Chapter 6: The Wrath of Khan (Part 1)

Redding listened intently to it all and responded by looking away from the rest and saying softly at first "Dam" and then using to heel of fist fist hit the bulkhead  with a resounding 'thud' "Dam it!" All three women glanced back and fourth at each other from the unexpected outburst.

He then turned back at them, clearly upset. "It gets worse.. Just before Commander Oseno beamed over to the Polaris I gave him my memory storage unit, I update that daily in the event that something happens to me and they have to reintegrate my memories."

"Now, seeing as only I can interpret the memories this has never been an issue of security. Now, guess who built and designed the memory unit? Ira Graves."

"Every thing I've ever known in that unit, every action I've every taken or order I've been given.

Everything I learned about the Horizon and her crew and every top secret project I've EVER been apart of." He took a breath "Is now in the hands of the most brilliant criminal in history and I have no doubt that if he hasn't figured out how to use it yet, it's not long off."

He turned away for a momnat and looked back "Discussions over, were going in" And started heading to the bridge.

He tapped his comm badge "Redding to Irksos, Transfer all personnel to the Jeg'hadar vesicle immediately and prepare to return to the horizon, you'll be transporting a wounded Jem'hadar warrior so make sure there's a safe place to put him."

"Of course Commander" Irksos responded with a slight touch of curiosity in her vice.

"Tvyva, your right, the Captain needs to know about this immediately. "

"So I'm giving you the option to return with the Dusk to better brief him on these events, also remove all my command access immediately and have a new one assigned to me, If I made my own he might be able to guess it using my profile." He moved quickly as he talked, not allowing time for debate.

"But T'ara  and Snowfire are equally correct in that we must go now, before he can use the Polaris to better his position. We can't afford to wait on this, even if Jureth and the rest of the crew can't be saved, even if we must destroy the Polaris.. We can not allow Khan to ever leave this place."

Even with her impressive stride, the Andorian giantess had to strain to keep up with him.

"Agreed, Sir. But with all due respect, I am the acting chief of security and tactical; my job is to ensure your safety as well as that of the whole ship while assigned to an away team.  And you will need someone who has some experience in dealing with this entity if we are to tackle it, especially with so small a force. Irksos is already debriefed on the situation as our comm lines were left open; she can report to the captain while she bring back our... guest. Graalthrii of course will join in... "

"Try and stop me... Sir..." came then the gruff voice of the tellarite security officer over the comm.

"Good... we can always use a good engineer," shot back Moore, his grin spreading even to his tone of voice.

"I am not an engineer!" came back the angry retort.

It was a long-standing joke between the two officers from the day Moore and him had been part of the away team that had rescued Captain Kheren, then science officer Syntron and Tyvya herself from the remnants of the USS Artemis as the legendary Ambassador class starship was being devoured by the Azimuth Horizon anomaly. Tyvya's antennae curved inward in brief amusement before pointing again with her tone once again deadly serious.

"Sheeneea can fly the Dawn as back up for us in case we need swift support... or go get the cavalry. The others will do as you order them to, Sir.  I guess even as little as six of us can also fly this thing like these Jem'Hadars did... if Moore can steer it at all..."

"I heard that.." Moore said over the comm.

"Don't worry about it Moore." Redding said returning to the bridge. "I've actually flew one of these things before, privileges of being a diplomat. I wasn't allowed to fight but I did get to play with some of their toys." Then glanced at Snowfire with a half smile "Vorta can't bluff worth a dam."

"But no one will be piloting the Dawn in any event, we'll be towing it in with us as our 'Prize Catch' for this fishing expedition." He stood at the navigators station and put on the eye piece.

"You, Moore, will get the honor of piloting the Polaris with 'Team Bravo' while the rest of us assault the main dock to draw their attention and see if we can retrieve the Polaris crew."

 Then he asked his crew.

"Anyone have any idea how to get them aboard the Polaris?"

Many of them murmured to each other for a few minutes but it was obvious no good way could be considered that would not be detected. The Dawn was to easly spotted, transporters would be detected if they worked at all.

As no answer was forthcoming, Redding let out an sigh.

"Well, I only know one way to do it quietly; space walk."

There was a very distinctive Tellarite groan over the comm.

He turned to Lieutenant Lyvya.

"Break out four E-suits from the Dawn. I'll be taking Moore, Graalthrii and Leone with me. I'll be leaving you In charge of the main assault team."

"I'm not questioning your decision Commander, but may I ask why your not leading the assault, Sir? I would have thought it would have been more to your liking," she said in the blunt Andorian way.

"If the Polaris is locked down, and there is no reason to think otherwise, I'm the only one able available to start her up again."

He looked at her and shrugged.

"But you are right, I would have preferred to leave that job to you."

"Don't you worry, Sir. I'll make such a distractive racket that even Captain Kheren will see it from the edge of the nebula."

Snowfire and Leone both reported that the ship was now flight capable so Redding got the ship moving.

"Once we get there Bravo team will will make our jump, I'll lead."

He looked over at Leone a little sympathetic.

"Just lock your suit on follow and stay on my back, Lieutenant. We should be there before you know it."

Moore whined over the com as he could be heard pulling some gear together.

"Why, oh why do I have to be the best person for this job? Lord knows I try to be unreliable..."

"And consistently pretty good at it," finished Graalthrii, the smirk on his face clearly creeping into his tone of voice.

"Are you insulting me, grease monkey?" Moore retorted.

They both exchanged a wide grin as they finished suiting up.

As the bug ship started it's final approach Redding and the rest of Bravo team were suited up and headed to the air lock, only his helmet wasn't attached.

"Take your time docking, as much as you can give us without looking suspicious.  Then clear the landing area as quick as you can and find those prisoners, we'll do our best to have the Polaris ready to go the time you reach her but if all else fails get them back to the assault fighter."

He looked briefly to see if the others had already left the room, they had. "DO NOT wait for us at that point, understand lieutenant?" And with that he clicked his helmet into place and let Snowfire check his seals.

He paused to look at her and thought as loudly as he could Take care of them. Snowfire smiled, very slightly, and nodded back at him.

:Of course.: Came the faint reply, right at the edge of his mind as he nodded and left the room. 

"You know, I skipped out on this class at the academy." Moore actually looked pale in his suit.

"Leone your tethered with me, Graallthrii you take Moore, were aiming for the port aft personnel maintenance airlock. If you miss it find another way in, we'll meet up in auxiliary control."

Redding closed the inner airlock  as he spoke and cycled it, It was vary unnerving to the unseasoned, but not nearly as much as when the outer door opened exposing them to the nebula.

He looked at his controls. "30 seconds till target. Watch the boots of the man in front of you and use your thrusters to match any direction they swing to, do NOT look around at the view, you will become disoriented."

Moore was gripping his tether with one hand and his booster controls with the other "I'm getting ready to jump into a nebula Commander, I'm past disoriented all ready."

Redding counted out the last few seconds "..3...2...1... NOW!" and triggered his boosters gliding out into space.

The four suited forms glided smoothly from under the belly of the Jem'Hadar cruiser and followed closely the rock face out of which the docking area had been carved out with disruptor fire. hidden from view, they closed in the inert form of the USS Polaris.

Snowfire watched the light flare on her board, then nodded sharply as they floated across the bay to dock, moving under minimal power. They looked crippled. It made sense to act like it. Before they'd begun their approach - still in the shadow of the asteroid - she'd handed out small devices to all of those aboard the vessel that would fool life-scanner technology. It was a bit dangerous, considering that it would make recovering any of the suited personnel impossible unless if they missed, but it also made them the best thing to invisible. A quick scan of the Jem'hadar lifesigns aboard the assault craft had allowed her to mimic their signatures, so from a purely technical point of view they were fine up until the point of visual contact.

And a few judicious...adjustments....to the vessel's communications array had made it quite incapable of video-audio transmission. The rather extensive looking battle damage would hopefully be able to stand up to any suspicion in regards to their inability to communicate. They'd clearly succeeded in their task - considering they were towing the shuttle - but the damage they'd sustained should give them excuse enough to dock without making any non-text based replies. With that settled however, she turned herself to examining both the main dock and the USS Avenger - apparently the home to a threat that could never be allowed to escape. And a part of her wondered...had they talked to any cyberneticists about what had happened? Most probably not, all things considered. And even if they had...well. There were AIs and there were AIs.

And so she laid her plans, in full awareness of what a truly self-aware computer was capable of. But also in the knowledge that there were always ways to fight those sort of beings. They weren't all powerful, they weren't without limit - every computer had limits. An AI was just a program. A very smart, very advanced program. But still only that. And for all that they'd never worked out how to defeat them, her people had been fighting a continuous war with an extremely advanced program for most of two centuries. One which had had access to a whole lot more processing power than this one did. So the initial response was simple.

"Are we ready, Lieutenant?" She asked Tyvya quietly as she re-entered the bridge following a final round of checks.

"We are, Lieutenant Commander, " the giantess answered from the tactical console on the bugship bridge, getting a nod from their pilot Sheeneea, the other Andorian woman on board. "Problem is, as soon as we power up engines or weapons, it will be detected and alert them. I don't know if you have any practical experience with the Jem'Hadar but I can tell you that they will react instantly, in the purest sense of the word. Also, they will also quickly become suspicious if no one comes out of the ship after a relatively short period of time. My guess is that we have at most..."

She stopped and looked more closely at her board as she was interrupted by the Bynar doctor at the sensor station.

"Lifesigns... Jem'Hadars... two of them, approaching... the docking port."

Snowfire, using the personal eyeviewer that was the only visual link to the outside, saw ialso something else as the Andorian tactical chief reported it; magnetic grapples shot out of the docking area and grasped both their commandeered cruiser and the shuttle behind it to bring them both to the airlocks.

"If we don't release our own tow cable from the Flyer, they will know for sure that something is wrong," Sheeneea said flatly. ''And when they will board us and the shuttle...''

They were already short of time and options; and on both infiltrating ships, decision now rested on the shoulders of Snowfire.

"We're here to make noise, Lieutenant." Snowfire replied quietly. "Get their attention, make them mad. That's our job. And I intend to see it done. The fact that the Polaris is powering up adds a little more complexity, but less than one might expect considering our mission profile." She nodded to Sheeneea, carefully removing the viewer from her head before handing it to one of the Bynar. "Release the tow on the Flyer. Doctor, please keep us updated on the outside situation. Lieutenant Tyvya, we're going to go greet our expecting hosts." She flicked a come-along gesture to the rest of the team aboard the craft, and they headed swiftly for the docking ring. As they moved, Snowfire started pulling things out of her bag. The same box of needles - at least it looked the same on the outside - as Tyvya had seen at her seminar, along with a host of other small devices that she tucked away in easily accessible folds and pockets sewn into her uniform. Then there were two external pockets, which she placed just below her hips and adhered instantly to the uniform.

"Lieutenant, I'm going to need you to go into the base as fast as you can, and I am giving you a direct order to prioritise the retrieval of Starfleet personnel over any others. If we're lucky, we'll be able to come back and rescue anyone else trapped on this station. But I'm going to need you to get in, find our people, and then get out fast. You might note I'm saying this as 'you', not 'we'. That's because I won't be going with you." She held up her hand quickly. "You said that the ship up there, that might already have been given the spark it needs to come fully online, must be neutralised. Considering what you've told me, I agree. So let me do what I know." She pulled another device from her bag, a strange combination of something like a tricorder and a wrist-strap that she buckled on and started tapping on as she continued speaking. 

"I can get aboard the Nemesis, now, but I can't take anyone else with me. And in all honesty, I wouldn't want to. I know I don't have experience with this enemy, but I read the psychological profile on Kahn many times in the Academy. And unlike anyone else on this team, I'm an unknown to him." She looked down at the badge on her breast, across at the rank insignia on her shoulders, then sighed and gently pulled them free. "That gives me an advantage, but it's one I can only exploit alone. And before you tell me, I know it'll be dangerous." They'd reached the docking ring, and she held out the badge and rank bars to Tyvya. "But I also need someone who knows what they're doing here, commanding the assault team, and I don't know Starfleet tactical protocols as well as you do. Frankly, I'd probably just get in your way." She smiled slightly, the hard expression that had crept over her face as they walked softening slightly. "So let me go do the job I know, so I don't stop you doing yours."

Meanwhile Bravo team glided on towards its destination and so far there had been no issue with the jump.
The rest of the team seemed strangely quite but that only meant they were doing exactly what he told them to do and not look around because if they had they would have seen the tow cable reaching out to grapple the Dawn. This didn't bother him, as it had been expected. Snowfire and Lyvya could handle it.

What he hadn't been expecting was to see the Polaris powering up as he glided at it. Khan had acquired the command codes.

While Redding worried how he did just that he didn't let it occupy his mind, there were only three choices, the most likely being from Commander Oseno himself. It was unlikely He could have cracked his chip so quickly or the Polaris's main computer.

Redding had seen Jureths file on how he withstood interrogation under the Romulans along side Captain Gould, so he wouldn't' have gone down easy.

"Aww man.." came Moores expected gripping.

"As Mr. Moore has just pointed out our job just got a bit easier." He said with a sense of irony.

"It would have been necessary to manually open the maintenance hatch witch would have taken three or four minuets, now we can just opened up and walk right in." He kept his tone optimistic.

Graalltrii grumbled a reminder. "Commander, that will set off an intrusion alert at the security station."

"I know" Redding said without missing a beat.  "But with the ship powering up there will be dozens of such alerts and no one to respond to them, I doubt the Jem'hadar  will even notice it for quiet a while"

Graalltrii thought it over and agreed "If you say so sir." which was as close as he could come to sounding positive.

"Well.." Leone said trying not to sound nervous. "At least this way it wont take vary long to have the ship ready when the rest return."

Moore added in with his smiling voice "And the pilots seat should be all warmed up for me, I do hate a cold seat."

Leone giggled out of nervousness despite herself.

It only took a couple of minuets for Redding and Graalltrii to get them all into the Polaris and out of their suits.

"And here's where it starts to get fun kids" Redding said as he swung his rifle up and looked into the connecting corridor.