by Alys Landale
Tom tapped his fingers on the side of his console. Maris turned and looked at the younger man.
“Captain,” said Maris.
Tom immediately looked a bit foolish. “I’m sorry,” he said in a low voice. “I just have this strange feeling...”
The Consul nodded. “I understand. Hopefully we can take out Takma and then put an end to all of this.”
Paris gave a small nod, but somehow he knew that there was more to it than that. He entered a few last minute commands into his console. For the first time, he wondered if he should have left Xara back on DS9. She seemed to have this deep belief that something was going to go wrong, and now that belief had extended to him as well.
He keyed in the commands to make sure that she was still safe in her quarters. After being satisfied that she fine, he leaned back in his seat and prepared for the journey through the rift.
The helmsman then caught his attention. “We are ready to enter the rift, sir.”
Danag then made the next confirmation. “All Federation vessels are in position.”
Tom nodded. They hadn’t had enough time to install the new cores into all of the other ships so they would have to extend their warp fields around the other vessels as well.
“Open the rift.” Tom ordered.
The helmsman gave a stiff nod and entered the commands onto his console. In no time at all, the space around them shifted into the deep blues and violets of subspace.
“Take us in,” Paris ordered.
Janeway watched as Tom led the first group of vessels into the rift. She turned to her helmsman.
“Mr. Baytart, have us ready to enter the rift in exactly five minutes,” she said.
He nodded and began making last minute preparations.
Picard waited until the final ships in Paris’s group had entered the rift. Janeway’s group was next and then his. He turned to his other companion on the bridge.
“Well Admiral, it seems that we are about to witness the Delta Quadrant first hand.”
Admiral Paris turned his eyes from the viewscreen and then responded. “Yes, it looks like we shall.” As he said this, he wondered just exactly what they were getting themselves into.
Tom watched the viewscreen as the teal and sapphire colors washed over his ship. This would be his fourth trip through a subspacial current, but the first one in which he wasn’t at the Helm.
His mind drifted back for a moment as he remembered his time on the Jihaid. They had been caught in a subspacial rift like this one. He could still see himself taking over the helm controls and guiding them back to normal space. The only thing was, that they didn’t end up in the Empire, but in Borg space instead.
Paris cleared his mind of these thoughts. He needed to stay alert. Anything could go wrong; he needed to be prepared for it.
He sat up straighter in his seat and concentrated on the mission at hand.
Danag let his eyes leave his sensors for a moment. All the Federation vessels had entered the rift and were on course behind them. He let his gaze travel to his captain. It was a miracle that Landis had been here when they had needed him, but he couldn’t help but wonder how much the man had changed in only a month’s time.
He had to agree with Sargon that Rune had no business seeing another woman when Aria hadn’t even been dead for a month. But no, Danag scolded himself, Landis wouldn’t do that unless he had good reason. Those on DS9 referred to him as Paris and Rune made no effort to stop them. Perhaps he had remembered his past. If he had, what would that mean for the Resistance. The man would put his roots in his homeland, not in the Empire.
Danag then realized that he needed to check his console again. Timing was everything in this type of procedure. He needed to see how much longer they needed to stay in the rift.
“We have three minutes left in the rift,” he said.
Paris only nodded. His thoughts seemed to be light years away. As he stared at the viewscreen, visions of Borg Cubes passed through his mind. He saw drones, Takma, the Empire, and the Dykinae. Wait, what? The Dykinae? When did he ever see them?
“We have ten seconds left in the rift.” Danag said.
Paris snapped out of his reverie. Had he let himself slip away for almost half of their time in subspace? He straightened himself up in his seat again. “Prepare to leave subspace on my mark,” he said.
Danag began to count down the seconds. “Five, four, three, two, one.”
“Now,” Paris ordered...
The helmsman shut down the warp core and brought the ship out of the current and back into normal space.
Tom looked at the viewscreen. “Status.” he asked.
“All Federation vessels have made it through the rift. We are now in Imperial space.”
Tom gave a firm nod. Now all they had to do was wait on Voyager and the Enterprise to bring their crews through as well.
Voyager was halfway through the rift when B’Elanna felt it. She put a hand to her head as vertigo took over.
Carrey came over to her immediately. “Is something wrong lieutenant?”
She waved a dismissive hand. “No, I’m fine.”
He cast her a concerned look but walked away none the less. B’Elanna shook her head to clear away the nausea that was beginning to take over. *What’s wrong?* she wondered. She was about ready to ask Carrey to take over engineering when it went away.
She looked up surprised. The captain’s voice then sounded over her comm badge. “Lieutenant, we’re out of the rift. I need a status report.”
B’Elanna quickly went over to her console and began entering commands. After a few moments she replied, “Everything is in working order.”
The captain said something else after that but Torres didn’t catch it. Her mind was more preoccupied on what had just happened. A few seconds ago, she felt as if she would pass out, now she felt fine. She dismissed the feeling and decided to get back to work. It was probably nothing, anyway. She didn’t need to run to the doctor every time she felt a little queasy. But still, something in the back of her mind kept telling her there was more to it than that.
The Enterprise joined Voyager and the Trelin. A fleet of Federation vessels now filled up a small corner in the Empire. Tom couldn’t help but smile as he looked around at the site before him. Things were falling into place. Soon they would be ready to take on Takma.
He turned to his Helmsman. “Take us to the nearest Resistance base in the Area. I don’t want the Empire to know we’re here just yet.”
One man looked up as he saw a fleet of vessels approaching from the distance. A smile covered his lips as he watched them begin to land in the docking bay underneath the planets surface.
Everything was falling into place. The man turned his attention from the front viewscreen of his ship, back to the controls at his console. So far, he was manning the bridge by himself. He had dismissed almost all of the others of his crew. Now there was only him and three more employees: an engineer, a helmsman, and another man to take care of security.
Now the ship’s captain watched as the last ship of the fleet landed in the docking bay. He turned his vessel’s course towards the same docking bay.
*I believe now’s the time to pay Landis another visit, and maybe Voyager’s little Engineer as well.*
Tom stepped off of the Trelin. As he planted his feet onto the floor of the docking bay, he couldn’t help but think how good it felt to be back in a Resistance facility.
A door opened to his left and a group of security officers emerged. The consul stepped up beside Tom and the two made their way to the group.
One of the Resistance officers stepped forward from the group. “Consul,” he said. “We had thought that your vessel had been destroyed.”
Maris smiled. “No Raken, but we came extremely close.” Maris noticed how Raken seemed to be looking over Paris. Tom wasn’t immune to his glances either. “Is there something wrong?” asked the consul.
Raken averted his gaze back to his superior. “No, s
ir. I was just unaware that Landis was still alive.”
Tom remained unfazed by the man’s attitude. He simply said. “We have to prepare for a battle. We’ve brought allies from the Alpha Quadrant. Have all of the Resistance officers in the facility gather for a meeting. There’s a lot you need to know.”
Raken paused there for awhile but then left as the consul nodded for him to do so. Maris then turned to Tom. “I don’t suppose he will ever give you any respect.”
Paris waved it off. “It doesn’t matter. Right now we need to begin preparing for....” His words were cut off as another ship’s entrance took away his attention. He recognized the vessel immediately. He could never forget it. Not after what happened last time. “By the Spirit.” he muttered.
Janeway’s senior staff departed from Voyager just as the other ship began to land. The crew walked over to Paris and paid the ship little attention. After a few minutes, Admiral Paris and Captain Picard joined them as well.
Janeway noticed the look Paris was giving the ship. “What is it?” she asked.
He said nothing as one figure began to leave the vessel. Due to the poor lighting around them, it took awhile for anyone to recognize the visitor.
B’Elanna walked over to Tom and tried to focus her gaze on the man who had just left his ship. As the stranger walked towards him, recognition finally kicked in. Her eyes widened as a few words escaped her lips. “Oh God.”
The man noticed that all eyes were focused on him. He loved attention and now was no different. His gaze fell on Paris then on the woman beside him. It stayed on her for awhile, quite awhile.
“One thing I can say for you Landis, you know how to keep company.”
Tom shook his head and walked towards the man. “Well, Gerek, it’s not too hard when you don’t try to con them out of the clothes on their back.”
Gerek laughed. “I’ll have you know I only did that once.” His eyes then drifted over to where the ex-Borg stood. He backed away a little.
Tom noticed this. He raised an eyebrow at Gerek’s behavior.
The trader just smiled. “I don’t think I can take anymore ‘foreplay’ from that one. I’m still recovering from our last bout.”
It was Tom’s turn to laugh now. Neither the Admiral nor Picard had any idea what he was talking about. Maris didn’t either, but he had a good guess given they were talking about Gerek.
Janeway walked forward. “The last time we saw you, I believe you were ten years away from here. How did you...”
Gerek cut her off. “It’s not too hard when you know what moves to make. And believe me, I do.” He looked Janeway over for a few more minutes. “I could show you if you wanted.” He gave her a slight wink as if to punctuate his meaning.
The captain averted her eyes. “I don’t think that will be necessary.”
Gerek’s smile broadened. The Admiral was caught off guard by this man’s rudeness. How dare he act in such a manner to a Starfleet officer? And a captain, no less!
Tom took Gerek’s words in stride. He could tell that the Admiral’s anger was rising however, so he decided to change the subject.
“You still haven’t told us what you’re doing here.” he said.
The trader ran a hand through his hair casually and then shrugged. “Business was getting light so I decided to take my trade elsewhere. The Resistance was always in need of some ‘merchandise’ so I thought I should extend my gracious services to them once more. Besides, I couldn’t just let that information you gave me go to waste, now could I?”
Paris waited a few moments before responding. He had a pretty good guess what the man was doing here. “You pissed somebody off.”
Gerek averted his eyes and gave a half smile. “This time it wasn’t my fault. How was I supposed to know that was the guy’s daughter, I mean she looked old enough to be his wife.”
“And that would have made it better?”
At Gerek’s discomfort, Paris began to laugh again. “I told you those hormones were going to get you in trouble.”
Raken then came back to the group. He cast a slightly disgusted look at Gerek. *And with Landis comes the slime of the galaxy,* he thought.
“I have informed the other officers here of your arrival. They will meet you in fifteen minutes.” Raken said. His gaze then fell on Gerek once more. “I suppose you’ll be wanting accommodations as well?”
Gerek smiled to Paris and then turned back to Raken. “You read my mind Captain. You still have my old room, right?”
Raken nodded. “It’s remained unused since you left.”
Gerek beamed. He cast Rune a proud smile. “I see I’m at least appreciated here.”
“Actually, no one else would take it after they heard you had occupied it. We’ve tried every method of cleaning it, but we still can’t get rid of the stench.”
Raken then began to walk away. Gerek’s gaze wasn’t quite as proud as he cast Paris a glance. “I suppose I need to go get settled in. We can talk later.” He then focused his attention on B’Elanna. In a low voice, he said. “And we definitely have some ‘talking’ to do.”
Torres had no idea what to say. Usually, she would just punch a man for saying something like that, but the seriousness in
Gerek’s eyes stopped her from doing that. Despite the flippant manner in his voice, his eyes conveyed an urgency she had never seen him display.
As the trader followed Raken away, a few last words could be heard. “So, is officer Katarinay still here? She was extremely...‘courteous’ last time I was here...”
Paris waited as everyone settled down. A group of the Resistance’s higher personnel had gathered for this meeting. They sat on one side of the large table while Janeway, Picard, and Admiral Paris took their seats beside Tom. The Consul took his place at the head of the table and brought the meeting to a beginning.
“Let’s get down to business,” said the Consul. “We have four days to put together a strike force to take down the Pretor.” At the startled glances around the table, he continued. “We have recently found out what Takma was trying to obtain by going through subspace. She wishes to take over the Borg.” He then outlined all that had happened through the past four days. He then came to his conclusion. “We have no choice but to stop Takma. If the Borg gain access to the information she has stolen, there is no telling what they will be able to do.”
Raken’s face was covered with a startled expression. Where the Hell did they get this information?! “She might be presumptuous, but she would never be stupid enough to do something like this.” He turned to Paris. “You must have interpreted their data wrong. There’s no way she could ever hope to pull this off.”
Tom had learned to keep his temper with the man, but Raken was beginning to get on his last nerve. “Believe me; I know what I’m talking about. And there is a slight chance that Takma can accomplish this. It’s very small, but it’s there none the less.”
Raken still seemed unconvinced, but he was silent as Paris continued. “We have no chance but to launch an armada against the Empire. Our target will be Takma. Her ship will end up in the Empire in four days, however we have at least a five hour margin for error and we cannot be certain on the exact location that the ship will land in.”
Raken gave a snort. “So we just have an armada of ships scouring an entire sector for a ship that we don’t even know will be there. That will bring quite a bit of attention don’t you think.”
“That’s why we won’t be attacking Takma’s vessel when it first emerges from the rift. She’ll need to repower her ship. We’ve calculated that the nearest station she can dock at will be Deknoks. We’ll wait until she docks and then make our move. Once we enlist the aid of the Dezorisians and add that to our own and the Federation vessels, we should increase our odds.” Tom said.
Raken’s mouth would have fallen to the floor had his jaw not kept it up. “That’s suicide! Attacking concentration camps is one thing, but this is totally different! No one has ever been able to take De
knoks. That’s the central power of the Empire. It’s better fortified than a Borg cube. Just how do you expect to pull this off?!”
The Admiral was beginning to get tired of this man’s insolence. Owen was used to the strict protocols of Starfleet, but these men seemed to throw protocol out the nearest airlock. Owen finally spoke up. “Captain Raken, you will not be going into battle alone. You will have an entire fleet of Starfleet vessels to back you up.”
Raken still didn’t seem to put any confidence in what they were saying. “You don’t know what you’re up against,” he told the Admiral. “Landis here, might think that he can just go in and fire a few torpedoes and that’ll be it. But as for me, I know there’s a little more to it than that.” He then turned to Tom. “So Rune, you never answered me. How are you going to bring down the Empire?”
Tom smiled slightly. “I’m not going to bring it down. The late Doctor Rosin is.”
Later that night, Tom was finally able to retire to his quarters. He entered the door to find Xara sitting alone on the couch. She was extremely quiet and seemed to be lost in thought. His brow furrowed as he wondered what she was doing.
“Hey, Squeaker.” he said casually.
Her eyes turned to him. A smile passed over her face, but it wasn’t the usual spark of life that usually defined her character so well.
“Hey,” she said.
He smiled a bit sadly as he walked over to her. “What’s wrong?”
She remained silent as he sat down beside her. He had never seen her so drawn in and it was beginning to make him worry. He would never use his telepathy to invade her privacy so he hoped she would want to talk about whatever was bothering her.
Xara looked up at Rune for a moment. She remembered last night, and most of all she remembered what Aria had told her.
It was hard to forget. She wanted to tell Rune, but she knew she couldn’t. Aria had warned her about that.
