interesting..." Samji said with an excited tremor, while trying to maintain a straight face in front of his mentor.

"Last I heard, it will be docking in ninety minutes. Good luck Fleet Captain. Kotari out."

Samji turned to his Ferengi Operations Officer and asked, "how long until detonation?"

"Fifteen minutes, Sir," Grok replied, and, anticipating the Fleet Captain's request, he flipped on the subspace emergency channel that would again be routed through all the shuttles and as Samji began saying "Activate...." Grok already had replied. "Channel active, Sir."

Samji smiled, thinking back to an old Earth television show he enjoyed watching occasionally. "Thank you Radar."

"Fleet Captain Samji to all Lotus Fleet ships. Prepare to activate the containment ion pulses in just under fifteen minutes."

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

As Lieutenant Vincent stood on the bridge of the Lotus, listening to the fleet’s science officers discuss the next phase of their plan, his combadge chirped.

“Lieutenant, all crew are back to normal and we’ve completed our initial security sweeps of the ship,” Ensign Kiels reported. “Mr. Tomah and the prisoner are the only crewmembers that are unaccounted for. All-in-all the security division is ready to go.”

She paused briefly, and an audible sigh could be heard over the channel.

“Sir, I want to apologize,” she started. “You left me in charge of the ship’s security while you were gone and I failed. I let Tomah get the better of me and he could have completely destroyed the ship. I…”

“Tomah was in charge of security on this ship long before you or I got here. He’d been planning this escape for a long time. You and your teams acted exactly as you were supposed to; don’t blame yourself for this. And Ensign, try to get a quick nap before we start on the next phase, you’ve had a busy day and I need you on your A-game for the rest of this mission.”

It was my fault, I should have known that he had something up his sleeves, Josh thought. He gave up far too easily. But I've got things to do now, there will be time for regrets later.

“Thank you sir,” Kiels responded, “I’ll do that.”

When he was done speaking with Ensign Kiels, Josh turned to report the situation to Captain Gould.

“Captain, my teams have finished their sweeps of the ship,” Josh reported. “No further sabotage was found and Mr. Tomah is the only missing crewmember. Tactically speaking, we are ready for the next phase of the operation.”

"That's.. surprising.. but i'm glad to hear it" Gould mused. "I guess he meant what he said about agreeing with our mission and decided not to get in our way."

Without any conscious intent on his part, Kheren had moved to the right side of the bridge so as to not get underway with the crew's work and had stood in silence just before and below the tactical station. Despite his natural deafness to sound directly behind him, he had heard every word of Josh Vincent's conversation, thanks to the well thought out acoustics of the bridge allowing sound to travel clearly towards the center seat, wherever it came from. Listening to the young chief of security, he felt a sudden feeling of remembrance that almost got a sigh of regret out of him. It seemed like it was just yesterday that he himself had been chief of security of this ship; that he had stood at this very station, with the same concern and sense of heavy responsibility that etched the man's voice.

Hearing about Edward Tomah had also brought back to his mind those first days aboard the flagship. The man that finally was revealed not to be one had been the very first soul to welcome him aboard, to guide his first steps into deep space duty and support him when he took the head of the department he should have been granted with, if only by virtue of rank alone, if not simply seniority and experience. At the time, Kheren had wondered about the apparent lack of concern and ambition of the man, so uncharacteristic of a Human, let alone a Starfleet officer, even one claiming to look forward to upcoming retirement .

The Andorian now knew why; but he could not have imagined the truth of it all as it had now been revealed.

He dismissed thoughts of his own failings at the time just as Vincent had done with those of his assistant chief over the comm. Indeed, Tomah had prepared himself well and far in advance, even beyond the time Kheren himself had been assigned aboard the Lotus. Not even their highly sensitive Efrozian captain of those days, Commander Felez, had had any suspicion. Some times, you could not win them all...

Indeed... Kheren thought, once again seeing in his mind's eye the last moment of his own ship, his first ship... maybe his last command.

Starfleet is understandably not to keen in offering another command to one who alreadty lost one, whatever the reason... The Board of Inquiry will certainly pick apart with a fine comb every single decision I made that lead to this loss... and find whatever reason Command will need to make sure that I never have a chance to do it again.

He lifted his head and brought his four oculars to the big screen where the ships of the fleet could be seen as they moved into their assigned position.

Or worse; they might even try to promote me and commend me so as to justify giving me command of an office... Well, I can always decline a promotion... and ask for a tactical position again. Anything but flying a computer console.

While the Andorian was thus musing, the readiness call from Starbase 10 came over the fleet channel. After listening to it and to Captain Gould's aknowledgement of readiness, he came by the command chair to address the Vulcanoid hybrid.

"If I may, Captain, I would like to make my report to headquarters."

Getting permission from the commanding officer of the flagship, Kheren stood at attention before the viewer.

"Fleet Captain Samji, this is Captain Kheren on board the USS Lotus. Sir, I have to inform you that the USS Artemis was lost following our encounter with the Romulan dreadnought and then as a consequence of completing phase 2 of the operation. Fortunately, no loss of life resulted in this event, thanks to the swift and efficient intervention of the flagship, her officers and crew.They should all be commended for the excellence in fulfilling their duty, as should the crew and officers of my ship."

He made a pause to let the succint information sink in... not so much in Samji's mind as in his own heart. Then he concluded with a heavy but firm tone.

"You will have a full report upon our return. I will then stand ready for a complete debriefing before the Board of Inquiry. In the meantime, I remain at your disposal and under the authority of Captain Gould on board the Lotus."

With a nod to both the main viewer and the commanding officier of the flagship, he stepped back and to the side of the bridge now to let others do the work without him being in their way. By will as much as by fate, his own part was over and done.