2011-05-09

“Veterans of the War” Episode 2: Intentions in the Dark Matter Not

Stardate 86319.8
Captain Selenia Reporting
Commanding Officer, USS Erbrus

I have dropped out of warp and have engaged my cloak at the coordinates that Admiral Bailey left on the datapad for me. My First Officer, Commander Corpsa, is running a scan for any other ships in the area; nothing so far. I must say this Defiant Class ship they “chose” for me is a little Spartan. I am used to the luxury of a Cruiser, not the tight Taspar Egg-like interior of a Fleet Escort. This ship certainly packs a punch, though; combine that with a cloak and the fact that it can turn on an Energy Credit? It has potential. I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Right on schedule, and there is nothing here, just an unremarkable dark matter nebula, the Comardie Nebula, if I am not mistaken. I hope I won’t be waiting too long for Admiral Bailey and the Klondike. Selenia out.



***

“Admiral, a Defiant Class Escort has just dropped out of warp and engaged it’s cloak. “ reported the baby-faced Ensign manning tactical, “Orders, sir?”

“Yellow Alert Ensign, “ replied Admiral James Bailey from the captain’s chair of his Flagship, “Did you catch the registry before she cloaked?”

“NCC–93833, USS Erbrus, Admiral,” reported the Ensign after a moment.

When did they get so young? Thought the Admiral, of his tactical officer, to himself. Then right on time, Captain Selenia…As he waited for the right time to reveal the Klondike's presence, the Admiral’s thoughts started to drift toward the fateful conversation that he and Admiral Jorel Quinn, his commanding officer, had had that sent him down this road, to this very day…

***

On Stardate 85668.8, September 1st 2408 by Earth’s old calendar, Admiral Bailey was presenting his assessment of the state of the war with the Klingons to Admiral Quinn and Starfleet top brass. He had been collecting data from the frontlines for a month or two now, and had come to the conclusion that unless Starfleet had an infusion of new and capable captains, the current class at the Academy would probably finish their training under the heavy hand of the KDF. The Klingon’s willingness to fight until the very end, no quarter, no surrender, had really put Starfleet back on it’s heels and off balance. It would only be a matter of one really well placed attack against Starfleet’s already thin front in Neutral Zone, and the Sirius Sector would be learning Klingon. Not the report Starfleet’s top brass wanted to hear.

“To conclude, gentlemen, the ugly truth is unless we do something radical, we really don’t stand a chance against an all out Klingon assault. I just don’t think the Klingon’s have figured it out yet, fortunately for us.”

When Admiral Bailey finished and turned off the holoprojection of the tactical situation of the Sirius Sector and the Neutral Zone, he looked up into some very crestfallen faces.

“Thank you for your report, Admiral,” said Quinn after a moment of uneasy silence, “That will be all for now, James, you are dismissed,” Quinn turned to the rest of the top brass sitting at the briefing table. “The rest of us have some hard choices to make.”

With that, Bailey snapped a salute and exited the briefing room and the building. Outside of Starfleet headquarters in San Francisco, the day had a decidedly late summer feel to it. Civilians and Cadets alike were going about their business as if nothing were wrong in the Federation's corner of the Alpha Quadrant. Their lives hung on a thread, they just didn’t know it yet.

Bailey sat down on a bench overlooking San Francisco Bay to collect his thoughts. As he was watched the sun on the bay, a Cadet, with no salute and no fear, sat down next to him. Taken aback, the Admiral looked the newcomer up and down.

“Can I help you Cadet?” asked Admiral Bailey, with more than a little annoyance in his voice at the obvious lack of respect.

“No Admiral, I believe I can help you," replied the Cadet coolly, "My name is Franklin, and I work for Section 31. Please excuse the uniform, but I had to blend in. We have a war to win, Admiral.”

“Wait a minute, Cadet, I’ve met LT Franklin and you are not he!” the Admiral stood and reached for his combadge to call security.

As Bailey hit his combadge, he felt the familiar feeling of a transporter beam. He found himslef on a transporter pad on an unknown ship. He tapped his combadge again, but nothing. He knew immediately that a dampaning field was preventing his attempts to summon help.

“I’m sorry, Admiral,” said Franklin, standing on the pad next to him, “but the less people who know of our meeting, the better for you and us. Please hear out my proposal in my ready room.”

“You say that like I have a choice, Franklin, if that is truly your name,” replied the Admiral drolly.

“Not really Admiral, just being polite," replied Franklin flatly, "Please follow me.”

***

The next couple of days were a whirlwind for Admiral Bailey, but much was accomplished. Agent Franklin had a plan to use a slingshot gate that Section 31 had built around a star to travel into the past and save Captains who’s lives were about to end, and bring them to the future to command new starships in the fight against the Klingons. Admiral Bailey and his flagship, the USS Klondike, were the first to test the Project, now called Project Christopher after a USAF Captain from the mid 20th century that the legendary Captain Kirk had returned to his time.

The First Captain that was returned to the future was a Vulcan, Captain KATRA from the mid 2200’s. It was a success. With that, Admiral Bailey had to go and convince his old mate from the Academy days, Admiral Quinn, that this project had merit, and should be attempted.

“James, are you sure…I mean really sure? What about the Temporal Prime Directive? What about screwing up this timeline more than it already is? What about…”

“Admiral Quinn,” interjected yet a different Agent Franklin, “what the United Federation of Planets doesn’t know about how they are being defended, won’t hurt them. In fact, if all goes well, it will save billions of lives.”

“I just don’t know, Franklin. You are asking me to go against 300 years of Starfleet protocol.” Admiral Quinn’s resolve was fading, Bailey could tell.

“Admiral,” Bailey began, “meet the first Captain of Starfleet’s newest fleet, The Ghost Fleet. We did it, Quinn, it works.”

Bailey could not keep the excitement out of his voice as a young Vulcan in a 200 year old Starfleet uniform entered the ready room.

“Admiral, this is Captain KATRA, born on Vulcan in the Earth year of 2231. Do you remember your Starfleet History Class from the Academy? On Stardate 5725.3, James T. Kirk, then just a Captain, in command of the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701, was transporting state of the art (for the mid 2200's, anyway) equipment to Memory Alpha. En route, they encountered an unknown energy storm that nearly took out the Enterprise. The energy storm, which turned out to be non-coporeal energy beings from the dead planet Zetar, engulfed Memory Alpha. All personnel on board Memory Alpha died a hideous death, but the station and machinery were left intact. This became known as the Zetarian Incident. Lieutenant KATRA here was one of the Starfleet personnel listed as killed in action. We just saved him from a nasty fate, and LT KATRA has agreed to help us in our cause. Jorel, for Pete’s Sake, it worked, and we can do it again!”

“You might be interested to know, Admiral Quinn,” interjected Agent Franklin, “Section 31 has control of an abandoned research station in the dark nebula called Comardie, in Delta Volanis that would be a perfect place to set up the fleet. The best thing is that this research station was built and fully operational in 2210. We can use it in the past, too, so our Captains from this time won’t be completely alone. If they need support, they can get it with no questions asked.”

Admiral Quinn was silent for a few minutes, wrestling with years of Starfleet training, weighing that against a real shot at getting enough manpower to take it to the Klingons for once.

“Make it so, James. we cannot breathe a word of this to anyone, not even our wives. Guard your thoughts around Betazoid's as well,” Quinn finished with a half hearted snicker, and beamed back to his own flagship from the Klondike's ready room.

So began Project Christopher.

***

Admiral Bailey finished his reflection, and with a grim caste to his face issued his orders.

“Helm, take us out of the nebula and hail Captain Selenia. It is time we started recruiting others to do the dirty work for us.”
The officer at the helm turned to face Bailey, “Yes Admiral,” replied Agent Franklin….

To be continued….