USS DISCOVERY Chapter 2: Minefield

The two hour travel time to the source of the Cardassian vessel's distress call went by rapidly though to Jureth it seemed painfully slow. He only hoped the Cardassians were still alive to be assisted once they arrived. It was a relief when Helmsman Moore reported they were approaching their destination. 

"Coming up on the Klingon Border Sir,"

"Take us out of warp, slow to one quarter impulse."

"Aye Sir,"

As the Discovery dropped to normal space Catherine Steele immediately spoke up

"Sir, I"m picking up two vessels, one Cardassian Galor Class Warship, and one Acamarian vessel. The Cardassians are definitely in a minefield. Sensors show they are surrounded, but I'm not sure what kind of mines they are, not any modern variety for sure."

"T'Lana, open a channel."

"Aye Sir, channel open."

"Acamarian vessel, this is Captain Oseno Jureth of the Federation Starship U.S.S. Discovery, we are responding to a distress call from the Cardassian vessel. You will cease fire immediately  and stand down."

"The Acamarians are responding"

"On Screen."

On the viewer of the discovery the face of the Acamarian captain appeared. As the ship's XO had said they were nearly human in form but for a distinct indentation in the middle of their foreheads. This particular Acamarian had short hair that may have once been black but now was mostly grey, and intense grey eyes that peered at Jureth as if trying to look through him.

"I am Dargan, Captain of the Firestorm, and we will do no such thing. I do not recognize your authority here Federation, those animals in that ship over there collaborated with the shapeshifters and helped them decimate our home! And you, your Starfleet did nothing to stop them! Nothing! Our cities burned! Our people died! They will pay for their crimes against our people!!" 

Jureth was unphased by the Acamarian's rant, more so because he wasn't exactly sure what the man was ranting about though it sounded like he was referring to the Dominion War.

"Captain, if you stand down and come speak to me I'm sure we can-"

"I will NOT! There will be vengeance for the fallen!" 

With that the viewer went blank.

"They've closed the channel, Sir," Steele reported, "and they've resumed their...random shots at the Cardassians. But it doesn't make any sense, Sir. If they truly wanted the Cardassians dead, why not simply target them with the full power of their ship? Sensors show their weapons are at least equal to an Excalibur Class cruiser. The Cardassian vessel has no weapons and their shields are barely holding together." 

"It must be the mines..." Jureth reasoned. "I don't know if Dargan is crazy, clever, or both. XO, Mister Sorripto...suggestions?"

"Sensors show the mines do not appear to be linked sir. There would be no threat to the Acamarian ship if they targeted the mines closest to the Cardassian vessel." Sorripto responded.

Glancing back at the view screen, Sorripto continued.

"Even with the recent hull modifications that the Cardassians have been implementing, a Galor ship would be torn to pieces if that mine field detonated. Last I checked, the Acamarians do not have a reputation for toying with their prey. Based on energy readings, and my own guess, destroying that Cardassian ship does not seem to be the primary objective here."

"I concur with Lieutenant Ssteele; Ssomething doesn't add up here. It would be an easy thing for them to get to maximum range and at that safe distance jusst launch a torpedo into the minefield and watch the fireworkss."

He blinked a few times looking at the image of the Cardassian vessel.

"The only reason I can think of, Ssir, is that the Cardasssians are carrying something they are concerned about;  either ssomething that they fear would be releassed if the ship was desstroyed, like a heavy load of antimatter or ammunition that would detonate the entire field beyond ssafety range... or these Cardasssians carry ssomething... or ssomeone...  that they want."

He looked at Jureth without blinking.

"Ssir, if we move between the Cardassians and the Acamarians, we could hamper their attack with our own sshields. Under that cover and while we try to reason with them, we could launch sshuttles to tractor away enough mines to allow the Cardassians to esscape. They would not dare open fire directly on uss or our shuttles and rissk a... vendetta from uss."

Jureth nodded "I'm not convinced they won't fire on us, but they don't out gun us either. Mister Moore, let's impose ourselves in this little conflict. Position us between the Acamarian vessel and the Cardassians...but try to stay away from the mines if you don't mind."

"Not even a challenge Captain, and if you need a volunteer to take a shuttle out.." Moore just let it hang there.

"I was indeed thinking about you, Lieutenant," Schaell answered.

"I have configured power to the sensors through navigation, that should make it a little easier to avoid our friends out there." Sorripto said.

The ship glided along through the field smoothly with seemingly no effort, bringing a grin to Moores face.

"Bringing the port shield to bear on the Acamarians."

"Good work," Oseno acknowledged as the Discovery wedged herself into the firing line of the Acamarian vessel "Now let's see if they are willing to talk. Cat, hail the Acamarians."

"They are responding Sir."

"You will move your vessel now Captain!" the voice of the Acamarian commander, accompanied by his scowling face on the viewer, boomed over the comm channel. 

"I will not," Oseno replied evenly "Stand down Captain Dargan, unless you have some reason for harassing the Cardassians I will not permit you to fire on them any longer." 

"The vengeance of the dead is my reason Starfleet! If you would defend those monsters then perhaps you deserve destruction as well!" 

The channel went dead again and the Discovery shuddered slightly as weapons fire impacted her shields.

"Permission to fire Sir?" Steele said almost with anticipation in her voice

Jureth held up a hand "No Cat, our shields can hold. XO, I want to find out why the Acamarians picked this Cardassian ship as well as why the Cardassians are out here in the first place. Perhaps you, Mister Moore, and Mister Sorripto should take a little trip." 

The towering Saurian nodded and tapped his combadge as he moved towards the turbolift.

Moore quickly set the controls for another ensign to take over for him then joined Sorripto.

"Bridge to main sshuttlebay; prepare a sshuttlecraft for immediate launch under hazardouss conditions."

As he entered the turbolift, he addressed his two fellow officers with the same deadpan tone.

"Misster Moore, we will need your piloting wizardry to keep uss from being blown midflight. Keep in mind the Cardasssians might alsso present a rissk as we don't know yet what thiss is all about. Misster Ssorripto; will you be able to improve our chances of ssurvival on the fly?"

Working from the engineering station Sorripto quickly entered a series of button combinations. Turning to face the turbolift he smiled.

"Without me, there would be no chance of survival."

"Sspoken like a Ssaurian, Misster Ssorripto... but not like a Sstarfleet officer."

Standing up and heading towards the turbolift, Sorripto turned towards Lieutenant Moore.

"I can stop her from flying apart, but we still need someone to fly her."

Moore gave a indignant sound

"Please... Acamarians are some of the worst shots in the universe."

He was almost a quiver with anticipation of the coming mission; an aggressive ship, an asteroid field and a Cardassian threat needing 'rescue' . He wringed his hands at the thought.

Schaell just looked down at the man, his snake-like face totally devoid of emotion.

"Have you ever heard of a... "lucky sshot," Lieutenant?"

"If there wasn't a risk involved you wouldn't need me, I'm a counter to luck." Moore winked at Steele

Schaells enormous globulous slitted eyes returned to his customary staright ahead pose.

"I would venture the Cardasssians would disagree with your asssesssement."

".. and speaking of the worst pilots in the universe.." he just let it trail off.

Cat Steele looked at Oseno with a raised eyebrow and he nodded at his sometimes overzealous partner who hurried to join the three other officers. Jureth was positive she'd probably take as much weaponry as the XO would allow.

The Saurian welcomed her with a nod.

"Lieutenant Ssteele, make ssure everyone will be properly armed but not overtly sso. I don,t want those Cardasssians to think we are boarding them. Judging by the ssituation and knowing emotional races, they will already be quite... nervouss as it is."

"Just so you know.." Moore looked at her apologetically, "I am a terrible shot."

"Then, upon our return, I order you to follow a sstrict training regimen at the phaser range until you bring yoursself back up to minimal Sstarfleet sstandards, Schaell said and then tapped his combadge again. "Schaell to sickbay; we requesst a medical officer to sshuttlebay 1. Posssible Cardasssian casualties."

"And here I thought I'd get to stay all nice and cozy in my shiny new sickbay," came the disembodied voice of Doctor Pierce. "I will meet you in the transporter room. Pierce out."

***

Aboard the Cardassian vessel the smoke of damaged electrical systems and on occasion singed Cardassian flesh produced an acrid smell in the ship's barely functioning ventilation system. On her bridge a small group of crew members worked to restore basic functionality to consoles, and the ship's captain, a young Gul named Hared sat calmly surveying the state of his command. This was Hared's first mission in command of this vessel and was only supposed to be a scouting mission of the state of the Klingon Empire's fleet. Unfortunately, the minefield they were now trapped in had not been documented in the ship's database. Hared suspected it was because the ship was relic of the Dominion War and had not been updated since the war's end. 

"Status report!" Hared barked at his chief engineer, a burly veteran named Sevek.

"Do you want my technical analysis...Sir?" Sevek replied gruffly

"You are the Chief Engineer Sevek," Hared replied not acknowledging the older man's disrespect

"This ship is flotsam...we should scrap it and walk home." 

"Recommendation noted...now what about our systems?"

"Shields are at 25%, weapons are still offline, life support is holding, and we have only thrusters on our engines." 

"Sensors?"

"Minimal range"

"Communications?"

"Fried," Sevek replied dryly

Hared turned to the officer sitting next to him, not his first officer, but rather a guest that had joined them for this mission.

"Well? Are you happy? My ship is ruined."

"Ships can be repaired Gul Hared, and it seems we are no longer being shot at, perhaps you will live to file your report after all." 

Hared glared "The question is why did they stop shooting."

"I can answer that Gul," 

The new voice was that of the Lakat's tactical officer, Laren, a female around the same age as Hared himself.

"Our limited sensors are showing the ID signature of a Federation starship, it seems they have interceded on our behalf and placed themselves in the crazy Acamarian's line of fire."

Hared sighed "Continue making repairs Sevek, it seems Starfleet of all things, has bought us some time." 

***

With the away team assembled inside the shuttlecraft, Schaell sat at the co-pilot seat beside Moore as the other filled their respective stations and finished the preparations for launch as he gave instructions.

"Misster Moore, try to use the Disscovery as a sscreen againsst detection from the Acamarians and match our speed and trajectory to mimick those assteroids floating about; that sshould help hide uss. Misster Ssorripto, try to diminissh our emisssions as besst as posssible. Lieutenant Ssteele, Doctor  Pierce, passsive sscans only, unlesss we are detected and under threat. I hope to ssneak our way through, not fight our way through. Everyone clear on that?"

"I am changing harmonics to mask our signature Sir." Sorripto said as he worked the controls from his seat on the shuttle.

"Thank you, Chief. Misster Moore, take uss out... disscreetly if you please."

"Did you just ask me to 'fly casually'? Please say that you did, I always wanted to fly casually." Moore said with a grin.

Moore waited almost fifteen seconds before edging the shuttle away from the ship sliding discomfortingly sideways into the field, coming within two meters of a rather large but slow moving chunk of debris. At the last second he micro busted away and swung the shuttle more along their intended flight path, giving the impression that they bumped off the large rock.

Moore neglected to mention that he lowered the inertial dampers to eighty percent, so the shuttle would show a more jarring action when changing direction, as well as a slight spin.

"Sorry for the bumpy ride, but I think this should be casual enough."

"As you were, Lieutenant," approved Schaell before addressing their security chief.

"Lieutenant Ssteele; any reaction from the Acamarians?"

Steele checked the console and then shook her head "No Sir, they appear to be focused on the Discovery." 

***

Back aboard Discovery T'lana, who had shifted to the tactical station, was reporting the shuttle's departure. 

"They are away Captain." 

"Thank you Lieutenant," Jureth replied "Let's make sure the Acamarians keep looking at us. Target phasers for a shot across their bow, but don't hit them."

"Sir, it is not logical to fire without hitting the target." 

"I don't want to damage them T'Lana, the Acamarians are still a Federation member, even if this one is acting a bit strangely. I just want to keep their focus on us, and away from the shuttle." 

"So it is a distraction."

"Correct." 

"Aye Sir, opening fire." 

The Discovery fired her phasers, the beams lashing out just across the bow of the Acamarian warship close enough to make their shields flicker but not to do any real damage. 

***

At the shuttle's tactical console Steele reported the incident.

"Commander, the Discovery has fired on the Acamarian ship, but it looks like she missed. That can't be right...T'lana is at tactical...she never misses." 

"A diverssion, Lieutenant. The captain want them focused on them to better misss uss. Misster Moore, let"ss make the besst of it."

"I have masked our signature." Sorripto interjected to update. "If they can keep our new friends distracted, we should be able to slip through pretty much undetected."

"Well done," the Saurian acknowledged. "Now we need to contact the Cardasssians to let them know we are coming... without the Acamarians noticing."

"We can use their old transponder signals." Sorripto blurted out.

"Cardassians are masters of habit and tradition. All Cardassian ships are equipped with vole deep space transponders. It is a short range transponder that has been around for about a hundred years or so. They were originally intended to be used for communication with local prisoner ships, but since then have mostly been used for private conversations between ship captains."

Working quickly at the console Sorripto continued.

"My father had one on his old ship. I can remodulate our communications to mimic that frequency. We should be able to talk directly to the Cardassians without anyone else noticing. Like a short range hand communicator. Those mystery novels I love on the holodeck called them a walkie talkie."

"I approve of your hobbies, Misster Ssorripto. Try and esstablissh that communciation line please."

"Let me just reconfigure our communications array for short range..." Sorripto mumbled to himself while he worked. "Reroute subsystem power and filter the frequency... and... got it. I think."

Turning towards Commander Schaell, Sorripto gave the okay sign.

"Comms are open , Sir. This should work, but we won't know for sure until we link signals. Which means they are going to have to want to talk back."

"Then let'ss give them an incentive. You will tak for uss, Misster Ssorripto and sstate the reason of our approach. I esstimate that they might feel reasssured by a fellow Cardasssian coming from a helping Sstarfleet vesssel."

The Saurian motioned for Sorripto to initiate contact.

Sorripto nodded in understanding, and then opened the communication.

"Cardassian vessel, this is Lieutenant Commander Sorripto. I am chief engineer on the Federation Starship Discovery."

Pausing for a moment Sorripto took a deep breath and continued.

"I know about your deep space transponder because my father had one on his ship. He showed me all the tricks of Cardassian warships, he knew quite a few considering he was captain of one. If you do not already know of me then allow me to state the obvious, I know these things because I am Cardassian. So if you trust anything I say, trust me when I say that I have a personal interest in your survival."

"I don't know how old you are, but I was born at the end of the Dominion War. Some of my earliest memories are of the mass graves and casualty lists. Hundreds of millions died that day, and my father worked himself to death helping to rebuild Cardassia. No more Cardassians are going to die as long as I can do something about it, so for the love of whatever god the free Cardassian people are believing in this week, let us help you."

Sorripto leaned back slightly, aware of the somewhat shocked looks he was getting from the rest of the shuttle crew.

"That was....interesting..." Catherine Steele remarked and then turned back to her console. It wasn't her place to say anything further as despite being chief of security she was still the junior officer. 

(further responses can be inserted if wished)

****

Aboard the Cardassian vessel the incoming message caused an indicator on the tactical console to activate drawing the attention of the tactical officer Laren. 

"Gul Hared," she reported "We are picking up a transmission on our deep space transponder." 

"That's impossible," Hared stated "There are no other Cardassian vessels in this area. Your console must be malfunctioning." 

"It is not Sir," Laren replied "There is a message coming in." 

Hared left the command chair and walked to the tactical console to see the incoming indicator for himself. He looked over at their guest who was now watching with interest. 

"She is correct, there is a transmission coming in." 

"Interesting..." he remarked "play it." 

Hared complied himself and activated the ship's receiver. The young Gul was actually shocked it worked considering the damage the ship had taken and its age as well. 

"Cardassian vessel, this is Lieutenant Commander Sorripto. I am chief engineer on the Federation Starship Discovery."

"I know about your deep space transponder because my father had one on his ship. He showed me all the tricks of Cardassian warships, he knew quite a few considering he was captain of one. If you do not already know of me then allow me to state the obvious, I know these things because I am Cardassian. So if you trust anything I say, trust me when I say that I have a personal interest in your survival."

"I don't know how old you are, but I was born at the end of the Dominion War. Some of my earliest memories are of the mass graves and casualty lists. Hundreds of millions died that day, and my father worked himself to death helping to rebuild Cardassia. No more Cardassians are going to die as long as I can do something about it, so for the love of whatever god the free Cardassian people are believing in this week, let us help you."

After hearing the entirety of the message Hared looked again at the older man.

"A Cardassian in Starfleet?" 

A smile curled the aged Cardassian's lips "I only know of one such Cardassian, but last I heard he was confined to a Federation prison."

"It would seem that is not the case." 

"Indeed,  it is your ship Gul Hared, and your choice." 

Hared looked to Sevek who nodded."As much as I would advise you to turn them down we will not get this ship underway again without them." 

"Very well," the Gul replied and activated the transponder himself so he could reply.

"Federation starship, this is Gul Hared of the Cardassian Union. You may send whatever assistance you can, our docking port is still in tact, but I cannot risk lowering what little shields we have left. My chief engineer will meet you at the airlock, Hared out." 

After switching the the transponder off Hared looked at his chief engineer "Go wait for them, but take Laren with you, and both of you take phasers." 

***

After waiting what felt like an eternity, the icon on Sorripto's communicator beeped and a message came through.

"Federation starship, this is Gul Hared of the Cardassian Union. You may send whatever assistance you can, our docking port is still in tact, but I cannot risk lowering what little shields we have left. My chief engineer will meet you at the airlock, Hared out."

Snapping his fingers Sorripto smiled.

"Hot damn they got my message."

"They probably were not sure if it was me or not. Depending on how long they've been out here, they probably still think I am on Mars."

Leaning over to Lieutenant Steele, Sorripto continued.

"You know abandoning my post to save the grandson of the emissary did not win me as many friends among my people as you might think. Gul Hared is one of the few who truly understands what I am doing in Starfleet, when skills like mine would be invaluable to the Cardassian people."

With a wink Sorripto smiled ."Although I am pretty sure he hates me."

Working momentarily at the console, Sorripto turned towards Commander Schaell.

"They seem willing to accept our help Sir, but if I was a gambling man I would wager that the men who great us are going to be armed and very suspicious."

Sorripto turned back to the comms console ready to send the response.

"I concurr with your asssesssment, Missster Ssorripto. Well done. Ssignal our acknowledgment. Misster Moore, ease us on thrussters to their designated airlock. Everyone, keep all your hands in plain ssight and no ssudden movement. We are here to help these people and they know it, sso be alert but not overtly weary."

Schaell might not have any emotion himself, but two centuries with humans and other emotional species had taught him well how to deal with them, especially in tense situations like this one. And as a security officer, he knew what any vigilant person would be wary of and how people in a desperate situation would behave. Even his mere appearance would undoubtebly unsettle the Cardassians a bit. He had to use this to help build thrust in one another instead of alarm. But having Sorripto with them would just as undoubtebly prove an invaluable asset to achieve this.

All this he thought while their pilot deftly maneuvered them to lock with the alien ship. As all lights went gree, they all readied to disembark.

"We are locked and sealed sir, standing by to pop the hatch." Moore said with a more serious tone.

Sorripto nodded and placed his phaser pistol into his repair case.

"Ready when you guys are."

"Remember, these people are in dissstress. Misster Ssorripto, you will be our intermediary. Lieutenant Steele, be vigilant againsst anything that could esscalate an already tensse ssituation. Doctor Pierce, take full charge of any requesst for medical help. Misster Moore, I want you to plan recommendations for moving this Cardassian vessel out of the danger zone once Misster Ssorripto and their own engineers have asssesssed her capability to do so safely. Misster Moore, open the hatch."

Moore tapped a single button on the console. "Hatch open."

They all stood before the hatch, hands in front of them, with Schaell at the point, Sorripto on his right and Steele on his left, the pilot and the CMO closing the rear.

Moore held up his phaser, and started looking it over. "How do you turn this thing on again?" His tone was light but it was hard to tell if he was kidding.

He didn't expect it but, if all hell broke loose, the Saurian knew that it would take two heavy stun blasts to drop him. His giant frame front and center would create the most tempting target and at the same time cover the two humans behind while he could at least push out of harm's way the two officers at his sides with his long powerful arms before going down... even if it was a disintegrating shot. Then the rest would be up to them.

All lights around the door turned green. A hiss of equalizing pressure was heard and then the clank of the hatch opening.

As the hatch groaned and creek its way open, mostly due to age and lack of maintenance, on the other side two Cardassian officers stood waiting for the Federation crew. One the burly, older chief engineer Sevek and the other a female, closer to Sorripto's age, tactical officer Laren. It was Sevek who greeted them being the senior officer.

"Welcome to our....ship if that is what you want to call it. I am Sevek, Chief Engineer and this is tactical officer Laren."

"Commander Sschaell, Firsst officer of the USSs Disscovery. Thiss is our Chief medical officer Doctor Pierce. With your permisssion, he can asssisst you with any casualties you may have. Commander Ssorripto, our chief engineer.; any technical asssisstance you may need, he will provide. And thiss is Lieutenant Ssteele, our chief of ssecurity and  Lieutenant Moore, our pilot. They both offer our tactical and flight expertise to answer your needs in thiss difficult predicament."

Sevek scanned the Federation team and noted they were all armed as well before his eyes settled on Sorripto.

"So, you're the one from the message. You really think you can get this pile of scrap moving again?"

Looking over Engineer Sevek's shoulder Sorripto shrugged.

"I have done more with less."

Stepping forward Sorripto began to approach Sevek when Officer Laren raised his gun slightly and stepped in between them. Before anyone on the Federation side could react Sorripto raised his hand to calm everyone.

"What I know for a fact is that your ship is stranded. What you know, and what the Federation knows, is that I am the best engineer in the sector and by default your only hope. I know I can fix your ship, and I also know that I can't fix anything being detained here at the hatch."

Laren looked over to Sevek who nodded slowly in approval.

"Now shall we?" Sorripto asked.

Tilting his head to signal for Sorripto to follow, the Cardassian engineer turned and they began to make their way towards the ships engineering space. Turning towards the remaining members of the ships respective parties Sorripto smirked.

"Behave yourselves while I am gone."

If the humor of their ChEng registered on the emotionless Saurian, it did not show. His tone was as even as before.

"If you would bring Doctor Pierce to your medical facility, he will provide what help we can give. Misster Moore anfd Lieutenant Ssteele could accompany me to your bridge sso that we can contact our sship and help you asssesss your ssituation properly and find a way out of thiss."

Sevek nodded "Laren can show you to the bridge. I'm going to go back to engineering." He looked at his comrade "tell the Hared I will be working with the Federation engineer if he needs me. Doctor you can come with me, I can show you to our medical bay." 

"I didn't know warships had such things," Pierce remarked as he began to follow

"We aren't animals Doctor, we do treat our wounded." 

"Of course not," Pierce replied "Animals frequently eat their wounded." 

The Cardassian looked at the human and could not tell if the man was joking or not. 

Laren turned to the remaining Starfleet officers shaking her head. "You may follow me, I will show you to the bridge."

As they began to walk she turned her head slightly to the Saurian officer "I am sorry for my actions. Even though we are supposed to be allies Cardassian officers are still taught to be suspicious of anyone and everything. There are those among us, some of my superiors included, who simply still do not trust the Federation. Perhaps its  left over from before the Dominion, I don't know I was born well after the war was over. It isn't an excuse, but it is my training."  

The Saurian bobbed his bald head in understanding, the human way.

"As I came to undersstand emotions, trusst is not love; it does not ssprout insstantly. It requires time and sshared experiences. Let'ss use thiss ssituation as an opportunity to build it further between uss... while my commanding officer tries a much harder work; build peace with a belligerent antagonisst."

He striaghtened up to his frightening height and blinked.

"I would requesst to accompany you to your bridge and make contact with the Disscovery."

The young woman nodded "If our comm array can be fixed I'm sure the Gul won't have a problem with that."

The long three-fingered hand of the Saurian invited her to lead the way.