
The following work is copyright Matthew Weed 1994.
Some characters and situations are taken from a work in progress by me 
and Marc Hernandez,
hikaru@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu.  That work is copyright Matthew Weed and Marc 
Hernandez
1992-94.  
All situations and characters copyright Paramount 
Pictures Corporation under its 
Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 
trademarks and copyright statements are the property of Paramount 
Pictures Corporation, and any immitation here is mere flattery.


Preface,
This work is in response to the, in my opinion, unrealistically peaceful 
nature of the Star Trek Universe as depicted in Star Trek: The Next 
Generation.  I have taken the events in the history and have extended 
them in a way that i feel is more logical, considering the political and 
economic circumstances as shown us in Star Trek: The Next Generation and 
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine television series.  All comments on the story 
are welcomed at mattweed@edith.princeton.edu.
And now, on with the story!


SUPER-DREADNOUGHT Part I: Chapter I
By:
Matthew A. Weed


.Command Log:  Stardate 56215.4: Admiral William McGinnis, 
Commanding USS Ticonderoga reporting:
We will be ready to launch this new ship in less than a day.  The ship 
is the latest in Federation design, and unfortunately, its powers may 
not be sufficient to successfully prosecute our mission.  I will command 
this vessel in her first, and 
hopefully not last, mission.  If we succeed, the quadrant will be safe.  
If not, all of the civilizations in the area are likely to fall to The Borg.

Admiral McGinnis shut off the recorder, and prepared to leave his 
quarters.  Where the old Mycenae-class ships had been powerfully 
armed and heavily shielded for their times, this ship was the best-
armed, best-shielded ship in space, without exception.  "Their times,", 
god... he thought to himself,  it was only thirteen years since he had 
taken command of the new defender-class ship called Mycenae.  
Although the ship had been built as a warning to the Federation's 
enemies, with far heavier weapons than anything of its time, 
compared with this new vessel, Mycenae was a light-cruiser at best.

.It had been a long thirteen-year period, highlighted by the 
Borg attack on the Klingon home system, which had brought the 
Klingons to their decision to break the treaty of Algeron.  Their fleet 
had barely defeated the single Borg cube, and had suffered 
staggering losses in the effort.  Now, they were building up their 
forces in preparation for an offensive against Borg territory.

The Romulans, not believing the Klingons' effort would end against 
the Borg had also exceeded treaty limitations with their newest 
ships, and, fearing that it would be left behind, the Federation had 
begun building a new fleet, with the new Ticonderoga class as its 
centerpiece.

These ships carried phase-cloaking technology, a new hyper-
accelerated collimator ring dcapable of three times the destructive 
output of the old Mycenae-class technology, rapid-fire phaser 
batteries with independent power supplies, contained-plasma 
torpedoes, tripple shielding, and, most importantly, a back-up forced 
quantum singularity generator, capable of fifteen-minute bursts of 
power, sufficient to power the ships' vastly powerfful weapons and 
shielding.  Each of these ships could handle twenty of the old war-
bird class ships, given proper circumstances...  The question, simply 
put, was could they handle a single (or more likely), multiple Borg 
ships.

McGinnis sighed as he left his quarters, it wasn't really his job to 
worry about design specs.  His job was to go to the Klingon home 
world, in order to meet with Gouron in order to plan allied strategy, 
against both Borg and Romulans.  Starfleet hoped that this brand new 
ship would be as powerful a sign of commitment as the presence of 
Jean-luc Picard's Enterprise had been in the first battle, four years 
previously.  Unfortunately, Enterprise had been destroyed in the 
battle, and it was rumored that some of the ship's officers had been 
taken by the Borg.  McGinnis sincerely hoped, for their sakes, that 
they had not.

The bridge doors opened, admitting him to Ticonderoga's heavily 
armored command center.
"Admiral on the Bridge," said Lieutenant-commander Walter Schultz, 
Tactical officer, and third-in-command.
"At ease, ... report on status of our undocking preparations?" said 
McGinnis as he moved to the center seat.
"All systems have been checked, all power conduates and back-up 
systems show clear, computer is on-line, weapons at standby, warp 
drive is available, phase-cloak is available, and torpedoes are still 
being loaded sir.", said Captain Data, who had been loaned to 
McGinnis' command after Starfleet realized that there were no 
officers aboard Ticonderoga who had any significant experience with the 
Borg.  Such experience, it was thought, would be critical, particularly 
in the planned meetings with the Klingon Command.

"Thank you, Captain.  Operations, do you have a listing of the other 
ships that will rendezvous with us at the Klingon Capitol?"
"Sir, Starfleet reports that they can not give us a complete list, but 
three task forces are expected to arrive within twenty-four hours 
after our arrival.  They will be commanded by captains Shelby and 
Stromgren, and Rear-Admiral De L'hotel.  They expect a minimum 
total of four dreadnought-class, five cruiser-class, and eleven support 
vessels.  All have had the new sensor modifications installed, and 
most are carrying phase-cloaking devices.  However, they will be 
able to provide comparatively little fire-support, and the Klingons 
have allready suggested that this vessel is the only one in which they 
are interested."
"I see, the smaller ships may prove a liability, but I really don't like 
the Klingons' dismissal of them out-of-hand.  Commander, forward 
the information concerning our fleet strength to the Klingon council, 
and tell Gouron that I will want to discuss the use of the smaller 
ships with him immediately on our arrival."
"Aye sir," replied Janet Anders as she turned back to her console.  
McGinnis sat back in his chair, thinking about the tremendous change 
that had come over Ms. Anders over the last few years.  She had 
come aboard Mycenae a young lieutenant junior-grade, who was 
impatient for results, believing that things could be had if you 
wanted them badly enough.  The last years had molded her into a 
fine officer, patient, cunning, and compassionate.  Assuming that all 
of them survived the upcoming mission, she would make a fine ship's 
commander.  However, more important matters awaited them at the 
moment.

"Mr. Data, what is the current report on our earliest possible 
departure time?"
"Assuming that all of the loading is proceeding at the projected rate, 
we should be able to depart the dock in thirteen hours, eight minutes 
fifteen seconds."
"Thank you, ms. Anders, please have dock ready to clear us in 
fourteen hours.  Until then, I want all of you to take added time off, 
because after we leave dock, I suspect that none of us will be getting 
much rest for quite some time."

At this moment, a lieutenant from engineering hastened onto the 
Bridge, and reported that engineering com systems were down;  
that this was related to a slight instability in the quantum core; and 
that 
Commander  Macleod thought that repairs would take about four 
hours. Until the repairs were complete, it would be imposssible to  
generate anything more than 25% power from the auxiliary 
generator.
"Lieutenant, Tell him that since we won't need the added power until 
after we leave Klingon space, I suspect that he can fix the problem in 
transit.  If he has further concerns, have him report to me directly, 
and make sure that someone finds a work-around for the comlinks, 
since the optical controllers aren't up yet, we're totally dependent on 
our communicators."
"Aye Sir," she said as she rushed ack into the turbolift.
"Unless anyone has other concerns, I'm going to be in my quarters, 
you can reach me there, ...Mr. Data, you have the bridge." said 
McGinnis.  He rose and left the Bridge, glancing over his shoulder to 
make sure that all was in order before he left.              




SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part I: Chapter II: 
by:
 Matthew Weed


McGinnis turned over in his sleep, and then snapped wide awake.  He 
reached over to hit the com switch, opening a channel to the Bridge.  

"McGinnis here," he said.
"Sir, you asked for notification when we were one hour from launch," 
replied Data's voice.
"Thank you, I'll be up in thirty minutes, I want all senior staff on the 
Bridge at that time."
"Yes sir, I will ensure that everyone is here."
"McGinnis out."

After a quick shower and change of uniform, McGinnis left his quarters 
for a quick snack on his way to the Bridge.  Ever since the dimentional 
transit several years previously, he had always been too nervous to eat 
full meals during his ships' first voyages.  He had been a young, 
inexperienced commander then, and the physical and psychological stress 
of that mission had been quite enough for an entire lifetime.  Most of 
his crew had spent a number of weeks in hospital, and it had been more 
than six months before they had been permitted to return to duty.

***
The doors of rec-1 opened silently as he approached, and he was just as 
glad.  Although Alpha shift would be going on duty any minute, the room 
was somewhat crowded with crew as they either relaxed or lined up to 
throw their dishes into the recyclers.

McGinnis moved quickly  to the bank of replicators placed near the door.  
Although the bar was open, he didn't have time to chat, and he didn't 
want to interrupt the other shifts' relaxation with his uniformed 
presence.  Though he didn't usually demand tremendous dicipline from his 
crew when they were  off-duty, seeing him in uniform often caused all of 
his crew to treat him with what other commanders called "Captain on the 
Bridge" manners.  Now, there was no reason for it, and so he tried to 
avoid bothering them, while still gauging their stress level as the 
ship's launch time approached.

After ordering a quick BLT and salad, he turned to leave, so that he 
could eat in his small ready-room, located a short distance from the main 
bridge. Just before he could slip out the door, a young crewmember moved 
to intercept him.
"Sir," she asked somewhat timidly, "I was wondering, what do you think 
our chances are?"
McGinnis looked at the slender young woman,whose face was lined with stress.
"Chances of what? ensign, he asked, knowing full-well what she meant.
"Of surviving our mission against the Borg."
"Well, that isn't our mission as yet, Although the Klingons plan to 
attack, I haven't received orders to help them yet, and we're still 
hoping to keep them from going.  I think we've got a good shot."
"I hope so, sir, I want to come back from this."
McGinnis sighed to himself, wondering for the thousandth time, why 
Starfleet Command had insisted on sending mere kids on this mission, and 
on this ship.  Kids deserved the chance to grow up, and this ship wasn't 
meant to keep them out of danger.  It might be the best protection ever 
built once there, but it was always best to avoid battle whenever 
possible.  Even if that avoidance meant threatening the other side with 
guaranteed destruction, a threat that this ship was quite capable of 
backing up.
"Ensign, we all want to come back, and I, for one, feel that not coming 
back is simply unacceptable.  You know your duties well, so do them to 
the best of your ability, and we all will have a better chance of getting 
back."
"Ay sir," she said, still somewhat unconvinced.  
McGinnis made a mental note to check with Commander MacLeod to see how 
she was doing when they reached the Klingon home planet.

He quickly left Rec-1, and entered the turbolift.
"Conference 1," he said and the turbolift began a sideways motion.

***
After his small meal, McGinnis rose and walked down the slightly curved 
corridor that led to the main bridge entrance.
"Admiral on the Bridge," said Data as he rose from the command chair and 
moved to the first officer's station located in the semi-circle of 
stations surrounding the central well of the bridge.
"At ease," said McGinnis as he sat in his chair, placed at the center of 
the semi-circle of stations; "All stations report."
"All computer systems show green, all processors on line, security board 
is green, all auxiliary systems available," said Data.
"Weapons control systems show green, main ring, rapid fire phasers, 
auxiliary collimators and plasma torpedoes at standby.  Phase cloak at 
standy, all shields show ready for activation." said  Schultz.
"Helm and nav systems  show ready," said Thale, the Andorian lieutenant 
at helm/nav station.
"Engineering systems all show green, except for the auxiliary generator," 
said Commander Anders.  "All communications systems show green, save main 
communications in the engineering hull, but optical links are now up."
"All sensors available, all science departments reporting ready for 
launch," came T
'mayek's report from the science station.
"good, I want to brief you all on the upcoming mission.  As you know, the 
Klingon fleet has been built up to levels not seen since the 
Klingon/Federation hostilities ended seventy years ago.  Their build-up 
is in direct response to the Borg attack on their space more than four 
years ago.  Nearly sixty vessels were lost, and a period of political 
instability has ensued.  Many of the Klingons' internal political 
problems are still on, so be ready for surprises. 

House Durass has been pressuring for a renewal of the old Klingon/Romulan 
alliance, and their views are being heard, particularly due to the fact 
that Federation assistance, in the Klingon view, was limited.  As you 
know, we lost less than ten ships in those actions, including two 
defender-class ships and the flagship.  This vessel, along with a large 
number of other ships is to proceed to The Klingon home planet in order 
to show them that we will support their offensive against the Borg should 
that become necessary.  

Since Captain Picard's death, there have been few officers whom the 
Klingons respect.  Largely because of our successful prosecution of the 
campaign against the Cardassians last year, we have been ordered to head 
the fleet with this new ship, in order to attempt to convince the 
Klingons to hold their attack.  This is my intention, but I want all of 
you to know that I think it unlikely that we shall succeed, and I want 
all crewmembers to begin full testing of the new armor suits that we are 
carrying.  Should we come into contact with the Borg, I suspect that they 
will be necessary.

This ship is well equipped, and its technology is different than anything 
that we have confronted the Borg with in the past.  However, this does 
not mean that you should be over-confident, or that you should expect 
that we will give quarter to the Borg, should be succeed in doing 
significant damage to any Borg forces that we should meet.  If we can do 
so, we will destroy their ships without question, and there will be no 
exceptions made.

Until further notice, all of us, plus Commander MacLeod will be on 
stacked shifts duty, so that at least two command-chain officers are on 
duty at all times.  We are going into an unstable situation in the 
Klingon Empire, and I need say nothing more about the Borg.  Are there 
any questions?"
"Yes, Sir," replied Data, "Will we be trying to capture Borg technology?"
"Yes, my orders do provide for that possibility, and that is much of the 
reason for the training in the new armor suits.  We will only try to get 
Borg hardware, no Borg "members", will be taken, as I don't want to risk 
having the rest of the Collective tracing our location through any 
prisoners that we may take."
There was a pause, while all of the officers sat considering what they 
had just heard.  Despite that fact that most of them were from defense 
command, and not exploration or science headquarters, talk of all-out war 
was uncommon.  Furthermore, talk of breaking every treaty and moral 
regulation that governed the Federation's many civilizations was a bit 
hard to digest.  However, the  Borg were an unusual enemy, and if they 
were to be defeated, unusual methods would clearly be necessary.
"Are there any further questions?" ... "Very well, we are now less than 
half an hour from departure, so please double check all systems, and 
notify me when you are ready.  I will be in engineering.  Mr. Data, you 
have the conn."
***
McGinnis entered the ship's great engineering deck.  The room, one of the 
largest pressurized  contained-volume structures ever build in space, was 
nearly half a kilometer long, a tenth that broad, and twenty meters 
deep.  The great main energizer ran much of the length of the room, a 
glowing crystaline tube that split at the saucer-end of the engineering 
hull into a rough Y-shape with a great ball at the apex of the three 
sections.  Beyond this ball, the entire hull began to narrow until it was 
closed off by another ball-shaped structure, the ship's primary auxiliary 
power generator, the forced quantum core.

It was toward this end of the room that McGinnis movwed, in search of 
Robert MacLeod, the ship's chief engineer.  Finally, after some 
searching, McGinnis found him working near the main control pannel for 
the auxiliary power core.

"Chief, we're less than half an hour from launch, and I'd like you to be 
on the bridge when we depart if possible."
MacLeod turned to his commander, and one of his closest friends.
"William, you know that I'd not miss it if I could, but these repairs are 
going to require my main attention for at least another two or three 
hours, and with the schedule that we have to keep, I'd like to get them 
done before we get to Klingon space."
"If I didn't know you better, I'd think that you were having some kind of 
a premonition," said McGinnis with a small smile.
"No, no premonition, just the expectation that we won't get to the 
Klingon home planet without trouble.  Borg, Romulans, its really all the 
same, they may operate differently, but their intentions are more-or-less 
the same; and as far as I'm concerned, I'm not going to let a cranky 
system make today my day to die.  Especially when I have the ability to 
fix it."
"Very well, but don't over work yourself now, I suspect that all of us 
will have more than our fair share of work over the next weeks."
"Agreed, and the more that I can do to ensure that the work's in the 
hands of tactical, the happier I'll be."
"Well, good luck, and at least try to watch the departure on the 
monitors, we have optical up, in case your staff was avoiding you."
"As a matter of fact," said MacLeod, now grinning too, "Lieutenant 
Furgisson did say something about that, I'll have to make sure that she 
doesn't talk to me while I'm working, something like another officer I know."
"Allright, Allright, I'm going," said McGinnis laughing.
"I'll see you later," replied MacLeod turning back to his work.

McGinnis left engineering, satisfied that the work there was proceeding 
well, and that MacLeod wasn't driving his staff too hard.  With the high 
level of automation, there were comparatively few jobs for the crew to 
carry out directly, and so as long as the dcomputer-controlled repair 
systems were functioning, the ship could be handled by as few as two 
crewmembers, with little loss in efficiency.  However, some engineers, 
MacLeod included, liked to have their people check the computers' work, 
while it was progressing.  This often meant that the engineering staff 
was run ragged during the ship's barely-completed construction phase.  
McGinnis had heard some of the younger engineers say that they were 
looking forwardc to the mission, simply so that they would have to do 
less work.  he hoped, for everyone's sake, that they would be proven right.

The turbolift doors opened, and McGinnis stepped in.  
"Weapons-control center," he said to the computer.
The lift accelerated sideways as it travelled nearly the entire length of 
the engineering hull.  It then shot up at a flat angle, passing the 
ship's plasma torpedo bays, through the dorsal connecting main and 
engineering hulls, and then began to decellerate as it entered the main 
hull through one of the struts connecting it to the mega-collimator ring 
surrounding it.  The doors opened, allowing access to the airlock that 
was one of the four physical access points to this room, the most heavily 
shielded location aboard ship.

McGinnis entered the smallish room, which was about the size of the main 
bridge.  Computer stations ringed the entire room, allowing interface 
with any of the ship's seven-dozen weapons and defensive  systems.  When 
in battle, a full staff was located here, in order to take over from the 
Bridge, should it be compromised in any way.  Between the nearly 
two-meter thick armor, transporter shielding, and built-in phaser 
defenses, this room was considered nearly impregnible to anything short 
of the Borg, and even these would need time to break into this room.  

McGinnis sat at the main status board, and requested a full computer and 
weapons status check.  Almost immediately the dcomputer responded with a 
report far more detailed than that obtainable from the Bridge.  It showed 
that all primary, secondary, and distributed computer systems were fully 
available, weapons were all operable at maximum efficiency, and that 
primary, auxiliary, and secondary shielding was all available.  All power 
transfer systems were clear, and all switching hardware was available, 
should it become necessary.  Beyond its architectural benefits, the 
room's equipment was voice-controllable, making it possible for a very 
small number of people to handle the task of fighting the ship, should 
that become necessary.  McGinnis had never fully understood why such 
capabilities weren't a part of the Bridge as well, but the "standard" 
explanation that such controls might loose efficiency in the higher 
activity of the Bridge would have to do.

After completing the status check, he returned to the Bridge, and saw 
that there were about ten minutes before launch.
"Admiral on the Bridge," said Data as he returned to his station.
"At ease," said McGinnis somewhat absently.
"All stations, a brief final word before we go.  This is the newest in 
Federation technology, and espite the problems that we are still having 
with the quantum generator, I am highly confident in this ship's ability 
to handle anything thrown at her.  As no other ships are scheduled for 
departure, and we are loaded and ready to go, I suggest that we get under 
way.... Helm, stand by thrusters, engage navigational deflectors. ... 
Ops, notify dock control that we are departing early, and that this 
vessel, USS Ticonderoga, NX4000, is hereby commissioned by me, as of 
Stardate 56217.4"
"Aye Sir," replied Thale and Anders.
"Dock reports clear for launch, and congratulations.  They wish us good 
luck sir," said Cmdr Anders.
"Helm, ahead one quarter maneuvering power, as soon as we exit dock, come 
to 128.35 mark 23, and set main velocity at warp 9. ... Tactical, engage 
phased cloaking device immediately."
"Phased cloak is now engaged," replied Walter Schultz.
"We are now clearing dock, entering course 128.35 mark 23, our velocity 
is set at warp 9."
"Mr. Thale, ... You may proceed," replied McGinnis.
The ship, already invisible, accelerated to warp 9, on its way to 
beginning a mission that would probably be critical to Federation history 
for the remainder of the century.          
  


SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part I: Chapter III 
By:
 Matthew Weed


Commander's personal  Log: Stardate 56229.3 Starship USS Ticonderoga: 
Admiral William McGinnis recording.

We are now two days out of construction dock, and insofar as we can tell, 
no ships observed our departure.  As only Gouron and the three Federation 
task force commanders know of this ship's existence, I am relieved by 
this.  We are still several hours from the Klingon home planet, and as 
all systems have continued to function perfectly for the last forty 
hours, the tension aboard ship seems to be decreasing by the hour.  This, 
of course, will soon change, as we are about to enter the most difficult 
part of this mission.  If I succeed in convincing Gouron to hold off in 
his attack, all sides will have more time to prepare.  If I do not, we 
may be facing the Borg before the Federation is ready for a war on this 
scale.

Because we have been very fortunate over the last seventy years, we may 
have become too complacent, too ready to expect that our enemies can be 
argued into taking our view of things.  The only exceptions to this are 
the Cardassians, who are not a threat to the Federation anymore, and the 
Romulans, who are so weakened by political turmoil, that they pose little 
threat most of the time.  The Borg, however, are another matter.

Even with the loss of the collective now under the leadership of "Hugh", 
and the losses encurred at Sol, and in the Klingon war, they still pose 
an overwhelming threat.  Why they haven't tried a more concerted attack 
is beyond me.  So far, they have, apparently viewed us as "irrelevant," 
with only our technology as "relevant,".  What happens if they suddenly 
come to the understanding that if  they are to get our tech, they will 
have to kill us all.  Then we will become "relevant," and I do not look 
forward to that day.  The question, simply put, is whether the Klingons' 
planned offensive will make us "relevant," or not.

***
McGinnis sat back, wondering what needed to be done.  With a crew of less 
than 400, many of the duties that went along with being a commander of a 
Mycenae or Galaxy-class ship were unnecessary aboard this vessel.  There 
were two reasons for the small crew.  Firstly, the ship's tremendous 
automation, something that had been designed into her with the Borg in 
mind.  The second, put simply, was that this ship's living quarters were 
not large, as the equipment that supported the weapons, computers, and 
shielding of this vessel, plus extremely heavy structural members took up 
tremendous amounts of space in a hull barely larger than a Galaxy-Class ship.

McGinnis rose quickly,  remembering that he would have training in the 
new suits of heavy-duty armor, with which this ship was equipped.

Like so many other parts of the ship, this was new equipment insofar as 
"regular" starfleet personel were concerned.  The suits were full-body 
units, with a small back-pack nuclear reactor, mounting locks for various 
beam and missile weapons, and a small shield generator.  It was hoped 
that these would allow the crew increased survivability and effectiveness 
should it become possible to transport aboard a Borg ship.

During his ruminations, McGinnis had put his suit on, left his quarters, 
and proceeded to Holo-1.  His suit was all white, with a phaser rifle 
bracketted on his right wrist, a head-mounted laser canon, and a grenade 
launcher, that for on-board excercises, would fire simulated sonic 
grenades, since the real article would wreck both holo-simulator and 
user, shield or not.

The holo-simulator's doors opened silently, allowing McGinnis an 
unrestricted view of the combat already taking place.  Several of his 
security crew were in their armor, blasting a contingent of simulated 
borg that had apparently tried to beam into engineering.  McGinnis 
entered the battle, arm-mounted phaser-rifle flaring.  He quickly found 
that the Borg hadadapted to this weapon already, and that heavier blasts 
would be required.  Unfortunately, his armor was in its default 
configuration, meaning that its heaviest beam weapons were not 
available.  He fired the head-mounted laser canon, whose raw output was 
many times that of the phaser.  However, because it was an inefficient 
energy weapon, he could do little but rock the simulated Borg soldiers.  
The security crew, meanwhile, had been firing their plasma canon, and 
their heavy graviton weapons.  These could punch through the shielding 
available on the Borg units, but the combined firepower of all ten 
security suits was required to breech the shielding on one Borg soldier.  
However, it appeared, assuming that Federation intelligence was correct, 
that the average units could be defeated, even at their maximum adaptive 
efficiency.  


McGinnis smiled under his helmet, for although this was not a total 
victory, and a larger team of Borg would be able to defeat his crew, it 
did appear that effective offensive and defensive action would be 
possible against the Borg for the first time.  This was decidedly the 
best news that he'd had all week!

After a few minutes, his crew had defeated the remaining Borg, whose 
attempts to capture McGinnis had failed due to his suit's shielding.  
Again, this was fortunate, since a sufficient number of them would have 
been able to break through, but, in limited action, the suits' shielding 
would do exactly what Starfleet Engineering had hoped that it would do: 
save the wearer from absorption.

At this point, the holosimulator shut down suddenly, the lighting went 
red, and the ship-wide klaxons went off.

"Red Alert, Red alert!, this ship is now on red alert, ... Commanding 
officer to the bridge." said the computer.
"McGinnisz to Bridge," said The Admiral as he struck his com badge.
"Sir, we have a cloaked ship on scan, signature suggests that its 
Romulan!", replied Lt.Cmdr Anders' voice.
"On my way," replied McGinnis, not even wasting time to disguard his armor.

***
The Bridge doors opened, and McGinnis, now minus his helmet, moved 
quickly to his chair.  Data, who had been anticipating his arrival had 
already vacated the command chair, and was sitting at his post.
"Ops, tight beam transmission to the Klingon home world," prepare a 
subspace buoy for immediate launch."
"Aye Sir," replied Anders, "Buoy ready, Klingon council chamber now on 
main visual."

The transmission was rather scrambled as transmissions from phase-cloaked 
ships were extremely difficult to keep balanced.  However, Gouron's 
battlehardened face could be clearly distinguished behind the snow.

"Gouron, I am William McGinnis, Admiral in command of the United Starship 
Ticonderoga.  We are some four hours from your planet, and have 
encountered a cloaked Romulan vessel.  As this ship carries the best in 
Federation technology, I thought that I should offer the honor of 
destroying the Romulan to you, before I took action."
"Admiral," replied Gouron, "Consider the Romulan's appearance as a test 
of your vessel's capability, and your crew's honor.  You are welcomed to 
destroy the trespasser, I hope that your arrival is not  overly delayed."
"Understood, I will contact you before our arrival at your planet," 
McGinnis out.

After this communication, McGinnis turned his mind to the destruction of 
the unidentified Romulan ship.

***

For Cmdr Tomaluk, it was another routine supply mission, deep within 
Klingon space.  His vessel and crew had made the trip at least twenty 
times, and it had always gone flawlessly.  This run included parts for a 
new disruptor array, and some other spares that were needed by Family 
Durass' secret fleet.  After Cmdr Sela's failure against Picard, the 
Romulan high command had decided that sending ships through singly was 
better than trying to send an entire fleet across the Klingon/Romulan 
border at once.  Tomaluk, and his fellow commanders' recent success in 
delivering supplies was ample proof of the correctness of the plan.

"Commander, I have a disturbance off our port bow, bearing 43 mark 12," 
said the young female navigator.
"Scan it," snapped Tomaluk, coming out of his chair.
"It appears to be a subspace anomoly, growing in intensity as time 
passes," said the science officer.
"Cloaked ship?", demanded Tomaluk.


His answer came as a huge Federation-style ship  appeared practically on 
top of his own vessel.
"Decloak...." he said, but the sentence never got the chance to complete 
itself.

***

"Sir, decloaking in three ... two... one..." said Schultz at tactical.  
"Weapons, weapons control, auxiliary and secondary energy production 
systems on line, awaiting full charging cycle.  We'll have to blanket the 
area, since we aren't exactly sure where the Romulan ship is."
"Understood, you may clear the computer to fire when ready," said 
McGinnis, hoping that the new, and largely untested, systems would work 
as well as Mycenae's weapons control systems always had.
"Firing now!" said Schultz.

Phaser bolts erupted from nearly twenty rapid-fire phaser batteries, and 
almost immediately thereafter, contained-plasma torpedoes flashed from 
the forward tubes.  These weapons brought the Romulan ship out of cloak, 
effectively rendering the ship totally visible.  power systems weren't 
affected, but this was of little import for long.  Ticonderoga's main 
mega-collimator ring flared blue-white for less than a second, and then a 
brilliant white lance of energy connected the two vessels, disintegrating 
the entire Romulan ship on impact.  Ten seconds after the firing had 
started, Ticonderoga was back on course for the Klingon home world, and 
the phase-cloak was coming back on-line.

"Sir, the Romulan ship has been neutralized, and it got no message off 
before its destruction.  Because they were cloaked, they weren't able to 
handle our fire.  I report that all weapons and weapons-control sensors 
functioned ... great!" said Schultz.
"Excellent Mr. Schultz,log your report, and stand down from red alert. 
... Helm, increase velocity to warp 9.5, and give me a new eta for the 
Klingon Capitol."
"Sir, at warp 9.5, we will arrive in-system in forty-seven minutes."
"Very well, Ops, get me Gouron on a double-secured channel, main viewer."
A moment passed while Commander Anders sent the transmission.Finally, the 
link was established, and she turned to the Admiral.
"Sir, Gouron on main viewer."
Because Ticonderoga was much closer to the powerful receivers on the 
Klingon homeworld, the transmission was clearer, but one could still see 
snow from time to time.
"Admiral, I did not expect that you would be contacting me so soon, how 
was the battle with the Romulan invader?"
McGinnis' reply was quite concise, "Short, and quite successful."
"Excellent news, Admiral, I look forward to seeing the first Federation 
warship in living memory."
"I look forward to giving you a tour of this vessel.  We will arrive in 
your star system in approximately forty minutes, earth time.  Am I to 
follow any unusual procedures once there?"
"I am told that your vessel has the ability to set down in deep water?"
"Affirmative, however we assumed that we would be ordered into orbit on 
arrival."
"No, we can provide better security for your ship at the special 
construction facility in the southern ocean."
McGinnis had heard stories about this facility from previous Federation 
officers who had visited there.  It was a huge dome built under  water, 
and was primarily intended to facilitate the construction of the new 
birds of prey.  However, if what he had heard was true, it could easily 
accommodate twenty full-sized Klingon battle cruisers.
"Understood, I will have to contact your trafic control computers."
"We must contact your ship."
"Unfortunately, the new cloaking device makes it nearly impossible to 
receive incoming hails, so it will be necessary to contact your system."
"Very well, I like the philosophy of commitment behind your vessel, 
Admiral," said Gouron.
"Yes, our inability to receive new orders does mean that once this ship 
is under cloak, Star Fleet is  effectively committed to the use of this 
vessel.  If it is better for your controllers, we can partially decloak, 
and receive transmissions, but we will be scannable on some wavelengths."
"Admiral, Too many dishonorable people now serve house Durass, and their 
masters.  There will be many interested eyes turned skyward over the next 
few days.  You are wise to remain fully invisible."
"Understood, once we are docked, I will contact you, but for now, I offer 
you the hospitality of this vessel at 1800 hours, Starfleet Standard 
Time, for a meal and tour of inspection."
"I accept your invitation, and look forward to meeting the man who 
defeated the Cardassian fleet at Bajour."
"Gouron, the honor is mine, I shall see you at 1800."
"Understood, Gouron out."
With this, the screen changed to the running tactical view of Klingon 
space as Ticonderoga continued to streak toward the Klingon Capital.

"Commander Anders, contact Klingon central traffic and tell them hat we 
will need a course as Gouron directed."
"Aye sir, already in progress," she said a bit distractedly as she 
continued to try to contact the main traffic control center.  

As much as anything else, her difficulties were directly related to the 
fact that the ship was still out of communications range with the mainly 
in-system traffic net.

"Sir, I can't contact them as yet, it'll be about half an hour before we 
can get to them."
"Very well, keep trying and when you get through, conact me, I'll be in 
my quarters, Mr. Data, you have the Bridge."
***
Even before McGinnis could get to this quarters, the ship-wide intercom 
had announced in Data's voice, 
"Admiral to the Bridge, please."
On his return to the Bridge, McGinnis retook his chair,  and turned to 
his first officer.
"Mr. Data, you asked for me."
"Yes, Sir.  As you can see, our long-range sensors have just begun to 
image the Klingon home-world.  Apparently, preparations and construction 
are far greater than Star Fleet had been told previously.  I have at 
least 100 long-range warship-class vessels on scan, including some of 
types not previously known."
McGinnis stared at Data in shock.  If this were true, then Gouron's 
position versus those in his government who didn't trust the Federation 
was far worse than had been previously thought.  Usually, limited 
information was passed back and forth on most projects, even secret 
projects like Ticonderoga's construction.  However, information on new 
classes of ships, and build-ups of the proportion being reported had not 
been passed to him before their departure two days previously.
"Very well, scan everything, and before we get into the system, send a 
full report to Defense Command HQ, and copy it to the Federation Council, 
Starfleet Commander, and Admiral Gellico at Star Fleet Operations."
Aye Sir, continuing scan.  We are now four minutes from optimal reporting 
range, but it'll be very hard to get a message out without shutting off 
the phase-cloak."
"I know, so send it aboard a probe, we can't afford to decloak, 
especially as unstable as the situation on the planet appears to be."
"Downloading and copying data as it comes in, we are three minutes, 
thirty seconds from launch," said Data.
"Preparing probe for launch," said Anders from her station.
"Aft firing tube is clear for launch, charging cycle beginning," said 
Schultz as he began the process of charging the torpedo launcher to send 
a communications uoy back to Federation space at warp 9.9.  This would 
mean that Star Fleet Command would get the news in less than three hours, 
assuming noone decided to destroy the probe on the way out.

A couple of minutes passed, and then Data's voice broke the silence 
prevalent on the Bridge.
"Information package ready for download.  I have included some side notes 
on what we have received, and all is ready for launch."
"Very well, launch buoy," said McGinnis.
"buoy away," replied Schultz.
The viewer shifted to an aft-directed shot of the small tubular object 
streaking away from the ship.  All anyone could hope for now was that it 
would arrive in Federation space in time For Starfleet to analyze the 
data, and hopefully send a second force of ships.  There could be little 
question that the Klingons were on the war path, and that they would 
expect their Federation allies to send a comparable force of their own.  
The approximately twenty-one ships that had been promised were simply not 
enough.
"Sir, we are now one minute from sub-light speed, and should be able to 
contact Klingon in-system traffic control," said Thale.
"Ms. Anders, please contact Klingon control, and request a vector."
"Aye Sir."
Moments later, she turned to McGinnis.
"Sir, they're telling us to lock into their standard traffic net, and 
that their guide computers will bring us in."
"That's standard procedure, allow the link, ... helm, come to sub-light 
speed."
The great ship decellerated from high-warp, and most of the crew sat back 
to enjoy the ride.  It wasn't often that they could simply sweep along, 
not concerned about accidents, enemies, or other things.  Both Data and 
McGinnis were busy admiring the view outside, both natural and 
artificial.  The planet was dry as compared with Earth, but there was 
still noticeable surface water.  Orbital space was full of activity, both 
military and civilian.  There was a truly staggering armada through which 
Ticonderoga was passing.  No one was concerned about some of the close 
passes, simply because while phase-cloaked, the ship could not occupy the 
same space as the vessels that it was passing.  If hull contact occurred, 
crews on both ships would think that they had seen a ghost image, rather 
than anything else.  

As the journey continued, McGinnis turned his attention to the ocean 
toward which Ticonderoga was proceeding.  As they drew closer, it became 
quite clear that there was no traffic in the entire basin, and this 
confirmed the importance that the Klingons put on their underwater base.  
Then the ship sloed, the computers apparently programmed to expect that 
damage would occur if a ship were to hit the surface too hard.  Clearly, 
guiding ships in, even new Federation Starships was not considered a 
sufficiently honorable task for a living Klingon to perform.

The great ship passed through the surface of the water, and then a 
communication came in from the on-duty computer tech maintaining the 
traffic control net.
"Federation ship, we can do no more for you, proceed to the base under 
your own navigation systems.  May your stay here be successful."
"Understood, our nav computer is taking over now."

With that the channel closed and Ticonderoga was on its own.  

"Helm, set course for the Klingon base, thrusters at one-quarter."
"Aye Sir."
Within ten minutes, the great ship was decellerating toward the massive 
under-water doors, which were as large, or larger, than those on 
Earth-1.  Then, the doors opened, and Ticonderoga passed through, and 
into open air.
"Sir, I have a message from the base commander."
"Put it on, commander."
"Federation ship, you are to proceed to the fourth bay on your right, 
decloak and moor there."
Understood, Ticonderoga out."

The ship slowed, then turned toward its docking bay.  As the turn was 
completed, the cloak was shut down, giving the base commander a full view 
of the mighty starship as it swept into the largest docking bay in the 
facility.  The ship was quite impressive to say the least.

As long as the Mycenae-class defender, but twice as deep, and with a far 
larger collimator ring surrounding the main hull.  The multiple weapons 
implacements showed that the ship was, indeed, built for action.  As it 
moved to meet the gangway, the great ship seemed to shudder for just a 
moment before coming to rest.  With this action, the waiting Klingons 
could come aboard.


SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part I: Chapter IV:  
By:
Matthew A. Weed

The doors at Ticonderoga's end of the gangway opened silently, admitting 
Kern and his aide de campe.  He had only been on one other Federation 
vessel, and it was immediately clear that this ship was nothing like 
Picard's Enterprise.  Its corridors were narrower, there were gratings on 
the floor, not the carpet that covered many of Enterprise's corridors.  
The structural members looked far heavier, and the over-all air of the 
ship was decidedly ... military.

His attention turned to the tall human who was standing before him.
"Admiral McGinnis, I M Kern, son of Mog, Commander of this construction 
facility.  I am honored to meet you."
"Kern, Son of Mog, I am Admiral William McGinnis, and your presence here 
honors us.  ... Welcome to USS Ticonderoga. ... Would you like a brief 
tour of the vessel?"
"Yes, I would."
"Very well, I am expecting Gouron within the hour, but I shall take you 
for a brief tour before he arrives."

***
After his tour, Kern was even more impressed with the ship than he had 
when it appeared immediately outside his window.  Although the computers 
ran too much of it, making it difficult for a warrior to fight an 
honorable battle,if the data on the fight with the Romulan ship were 
true, they had proven themselves worth it.

"Admiral, I am very impressed, I was mnot certain that the Federation was 
capable of building a true warship, after James T. Kirk's retirement.  It 
is good to see that it is not as complacent as many Klingons would like 
to think."
"We haven't built many ships with a fully military purpose in a long 
time, and despite my own successes, I would hope that this ship will be 
the last.  However, I believe that those like Picard had taken Star Fleet 
too far toward peace and exploration, and had forgotten that we are also 
supposed to protect and defend the members of the Federation.  One 
wonders whether we would have been able to do so had the Romulans, 
Cardassians, and Farengi decided to cause trouble at the same time."
"Personally, I dout that you could have."
"Fortunately, we won't have the opportunity to find out.  With the 
Cardassian military defeated, and the Farengi talking peaceful 
profitiering, those problems should be solving themselves.  However, the 
Romulans are beginning to pose a serious threat to both of us, and the 
Borg..."
"Yes, The Borg.  Is the Federation going to send a larger fleet, now that 
you have seen The Klingon commitment to defending our people?"
"I haven't gotten a response to my report of your enhanced fleet 
strength, so I can't say for sure. ... We had better get to the 
transporter room, Gouron should be here any moment."
At this moment, Data's voice rang over mcGinnis' communicator.
"Bridge to Admiral McGinnis."
"McGinnis here."
"Sir, Gouron reports his readiness to come aboard, he also wants to know 
where Kern is, as he wasn't at the base landing pad to meet him."
"What!?!," said Gouron, ..."He was to beam to this ship, not come by 
shuttle."
"Well, let's get to the gangway before he waits any more,"  replied 
McGinnis, now beginning to understand how Gouron had managed to keep his 
somewhat difficult seat atop the Klingon Council.

Moments later they arrived at the ship's end of the gangway.  The 
computer sounded honors, and Gouron stepped aboard.

"Gouron, I am Admiral William McGinnis, welcome aboard."
"It is an honor to meet you Admiral, I am pleased to have the 
responsibility of thanking you for your removal of the Cardassians from 
space."
"I am glad that they don't pose a threat to us in the current crisis, but 
their weakened state may make them easy for the Romulans to pick off, 
should they choose to do so."
"yes, that's true, and if they do,I trust that you will be able to defeat 
them again."
"Yes, I believe so, assuming that Federation forces aren't weakened by 
our current operations."
"It will be hard, but honor is never won by men who are afraid to take 
chances."
"True, but you know that I must tell you that Star Fleet Command would 
rather that the Klingon Empire wait to launch this offensive, The 
Federation has many ships under construction, but the fleet construction 
program won't get into full productivity until next year."
"That may be true for you, but we are ready to get ourr due revenge, and 
we would not appreciate it if the Federation refused to help us in our 
war against The Borg."
"I am well aware of that, and I am ordered to offer you all possible 
assistance in your operations."
"I am pleased, we will be launching three days from today, so if you are 
able to strengthen your forces, you hae time to contact your commanders."
"I shall do so immediately after dinner, and our tour. ... Shall we go to 
the observation deck?"
"Very well..."
***
After dinner, and the usual conversation that occurs at such occasions, 
Gouron called for everyone's attention.

"This has ben a fine meal.  We are quite impressed by the Gach, it is 
difficult to get food of this quality in the finest restaurants of the 
Empire.  However, our time here is not meant to be spent eating.  We are 
here to see this mighty new starship and to talk about the final defeat 
of our common enemy.  Admiral, I would like to see this ship of yours, 
and then to discuss our strategy, understanding that the size of the 
Federation contribution to our efforts has not been decided."
"An excellent plan, Gouron if you and your staff will follow me."
The party departed the observation bubble, located at the junction of the 
aft-most support strut and the mega-collimator ring.  It proceeded to the 
weapons control center, which was almost too small to hold the ten 
Klingon and Federation officers. 
"Computer, render a three-dimentional schematic of this vessel, 
highlighting weapons, defenses, power production, computer and structural 
items."

The computer immediately brought a hologram of the ship on line, with the 
specified systems highlighted.

"As you can see, we have fifty-seven rapid-fire particle phaser 
batteries, each is powered by separate fusion reactors, capable of 
providing all the energy that these systems can use.  The reactors can 
also be used as secondary power supplies for the ship, should main or 
auxiliary power be knocked out.  The ship has seven contained-plasma 
torpedo tubes, each has fifty missiles, whose range is twice that of the 
standard Federation photon torpedo.  The plasma in the warheads powers 
the warp sustainer coil, so at maximum range, the torpedoes have half as 
much destructive potential as at launch.  At launch, they have eighty 
megatons standard yield.  The ship has four phaser collimators located on 
each face of the engineering hull, each is as powerful as a Galaxy-class 
starship's main phaser collimators.  The main weapon of this ship, as 
with the mycenae-class defender, is the phased collimator ring that 
surrounds the main hull.  The ring has three times the destructive 
potential of the Mycenae-class ships' main weaponry, making it nearly 
twenty times as powerful as a galaxy-class ship's weapons.  

The ship has tripple shielding, which is operable in a two-layered 
configuration, meaning that we can maintain shielding if the Borg should 
break one layer.  We can make repairs while the other layers are being 
worked over by enemy weapons.  The system is energy-expensive, and we 
have installed a new main energizer with greater output than has been 
seen previously to support this added energy demand.  There is also an 
experimental short-duration forced quantum core for emergency power 
generation, should the main systems and the secondary fusion reactors be 
over-taxed.  It can provide fifty percent of main power for four hours, 
and with all of this power production, we can operate every single 
weapons and defensive  system aboard the ship at the same time.  The 
benefits of such a multi-redundant scheme have always been obvious, but 
until recently, there has not been incentive to build such vessels.  As 
you are  aware, we also carry the new Federation phase-cloaking 
technology, which precludes use of our weapons while operational, simply 
because we can't hit anything while under phase-cloak.  We also carry 
computer-control systems, power distribution systems, and communications 
relays. that are more redundant than anything previously seen in a 
Federation starship."

"This is a very impressive design, how do you manage to fit so much into 
a hull this size?"
"Quite simply, crew quarters are extremely tight, and we use robotic 
systems to do as much work as is technically possible.  This saves us 
nearly a thousand crewmembers, with all of  the support systems that they 
require.  The crew is only 400 strong."
"I assume that you have a internal defensive plan similar to that aboard 
the defender-class ships?"
"Yes, if lifeforms of a type designated as "enemy" by the command staff 
invade the ship, the computer has the ability to use force fields and 
phaser collimators to neutralize any boarding party."
"Admiral, this is the greatest development in military technology in the 
last thirty years, and I commend you on the fact that the Federation 
chose you to command it in its first, and most honorable mission."
"Thank you, I was much honored by their decision to wave the rules 
against flag officers commanmding single unit ships.  My orders state 
that this vessel is to act independently of the main fleet when I feel 
necessary.  The remainder of Federation forces will be under the command 
of your fleet, as our only other fleet-rank officer has only recently 
received his admiral's commission."
"Excellent, I would like to see your other facilities."
"If you will follow me, ... Computer, end holo simulation."
As they left, the schematic of the ship disappeared.  After travelling 
through the sick-bay, bridge, and engineering deck the party arrived at 
one of the holodecks.
"We use these for training, simulation, and research, more than 
recreation, although limited recreational programming is available.  I 
believe that there is a simulation running here that you may be 
interested in. ... Computer, access holodeck thirteen, open doors."
The group was met with a particle blast from a blue-suited security 
member, whose bolt had just barely missed a borg soldier attempting to 
access one of the slots common in the corridor  walls of their ships.  
The reason for the miss became obvious as another Borg soldier slammed 
the security man aside.  The security began using their grenade 
launchers, destroying Borg soldiers right an left.  The sonics couldn't 
be used aboard Ticonderoga, even in self-defense, they were simply too 
powrful.  However, since the simulation was of a landing on a Borg ship, 
anything went.  The simulated grenades destroyed huge chunks of material, 
killing the Borg soldiers as they approached.  Finally simulated force 
fields came up, which kept the grenades from doing much damage.  The 
security party then dropped a small "package", and called for emergency 
beam-out.  The package was a kilogram of antimatter, and the blast from 
this destroyed a huge chunk of the Borg vessel.  
McGinnis watched the proceedings, thinking to himself that at this point 
the ship would be moving toward the Borg ship in hopes of breaking 
through  the subspace field in order to come out of phase-cloak in this 
huge cavity and rip the cube apart from the inside.
"An impressive battle Admiral, what was its purpose?" said Gouron, 
reminding him of the presence of the Klingon observers.
"We hope to send landing parties aboard Borg vessels and then open a 
large enough cavity to allow a starship to enter and blow the Borg ships 
apart from the inside.  The armor and shielding that the security troops 
wear will hopefull allow us to survive for periods of time aboard the 
Borg ships. our simulation runs suggest that the armor will also allow us 
to repel large parties of Borg boarders, should they break our 
shielding.  We will, of coursse, destroy the ship before its capture, but 
if we can live to fight another day..."
"Yes, an admirable philosophy," replied Gouron.  "Can you produce suits 
like these for our warriors?"
"No, but I can send the specifications to your manufacturing people so 
that you can build them yourselves, should this be acceptable."
"That is fine, I shall tell them to expect the information."
"Very well, shall we adjourn for this evening, I must confer with Star 
Fleet Command, and you doubtless have preparations to make."
"Very well, however, we must talk about strategy tomorrow, as soon as you 
know how many ships the Federation can contribute."
"Then I shall take you back to the gangway, and we will see each other 
tomorrow.  I will await your transmission as to what time is convenient 
for you."
The party returned to the gangway, and Gouron turned to salute the ship 
as he left.  His departing words to McGinnis were:
"I shall contact you tomorrow, I look forward to another meeting."        


SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part I: Chapter V: 
By:
Matthew A. Weed


McGinnis walked onto the Bridge, noting the comparative quiet of third 
shift.  Only a young lieutenant junior-grade was there, sitting at the 
engineering station, looking at the station as if she would rather be 
anywhere else.
"Lieutenant, raise Star Fleet Command, Admiral Jellico  for me."
"yes, Sir!," she said, her shocked look showing him that she had not seen 
him enter the room.

she moved to the ops station, punched a number of keys and then turned to 
McGinnis.  
"Sir, their response is in code, Admiral's eyes only."
"Very well, ... take fifteen minutes, I'll talk with them here, don't 
worry about the duty, I'll call you when I'm ready for you to resume your 
duties."
"Yes, Sir," she said and quietly left through the starboard-side turbo-lift.

McGinnis moved to Ops, and worked the controls of the console for a 
moment.  Then the image of Defense Fleet Commander Jellico appeared on 
the main viewer.

"William, its good to see that you've gotten to the Klingon Capital 
without difficulty.  We have your information about fleet strength, and 
believe that this is simply a stronger deployment of forces than we had 
originally expected.  The new classes of ships are a surprise, but 
considering our own work, I'm not surprised that the Klingons have some 
new technology, and the analysts think that the reason for their not 
having told us has something to do with the pressure being put on Gouron 
by those in the faction supporting house Durass.  You will have to be 
very careful, I think that the political situation there is as unstable 
as its been in the last fifteen years."
"Thanks for the warning, Admiral, I would say that Gouron's worried about 
his situation as well.  However, as I'm sure you're aware, I need to know 
what ships you can send me, our current commitment isn't going to be 
enough, from a political standpoint, if the klingons are really going to 
invest this much of their fleet in the upcomming operations."

"William, don't think that I haven't considered that already.  
Exploration and science commands are determined to keep as many of their 
ships as possible, but I've collected another thirty-two ships, mostly of 
the new victorious-class light cruiser and Versailles-Class destroyers.  
Its not a lot, but these ships do carry phase-cloaking technology, and 
the Victorious-Class ships do have contained-plasma torpedoes.  I'm 
sending the technical specs on a parallel frequency."

McGinnis saw the data flash into the computers, and decided that he could 
read it much later.
"Sir, as we both suspected, the Klingons are going ahead with the 
mission, and are impatient as hell to leave.  When will the new ships be 
here?"
"I expect, day after tomorrow.  If not then, they'll be there the day 
after that for sure."
"Thanks for the help, and next time you see her, tell Admiral Stephenson 
that I'm eternally indebted to her for the assistance from the rest of 
Star Fleet."
"I'm sure that she'll be interested in your opinion, William, but face 
it, most of the people around here still think tat we're back in the 
golden age.  They don't understand that peace comes at a price, and that 
the price becomes a lot higher when those defending the rest of us aren't 
supported properly."
"That's for bloody certain, replied McGinnis," some of the tension 
surrounding the mission boiling out of him as he spoke with his old mentor.
"Well, I suppose that I'd better let you get back to making preparations 
with Gouron.  Good luck, William, I wish that I could be there with you, 
I hate missing out on this kind of a mission."
"I know, and I wish that you could be here too, I'd like to have a full 
admiral in command of the Federation Fleet, since I'll be out on 
independent work most of the time.  De l'hotel is good, but he's still 
not fully experienced with fleet ops, and I'm afraid that the Klingons 
will push us into taking unnecessary risks."
"Don't worry, Guy's a tremendous ship commander, and the Klingon Command 
respects him a great deal after the firsbattle of four years ago, I think 
that he'll be fine."
"I hope so, I'll be out of touch most of the time.  In any case, we'll 
launch three days from now, and I'll send you reports as we progress."
"Excellent, I look forward to your news, Star Fleet out."
"Ticonderoga clear."

With this the main viewer returned to its image of the docking bay.  
McGinnis struck the com unit, and called the young lieutenant back to her 
late-night duties.  On her return, he left the bridge to look over the 
specs for the victorious and Versailles class ships.

***
By the afternoon of the next day, McGinnis felt ready to meet with 
Gouron.  The discussions were, as a diplomat would say, "frank,".  The 
main issues focused on the new lighter ships, and the diployment of 
Ticonderoga.

"Your new light vessels aren't properly equipped for this kind of a 
mission.  Their weapons are too light, and they are barely more powerful 
than our birds of prey, which are much more maneuverable."
"I know that, but their shielding is much better, and in the case of the 
light cruisers, they have weapons with better range than anything else in 
the fleet.  I wanted more firepower from the Federation too, but Fleet 
Admiral Stephenson refused to force the exploration command to send the 
battle sections of our galaxy class ships, and the nebulas are needed for 
border patrolls along the Romulan border.  As I told you yesterday, Star 
Fleet is not ready for this mission, and won't be for at least a year.  
"Admiral, understand that I do not blame you for this, but it does not 
look good, your lack of support.  I will agree to the inclusion of these 
ships, despite the fact that I am certain that they will prove excellent 
targets for the Borg ships.  Hopefully the light cruisers can do 
someting, but your destroyers, in my opinion, are useless."
"We shall have to see," said McGinnis somewhat coolly."
"Now, to the other matter.  I do not like the fact that the most powerful 
ship in the attack force will not be with the rest of the fleet."  
"I specifically directed that it be that way.  Ticonderoga isn't built to 
be a fleet-line vessel.  The weapons have too much range, and with all of 
the technology aboard, if we're overmatched, any other ship, or group of 
ships, will be outdone too."
"That is your opinion Admiral, I am not in favor of having any of the 
ships away from the main body of the fleet."
"I understand your concerns, but this class of ship is built to be a 
high-speed, long-range, heavily-armed, scouting and intervention vessel.  
I am not stupid, I am far from certain that we will be able to handle a 
Borg cube alone, but I do think that I can get more information on 
diployments, communications, and distribution than any other vessel, 
Federation or Klingon, simply because The Ticonderoga-class ships are 
better-able to survive away from the fleet than any other vessels.  I 
don't intend to be so far away as to be out of range of assistance should 
it become necessary, but without a scouting force, we will be flying blind."
"yes, and that's what the bird of prey was built to do.  Your ship is 
one-of-a-kind, while those ships are easily replaced."
"yes, and if they're caught against a Borg vessel, they will not be able 
to outrun it, they have no chance of militarily defeating it, and their 
crews will be committing suicide.  My crew may actually manage to get 
back to fight another battle."
"Perhaps you're right, senseless death in battle has no honor, but if you 
go alone, you must agree to some form of communications schedule."
"That is dangerous, as the Borg will doubtless monitor for communication, 
once they realize that a major force is in the field."
"True, so I suggest that you only contact the fleet when you are leaving 
a system, and only discuss details of your movement if it seems safe to 
both you and our commander."
"That should be alright, he and I will work out the details, if that is 
acceptable to you."
"Yes, that will be acceptable."

***
The next two days flew by in a mad rush of arriving Federation starships, 
tactical meetings, and final preparations for departure.  Finally the 
fleet of  one hundred and fifty-seven vessels, all classes and all types 
was ready to depart.  Only the new, and as of yet, secret Federation ship 
was not in formation.

***
"Mr. Thale, prepare to engage thrusters."
"All systems on standby, navigational computer is ready for launch."
"Very well, unlatch docking clamps."
"Docking clamps unlatched, umbilical now separated."
"Thrusters aft, 1% power."
"Thrusters, Aye."
The ship slid slowly away from its docking position, its thrusters and 
anti-grav fields moving it through the open air of the great under-sea 
facility.  Most of the crew was looking forward to getting started, they 
had not been trained to wait, and finally, the waiting was over.
"Sir, we have now cleared the docking bay, now orienting for egress."
"Very well, as soon as our plain of egress has been achieved, set 
thrusters to 100% forward."
"Aye, thrusters will be at 100% forward in thirty seconds, we will depart 
this facility in fourty-six seconds under current course."
The ship continued to turn, its huge size was, quite simply, staggering 
to the Klingon on-lookers, who were getting their first good look at the 
mighty new Federation vessel.  As Kern had three days earlier, all of 
them stared, almost surprised that the Federation was still capable of 
building true warships.

"Egress in ten seconds," announced Thale.
"Ops, bring all structural support fields on line," said McGinnis.
"Fields on line, said Janet Anders from her station.
"We have cleared dock," came Thale's announcement.
"Very well, notify the Klingon Commander that we're on our way, 
navigational deflectors on full, one quarter impulse power."
"Nav shields up, setting departure course at 113 mark 16, quarter impulse."

The mighty ship rose, sweeping out of the waters, with an enormous blast 
of steam and shot skyward on the near-invisible emissions of her mighty 
impulse drive.  At this point, there was no reason to be cloaked, since 
everyone would be getting a look at the ship over the next few weeks 
anyhow.  Speed was far more important on this part of the mission than 
stealth, and McGinnis was not planning to waste power on unnecessary 
diversions until the time came.  Then, his eye, like everyone else's was 
caught by the picture framed by the forward-looking main viewer.

The armada had everything imaginable, from destroyers to 
dreadnought-class ships, and more Klingon battle cruisers than any of 
them had ever seen.  The Klingons also had some new super-heavy ships, 
clearly heavier than the Mycenae-class defender, but not equal to 
Ticonderoga.  Birds of prey, and other small Klingon ships flitted about 
the larger ships, all quite beyond easy counting for the unassisted 
observer. 

"Wow," was Walter Schultz's only comment as he transferred the image on 
his monitor on to the main viewer.  "Sir, this is the fleet, I've *never* 
seen that many ships in one place at one time."
"Yeah, that's what I call a fleet ..." replied Robert MacLeod as he gaped 
at the view from his position, leaning on the back of McGinnis' command 
chair.
"I think that this is the biggest concentration of military hardware ever 
seen, and I'm really quite sure that this mission isn't going to be 
boring," Thale contributed.
"Yes, its big, so let's get up there before they all get bored and start 
firing on *us*!," said McGinnis with a smile.
"Agreed, sir ... accelerating to one-half impulse power."
"Lieutenant, as soon as we're clear of the atmosphere, bring us to full 
impulse, set course for the front of the fleet."
"Aye Sir."
"Commander Anders, get me the dcommander of Klingon forces."
"Aye Sir, Kalis coming up the main screen."
The viewscreen flashed to the image of a surprisingly old Klingon, his 
skin looked so leathery that McGinnis thought that it must've been tanned 
at some point. 
"Lord Commander Kalis, I am Admiral William McGinnis, and this is the 
Federation Starship Ticonderoga.  We are operational, and ready to leave 
the system."
"Admiral, it is good to speak with you, your vessel is quite impressive.  
All Federation ships are here, according to Admiral De L'hotel, and so we 
are leaving the system immediately, course 257 mark 129.  Our speed will 
be warp eight."
"Understood, I'll stay with the fleet until we reach the border, then 
I'll go into silent running, and scout around as best I can."
"Very well, Admiral, Let us leave, and may our mission be completed by 
victory."
"Sir, there is honor in our cause, and necessity as our companion, I 
expect nothing less than victory, ... Ticonderoga out."
The screen darkened, returning to its view of the fleet, which now lay 
spread out behind Ticonderoga and the Klingon battlecruiser that served 
as their command ship.  Then space flared white for a moment, as all of 
the ships in the fleet accelerated into war space.



*********************************


SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part II:  Chapter VI.
By:
Matthew Weed

Command Log: Stardate 56318.2: Admiral William McGinnis, Commanding USS 
Ticonderoga,  reporting.

It has been nearly two weeks since we left the Klingon home system.  The 
journey has been uneventful, all ships in the fleet are functioning 
perfectly, and we have been taking advantage of this transit time to 
continue fleet training, and setting up the command chain.  This ship 
continues to function perfectly, and we are now crossing the edge of 
explored territory, moving toward Borg space.  We will soon go to silent 
running, and will be out of touch with the main fleet except in 
emergency, or at our pre-determined contact times.

Morale remains high, largely due to an extremely heavy training schedule, 
both of which I expect will be important in the next days as our activity 
level drops sharply.  I am now turning to the last open-air duties that I 
can perform for the time being.

"Commander, a channel to Starfleet Command, please."
"Channel open, sir" replied Anders.  "Admiral Jellico is responding."
"Admiral, I am making my last report before engaging silent running, do 
you have any news or last orders that I should know about?"
"William, yes I do.  The Romulans have been attacked by a single Borg 
cube, demanding that they take them to sector 001.  We assume that the 
Borg are only partially aware of the political situation in Alpha 
quadrant.  All planetary defense forces are on full alert in the 
Federation, and I have been asked to take command of all Star Fleet 
Operations.  I want you to continue your mission, The Romulans were able 
to defeat the Borg, and Gouron has taken advantage of the situation.  
Klingon forces attacked them with about everything left in their Home 
fleet.  The Romulans took extremely heavy losses, so I suspect that the 
Klingons will be able to defeat them, and repay them for the help to 
house Durass, which has been almost completely silent during this whole 
business.  We're worried about that, so you should probably keep an eye 
on anyone that you or Kalis doesn't trust."
"There are a few commanders, but most of them are loyal to the mission, 
if not the government.  I'll tell Kalis, but I'm leaving the fleet within 
the hour."
"Yes, that's right, I had forgotten.  In any case, Federation space is 
secure, although the Farengi are trying to cross our space to supply 
materiel to both sides.  All scientific missions have been called off, 
and a combined Starfleet-planetary forces fleet is in the triangle, 
should anything spill over."
"If you need resources, now's the time to tell us."
"No, don't worry, I'll expect to hear good news from you in a few months."
"I intend to deliver, until then, I'm glad I've got my job, and not yours."
"Hell, I'm glad you've got your job and not mine, I'd take your job in a 
second, risk and all."
"Well, when I get back you can have it if you want, but for now, I'm 
planning to keep it for awhile."
"Good plan, and I'll hear from you as you get the chance."
"Agreed, Ticonderoga out."
The viewer changed, almost immediately, to the image of Kalis.
"Admiral, I know that you are about to leave us, I wish you honor and 
success."
"Thank you Kalis, I have news from Star Fleet.  They say that the 
Romulans have been attacked by the Borg, and that they took heavy 
losses.  Gouron has taken advantage of the situation, and has attacked 
the remainder of Romulan forces.  House Durass is surprisingly quiet on 
the issue, and Star Fleet is concerned that they're planning something.  
Admiral Jellico, who is now Chief of Fleet Operations, suggested that it 
would be prudent to keep an eye on any commanders that you think may be 
disloyal."
"Thank you for the news, we are already out of range of our home 
transmitters.  I suspect that the few commanders that I do not trust are 
as unaware as I was.  We will be following our current course, unless a 
change becomes necessary.  I expect, from what we know of them, that we 
will arrive in Borg Territory within a week at our current velocity."
"We will be travelling a similar course, but will be at something near 
warp 9.5, so I expect to get to their space much more quickly.  I am 
going to see if there are any notable civilizations along the way, and 
should we run across any, I may see if I can enlist their help.  
Otherwise, I will notify you of any systems that should be avoided due to 
limited-technology inhabitants, or Borg outposts.  We have opened some 
windows in the phase-cloak, so you can contact us on the low-frequency 
subspace band, but only on the data-transmission frequencies.  We can't 
clear the high-frequency interference from the phase-cloak, except for 
our scanner frequencies."
"Understood, at least we can contact you, should battle come to us before 
you find honor in this war."
"Very well, is there anything else I should know?"
"No, except that all Klingons hope that your assistance will result in 
the end of the Borg threat."
"I hope that we can do that, and not only for the Klingon Empire."
"yes, your Federation will benefit as well."
"Good luck, I'll contact you within the week," said McGinnis.
"May you also have good fortune, I shall await your news," replied the 
Klingon commander.

With this, the transmission ended, and Ticonderoga's viewer returned to 
the view of the space in front of the ship.

"Commander Schultz, are we ready to engage phase-cloak?"
"Aye Sir, phase-cloak shows ready."
"Very well, engage cloaking device."

The bridge shimmered around them for a moment, and then everything 
returned to normal.

"Phase-cloak engaged, it is functioning perfectly," announced Schultz 
with his characteristic ferile smile.
"Lieutenant Thale, set course 41 mark 8, velocity warp 9.45, and engage 
when ready."
"Turning to course 41 mark 8, and accelerating. ... Velocity is now warp 
9.4, and course is 41 mark 8."
"Very well, we have some time, people, I suggest that you get some 
relief, and rest for a while  before we start passing those systems on 
the long-range scan," said McGinnis referring to the strategic view that 
was running in a corner of the main viewer.  "We'll have to be at our 
peak then, and we'll be in scanning range of those systems in a couple of 
hours.  Until then, Mr. Data, you have the bridge,"  McGinnis said as he 
rose from the command chair.                  




SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part II: Chapter VII: 
By:
Matthew Weed



Command Log: STardate 56324.6: Admiral William McGinnis reporting:

We have been away from the main fleet for nearly two days,and despite 
some interesting star mapping, there have been no signs of spacefaring 
civilizations, and no signs of the Borg.  The first I take as 
interesting, the second ... only time can tell.

Our best calculations indicate that we are now in territory which has 
been considered "owned", by the Borg for some time.  Our systems are all 
functioning perfectly, and all we can do is continue to explore the edges 
of their territory until something comes up.

"Helm, change course, to 063 mark 16, continue warp 9." Said McGinnis.
"Our course is now 063 mark 16, our speed continues at warp 9," replied 
Thale.
"Ops, anything on sensors or communications?"
"Sir, we will pass a class G star in four minutes, our best knowledge 
says that this is just outside Borg territory.  Long-range scanners 
suggest a system of planets surrounding the star, with two in its golden 
zone.  Planet 5 seems to have high-energy radio signals coming from it, 
but no sub-space waves reported."
"Well, let's have a quick look, this system may be one that requires 
watching in case the Borg decide to show interest in these beings.  
Theirs is the first technology that we've seen since we left Klingon 
space. ... Helm, change course to intercept the orgbit of the fifth 
planet, decellerate to maximum impulse in two minutes, and bring us into 
a stellar orbit that will hold us 1 million kilometers from the planet, 
its rotation will allow us a scan.  I don't want to orbit, as I want to 
leave quickly should any news come in from the fleet."
"Aye Sir, changing course, 314 mark 356.  Our velocity is warp 9, with 
decelleration in 1 minute 45 seconds."
"Excellent, ... Ops, begin scans of the system, get what information you 
can despite phase-cloak interference."
"Sir, scanning is already in progress.  We can't get much concerning life 
forms, but it would appear, from planetary albedo, light variation and 
other data, that there is a civilization on the fifth planet.  Its 
technology is approximately equivalent to Earth at approximately the year 
2030.  there appear to be some small space stations, but nothing of major 
importance."
"Importance to us, maybe, but to them ... its the beginnings of exploring 
their system, their neighborhood, and, given enough time, their galaxy.  
I hope that we can give them that opportunity."

Nods of agreement were the crew's only response.  They all turned to, 
working to bring the ship into a distant position from which it could 
observe activity on, and near, the planet.

"Sir, we are now in a far observatory orbit, we can only intercept 
limited comunications from the planet, and as it has no moon, long-range 
signals are few in number.  They are transmitting the typical long-range 
pre-contact signals characteristic of most civilizations at their level 
of development," said T'mayek from Science.
"Thank you Lt.Cmdr, continue to analyze the information as it comes in.
"Sir! I have powerful sub-space distortions, characteristic of Borg 
scouting cubes," snapped Walter Schultz from his station.
"Tactical, red alert, bring all defensive systems on-line, ... 
engineering, transfer power control to weapons-control computers, 
standard defense protocol.  All departments, suit your crewmembers up, 
and prepare for emergency defense protocol."

"We are now at standard defense protocol, situation, red alert.  All 
departments report that they will be at the specified levels of 
preparedness within the minute," said Schultz.  A brief pause ensued, 
then: "The Board now shows green," Schultz continued.
"Good, since this is a scout, we certainly can take advantage of them.  
Their total ability is likely about equal to that of this ship, so we'll 
have to be smart about this, but if we can knock their ship out before 
they can get warning back to the collective, we may be able to get the 
first battle on *our* terms.  Ops, the second we come out of cloak, 
blanket the area with a full-power jamming transmission.  ... Helm, set 
course for close-in orbit of the planet, I want to know the second that 
they beam their landing parties down to the planet.  Tactical, ready main 
ring to fire on their transmitter arrays, I want plasma torpedoes 
immediately after that strike, to knock out any secondary transmitters.  
We'll not get a second chance to do this, so make every shot count.  If 
you think that the rapid-fire weapons can do something, use them too, but 
make sure that you've got enough power on line to handle the draw."
"Sir, everything's set here, and we're in luck, because the technology is 
so limited, it looks like this ship is the true scouting borg ship, like 
the one that Picard met in the firwst "Hugh", contact.  This means that 
its dropped its shielding to assimilate the technology, especially since 
they seem to view the planet's weapons capabilities as "irrelevant".  Of 
course, so would I...." reported Schultz.
"Understood, that should mean that we can get them before they're aware 
of our presence. ... However, in case we're not successful, stand by all 
transverters, we'll give them another surprise. ... Tactical, 
engineering, get together, strip a few photon torpedoes down , so that we 
can beam them into the Borg ship."
"Aye Sir," replied Schultz from his station, and MacLeod from main 
engineering.

McGinnis seethed.  There was nothing that could be done to stop the 
carnage that was occurring on the main viewscreen.  The borg ship had 
begun cutting the space stations apart, and after a little pittiful laser 
fire, and a few nuclear missile launches, (all of which were quite 
effectively stopped by Borg weapons fire),  the planet seemed to be going 
down without a fight.  Of Course, they had had no idea that beings 
existed outside their system, and even if they had, they couldn't have 
imagined the Borg, not even in their worst nightmares.  All that the crew 
could do was hurry its preparations, and hope that they could finish them 
in time to save something of the civilization on the planet.

"All preparations ready sir," reported MacLeod from engineering.  "We 
have fourteen photon warheads ready for transversion as soon as your 
orders come through."
"Good, get ready for action down there." ... "All decks, we're going in."
The ship moved, still phase-cloaked toward the small Borg scout, whose 
2.5 million tons was about a sixth Ticonderoga's mass.  The great star 
ship moved quickly and quietly toward its unsuspecting prey.  

"Tactical, bring weapons computers on line, you may decloak and fire when 
ready."

With this order, the ship's systems were all switched to command and 
tactical consoles only.  The rest of the crew became highly-interested 
bystanders in this battle where surprise and firepower were their only 
advantages.  The Borg collective was as surprised as any unemotional 
system could get, as a huge white vessel of a design only somewhat 
similar to designs reported to the Collective appeared before their 
ship.  They didn't have time to make note of the fact that they hadn't 
been offered the chance to surrender or desist, a step characteristic of 
the vessels of the mid-sized organic power calling itself the United  
Federation of Planets.

What did happen, was a terrific blast of phased energy, followed, almost 
immediately, by twenty high-powered explosives of a type not recorded 
previously, which  ripped into the already weakend super-structure.  In 
short, the cube was blasted into four large chunks.  Each had some power 
left,  but these sections were quickly dealt with by the smaller phased 
energy weapons surrounding the forward section of the ship before they 
could attempt to recombine. ... No transmissions reached the collective 
about this loss.  Its conclusions would have to be drawn later.

Meanwhile, Ticonderoga now stood, victorious in its first battle against 
the Borg.  It orbitted the world, and McGinnis was now trying to decide 
whether going down to kill the few Borg soldiers on the ground would be 
considered a violation of the prime directive.  ... <As if sitting in 
close orbit, out of cloak, after having used newrly two gigatons of 
explosive to destroy an attacking ship, wasn't violation enough.>  This 
stark fact, alone, determined his strategy.

"McGinnis to Lieutenant Thompson.  Take all the security people that you 
need, and the ground attack shuttles, and kill any borg that you see.  If 
you need fire support, contact tactical."
"Aye Sir, we'll launch in fifteen minutes," replied the young lieutenant 
from her station in engineering.
"Thank you, move as quickly as you can, I suspect that any borg that are 
down there will be seriously impared by the loss of their collective 
consciousness, but they may still be able to do some damage."
"I know, we'll stop them cold."
"Good, lieutenant, that's what I want to hear," replied McGinnis.
"Ops, get me a channel to Kalis," snapped McGinnis, turning his attention 
to Janet Anders' station.
"Breaking subspace silence, it'll take a bit before I can get them," she 
said.
"Take your time, I suspect that it'll take a bit before the Borg get too 
interested in the system, it was a small ship, so they probably won't be 
in too much of a hurry to find out what happened, especially if Kalis has 
been keeping them as busy as I suspect."
*.*.*
Several minutes passed, and then the four small attack craft departed 
Ticonderoga's landing bay, set in the aft section of the engineering 
hull.  At almost the same moment, Cmdr Anders turned from her station.
"Sir, I have Kalis, voice only."
"Put it through," replied McGinnis as his attention shifted from the 
image of the four small ships to the other matter at hand.  "Cmdr 
Schultz, keep tactical control over the attack force, you have clearance 
to fire the rapid-fire weapons should that become necessary, speak with 
me if you need any more firepower."

With this, McGinnis waved to Anders to open the channel.
"Admiral, the fact that you are in contact would suggest that you have 
had battle with The Borg.  I hope that your battle went well."
"Thank you Kalis, it was utterly successful, and to the best of our 
knowledge, the Borg vessel that we destroyed didn't get a communication 
concerning this vessel off to their command point.  The ship was small, 
we had surprise on our side, and they never really had a chance.  The 
residual Borg resistance is being dealt with as we speak, and I believe 
that the planet which we are orbiting is now, again, free of Borg 
influence.  However, as we discussed, they will doubtless become more 
interested in this planet, now that a collection mission has been 
destroyed.  Can you send support?"
"Yes, I can send you help, but I can not come personally, as we, too, 
have had contact, and I believe that it is best to make them fight a 
two-front battle for now."
"You have seen action, what happened?"
"We encountered a large cube only hours after you left the fleet.  It was 
moving toward Klingon home space, and after your news concerning the 
situation there, it was obvious that  battle was necessary.  We struck 
from cloak, with the Federation ships decloaking to assist.  The ship was 
surprised, and suffered critical damage in our first volley.  However, 
they did get a message off to the center of their space, the content of 
which is unknown.  We managed to destroy more than they could create, and 
to keep the field down.  Ultimately, after many Klingon and Federation 
crews died in honor, we were able to completely dismantle the cube.  All 
live Borg were destroyed, and their technology is being taken back to 
allied space for study.  I have only ninety-six ships, as thirty-five 
were destroyed, and ten more are taking the pieces of the Borg vessel to 
The Klingon Capital, where it will be studied by Starfleet and Klingon 
teams."

"Well, your losses were less than ours were at Wolf 359, or at 
Klins'hai.  Any 2tactics of which I should be aware?"
"Yes, we are now using task forces, dependent on one heavy ship.  The 
heavy ship is used to destroy the Borg cube, while the small ships 
interrupt the tractor beam, and disrupt the cutting beams and other 
weapons.  The tactic is expensive, and risky, but losses are justified by 
the victories that we have won.  We have had two other battles, each 
resulted in victory, using no more than two task groups per Borg cube.  
Each time, we lost seven small ships to battle, and in our most recent 
engagement, we also lost the dreadnought  Confederation.  Admiral De 
L'hotel is alive, as he was in dconference with me when battle began."
"I see, I suggest that you send me the remains of the task group with the 
dreadnought Confederation, and another full task  group.  I suggest that 
we plan to meet in three weeks time, with whatever forces we have 
remaining.  In the mean time, I will be setting a trap for the Borg here, 
and hopefully getting their interest.  Anything that you can do to that 
will get their attention, as far from my current position as possible, 
will be appreciated, as I think that their response to the loss here, may 
be somewhat weakened.  I don't think that we can handle more than one 
full-sized cube after what you've told me."
"I think this is a good plan, I will continue to slash at their 
communications where possible.  As I have told you, there have been a few 
messages sent by the cubes that we have defeated, we have a general idea 
of the location of the system toward which these were directed.  I 
suggest this as a meeting point, but it will take nearly four weeks for 
the main fleet to get there, if we start out immediately.  I, therefore, 
want to collect the fleet there at Federation stardate ... 56490.0 with 
your ship scouting the area before hand.  If you haven't had contact with 
the Borg before you have to leave, order your ships to meet the main 
fleet at these coordinates."

McGinnis glanced to Anders, who nodded, telling him that she had received 
the coordinates.
"Very well, I have the coordinates, and will look forward to speaking 
with you Then."
"As you humans say, good luck, Admiral, and may your battles end in 
victory.  Kalis out!"
" Victory to you, Kalis, Ticonderoga out."
McGinnis turned to Schultz, to ask for news aabout the attack craft.  The 
commander anticipated the question, and flashed a schematic of the planet 
up in a corner of the main viewer.
"Sir, only a few Borg soldiers beamed down before our strike, and most of 
them have been neutralized.  As we have seen before, they have great 
trouble dealing with the loss of their connection to the collective.   
Lieutenant Thompson says that she'll be back aboard within the hour," was 
his brief report.
"Well, said McGinnis, good news all round.  As soon as they're back 
aboard, engage cloaking device, I don't want the Borg to catch us with 
our pants down."

Everyone on the  bridge returned back to their duties, while Schultz's 
schematic flashed up markers where the latest Borg soldier had been 
neutralized.  After some time, Schultz turned to McGinnis, to report the 
completion of the mission.

"Sir, Lieutenant Thompson reports success, they're coming in, no losses, 
no damage."
"Good, have her report to me in conference-1 as soon as she's able."
"Sir, I have some disturbing infformation," said T'mayek.
"Report," said McGinnnis, a look of concern on his features.
"Unfortunately, we did not cut the Borg link before they got complete 
information on this planet back to their information nexus.  This means 
that the next Borg cube will know where the "useful" areas of the planet 
are."
"That is unfortunate, but not necessarily surprising.  We won't be able 
to respond immediately, so hopefully the next attack will show how 
efficient Borg information analysis is. ... I will be in conference-1 
awaiting Ms. Thompson.  
Mr. Data, you have the Bridge."
With this, McGinnis rose and walked down the short corridor that led to 
conference-1, where he would hear the reports concerning the level of 
damage done to the planet and those living on it.     


SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part II: Chapter VIII.
By:
Matthew Weed

Command Log: Stardate 56331.6: William McGinnis, Commanding USS 
Ticonderoga reporting:
We have haed an uneventful few days, while we await the reinforcements 
from the main fleet.  However, as we enter the fourth day in orbit, I 
must admit to growing concern.  Federation experience with the Borg 
scouting cubes is limited to a brief encounter that USS Enterprise had 
with one nearly fifteen years ago.  The "Hugh" incident, as it is now 
known, only taught us that the Borg tend to send larger ships to check on 
missing vessels within a few days after their disappearance.  I must, 
therefore, assume that we will meet a larger cube at any time.  With our 
reinforcements still two days away, I must admit to some nervousness.  

Despite this, I have set the crew on two/thirds duty shifts, with extra 
training in the battle gear.  This gives them some added rest, and 
provides some variation in our routine.  We have had no contact with 
those inhabiting the planet below us, and I must hope that their 
civilization will be able to withstand its rather rude entrance into 
galaxy-level politics.  Of course, should the Borg come again, as I 
suspect they will, they may be taken out of galactic politics almost as 
suddenly as they entered it.

The crew's morale seems high, largely due to our victory and due to the 
active training routine.  I expect that we will maintain our routine 
until the fleet arrives.  After that, I would like to patroll the 
surrounding systems, looking for previous activity, either on the part of 
the Borg, or non-borg civilizations.  

McGinnis turned the recorder off, having dispatched his duty to Command.  
He had to wonder, sometimes, why they asked captains to record the 
damnable things.  Especially on missions like this, when the actions that 
the commanding officer would be held responsible for would not occur over 
periods of time lengthy enough to record logs.  The bridge events 
recorder would be a much more appropriate way of reconstructing ships' 
activities, and the decisions which these activities depended on.

His musings were interrupted by the voice of Robert MacLeod.
"MacLeod to McGinnis."
"McGinnis here," he replied to the air.
"I have a message from Kalis, he reports that a messenger ship has come 
from Klingon space, reporting that the Romulan Empire has asked for 
Federation protection against the Klingons.  He says that Gouron has 
promised to cease his attacks, if the Romulans will allow inspections of 
their border bases, in order to ensure that house durass doesn't receive 
covert Romulan assistance.  He also wants the Romulans to guarantee their 
assistance against the Borg, under a unified Federation/Klingon central 
command.  There are no further details."
"Thanks Robert, it looks like its rather busy back homeward, I hope that 
Kalis doesn't feel the need to get back to home space, things here are 
going too well."
"No, he says that he is continuing with the agreed plan,  but that 
because some of his commanders are loyal to house Durass, he asks us not 
to discuss this with anyone at the regrouping."
"Understood, tell him that I will say nothing, and that from now on, this 
ship will be operating under silent running conditions, due to the risk 
of Borg attack. I will speak with him on Star date 56490, as promised."
"Understood, Ensign Smith will send that out immediately," on my return 
to the Bridge."
"I don't understand, why aren't you there?"
"Kalis marked the transmission command-staff only, so I'm notifying 
people directly, as Cmdrs Schultz and Anders are on holo-2 working on a 
new tactical simulation.
"Right," said McGinnis.

Had any other officer, even data,  done this McGinnis would have been 
extremely unhappy.  However, hhis long-standing friendship with Robert 
MacLeod, whose judgment he trusted implicityly, meant that he trusted the 
chief engineer to do the job appropriately, even if it were in an 
unorthodox manner.  He decided to go down to holo-2, to see what Schultz 
and Anders were cooking up.

He arrived outside the holodeck, and after seeing that the simulation was 
not in progress, he passed on toward rec-5.  This room, in effect the 
ship's gymnasium, was a popular place, nearly all of the time.  While he 
got some excercise clothing on, he could hear the unmistakable sound of 
physical activity through the light bulkheads.

After his daily three kilometer speed walk, McGinnis moved to the 
swimming pool, located in the center of the track's oval.
The only other swimmer was Kyla Moran, a long-standing friend whom he had 
known since he was an ensign, and she a young child. She was also the 
tallest woman that McGinnis had ever seen.
Her family had chosen not to have surgery performed, once it was realized 
that she would be unusually tall due to hormonal imbalances.  McGinnis 
knew that she had joined Star Fleet to get away from her family, to avoid 
Terran architecture which she found terribly hard to deal with as it 
wasn't made for people of her height, and to follow in his footsteps.  He 
knew that she had respected him since she had been a child.  Her time in 
the fleet had been important to her, allowing her to realize that people 
could work side-by-side, without prejudice, despite any physical or 
cultural differences that they might have.    

Before he could begin his own excercise, she had come to a stop in front 
of him.  
"Yes, Ensign?
"Sir, I'm sorry to bring this to you now, but you had mentioned the 
possibility of getting some off-shift bridge duty?"
"Yes, I had, and to be honest I'd forgotten with the current activity.  
I'll check with Commander Schultz; if he says that he thinks you are 
ready, you will receive tactical during third shift, I'll tell you 
personally if it clears. "
"Thank you sir," she said with a smile.
"You deserve the chance, Kyla, you have done good work in weapons control."

A radiant smile was her acknowledgement of this statement. After this,  
she then walked to the other side of the pool, where she climbed out on 
her way to change into duty uniform.  With the end of the conversation, 
McGinnis returned to his workout routine, and then went to find some 
dinner and go to bed.

No sooner had his head hit the pillow, then he was awakened by the red 
alert klaxons and MacLeod's voice calling all crew to battlestations.

***
"Status," McGinnis snapped as he charged onto the Bridge.
"Heavy sub-space distortions, suggesting an incomming Borg ship.  We are 
at full battlestations, Weapons Control Center is manned by Lieutenant 
Thompson and Ensign Moran.  All weapons are on standby, and shields are 
up.  The phase-cloak is functioning normally, and all other sub-systems 
are optimal," said Data.
"Very well, continue close-range scanning, and wait."

They didn't have to wait long, as a full-sized Borg cube appeared only 
eighty thousand kilometers off their port bow.  Immediately after 
appearing, it began to scan the planet very closely, obviously looking 
for indications of technology capable of destroying a scouting cube.  Of 
course, the planet didn't have the technology, and the collective was 
forced to assume that an accident or other non-controllable event had 
occurred.  As far as McGinnis was concerned, this was just fine.  It 
would give him more time to plan his second surprise attack in a 
week.             


SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part II: Chapter IX
By:
Matthew Weed

Command Log, Stardate 56332.4: William McGinnis, Comminding USS 
Ticonderoga: Reporting.

The presence of the Borg vessel now in orbit near us is no surprise, 
however, I had hoped that they would wait a couple more days before 
arriving.  At this point I have decided to consider the planet a lost 
cause, barring a miraculous turn of events.  Although we will strike 
against the Borg soon, I can not say that I believe that we have a good 
chance of defeating this collective.  However, our chances are better 
than those of any other single starship in history, and this will have to 
be enough.  It is unfortunate that their destruction of the planet has 
been made easier by the information that the first scouting cube was able 
to send back before we could deal with it.  Now, all that we can do is 
watch them destroy this planet, while we finish our preparations. 

"Tactical, those photon warheads, get them set for transversion, all 
other weapons under computer control, the computer may fire when ready."
"Understood, photon warheads won't be ready for a few minutes, main ring 
entering charging cycle, rapid-fire weapons coming on line, plasma 
torpedoes standing by, and power systems are at 100 percent."
"Very well, watch the main reactor, Commander MacLeod says that section C 
is operating a little close to tollerances."
"Yes Sir, he told me about that yesterday, I have my eye on it."

Minutes dragged by while more and more of the lights on the planet's 
surface went dark.  Finally the preparations were all completed, and the 
ship could attempt to knock out its target.
"Sir, The Borg subspace field is up, so its going to be hard to get to 
them.  The computer suggests transverting the torpedoes in first, to 
disrupt their power systems and then hitting them with the plasma and 
phasers."
"You may begin when ready."
"Decloaking, shields at full power, beginning transversion."

The ship's transverters, basically a combination of the standard 
transporter and the subspace inverter developed by the Rutians sent 
fifteen standard photon warheads through the Borg subspace field, 
reintegrating them in a preset pattern throughout the Borg ship's 
matrix.  Their explosions ripped a huge hole in the face of the cube now 
directed toward Ticonderoga, and also knocked out primary and secondary 
subspace transmission nodes throughout the ship.  This was intentional, 
as Commander Schultz had theorized that the Borg communications net could 
be crashed by using explosions with a high subspace discharge.  
Unfortunately, the collective was able to get some information to the 
rest of the Borg before long-range communications fell.

Almost immediately after the photon explosions, Ticonderoga's forward 
contained-plasma torpedoes made their contributions.  These weapons, 
which were basically the Romulan plasma bolt, with a containing magnetic 
field, exploded on contact with the Borg subspace field, which was just 
beginning to reform after the first stage of the attack.  Their power 
knocked it out, causing Schultz to pump his fist in the air.  At the same 
instant, the main ring discharged, its white flare brighter than the 
hottest supernova.  The bolt crashed through the upper-left corner of the 
cube, knocking it off and into the planet's atmosphere where it was 
consumed by the friction of atmospheric entry.

At the same instant, fifty of the ship's rapid-fire weapons struck, 
blasting huge chunks out of the inner super-structure.  The main ring had 
already recharged, and blasted away another corner of the Borg ship.  
However, two corners were left, and a green beam now flared from one of them.

***
McGinnis watched the bolt slam into the outer shields.  The bridge rocked 
violently, and injury reports flowed in from sick bay.He also noticed 
that the subspace field was beginning to reform....
"Schultz, you'd better get that damned emitter, the field's coming back up!"
"I know, retargetting..."

Ticonderoga returned fire, its main ring now firing a blue bolt, at a 
much higher frequency than before.  Fortunately, the Borg defenses had 
only partially reformed, so some of the beam's force broke through, 
temporarily disabling the emitter.  However, the other remaining corner 
had just become active, grabbing the ship in a tractor beam.

"I'm on it," said Schultz, frantically working over his station.  The 
computers still didn't have an effective counter strategy for this, and 
there was nothing to be done from outside.  Schultz was trying to assist 
the computers, but the intuition for which humans were famous throughout 
the galaxy was no more useful than the massive processor power being 
directed at the problem.  It became clear that a landing party would have 
to go in to destroy the nexus powering the tractor beam.  More 
transvertable warheads couldn't be ready for at least ten minutes.

"Sir, we'll have to send some people over there, we don't have any 
resources that can handle the problem from here."
"Very well, get twenty of your best people, put them under Lieutenant 
Thompson, and get them over there as soon as possible. ... Helm, stand by 
for reverse warp, impulse isn't going to handle that beam. ... Computer, ..."
"working," replied the female voice of Ticonderoga's computer systems.
"Disengage engineering control, send to the helm."
"Engineering controls are now at helm," replied the computer.
"Reverse warp, all available power, but remember we need those shields!"
"Reversing warp, shield power has unconditional priority," replied Thale.

The ship's mighty warp drive slammed into full reverse, and the tractor 
beam was clearly strained, as power was diverted from the reconstruction 
process to holding the Federation vessel.  The Borg, even with nearly 
forty percent of their ship blasted into space, still had more power, and 
were able to hold Ticonderoga fast.

"Damn!" snapped Schultz, "with all of that damage, I thought that  we'd 
be able to get away."
"No luck," replied Thale.

The intercom chimed, and Lieutenant Thompson's voice came through, with 
the characteristic distortion of a throat mike.
"We're ready for transversion sir, carrying plasma canon, phasers, 
particle weapons, and sonics."
Good, lieutenant, remember to be consistent about whatever weapons you're 
using, we don't want them to get a look at everything you've got in your 
first attack."
"Got it sir."
"Stand by,"
"Engineering, engage transverter."

The transverter, unlike standard transporters, required immense amounts 
of energy to send living beings from one place to another.  The machine 
needed the power to maintain the integrity of DNA, something that the old 
Rutian interter could not.  Because of the diversion, the ship began to 
slip against the Borg tractor, something that Schultze responded to by 
preparing to engage main weapons control again.  He'd have to try to get 
through from outside, before the Borg could drain all of the layers of 
shielding.  They had already gotten through primary shields, and were 
beginning to work on the auxiliaries.

"Sir, request permission to return engineering control to weapons 
systems, I need the power to try a multifrequency assault with the 
rapid-fire weapons."
"Permission granted, you may fire when ready."

Schultz snapped several commands to the computer, and then turned to 
McGinnis.
"Sir, I've got to get down to weapons control, I don't have the access 
that I need from here."


Schultz's only response was a jump to the turbolift and a disappearance 
through its opening doors.

About thirty seconds later, Schultz's voice came through the bridge intercom.
"Sir, independent targetting and tracking hardware on line, frequency 
control computers on-line, all weapons will fire varying frequencies, on 
different algorithms. ... Firing now!"

The ship's rapid-fire weapons flared in a rainbow of color, launching a 
devastating broadside of fire toward the tractor station, whose beam was 
still, unfortunately, quite operational, and about to break through the 
auxiliary shields.  This would only leave the secondaries, plus any power 
that could be channeled through the main deflectors (which were under 
repair), between them and assimilation.

***
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Karen Thompson was moving with a team of ten 
heavily-armed security personel toward what must be the equipment that 
powered the tractor station.  So far, they had been lucky, no Borg 
soldiers had seen them.  She knew, with great certainty, that this would 
soon change.

"Keep moving, the ship'll be trying anything to break through soon, so be 
ready for both Borg attacks and possible phaser blasts from outside."
Murmured responses came back from her team.

Then, suddenly, a Borg soldier was before them.
"Fire, ... use phasers first, let the frequencies change with the 
internal control chips!"
The ten fired, all beams hit, and the Borg soldier disappeared.
"Put your shields up, ... and be ready for anything."

Anything came in the form of a large number of approaching Borg 
soldiers.  Quickly the team began firing, and when the phasers stopped 
working, they were ejected, and after a few moments time, they detonated, 
blasting huge chunks out of the local super-structure.

Thompson's communicator chimed.
"Thompson here," she said.
"Good job, lieutenant, we've got a four percent drop in power to the 
tractor, we don't need much more, and we'll be able to get clear."
"Glad to hear it, sir.  We're under increasing attack, and I'm not sure 
whether we can help much more, ... without help from you."
"Do what you can, you're less than twenty meters from the central power 
feed for that area.  Doubtless its redundant, but if you can disrupt it 
for a few moments, I am sure that  we can break free, and destroy the 
tractor generator."
"Understood, we'll get there ... somehow. ... OK, everyone, we're not far 
from where we need to be.  use your particle weapons, set for either 
graviton or quark acceleration."
"Set!" replied the team.

Before they could fire, though, a blast of energy ripped down the 
corridor from a newly opened hole in the ceiling.  Thompson glanced up, 
and saw the other team break down in front of them.

"Lieutenant, we've got our weapons ready, if you fire at the left-side 
wall, range twenty meters, we'll break through to the outside of the 
ship, and we can destroy the tractor station with our sonic grenades," 
said ensign Moran from her end of the corridor.
"Got it, ... fire in three....two...one!"
The particle weapons flared, smashing through the poorly defended inner 
hull, blasting apart a small generator, causing it to explode, which blew 
open a hole in the outer hull, giving them an unadulterated view of deep 
space.  Some of the younger team members stepped back nervously, but 
others quickly dove for the outside, even before Borg reinforcements 
could arrive on the scene.
"Get out here!" yelled Thompson.  "You'll be killed in there if you don't 
get out here, and they aren't generally equipped to handle both repair 
and offense/defense.  We'll be safer out here."
With that, the entire team lept through, and fell into the microgravity 
of open space.  Their suits protected them from the vacuum, and the small 
microfusion cells on their backs produced plenty of power for suit 
heating, as well as half shielding and their grenade launchers.

The launchers were immediately primed and ready to send their explosive 
cargo against the tractor station, which was only fifty meters away from 
them.  Before she could give the order to fire, Thompson's eyes were 
drawn toward Ticonderoga, which sat only a few hundred kilometers away.  
At this distance, the ship looked small, its hull gleaming a sickening 
purple-white in the glow of the Borg tractor beam.

The other thing that caught her attention were the multicolored bolts of 
light that were slamming into the Borg defenses, quite near to her 
location.  These, she knew, were the bolts from the rapid-fire weapons, a 
near miss from which would be enough to kill any of her team members.  
The Borg ship, shrugged them off as if they were nothing, something that 
she suspected these weapons shots were, as far as the Borg were concerned.

She then turned to her teams, and gave the order to fire.  The sonics 
slammed into the Borg tractor nexus, seriously damaging it, and seriously 
weakening the beam.  At this exact moment, Ticonderoga let fly with a 
full-powered blast from the main ring. Risky though the maneuver was, 
with secondary shielding now nearly gone, and only limited main shields 
restored, there wasn't much choice...

From Thompson's perspective, it appeared as if a gigantic white strobe 
had flashed, totally overwhelming the filters in her helmet.  The impact 
of the shot was largely dissipated by the Borg subspace field, but 
because the charge had ridden on a very high frequency wave, the Borg 
weren't fully ready for it, and the tractor station was destroyed.  The 
big ship had no choice but to take advantage of this temporary 
weakness,and it fired every weapon it had at that corner of the slowly 
reforming cube.  The effect, both from McGinnis' and Thompson's  
perspective, was terrific.  With all of the ship's phasers at maximum 
discharge, and the main ring firing again, plus the plasma torpedoes, all 
directed at a very small part of the Borg ship, using a very wide range 
of frequencies, nearly forty percent of the energy got through the 
defense.  The blast ripped the corner off of the Borg cube, and the back 
blast smashed all of Thompson's people far away from their previous 
positions.  Most were killed instantly, by acceleration that overwhelmed 
their suits' inertial stabilizers.  Only Thompson, and Moran survived.

"Scan for survivors, maintain firing rate!" said mcGinnis.
Data took over the job of searching for the members of the team, all of 
whom had been far too close to the point of attack to have any chance of 
surviving.  Data's positronic net would not recognize a miracle, but he 
could conceptualize beating the odds, and it appeared, that at least two 
team members had done so.  Before he could notify McGinnis, Schultz had 
cut in.

"Sir, we have more photon warheads ready, but they'll get used to this if 
we do it too many times."
"I am well aware of that Mr. Schultz, transvert when ready, most optimal 
pattern."
"Aye, transversion in four...three...two...one...Now!"

Again, fifteen warheads appeared throughout what remained of the Borg 
vessel.  These explosions cut the ship in half, and demolished the 
smaller of the two halves.  Schultz began to think of himself, not so 
much as a weapons officer, but more as a diamond cutter.  The larger 
section of the Borg vessel was still functional, but it appeared to have 
very few weapons.  It turned to  get more  maneuvering room, but a 
well-placed antimatter spread stopped this tactic.

Now McGinnis had only thirty percent of the original cube to deal with, 
and this meant that his ship would only need to destroy a bit more, and 
the rest of the ship would have to shut down.  Fortunately for him, this 
job was made easy, by the need of the Borg to make repairs on what 
remained of their great vessel.  McGinnis' tactics were now straightforward.

"Tactical, I suggest to the computer that it fire a concentrated graviton 
bolt  at the center of the Borg ship.  drain them from the forced quantum 
core."
"Computer's thinking on it, ... it says that we should have a sixty 
percent chance of success.  Negative is that we'll be without quantum 
power for two hours."
"Do it!"
"Draining now, it'll be twenty seconds."
"Very well, maintain firing rate on rapid-fire weapons to keep them busy."
"Maintaining firing rate, ten seconds! ... 
Five,...four...three...two...one...now!"
The main ring spat forth a bolt of heavy particles, which began 
collapsing in on themselves the moment they left the great 
electromagnetic super-accelerator.  By the time the bolt could hit the 
Borg ship, it had become a super-concentrated massive object, which drew 
a chunk of the Borg ship into itself as it crashed through the space that 
it occupied.  It passed out the other side, its hole looking something 
like the wound from a rifle blast, small on one side, larger on the 
other.  This, in itself would not have been enough,but the gravimetric 
forces that had held the bolt together, also could blow it apart.  They 
did so, resulting in a gigantic explosion, which drew on all of the 
energies stored in the atoms that the temporary micro black hole had 
dragged with it.  The force of the blast was reflected against the 
remains of the Borg ship by the dying subspace field, effectively 
destroying what remained of the huge cube.  With this, Ticonderoga 
collected its second victory in a week, but one that had not come without 
tremendous cost.

"Sir, I have been tracking our team members' life signs, and we only have 
one confirmed and one possible survivor, from the original twenty crew.  
They are currently moving toward the atmosphere, they were sent in that 
direction by the effects of our activity;"  Said T'Mayek from her 
station.  Like Data, she had been tracking the two, and her direct access 
to scanners gave her the ability to follow the progress of the two life 
signs with greater ease than Data, who was rather occupied with keeping 
track of the battle and the ship's internal monitors at his station.


"Are we in transporter range?"
"No, Sir, and their progress will put them in the upper atmosphere before 
we can achieve transporter lock."
"How about tractors?"
"We are also outside tractor range, but tractor lock would be possible 
even after atmospheric entry."
"Very well, maximum impulse toward the planet, stand by on tractor 
stations one and four.
"Coming in, range 45,000 kilometers, 30,000 kilometers, 15,000 
kilometers, we have achieved tractor range, ..." said Thale . 
T'mayek's report came quickly thereafter. "They are now in the upper 
stratosphere, I have limited telemetry, but it would appear that 
lieutenant Thompson's suit's inertial dampening systems are   marginally 
functional given best possible circumstances.  Ensign Moran is the other 
survivor, her suit is still functioning within nominal perameters."
"Very well, ... Computer, tractor control to science station."
"All ship's tractor systems are now at Science," announced the computer.
"Lt.Cmdr, Do whatever appears best in your opinion."
"I now have Ensign Moran, she will be transportable in thirty-seven 
seconds."  
Quietly, Data notified the transporter room to expect coordinates, he 
also ordered medical personel to Transporter-1.  
"I am slowing Lieutenant Thompson's fall, if anything disrupts our 
tractor, she will be difficult to retrieve.  ... I have a lock, but the 
thermal radiation from her entry is growing disruptive."
"Is there anything that would help you?"
"Unfortunately, there is little that we can do with other systems.  The 
Lieutenant's fall is too rapid to allow the ship to move in and try a 
direct-line capture, which would require us to use the ship's inertial 
decelleration to slow her descent sufficiently to allow transport.  I 
believe that the lock will hold, but the operation will be difficult."
Silence reigned, while the slender vulcan woman manipulated the tractor 
beam, and the fragile life that it held.  Data stood behind her, 
watdching to see if he could provide assistance.  He had learned that 
many life forms, even vulcans on occasion, preferred to be left alone in 
tense situations as long as they weren't making critical errors.  In any 
case, he could see little else that could be done.

The com sounded on the Bridge, causing McGinnis and the rest of the crew 
to sap around.
"Transporter-1 to Bridge, we have Ensign Moran, but we need you to shut 
down her shield."
"On it," said Schultz from his station.
Accessing the telemetry was easy, and within seconds the personel in the 
transporter room confirmed that the shield had dropped.  McGinnis turned 
to Data, and signalled him to come to the command chair.

"Yes, Sir?"
"I am going down to see what the Ensign's condition is, and to get a 
report  if possible.  You have the Bridge, and total disgression to act 
as you see fit until my return."
"Understood, sir."

McGinnis hastened off the Bridge, and took the turbo-lift to deck 4, 
where the main transporter/transverter facilities were.  He entered 
transport-1 at a run, and saw the tall ensign lying on the deck, with 
medics around her.  She was conscious, and it appeared that she was none 
the worse for wear from her very long fall.
"Ensign, how are you?"
"OK sir, but I don't ever want to go through that again.  Watching a 
full-power phaser blast strike less than two hundred meters from you is 
something to remember," she said a slight shake in her voice.  "How are 
the rest of the members of the team?"
"Unfortunately, it appears that they were killed by the backblast of the 
phaser impact.  Their inertial dampeners failed to compensate for the 
acceleration that they experienced.  Lieutenant Thompson is barely alive, 
but we're having trouble intercepting her, she's still in free fall.  
Data suggests that the combination of heat and acceleration may have been 
too much for the power distribution system.  In any case, Lieutenant 
Thompson's telemetry seems to support Mr. Data's theory, until we have 
more information."
"But, I was as close, or closer than the rest, why am I alive?"
"I don't know, maybe Commander MacLeod will be able to tell us, when 
they've run a diagnostic on your suit.  It does look a bit singed, 
though, that may suggest that your computer overrode its power 
distribution programming, because the stress tolerances were being 
challenged too severely.  He'll have a better idea ... I'm sure.  For the 
moment, go with Dr. Patterson, I'll come by sick bay later to ..."
The ship's violent stagger, not fully intercepted by the inertial dampers 
cut him off.

"Bridge, what the hell's going on up there?!"
"Sir, we have lost tractor lock, Science Officer T'Mayek says that we can 
reestablish if we close range to less than 100 kilometers, so I have 
ordered an emergency atmospheric entry course.  All temperature control 
systems are available, and I felt that it was best to attempt a rescue," 
replied Data's voice.
"Very well, take the helm yourself Mr. Data, your reflexes may be 
necessary, since we're not entering on a standard descent plane. ... 
Lieutenant Thale, get  to the shuttle deck, and take the run-about fto 
assist should the main ship not be able to reestablish tractor lock."
"yes, Sir."

Moments later, the ship's single run-about streaked away, climbing up 
from the shuttle bay.

"Thale, here I am now descending, range 50,000 meters and closing.  I 
will be in position in twom minutes."
"Understood, bridge out," replied Data.

By this point, McGinnis had returned to the Bridge, and was ready to 
retake the center seat.
"Report, Mr. Data."
"We are descending at three kilometers per second, and are two hundred 
and fourty-three kilometers above the surface.  Ms. Thomspon has achieved 
terminal velocity, just under 400 kilometers per hour.  She is twenty 
kilometers above the surface, and we will be able to reestablish tractor 
lock in approximately fourty-five seconds."
"We will be able to stop her decent then?"
"Yes, Admiral," replied T'Mayek, "however, we will have to bring her 
velocity down and simply land her on the surface, as we will be at great 
risk of crashing into the planet without an immediate course change."
"Right..."

The ship continued to streak down, the shields, which were barely up to 
the task, blasting all atmospheric particles out of the way.  The trail 
that the ship's passage made was so brilliant that it lit the darkened 
skies of the planet well enough to allow survivors, had there been any, 
to see as well as they did at high noon.  A second, smaller trail 
intersected the larger one, this being Thale's run-about.

"I am in position, I think that I can grab her from here, but you'll have 
to cut the main tractor beam," he said. 

"You don't have the power to do it!" said Schultz from his station.
"I think I can get her if I divert all of the power to the tractor."
"Very well, make the attempt,but I don't dare shut the main stations 
down.  We'll divert the beam, but if you fail, we will have to make the 
attempt." Came McGinnis' decision.
"Locking on, ... I have a partial lock, but my own systems are too 
strained, I hope that you can get her," came Thale's frustrated voice 
through the comt-line.McGinnis understood his frustration, he and the 
lieutenant were to have been married at the end of the mission.
"Don't worry, lieutenan, she's not going to miss your wedding."
"Thank you, sir."
"Helm, range to minimum safe altitude?"
"We are twenty-three seconds from minimum safe altitude, with four 
seconds of descent after that poin, before we will be certain of planet 
fall," said Data.
McGinnis turned to T'Mayek, "Its your show, Commander, you've got twenty 
seconds before I call this off.  Good luck."
Seconds passed while the Vulcan turned to her station, stabbed its 
controls, with increasing speed, and finally said:
"Tractor lock established, ... Lieutenant Thale, she will be set down at 
the coordinates coming on your screen now."
"Got them, and Thank you Commander."
T'Mayek, simply let the remark pass, like all vulcans, she did not 
understand the need for thanks, for as she saw it, she was saving a 
trained officer so that she could return to duty.
"Helm, hard over, full impulse, all power to anti gravity fields!" said 
McGinnis.
"Sir, what about phase-cloaking, and then just working out of the planet 
while in phase?" asked Schultz.
"That will not be possible, we can not use the phase-cloak, because the 
phase barrier necessary to engage the device can not be formed in the 
extremely ionized enviromnment which results from  our rapid decent into 
the atmosphere." said Data.
"Oh," replied Schultz.

Data began counting down the distance between the ship and a violent end.
"Our altitude is twenty-seven kilometers, ... twenty-five, ... 
twenty-three, coming to flat trajectory, decending toward a large lake, 
it should give us an added margin for error," he said. 

The ship continued to fight its momentum, but there was a lot of 
intertial nergy built up, and although the dampers could deal with 
internal inertia, they weren't built to compensate for the ship's inertia 
as a whole.  At least not when they also had to fight a planet's 
gravity.  This job was handled by the ship's anti-grav fields, and its 
tractor stations, which also served as high-focus anti-grav generators 
when the ship was in atmosphere.

"Altitude is eight kilometers, we are slowing, I estimate risk of 
terminal impact at less than ten percent."
"Lieutenant Thale reports that he has intercepted Thompson's suit, and 
that her shield generator has just failed.  He can't beam her to us, 
because we're moving too fast, and there is too much ionization from our 
entry maneuver," said Commander Anders.
"Good, at least one thing is done, ... Overload power on tractors one and 
four, we'll need the added gravimetric pressure."
"Aye, repulsor power at 140%." replied Anders. 

The ship was now less than a kilometer above the lake, and although it 
was slowing, McGinnnis had the uneasy feeling that they might hit the 
water, which would be hard on the super-structure, considering their 
angle of impact, and their extremely weakend shields. 

"Direct all remaining shield power below us, If we're going to hit, I 
want the water and the shields to help slow our descent.  All decks, 
prepare for collision..." McGinnis  said.

The ship's collision alarms sounded, and all crew on the lower decks 
immediately departed for higher ground, unless their stations could not 
be left unmanned under any circumstances.  All compartments were cealed, 
and the ship's air circulation went onto distributed back-ups.

"Ten seconds to impact," said Data.  ... "Now five ... four... 
three...two...one... shields have struck the water, decellerating rapidly 
now, eighty meters, seventy, ... sixty ... ... ... fifty .............. 
We have stopped, forty-three meters above the surface."
McGinnis sighed, realizing that he'd been holding his breath for some 
time.  All of the other bridge crew members also sighed in relief.

"McGinnis to all decks, we have avoided collision, our condition is now 
green."


SUPER-DREADNOUGHT Part II: Chapter X
By:
Matthew A. Weed


Command Log, Stardate 56334.3: Admiral William McGinnis Commanding USS 
Ticonderoga reporting:
We have now defeated two Borg ships, including a full-sized cube.  
However, our losses have been heavy as well, with eighteen crewmembers 
lost in our last action.Their service does the Federation honor, and I 
hereby recommend all for postumous commendation.  I further recommend 
Lieutenant Karen Thompson and ensign Kyla Moran for commendations, their 
cool headed thinking was critical to our success.

We are now on the surface of the planet, where I have directed that the 
crew to take some open air, as it will be some time before we get the 
chance again.  Fortunately, our rough decent seems to have done little 
damage to the ship, all of which we have now repaired.  We have launched 
some probes to scan the surface, and unfortunately, scanners have picked 
up a few Borg units, so on our return to space, we will have to bombard 
the planet to ensure the units' destruction.

After that, we will begin the process of finding the point toward which 
much Borg communications seem to be directed.  If we can destroy or 
disrupt this nexus, we will have the Borg on the defensive, temporarily 
at least.

McGinnis sat back in his chair, considering the options.  The ship was 
sitting in a very deep lake, its systems largely shut down for minor 
system repairs.  Also, with only secondary power enabled, the ship would 
have a much better chance of avoiding any Borg ship that might come 
through the system.  Honestly, McGinnis assumed that they would get a 
couple of days before another Borg attempt would be made, and before 
that, Ticonderoga would be long-gone, and much of the planet a burning 
cinder.

"Sir, why don't you get outside and take a break, as you said, it'll be a 
while before we get the chance again," said Karen Thompson as she entered 
the Bridge.
"Sounds like a good idea, Lieutenant but I need to get a bit more work 
done first.  Why don't you come back in an hour to relieve me, I think 
that you're ready for a try at Bridge command."
"Thank you, sir!" she said, all smiles.

Of course, McGinnis had only been responding to a suggestion made by Dr. 
Patterson that Thompson's morale would be helped by active duty.  With 
this in mind, he'd temporarily assigned her to data analysis, so that her 
mind would remain busy during her convalescence.  

***
As promised, Thompson returned an hour later to find McGinnis smiling at 
the image captured by the main viewer.  It was focused on a number of 
crew members who were apparently trying to build a six-level living 
pyramid.  So far, they had gotten to five levels deep, but level six 
seemed to be a bit of a problem...
"Here as ordered, Sir." Thompson said.
"Excellent, I'll be on the main hull, should you need me.

McGinnis hastened to an air lock, and was soon standing on the main hull, 
in the shadow of one of the nuclear reactor-powered topside rapid-fire 
weapons.  A large picnic had been set out by the recreation director, and 
lots of crew were sampling it as they took breaks from the various games 
taking place on the hull and the near-by beach.  

Since he was in "civies", McGinnis' presence went unnoticed for several 
minutes, and even when the crew did see that he was watching them, they 
only stopped long enough to invite him into the fun; an offer which he 
quickly accepted.

Several hours later, as the planet's star was setting, everyone returned 
to the ship, save a few that had decided to go exploring.  McGinnis had 
quickly agreed to the request, since they had their communicators and 
would therefore be able to be in easy touch with the ship.

McGinnis had wanted to go as well, but he felt uncomfortable about 
leaving the ship under the current circumstances.  He returned to the 
bridge after one final look at the various games and other activities 
occurring on and around the ship's hull. 

Within minutes of his return to the Bridge, the reason for his 
discomfiture became clear.

Walter Schultz, currently in command of the bridge reported that: "Sir, I 
have a message from Kalis, text only."  
"Very well, read it."
"He says that they ahve suffered major casualties in their most recent 
action, and that they will be going under total radio silence from here 
on in.  He also says that two of the Borg cubes that they fought departed 
in the middle of the battle, and have set an approximate course for this 
system."
"Thank you, all stations, yellow alert."

The ship's lights went to yellow, and the computer made a brief 
announcement concerning the change in status.

Within minutes, McGinnis was sitting in the command chair.
"Transporter control, notify the campers that they'll have to come back 
immediately, and then beam them up.  We have about an hour before the 
Borg arrive, and I don't intend to waste the time."
"Aye Sir, sending notification now."
"Engineering, we need to make sure that the remaining Borg are quite dead 
before we leave.  I'd also like to give the Borg a mystery as to who was 
responsible for the destruction.  I think that they're aware of this ship 
now, but the bigger the mystery the better.  Of course, we'll need all 
the power that we can get to get out of here, so if you've got any ideas 
that fit all of that, please suggest them."
"I haven't any ideas," replied MacLeod's concerned voice over the com.
"Sir, I suggest that we just use rapid-fire weapons, knock the Borg out, 
and then drop a few torpedoes into the star, near the outer edge.  We 
could generate a solar flare that would do extreme damage to the planet's 
atmosphere, and ionize this area, making it hard to find us," suggested 
Schultz from his station.
"Science officer?"
"Sir, the plan would work, but it will take too long to implement."
"What if we set a number of torpedoes in this lake, in a pattern that 
would bring the waters to fusion point through pressure?" suggested Thale.
"There is a forty-six percent probability that we would not be 
successful," said Data.
"Very well, we'll just have to use the ring and then get the hell out of 
here, we don't have time for magic," said McGinnis, the frustration clear 
in his voice.
"Helm, set course for orbital insertion, maximum possible speed."

The ship shot out of the water, rising with improbable speed toward 
space.  Its arrival trail had been bright enough to see by, its departure 
trail was outright blinding.  Within two minutes, the ship sat in orbit 
its main ring at full charge.

Within seconds huge scars opened across the planet as the few remaining 
Borg soldiers were struck by power sufficient to destroy entire cities.

Within a minute the ship's work was done, and the phase-cloak was 
operational.  The ship broke orbit, and accelerated away, its mighty warp 
engines flaring at full power.

"Let's clear the system, set course for the indicated coordinates, warp 
9.7, and any faster if the engines'll give it to us."
"Warp is now 9.7, our course is 334 mark 17."
"Mr. Data, report on ship's status?"
"  Main energizers at maximum output, quantum core at 100 percent power, 
secondary systems are providing ship's internal power, except the 
phase-cloak and sensors," said Data.
"Sir, I am now attempting to increase speed further, subspace distortions 
noted in the system." said Thale.
"Understood, the phase-cloak should provide protection too, but there's 
no defense like being out of sensor range," McGinnis replied.  "Push the 
core beyond its maximum standard ratings if you need to, the further 
we're away the better."
"Sir, we are accelerating, velocity is now warp 9.73 ... 9.75 ... warp 
9.78 ... 9.80 ... We are now at warp 9.817 and holding."
"Very well, keep it here, we're rated for warp 9.975, but that'd require 
shutting the phase-cloak off, and I think that would be rather bad at the 
moment," said McGinnis the sarcasm dripping from every word.
"Aggreed, Sir!"

 Ticonderoga ran from one possible confrontation, and toward another that 
would certainly be far greater than any that they had faced so far.



*****************************


SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part III: Chapter XI
By:
Matthew Weed

Command Log: Stardate 56463.4: William McGinnis, Commanding USS 
Ticonderoga recording:

WE have been at high warp for nearly four and a half weeks, and are now 
coming into the area that we believe contains some kind of Borg command 
nexus.  This ship has travelled far beyond any other vessels in 
Federation history, and although our trip, fortunately, has been 
uneventful, I wish that there had been opportunity to inspect the systems 
through which we have passed.  The Borg have laid waste to this area of 
the galaxy, and it appears that some of their work occurred thousands of 
years ago.  A broad diversity of technology has been apparent, just from 
the wrecks and other materiel spread along our path.

We have not stopped to carefully investigate any of the wrecks or 
destroyed planets along our path for two reasons.  First, I believe that 
we have enough information on Borg methods of assimilation from Picard's 
contacts to serve us under our current mission perameters.  Therefore, I 
have chosen to avoid study.  The other reason is far more prosaic.

I am not certain that we could continue our mission if we studies too 
many destroyed planets and wrecked ships.  Some, according to our 
scanners have had far higher technology than is currently available to 
the Federation and its allies.  If this information became generally 
available to the crew, I don't know that our morale could stand this 
reality.  Therefore, I have chosen to keep my personal evaluation of our 
current chances of success to myself.  If it were to be known, I believe 
that our mission would be certain to fail.  

The fact is, that I am now not certain that we will be able to 
significant damage to the Borg, even if we use some of the tactics which 
Kalis and I discussed before this ship's departure from the fleet.  I 
will investigate the systems in the area, and at our planned rendezvous, 
Kalis and I will have to decide what to do.  Hopefully I can find 
something that will allow us to do enough to slow the Borg down.

McGinnis finished the recording, and left his quarters.  It was about 
half an hour before they expected to decellerate to sub-warp, and he 
wanted to see what, if anything, the long-range scanners, limited though 
they were while under phase-cloak, had found.

"Admiral on the Bridge," said Data, as he released the command chair.
"At ease," McGinnis said, while looking around the room.  All the senior 
staff was there, including Robert MacLeod, who had replaced Janet Anders 
at Ops.
"Robert, where's Ms. Anders?"
"She suffered injuries in simulation on the holodeck, the Doctor wanted 
her to stay in sickbay for awhile for observation.  Since I was planning 
to be here for the actual decelleration, I offered to take her station."
"Very well, why was I not notified?"
"Because your com badge wasn't functioning, and optical links are 
temporarily down for some reconfiguration.  They'll be up in about a minute."
"My com badge wasn't working? ..." McGinnis looked down to see that the 
small machine wasn't attached to his uniform jacket.
"I see...." he said, and then retrieved the spare unit from his chair's 
emergency storage compartment.
"McGinnis to Sick bay."
"Sick bay, Sharfelter, sir."
"Lieutenant, Ms Anders' condition?"
"She has suffered a minor concussion, which Dr. Patterson has treated, 
but the Doctor wanted her to remain here for observation."
"Understood, have her file a report as soon as possible."
"Yes, Sir, I expect that she'll be sending it any moment."
"Thank you, lieutenant.  McGinnis out."
"Helm, what's our status?"
"Sir, we are at warp 9.65, all systems are functioning nominally, and we 
are twenty-four minutes from decelleration."
"Ops, Science, what do you see?"
MacLeod studied the pannel for a moment, and then turned to give his report.
"Indications of massive gravitational wells all throughout the area in 
front of us, possibly characteristic of star systems.  However, the 
ambient light from the sector is somewhat less than it should be, 
assuming the standard distribution of star types.  Our sensors are unable 
to distinguish whether there are gaps, mainly because no Federation 
probes or long-range mapping programs have cataloged this area of space 
with sufficient detail."
"Very well, science?"
"Sir, we appear to be entering a large area of space which has had a very 
high level of technology for many thousands of years.  As we have closed 
in on this region, the technology of the destroyed civilizations has had 
a slight, but noticeable upward trend.  Obviously, like the system in 
which we first made contact with the Borg, there are significant 
exceptions to this.  It may be that we will find that there are dyson's 
spheres, or other system-wide modifications that will explain the unusual 
distribution of gravitational anomolies.  This area may also have a large 
number of small dark stars, as yet we are too distant to come to  any 
acceptable conclusions." said T'Mayek.

"I understand, continue analysis, and report as soon as possible."
"Ops, any sign of Borg activity in the surrounding space?"
"Yes, Sir, there is a great deal of Borg traffic on long-range scanners, 
headed toward what appears to be a possible type G or H system.  I count 
at least twenty vessels in the area."
"Great, this isn't going to be easy, but at least we've got a good 
candidate for their  homeworld."
"yes sir, that would be a legitimate expectation from the available 
data," Data agreed.  "I am interested, though, to see whether we can get 
any information on the planet itself."
"I agree, but first I want to solve the mystery of the gravitational 
anomolies, they are unusual and may prove useful."
"Sir, there is a particularly powerful anomoly three degrees to starboard 
of our current course, about a light-year from the system temporarily 
designated as the Borg home system," said T'mayek studying her pannel. 
"Very well, ... Helm,  decellerate to warp 8.5 and change course as 
appropriate."
"Changing course to 043 mark 351," said Thale, "Decellerating to warp 8.5."

The ship moved toward its first assignment in this area of space, the 
study of a gravitational anomoly of unusual power.

"Sir, now one minute from visual, scanners have not been able to collect 
increased data due to phase-cloak interference," said T'Mayek.
"What have they told us?"
"The area of space affected is extremely large, and our sensors have not 
been able to penetrate the anomolous area, which is at least 500 million 
kilometers in diameter.  Indications of a massive gravitational object in 
the center of the anomoly, but it is impossible to tell what might be 
responsible for these readings."
"understood, helm, decellerate to warp 7.5, and bring us into an orbital 
spiral course that will put us at the surface of the object in fifteen 
minutes."
"Decellerating to warp 7.5, plotting course and laying in."
"Mr. Thale, you may proceed."

Twenty seconds later, T'mayek turned to the Admiral.
"We are now within visual range."
"Very well, ops, image on main viewer."

The viewscreen flipped from its characteristic tactical simulation of the 
surrounding space into a picture of ... darkness.
"Enhance image," said McGinnis.
"Enhancement is already in progress," said T'mayek.

Slowly the darkness resolved into the image of a huge silver sphere, more 
than 600 million kilometers across.
"Sir, as you can see, this is a dyson's sphere, what limited sensory 
information I can collect suggests that it is made of carbon neutronium, 
which is at least two kilometers thick.  Neutronium of this thickness 
would be sufficient to provide local gravity nearly equal to that of Sol 
at its surface.  I have extremely faint indications of a mass several 
thousand times that of Sol inside the sphere, at its approximate center.  
No indications of currently-active technology.

"Well, I suggest that we knock and see if they'll let us in," said Walter 
Schultz from his station.  "I don't think that we can beat the Borg 
alone, maybe this civilization will help us."
"It depends on their attitude about laws similar to the Prime Directive," 
said Data.
"True, but if we don't ask them, they can't turn us down,  and I can't 
believe that the Borg haven't tried to assimilate them at some point, 
unless they were so far ahead of the Borg in the first place that the 
Borg have never felt their ability to assimilate this civilization to be 
sufficiently "relevant,"" replied Schultz.
"In either case, I agree with you, Mr. Schultz, we've come here to deal 
with the Borg threat, and without help, as you say, it will be difficult 
to handle the Borg alone," said McGinnis, effectively ending the debate, 
which was one of many that occurred recently between these officers.
"Ops, give me a full-power broadcast, all frequencies."
"You're on."

"Unidentified civilization, this is William McGinnis, in command of the 
United Federation of Planets Starship Ticonderoga.  We come in peace, and 
hope to begin a long and fruitful relationship with your peoples. ...  We 
await your response."

The ship continued its slow decent, while all of the crew awaited 
something ... anything ... from the great object below.  Finally, a 
response, of a sort, came.
"I have a brief message, running through universal translator..."
Time passed, and finally MacLeod looked up, a frown on his face.
"I have it, but its rather odd."
"Yes?"
"It just says, "If you can enter, we shall see..."
"Interesting," said T'Mayek.
"I agree," said Data.
"Very well, they've given us a challenge, can we traverse that in phase?"
"I  believe, with added power to the phase-cloak, that we can pass 
through without extreme risk.  However, there is risk, as the quantum 
instability caused by the neutronium is extremely severe, and if we lose 
the phase, we shall not be able to escape immediate entrapment," said Data.
"Science officer?"
"The Captain's analysis is correct, I estimate risk of entrapment at 
twenty-three percent.

"Very well, prepare the ship for event transition, we will proceed in 
half an hour."                         


Part III: SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Chapter 12:
By:
Matthew Weed

Command Log: Stardate 56464.3: Admiral William McGinnis, Commanding Star 
Ship Ticonderoga reporting:

We are preparing to transit the outer shell of the Dyson's sphere before 
us.  Carbon neutronium is so dense that it causes serious problems, even 
for a phased object such as this vessel.We will therefore be operating at 
emergency condition 5, with all non-essential systems shut off, and 
emergency power at maximum.  Our only recourse, should we encounter 
extreme difficulty, is to overload the phase-cloak, which will likely 
throw us into an alternate dimention.  This is a prospect that I do not 
relish, but we must attempt entry to this sphere, as intelligent life is 
quite likely to be within.  Considering the technology necessary to 
construct a sphere, I believe that they may be able to help us defeat the 
Borg, or at least slow them down.  From the long-range scans that we took 
of the traffic entering and leaving their home system, I am quite 
convinced that we will be defeated without outside assisance.  Of course, 
the final decision to attack or retreat lies with Kalis, so it is still 
possible, though not likely, that we will attack no matter the odds.  For 
now, all we can do is investigate this sphere, and hope that it holds 
answers to the problems posed by the Borg.  If not, we may have to use 
our ultimate weapon,  a weapon whose use will probably result in the 
assimilation of every member of this ship's crew.

"Helm, set course for the center of the sphere, ahead full impulse."
"Course laid in, velocity is .8 C."

The ship moved straight toward the great silver sphere lying directly in 
its path.  The plan, as they had ultimately made it, was that if the ship 
faced overly severe quantum distortions, sufficient power would be 
allocated to the phase-cloaking device to overcome the distortions, even 
if this meant phasing out of real space, and into interdimentional 
subspace.  if this happened, it would be almost impossible to get home.  
Considering that McGinnis had already gone through dimentional transit 
once in his life, he truly hoped that the ship would not have to perform 
this desperation maneuver.

"We are now 20 million kilometers from the sphere, one minute twenty 
seconds to contact," said Thale.
"Engineering, are all systems ready for emergency power allocation?"
"yes Sir," said MacLeod who had returned to his regular station after 
Janet Anders' release from sick bay.
"Now one minute to contact," said Thale.
"Tactical, keep your eyes out, I don't know what we'll find in there, 
although certainly I don't want you doing anything that would be 
considered threatening, as their weapons technology is unquestionably 
better than ours."
"Aye Sir, I have switched tactical sensors to science, with repeating 
signal to this station."
"Very well, ... Science, give me all the information that you can about 
the civilization as soon as its available.  Mr. Data, you watch the 
sensors for reports of difficulty, if you see *anything* report it, and 
act immediately if there isn't time."
"Understood Sir."
"Now twenty-five seconds to contact," said Thale.

The ship continued straight toward the surface of the object, which now 
appeared flat as their altitude continued its rapid decrease.
"Ten...nine...eight...seven...six...five...four...three...two...one...Contact!"
the ship bucked so violently that everyone except Data was thrown to the 
floor.  The emergency lighting came on, and its redness was made even 
more haunting by the fog that had apparently appeared, quite literally 
out of nowhere.  McGinnis struggled back to his seat, now reminded why he 
didn't want restraining harnesses put on the command chair.  It would 
only slow him down when he needed to look at his subordinates, and 
impacts like that would only result in whiplash wthat would require a 
doctor's attention. ...  He hated doctors.

The rest of the staff was also returning to their stations, or to 
consciousness, depending on their constitutions.
"Mr. Schultz, take the helm!" snapped mcGinnis seeing that Thale was out 
cold on the floor.
"Controlls switched," replied Schultz.
"Mr. Data, our status?"
"We have decellerated to only a few kilometers per hour, and will require 
thirty-two minutes to traverse at this level of forward thrust.  The 
quantum gravimetric forces are nearly too strong for the impulse drive to 
handle, and the density of the neutronium is preventing our passage as well."
"Are we in danger of entrapment?" 
"There is a fifty-four percent probability of entrapment, if current 
conditions hold."
"Engineering, emergency power to phase-cloaking device."
"Sir, we risk dimentional transit if we keep that kind of power up for 
too long," said Data.
"I am well-aware of the possible consequences, but being alive in someone 
else's dimention is far better than dying in here."
"Engineering here, sir....I recommend against the emergency power, the 
device is already strained enough as it is."
"I understand your concerns, Mr. MacLeod, but we have no choice."
"understood emergency power is now available."

The ship seemed to stagger again, its velocity improved *very*slightly, 
but there was still a noticeable down-trend to their rate of forward 
movement.  

"Sir, our risk of entrapment is now forty-seven percent."
"That's still too high!" said Schultz, and I think that there's an 
anomoly in front of us that is denser than average."
"Understood, Engineering, engage warp drive, emergency acceleration."
"Sir! that'll likely cause the nacelle pylons to collapse or bend, and if 
it doesn't, we'll be thrown out in an uncontrolled acceleration, and I 
wouldn't want to hit the other side at high warp!"

McGinnis thought about this.  The impact at high impulse had been nearly 
enough to kill some crew, and an impact at warp would likely destroy the 
ship.  However, being trapped in the sphere's shell was clearly worse.

"Engineering, I don't see that we have much choice, keep an eye on those 
support pylons, and channel emergency power to their support fields if 
you think that will help."
"Aye ....... sir," said Macleod, clearly very unhappy at having to carry 
out the order.

"Mr. Data, watch our forward progress, if we break free too suddenly, you 
will have to reverse warp immediately, I doubt that there will be time to 
order you to do so."
"Understood sir." was the android's unemotional response.2  

"Our power is now set for warp four travel," said Schultz.  "We have 
accelerated to to 108 kilometers per hour.  AT this velocity, the forward 
sections will pass through the inner surface in ... twenty-seven seconds."
"Good, continue monitoring, if we need more power then put it where you 
need to, but remember that as soon as the center line of the saucer, and 
the center of the quantum core have passed through the surface, that our 
acceleration will be rapid, as the ship will present very little added 
forward surface."
"I've got it sir, we will hit center line in thirty seconds, quantum core 
center three seconds after that.  I'll begin cutting power immediately 
after that.

At this moment a medical team raced onto the Bridge, grabbed Thale, and 
hastened back into the turbolift.  

"What's the prognosis?"
"He's got serious injuries to various central nervous system sectors, 
I'll report as soon as we know more, but there are a lot of serious 
injuries," said the young blonde medic leading the team.
"Very well..." McGinnis said, his acknowledgement cut off by the silent 
closing of the turbolift doors.
"Now ten seconds to contact with inner surface."
McGinnis quickly hit the all-call on his chair.
"All decks, all departments, we are about fifteen seconds from breaking 
free of the worst of the quantum interference  from the sphere's shell.  
Be ready to brace yourselves, I expect that breaking free of the effects 
may have results similar to those that we suffered on contact some 
minutes ago."
"Sir, warp pylons are under terrible stress, there is some bending in 
both port and starbord nacelle/main hull conectors." said Janet Anders 
from her station.
"Understood, divert more power if you can, we'll be able to shut down in 
about a minute."
"Emergency power to support fields, but they're about to shut down too."
"forward sections of main ring are in the clear!" said Schultz.
"Continue forward movement, ... enngineering, report on system stress?"
"We are at warp 4 power, main and auxiliary power systems are on-line, 
phase cloak is functioning well.  Warp pylons are all bending, and before 
we actually drive into warp space, we'll have to reallign the pylons 
ourselves, it'll take about three or four days.  Power transfer systems 
are under stress, and will have to be recalibrated, structural support 
field generators are beginning to fail, we'll have to replace them before 
we try any heavy maneuvering, but miraculously ..." and the channel closed.
"Sir! warp pylons are cukling, we'll have to shut down immediately," 
Anders yelled.
"no, we're not passed center-line, we must clear that before the impulse 
engines can do the rest."
"We'll lose the warp engines in a few seconds!," said Anders.
"Continue forward power!"
"Sir, we are twenty meters to center-line, ... ten ... clear! ... 
accelerating rapidly, ... clear quantum core! ... engineering hull 
slipping free!" reported Schultx.
"Shut down warp power. all systems to standby."
"Warp drive shut down, impulse reversed for momentum balancing, all other 
systems on standby."
"Well..... We made it," said Anders.
"Yes, Science, First  officer, scan around and tell me what you can find 
out."
  Engineering, report on damage."
"Sir, damage to warp drive is severe, repairs will take at least a week.  
Main power is not available, secondary power is fully available, the 
quantum core will require a bit of adjustment before it can provide 
energy.  Structural support fields are in bad shape, they will require a 
week's calibration and generator replacement.  I would say that we'll be 
able to leave in ten days time."
"Understood," said McGinnis.  It was worse than he had expected, and 
would make it impossible to get to the rendezvous with the fleet, 
assuming that damage on the way out was similar.  Hopefully they would be 
able to find an easier way out of the sphere.
"All stations, report."
"Sir, I have life forms everywhere, and massive power generation, and a 
great deal of conversion of stellar energy as well.  I would estimate 
that the power generated in this sphere is equal to the entire output of 
the Federation on a yearly basis.  There is no vessel traffic, although a 
large number of habitats exist throughout the structure.  The star at its 
center is a type H-8 star, two class D asteroids and a class L planet are 
still in orbit around the star.  The habitats are marginally class-M, 
with a lower oxygen pressure than most humaniform life is used to.  The 
race appears to be humanoid, possibly more closely related to the 
rigellians or Bajorans than to taran or vulcan humaniform life," said 
T'mayek.
"I concurr with those readings, and would add that it appears that one of 
the habitats is the center of a particularly high level of subspace 
activity, and may be a good place to our attempts at communication." said 
Data.  
"Ship's systems are back on line, except for warp drive, engineering 
structural support fields, and some main-hull support fields as well.  
Quantum core is only rated at 10% power, estimated repair time is about a 
day," came Janet Anders' report.
"Sir, weapons and defenses are available, but I suspect that they would 
do us little good in here, considering the technology of the 
inhabitants," said Schultz.
"Thank you, ... Ms. Anders, send a text message, ... "We were able to 
come in, request face-to-face discussion, and subspace communication."
"Sent, Sir."

A number of minutes passed while the ship continued about the business of 
inspecting the inside of the technological marvel whose shell it had just 
passed through.  Finally, Anders' head snapped up, and she reported that 
a visual signal was coming through.
"Put it on screen," McGinnis said, while readying himself for contact 
with the only race that might be able to help the Federation and its 
allies in their desperate attempt to find an acceptable solution to the 
threat posed by the borg.   
  


SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part III: Chapter 13:
My:
Matthew Weed

"Interstellar travellers, welcome to our home.  I am L'aek, leader of the 
Myria.  We did not expect that you would survive the transit."
"L'aek, I am Admiral William McGinnis, I command the United Federation of 
Planets Star Ship Ticonderoga.  I am here, on behalf of the Federation, 
and its allies, to ask your assistance in our struggle for survival 
against the Borg."
"Admiral, I am very pleased to finally speak with a representative of a 
civilization living and growing outside this sphere.  In the nearly 
twenty-thousand cycles that our home has existed, we have had only three 
contacts.  Two of them were with civilizations like yours that were 
trying to defend themselves against those that you call The Borg.  The 
other... should be obvious, considerng our location in space.  We have 
the technology to rid the Galaxy of this menace, but most of the races in 
it, as you know, can not coexist peacefully, or if they do so, they are 
unwilling to defend themselves when the time for defense comes.  We have 
remained in this shell for so long, because we, too, fear the usurpers, 
the collectors, or as you call them, The Borg.  Our defenses are only 
sufficient if they always remain closed, because, once opened, it takes 
nearly a full day, in your time, to reassert them.  However, working 
together, I believe that we can bring them down."
"I certainly hope so, nearly half of our allied strength has gone into 
the current offensive, and we have destroyed no more than seven or eight 
of their large vessels.  As you know, their fleet must number hundreds of 
them.  There aren't many weapons left, and this ship carries two of 
them.  Weapons that will be useless if we do not leave this sphere."
"I understand your concerns, your fleet is already on our long-range 
scans, in action against a Borg cube as we speak.  The battle does not go 
well for them."

This news brought all of the crew to full attention.  Their friends and 
allies were fighting against an implacable enemy, and there was 
absolutely nothing that they could do.  Their reactions to this news 
varied from Data's implacable calmness to Schultz' fist landing with a 
solid crack on the navigation console.  McGinnis signalled Anders to damp 
the audio.
"People, our mission is to get help from the people here, and we can do 
nothing to help those on the outside.  Kalis is an excellent commander, 
and the ships that we have in the fray are all commanded by the best that 
the allies have to offer.  For now, our job is to open relations with 
these people, because we can't perform this job on our own, and we now 
know that there is no way that the Federation can survive an all-out Borg 
assault.  Therefore, I want you to keep tight control over yourselves, 
these hours will be extremely important to whether we go home to a 
Federation that is whole and secure, or fragmented and under threat of 
immediate absorption."

McGinnis waved to Anders who reinstated the audio pick-up.
"I appologize for the delay, we have been under enormous stress lately, 
and I believe that my crew is exhausted."
"Admiral, you have been in deep space for nearly four of your months, and 
have been at a nearly continuous state of military alert.  It is amazing 
that you and your crew have done as well as you have, considering your 
numerous disadvantages."

"Yes, we have had to fight under difficult circumstances, but my crew and 
I have been together for a long time, and we've learnt to work together 
well.  For this mission, I would have had no others in my command staff."
"High praise Admiral, we would like to send a small party to your ship to 
learn more about your Federation and discuss how we can help each other 
survive the Borg menace for a little while longer."
"We would be glad to have you, do you wish to come aboard via your own 
methods of transport, or shall we beam your party aboard?"
"We shall use our own methods of transport, I am not certain that your 
regular transporters would be able to handle the subspace activity in 
this environment.  I will come aboard with four assistants, if you can 
send us the coordinates of your transport center?"
"They are coming through now," McGinnis said, waiting for confirmation 
that the data had been sent.
"We have the coordinates,  Admiral I look forward to meeting with your 
people soon."
McGinnis rose, pointing to Data and Kyla Moran.
"You two are with me, Mr. Schultz, you have the Bridge."
"Aye, Sir." said Schultz, while moving to the command chair.

It did not occur to McGinnis to wonder how the Myria had known how long 
they had been on their current mission until after he had entered the 
turbo-lift.  He made a mental note to find out how this had happened.  
The three officers left The Bridge, and were whisked to transport-1.  As 
they arrived, a quiet crackling noise filled the roomk, and then what 
appeared to be a door opened and five humanoids stepped through.
"L'aek, I am Admiral McGinnis, in dcommand of USS Ticonderoga.  I welcome 
you aboard our ship.  These are some of my command Staff, First Officer 
Data, and Lieutenant junior-grade Kyla Moran, temporary first-shift 
tactical officer."
"Admiral McGinnis, we are pleased to meet you and your officers as well. 
Our contact with the outside universe has, for so long, been limited to 
sensor sweeps, and the occasional attempted assault by The Borg.  These 
are my assistants, M'laer, historian, Draen, technical specialist, and 
Plaik and R'laev, civilian observers."

At this point, McGinnis began to move toward a small conference room 
located at the side of the main transport deck.
"I suggest that we speak in this room, we can tell you about our culture, 
and we can learn of yours."
McGinnis correctly interpreted L'aek's simple hand motion as agreement 
with the suggestion. 
"With reference to your point about being isolated, I am sure that most 
Federation member worlds would find it difficult to live without the 
benefits that our interstellar trade have conferred upon us.  Of course, 
if we hadn't moved out so quickly, we might not have encountered "Q" and 
the Borg as early as we have."
"Your civilization, too, has encountered the beings in the "Q" 
continuum?  I am not surprised that they might have become interested in 
a group of peoples so curious about the universe around them as your 
peoples obviously are.  ... We have always managed to avoid problems with 
them, as they feel that our enforced isolationism and lack of explorative 
tendencies  do not threaten them."
"Unfortunately for the Federation, we were brought into contact with the 
Borg by a member of the "Q" continuum.  Obviously, as soon as The Borg 
knew of our existence, they launched an attack.  We had a year to 
prepare, while their ship travelled from the point fof first contact, 
toward Sol-3, our capital and an important social, cultural, and economic 
center.  That first attack nearly destroyed Earth, and had it not been 
for Mr. Data's creative application of a suggestion made by one of our 
captains who had been partially assimilated, I suspect that Earth, and 
possibly the rest of the Federation would have been lost.  Their attacks 
have grown in strength, and I can not honestly say that we will be able 
to withstand many more of them, if they aren't stopped.  This is why our 
fleet, and this ship, have been sent to Borg territory."
"Certainly you do not hope to destroy them alone?"
"Of course not, but we did hope to throw the collective off balance by 
striking deep into their territory, and possibly to use some of our 
specialized weapons to slow the Borg's activity down to a certain 
degree.  Beyond this, I do not believe that we can do more without added 
help.  Your presence here was not suspected by us, and is a stroke of 
great luck, should you be able and willing to help us."
"I would like to do nothing more than help you, although we are still 
safe from their assaults, the fact that civilizations have developed the 
ability to pass through the matter of our home means that the Borg will 
likely assimilate that technology as well.  If they can break in to this 
sphere, we will be in serious danger, because our offensive weapons are 
few, and those that we do have would do great damage to this environment 
as well."
"Could one of them be mounted on a platform such as this vessel, or a 
construct of your own?" asked Data, entering the conversation for the 
first time.
"This ship, although a miracle of technology by your standards, does not 
produce energy sufficient to power any of our offensive weapons, and as I 
have said, we could not send out a mission, simply because it would take 
too long for our own defenses to reassert themselves, and such a mission 
would not have a high enough probability of success to risk the 
assimilation of our technology.  It would make life for civilizations 
like yours even shorter than it already may be."
"Well, we have a few things that we can still try.  However, their use 
will require the capture of this ship."
"What?", cried Kyla Moran.  "Sir, I thought that we had orders to 
self-destruct before that happened."
"Ms. Moran, all other ships do have those orders, but this ship's final 
mission orders are slightly different.  More than that I can not say."
"I see...."
"Admiral, you have the ability to destroy the Borg?"
"No, more render them rather busier with another problem."
"If they were rendered "occupied," for some time, we could possibly 
launch enough of our special mobile constructs to ensure that they would 
not threaten you for some time.  By that point, your civilization may be 
ready for direct technology transfer with ours, but for now, we can only 
help you in small ways."
"What we need, to be honest, is an easier way out of here, than the  way 
that we entered.  If you can help us repair our damage, using appropriate 
technology of course, I'm sure that the engineers would be able to use 
the help."
"Admiral, that much we can do for you, if you will put me in contact with 
your engineers, I will have technicians come over and help with your 
repairs.  The device that you used to enter can be modified to allow you 
to pass through with much less difficulty.  When you came  through the 
first time, you passed through one of our external data transfer 
mechanisms, and we were able to find out much about your civilization.  
... Before you become concerned, we only read those files that weren't 
protected with various encription schemes.  This, primarily, is why we 
have chosen to speak with you and help you in your mission.  However, I 
know that your passage through the node nearly destroyed your ship, and 
so I will provide you with an easier exit route as well."
"Thank you, any assistance that you give us will be appreciated."

"Very well, Admiral, let us get to the business of repairing your ship." 


SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part III: Chapter XIV:
By:
Matthew Weed:

Command Log, Stardate 56488.6: Admiral William McGinnis Commanding USS 
Ticonderoga reporting:
.We have successfully completed repairs, and are now preparing to 
transit the the shell of the Myriac sphere.  These people have been 
greatly  helpful to us, and have been able to supply us with many 
replacements for our depleted stores.  As we had many full sections of 
superstructure to replace, I am glad that they felt that they could 
replace our seriously depleted supplies of duranium and tritanium.  The 
ship is now at 100% operational capacity, and with the slight 
modifications to the phase-cloak, and the new pathway that we have for 
departure, I believe that we should have no problem in returning to the 
outside.  The fleet has suffered terribly, and there are barely thirty 
ships now remaining, less than a fifth of what we started with.  Kalis 
appears to be alive, as the Myria have shown me their sensor reports 
which show the list of vessels remaining.  I am glad to see that the 
Federation ships have done well, and now comprise a larger percentage of 
the remaining ships than when we started out so many weeks ago.  It is 
now time to see whether the very risky plan that L'aek and I have come up 
with will work.  If it does, the Federation and Myria will receive a 
lengthy respite from Borg activity.  If not, all of us will likely become 
members of that unimind, and its technical prowess will probably make it 
the greatest power in the galactic neighborhood, if not in the universe.

McGinnis turned the log recorder off, and rose to walk the short distance 
to the Bridge.  Like all of the other members of the crew, he wore his 
armor in its default mode,  for he knew that there would be very little 
time for such things on the other side.  There was barely enough time to 
get to the planned rendezvous as it was, and Since Ticonderoga was to 
lead the assault, its people would have little time to prepare.  

.With this thought, he left the small ready room, and entered the 
bridge, quickly stepping to the Command chair.  

"Helm, set course for rendezvous, full impulse until we get out of the 
shell, then warp 9.5."
"Aye Sir, course laid in, proceeding at full impulse," said Moran, who 
now sat at helm, which had allowed Schultz to move back to tactical.

The ship shuddered slightly on its intersection with the sphere's shell, 
and then continued on unscathed to the other side.  As soon as they had 
passed through to outside space, everyone let out a great sigh of relief.
"We're through, now accelerating to warp 9.5, bringing phase-cloak back 
to standard operational settings," Kyla said with a slight sigh of relief.
"Very well, time to rendezvous point?"
"We're about four minutes from the point, I have no indication that 
they're there, we're still too far away to pick up the marker."
"Well, just keep scanning, they'll come up sooner or later..."

Of course, McGinnis was not certain of this, with phase-cloaking 
technology, it was practically impossible for them to pick up anything 
until they were practically right on top of it.  Kalis had promised to 
wait one light year outside any system that appeared to be the Borg home, 
but this still meant that there would be a lot of space to search.  They 
had agreed to mark the location of the fleet with a powered-down probe, 
but this meant that the ship would be looking for an object with almost 
no radiation emissions, ... As James T. Kirk had said in a similar 
situation, looking for a needle in a haystack would be child's play by 
comparison.  The only hope was that Kalis had stopped along the course 
that he had said that he would take into Borg territory.  This point, for 
the moment, was what McGinnis had designated the likeliest rendezvous point.
"Now two minutes out, no sign as yet."
"Continue approach, something will come up, or we'll wait until star date 
56490.0, and then we will travel a stacked spiral search course, maximum 
possible velocity."
"That'll take a while to plot, sir."
"Exactly, lieutenant Moran, that's why I'm telling you about it now."
"Aye, sir...." she said, a frown crossing her features.

The ship came out of warp and just sat, waiting for Kalis' marker to 
appear.  

DCommand Log: Stardate 56489.95: William McGinnis Comanding Starship 
Ticonderoga Recording.
Kalis' time is nearly up, and I am growing concerned. The Myria told us 
that the fleet was less than five light years out when we left their 
sphere, and yet we can not find the buoy.  To say the least, I am 
concerned.  We can not go active to ask the Myria, as this would give 
away our position to the Borg, which have a large number of vessels in 
the area.  If we don't find anything soon, we will have to begin 
searching for them elsewhere. I hope......"

AT this moment, a crash resounded throughout the ship, and the automatic 
defense systems came on-line.
"What happened?"
"Sir, we've found the fleet, they launched athe buoy, and it struck the 
hull.  No serious damage, just a lot of noise." said Schultz, still 
consulting his board.
"Very well, Ops, send a message to Kalis, lowest possible power ... we 
are here, awaiting news and discussion."
"Sent, Sir."

The response was immediate.
"Sir, text message, he says that he's glad that we made it, and wants to 
know what we've found."
"send him a request for visual communication, talk between ships 
frequencies and power only."
"Understood, .... sending." replied Anders, bending over her station.

The viewer came on with the image of Kalis, sitting in his command bridge.
"Admiral, I am glad to see that you are still alive.  We have lost most 
of the fleet, and have destroyed only nine cubes.  I believe that even 
dying in honor will do little to dchange the balance of the military 
situation."
"I agree, and this is why I am glad to bring you the following news.  We 
have met a people called the Myria, who live in a dyson's sphere very 
near here.  They have been held captive in their sphere for the last 
fifteen or twenty thousand Earth years due to the activities of the 
Borg.  They have the technology to stop them, but because their sphere is 
very difficult to open, they have been unable to strike against the Borg 
for fear of leaving their home practically undefended.  They say that if 
we can divert the Borg for about one solar day, that they can launch a 
fleet that will destroy the Borg home fleet and if necessary their home 
system.  This should give us many years of breathing time before the Borg 
can recollect their strength."
"Very good, although these people are apparently quite  weak, with none 
of the warriior's strength,their help is exactly what we need.  However, 
we haven't enough ships to keep the Borg occupied for a day."
"No, we don't, but this ship carries a couple of surprises that I haven't 
been able to discuss with you for fear of having knowledge of them fall 
into Borg hands if you or other commanders were assimilated."
Kalis' visage darkened markedly.
"What surprises?"
"I can't be open with you, even now.  Let's just say that we are going to 
try another method of occupying the Borg, one that won't involve much 
fighting.  However, we need to stage a battle to get our weapons into a 
position where the Borg will try to get them.  You must know that this 
will require the capture of this vessel, at least temporarily."
"What?!?"
"I repeat, this ship must be captured for our weapons to become 
effective.  I do not believe that we will have much trouble recapturing 
it from them after they've attempted assimilation."
"Admiral, I am supreme commander of this fleet, I order you to tell me 
what you are going to do."
"I refuse to accept the order, and will attempt this mission on my own if 
necessary.  Suffice it to say that I believe in our final weapons, and 
that is all I am allowed to divulge.  If you have any better ideas?"
"Unfortunately, I have nothing more to contribute, and fighting with a 
chance to win is always better than fighting in a burning house."
"Good, What I want to do is to move into the home system decloak and do 
some collateral damage to their home planet, and then go from there.  If 
you feel that the fleet can do some damage to their computing centers and 
communications, I would appreciate the help.  If not, just hang back and 
then wait.  If our weapons work, you'll know."
"How shall we know."
"Just say that the Borg will be much less active than normal, should we 
be successful."
"I understand, You hope to affect their computing control in some way?"
"Yes,"
"Then I shall not ask you for further information, we all risk capture by 
these honorless beings, and the less that they can learn from any of us 
the better."
"True, that's why even the bridge crew on this ship doesn't know 
anything, a situation that they will tell you isn't normal for my command 
style."
"I see... As you humans say, good hunting, Kalis out."
"Ticonderoga out."

McGinnis turned to Schultz at his tactical station.
" In twenty minutes, I want full shields,  ...  Helm,  set course for the 
Borg homeworld, maximum warp, bring us out in orbit, I'm not concerned 
about in-system damage."
Moran's shocked look told McGinnis that she didn't like this at all, even 
the Borg didn't deserve the massive stellar fluctuations that would 
result from Ticonderoga's arrival so close to their star.  However, she 
knew her duty and began plotting the course.

"Tactical, when we come out of warp, decloak and open fire with all 
weapons, full power, if you blow out power conduates, or even some of the 
energizers, too bad.  Set weapons to distributed control, leave the 
auxiliary computer core clear for other activity."
"Aye, sir."

"McGinnis to all decks, all stations.  We will be warping into the Borg 
system in nineteen minutes, I want all crew to be in maximum armor, 
double check your equipment, I expect heavy fighting and boarding from 
many Borg parties.  Our only duty is to survive long enough for the Borg 
to suffer the effects of our ultimate weapon, whose nature I am not at 
liberty to divulge.  As soon as we enter the system, we will switch to 
fully distributed control, main computers will be unavailable."

McGinnis rose, to make sure that he had  all of his equipment, and to 
check on ship-wide preparations.

Fifteen minutes later, he returned to the Bridge, fully enclosed in  his 
battlearmor, which was loaded with all of the weapons that it could 
support.  

"Sir, we are two minutes from system entry,and I have set the distributed 
computing system to take over navigation when we arrive." said Kyla Moran.
 "Sir, I have the computers ready to handle targeting on arrival, we'll   
do what damage we can, before the Borg begin boarding the ship." 
announced Schultz.
"Very well, I want all of you to know why we're going in like this.  We 
have two computer viruses which I hope will cause the Borg data net to 
crash.  However, because we know little about their data transmission 
technologies, we'll have to get them to upload the material from our 
system.  This means that data in the computers must be handed over to 
them freely.  Of course, we have the right to decide what data, so I am 
going to perform a system wipe shutdown and core dump immediately.  We 
must fight to hold the ship, as when they take the data, we must be able 
to retake the parts that we have lost.  This is the only ship that can 
perform this mission, as other ships don't have sufficiently redundant 
computers and so could not navigate close enough to the Borg homeworld 
for this plan to work.  Should we fail, I will destroy the ship by 
overloading the forced quantum core.  You must try to avoid being 
captured at all costs, as all knowledge that you have can be assimilated, 
including what I have just told you.  I have waited until now so that 
there would be little risk of other crew hearing what you now know.  With 
that, ceal your helmets, engage your personal shielding, and wait for 
further action."
"Aye Sir!" all said, now realizing that McGinnis expected the upcoming 
battle to be long, bloody, and ... hopefully victorious.
"Computer, erase all files, and break all  main and auxiliary computer to 
systems connections.  ... authorization McGinnis Alpha Omega 456."
"Computer requesting confirmation of total system erasure order and of 
breaking of main and auxiliary computer systems control links. " replied 
the computer.
"Confirmation order McGinnis, Erase all files, primary and auxiliary 
systems, break all primary and auxiliary computer to systems control 
connections, Authorization mcGinnis Alpha Gamma 347."
At this moment, the entire ship seemed to stagger for a moment, while the 
secondary navigational systems brought it into the Borg system.  Without 
main computer power, the cloak became useless, and other systems crashed 
all throughout the vessel.  McGinnis plugged a tricorder into the port on 
his seat, and downloaded the two dormant files that it contained.  Once 
there, the two viruses became "live," and the ship's computers awaited 
what was to come.

Meanwhile, the ship had decellerated, and the secondary defense computer 
had set the shields, and the independent computers in the rapid-fire 
phaser batteries had begun to take shots at comparatively undefended 
parts of the the Borg homeworld.  Torpedoes were launched in a very 
helter-skelter fashion, doing much collateral damage, but no serious 
damage to the Borg defenses.  The main ring could not fire because too 
many systems had to be integrated to allow it to be used.

The Borg response was coordinated, and ten cubes struck against 
Ticonderoga's shielding, which rapidly fell.  Almost instantly, the ships 
ceased fire, and hundreds of Borg transported aboard.  The crew defended 
themselves as best they could, but the numbers and firepower being 
carried by these Borg soldiers was much more than they could handle, even 
using the sonic and photon grenades.  As far as McGinnis was concerned, 
it was not right to expect his crew to die without a fight.  Particularly 
when their deaths were required in a situation in which they didn't know 
why they were fighting and dying.  Therefore, they were permitted to use 
any weapons available to them to resist assimilation.

Fortunately for the crew, before too many could be captured, the Borg 
began to become interested in the ship's computers.  Of course, the files 
had already been deleted, and those that were there... weren't exactly 
the kind of information the the Borg were expecting.

They downloaded the files, and continued about their business.  

"Sir, we're having a hard time of it down here, they've captured some of 
the junior crew, and damage in engineering is growing serious." came 
MacLeod's voice over McGinnis helmet com.
"I know, we're suffering damage everywhere, but just keep those force 
fields around the main energizer and the quantum core  connections, if we 
can rebuild the structure, we can leave."

At this moment, a team of Borg arrived on the Bridge.

McGinnis pointed his phaser rifle and fired at the nearest Borg unit.  
The shot had absolutely no effect.
"Damn!" he said.  "Moran, fire your plasma canon, I'll use my head laser."
"Aye, Sir."
Kyla fired the heavy weapon that was too bulky for most of the crew to 
use effectively, however, her far greater than average height made her 
one of  the three crew who could use this kind of weapon. 

The blast from the weapon was bright green, and struck the Borg's defense 
field.  The field colapsed, and McGinnis' laser split the Borg unit in 
half, spurting a combination of blood and lubricant across the Bridge.

"Secure the Bridge, its not usable without the computers anyhow, let's 
take this battle to other less sensitive parts of the ship!" called 
McGinnis running for the aft exit.

Data, Schultz and Moran followed him, but T'mayek and Anders hung back, 
concerned over a implications of totally clearing the Bridge.

"I suggest that you two clear as well, This will soon be a rather risky 
place to be," McGinnis said, waving them to follow.
"Sir, shouldn't someone remain on the Bridge?  What if The Borg come here?"
"If they come, they'll find out what the layout is, they haven't any 
better access to information than they have from anywhere else, now that 
the computers are down.  There is no reason to stay, and my orders are 
your reason to leave."
"Aye, Sir..." replied Anders somewhat uncertainly.
"A logical point Admiral." T'Mayek said, "where can I be best used?"
"Engineering, take command of some of the crew protecting the main 
energizer, you'll have to use your thrusters, the turbolifts are out."
"Understood."
"Good luck, Commander, logical or not, you will probably need every 
advantage that you can get."
"I appreciate your logic, if not the intention, sir," and with that she 
entered the nearby turboshaft and began the trip to Engineering.
"The rest of you, stay with me for the moment."

During the conversation, they had traversed a large section of the main 
hull, and were now closing on the aft-most sections, near where the 
observation deck and shafts for the engineering hull and mega-collimator 
ring came together.
"Sir, let's go to the ring, since they haven't got a clear idea of the 
layout of the ship, they'll have to make sweeps, and because we know the 
structure better than they do, we can set some traps for them," said Schultz.
"A good idea, you and Anders take care of that,  I want to check on the 
security detail protecting the main computer core.  Ms. Moran, Mr. Data, 
you are free to do as you see fit."
"Sir, I'd like to come with you," replied Moran.
"I will accompany Mr. Schultz and Ms. Anders, it is  possible that my 
better reflexes and senses will be useful in the accelerator ring." said 
Data.
"Very well, let's split up, keep in contact via your coms or the ship's 
optical net if possible.

With this, all of them went their separate ways, none sure that they 
would see each other alive, and unassimilated, again.

McGinnis walked quickly down the curving corridor, headed toward the 
heavily armored and shielded main computer core.  It was comforting to 
have the presence of Kyla Moran behind him, her intelligence and 
efficiency as an officer were only matched by her loyalty as a friend.

"Kyla, I want you to know, that I am glad that I was able to prevail on 
you to join Star Fleet, and take training at the Academy.  You've begun 
to develop into a fine officer."
"Admiral, Thank you for bringing me into the fleet.  As you know, my 
unusual size caused some problems on Earth, both because I stuck out in a 
crowd, and because I had trouble with the buildings, most of which are 
still not built for someone of my size.  I feel like I've got a home, 
both in Star Fleet, and on this ship in particular."
"I'm glad that I've been able to do that much for you, your parents told 
Admiral Jellico about your problems, and both of us were glad to help 
out...."

At this moment, two Borg soldiers beamed in in front of them, and began 
to fire miniaturized versions of the Borg shield weakening beams at them.

"You take the one on the Right, I've got the other," yelled Moran, 
swinging the plasma canon onto her right shoulder.

Moran's shot dissintegrated the Borg unit, and also blew a large chunk 
out of the near-by bulkhead.  a plasma conduate broke open, and the flash 
from this, combined with McGinnis' graviton blast nnocked the other unit 
out as well.

"Good shooting lieutenant," said McGinnis, reholstering his secondary weapon.
"Thanks Admiral."

"Keep an eye out for more, we're getting close, and I've felt a number of 
shocks through the decks, so others must be seeing action."
"I've felt them too, thank goodness that these decks are so heavily 
reinforced."
"Agreed!"

They turned the corner, and came upon a scene of utter devastation.  Most 
of the decking had been blown away, and much of the btubing and circuitry 
behind the walls had been either totally destroyed, or was damaged and 
sparking or burning outright.  Borg units lay thick on the floor, as did 
a full security detail.  The mix of blood and lubricant was sickening to 
behold, and Moran turned away, visibly trying to stop herself from 
throwing up.

"It would appear that the Borg beat us here, I'll scout ahead while you 
recover, as soon as you're able, use your thrusters and catch up with me, 
I'll be in the computer core room, checking damage and data loss."
"OK, sir, I'll be on in a minute, I wasn't expecting ... this."
"I know, Lieutenant, unfortunately, it seems that one just gets used to 
it as one gets older, I wish  that it wasn't so true, maybe we'd avoid 
some of our wars if we could remember what it looks like to see our 
friends and comrades dead."

McGinnis didn't give her a chance to respond, and quickly moved to the 
other end of the short dcorridor.  The bulkheads here seemed intact, but 
considering that they were a meter or more thick, as with most of the 
rest of the bulkheads in the "cyllinder", which ran from top to bottom of 
the center of the main hull, holding the Bridge, weapons control, primary 
computer core, and the main-hull access point to the long access tube 
leading to the forced quantum core, this wasn't surprising.  

"Computer access, ..."
"Secondary protection computer ... onl-line,"
"Computer, allow access to main computer core, McGinnis, William Admiral, 
access McGinnis Alpha 456."
"Access denied,"
"Reason?"
"All security software has been compromised, ... automatic locks now in 
place until main computer is back on line."
"Damn!, they got to this computer at least." said McGinnis to himself.
"McGinnis to Lieutenant Thompson."
Thompson Here sir," came Karen Thompson's voice.
"Situation in weapons control?"
"Under contro., Borg attempted access automatic defenses have destroyed 
fifty of them, they've stopped trying to get in for the moment."
"Understood, watch those that you can see, they've downloaded our files, 
I hope that some of them should start having an ... effect ... soon, if 
I've got it right."
"Understood, there are about ten outside now, but they've been sitting in 
some kind of default mode for about the last ten minutes."
"Understood, I'll be there to inspect in a few minutes."

McGinnis turned around, to see Kyla sailing over the carniage and 
destruction on her thrusters.  He looked down to see that his micro 
sensory suite was showing a forty degree increase in ambient temperature 
across the ship, with a few "hot spots", where larger battles had 
apparently occurred.  Moran's trace showed up very brightly, but he was 
glad to see that her flight had done comparatively little damage to the 
corridor.

"Lieutenant,We're going up to the weapons control center, I want to have 
a look around there, especially sence Lieutenant Thompson reports that a 
number of Borg are being held off by the automatic defenses."
"Aye Sir, do you want to try and get in to the computer core?  I think 
that I could cut through with my plasma torch."
"No, the computer says that there's been no physical security breach, and 
the files have been downloaded from somewhere else in the net, so the 
computer's shut down."
"Undertstood, I'll take point."
"Very well, I'm behind you."

They flew back across the mass of wrecked metal and bodies and then 
entered the nearest turbo-shaft.  They rose the two levels necessary, and 
exited through the doors, which had already been blasted to fragments by 
an earlier passer-by.

"I have the Borg on my scanner, they're not reacting to us, even though 
there are four or five directly in front of us," reported Moran.
"I see, take a shot at one of them, just to see if the others respond."

Moran fired her phaser rifle, not expecting it to work.  However, the 
targetted Borg disappeared in a flash.
"I can't believe it, my phaser hasn't worked in half an hour, but I just 
destroyed one without a problem.  Their shields are down, and I'm not 
getting much mechanical activity at all.  What is active are their 
bio-systems, which are operating way above the norm for the Borg that 
I've scanned before.  Itslike ... they're burning out somehow..."
"Let me by," said McGinnis.

As soon as he passed Moran, he took off his helmet and saw that the 
normally pale Borg complexions were flushed with various forms of blood.  
All were sweating heavily, and one appeared to be rithing in pain.
"One of the computer viruses has taken effect, and I suspect that its the 
Iconian virus, simply by the fact that the other wasn't supposed to 
activate yet, we thought that it would have the best chance of doing 
something to them."
"Iconian virus?"
"Oh, you don't know that mission?"
"No Sir, but the name Iconia is familiar for some reason..."
"Picard took Enterprise to investigate a distress call from USS Yamato in 
the neutral zone.  When he got there, Yamato sent some files over, and 
then blew up, all hands were lost.  The files included an extremely 
complex computer program that had been written nearly a quarter million 
years ago on the planet Iconia, which had technology far in advance of 
ours today.  When they arrived at the planet, the ship was probed a 
couple of times, and then an object was launched at it.  Turns out that 
the object carried the program, and was meant to broadcast it into the 
ship's computers.  They destroyed the object before it could do any harm, 
but the copy in the files from Yamato nearly destroyed Enterprise, as 
well as a Romulan ship that had intercepted the broadcast.  Picard 
destroyed the probes that carried the program, but we were able to find a 
damaged probe and extract the program, which we put in a tricorder, 
hoping that it would have a similar effect on the Borg.  It would appear 
that it may be working. .... McGinnis to all stations, report on the 
progress of the Borg."

The next ten minutes were a stream of reports showing that all over the 
ship, Borg had begun to shut down, some restarting for a time, and then 
falling either dead, or writhing in apparent biological agony.  Most had 
been placed in a very strong forcefield in the shuttle deck.

"McGinnis to all stations, continue collecting the functional Borg units, 
take the dead ones to the air locks, and jettison them, I don't want 
their mechanical parts restarting, should the collective figure a way 
around our first present.

"Lieutenant Moran, I want you to find a port that will connect with the 
auxiliary tranceiver, I need to talk with Kalis.
"Aye Sir.". *
Twenty-five minutes later, they had finally found a link to the the 
ship's auxiliary tranceiver.  From what they, and other crew had seen, 
most systems were out, or seriously compromised, and structural damage 
varied from light to severe, depending on the area of the ship that you 
were in.  Repairing the ship would take many weeks at a Starbase, but 
fortunately, the main structure, warp drive, computers, and weapons 
systems all appeared fully intact, if not operable due to power-transfer 
damage, control circuitry breakage, and other comparatively easily 
repaired problems.

McGinnis now sat before a terminal on the forward-most section of the 
main hull, awaiting Kalis' response to his message.  It took time, but 
finally the small viewscreen popped on, with the image of the older Klingon.

"Admiral McGinnis, i see that you are still alive, this is good news.  
How is your battle proceeding?"
"We are seriously damaged, but all Borg units aboard ship have been 
neutralized.  I have no external scanners, so I'm wondering how things 
are outside."
"The Borg are having serious difficulties, some of their ships 
self-destructed of their own accord, others are apparently out of 
control, but there are still many functional cubes.  We are attacking and 
destroying those that we can, but the in-system traffic is still too well 
coordinated for us to risk entry now.  Even though fighting battles 
against enemies that can't defend themselves well isn't fully honorable, 
I do not believe that we would survive an in-system assault.  Your 
friends in the sphere are launching their own fleet, so we'll let them 
take care of the situation nearer you when they get the chance."
"Understood, our second present should be coming on-line in about twenty 
minutes, it may work, it may not.  I have my doubts about the 
Federation-designed viruses, they aren't nearly as complex or hardy as 
the Iconian virus that we hit them with first."
"Admiral, only time can tell whether your plan will be successful, but 
anything that your other tools do will help us toward an honorable peace 
will be of importance."
"Agreed, ... Since this ship is damaged and barely operational, I am 
going to order that we leave the system at best posible speed, we're 
incapable of fighting any kind of sustained ship-to-ship action, most 
control systems are either damaged or totally compromised."
"Yes, I have been scanning your ship, your damage appears wide spread and 
serious, I am surprised that you can communicate with me now."
"Without the redundant systems, and the hardening of key points like the 
main energizer and the computers, I'm certain that this ship would have 
already been lost."
"I tend to agree.  Set your course, I'll send a ship to assist you if you 
need it."
"No, I suspect that the Borg will be too busy to pay us much attention, 
and so we'll be all right.  If you could tell the Myria that we're headed 
into orbit to make repairs, I'd appreciate it, our long-range 
communications appear to be out."
"Understood, I'll have Captain Stromgren contact them. ..."
At this moment, something caught his attention, and he turned away from 
the screen.  Then Kalis turned back, his expression one of anger.

"Admiral, I am sorry to tell you that your wife has been lost in action 
across the system. Admiral De L'Hotel sends his condolences, and says 
that he will notify the Myria for you.  I, too, send my best wishes, and 
ask you to remember that she died honorably, protecting those in your 
Federation who could not fight for themselves."

McGinnis was in shock, his expression blank.
"...Thank you.... I'll be in contact later."
"Yes, contact me when your  repairs are far enough along."
"Ticonderoga ... out."

McGinnis sat back, trying to assimilate the news.  Unfortunately for him, 
there was no time for personal grief.

"Lieutenant, I am going back to the Bridge, go to Engineering, have them 
begin repairs, and tell Captain Data to get the ship under way, best 
possible speed, for the Myriac system.  Prioritize on the computers, and 
then on structural members.  Other systems can wait until we're under way 
for the Federation.
"Aye Sir, are you going to be OK?"
"Yes, I'll be fine, and up on the Bridge directing repairs in that area."
"Aye Sir."   


Kyla left, wanting to do something, anything to help, but knowing that 
what she could offer , ... what she wanted to offer ... wasn't 
appropriate at the moment.  Her growing attraction to this man whom she 
had viewed as mentor would have to wait ... for a while.


SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part III Chapter XV:
By:
Matthew A. Weed

Command Log, Star Date 56496.3: Admiral William McGinnis Commanding USS 
Ticonderoga:  Recording:

We have completed the journey back to the Myria sphere.  Repairs to the 
extensive damage done to this vessel continue, and will take quite some 
time.  However, our losses in crew can never be fully addressed.  Nearly 
a quarter of the crew have been killed, and forty-five others are lost, 
presumed either dead or assimilated.  Because of these heavy losses, we 
have been working longer shifts in order to ensure that the ship is able 
to make the long transit back to Federation space.  The Myria have 
totally destroyed the Borg in-space fleet, and have returned to their 
home.  This does not mean that the Borg aren't a threat.  Neither we, nor 
the Myria have been able to find justification for a bombardment of the 
Borg homeworld, and, given time and resources, they will doubtless return 
to space, posing a threat to the survival of all space faring civilizations.

However, for the moment, we have given ourselves a long respite from the 
fear of assimilation.  This respite has come at a heavy cost to our fleet 
as well.  Only twenty ships survive, and all have some losses in crew.  
Federation ships now compose more than half of all our strength, and as 
at the battles around the Klingon home world, I feel that the 
Mycenae-style designs have proven their hardiness and their superiority 
over the older configurations, for military action at least.  We will 
continue repairs, and hope to leave this part of space in two or three days.

Commander's personal Log, Admiral McGinnis recording:

We will be leaving thousands of dead comrades behind, and with the loss 
of my wife, I often wonder if there wasn't something more that we could 
have done to keep more ships and personel intact.  My conclusion, hard 
though it is to accept, is that there is little that could have been 
done, and that we made the best decisions that could be made at the 
time.  Obviously we could have refused to come on the mission, letting 
the Klingon Empire attempt it alone.  Attractive though this is in 
concept, it would have never been politically acceptable, and I don't 
think that most of the Federation commanders, myself included, would have 
been able to let the Klingons go up against the Borg alone.  Many of us 
might have even disobeyed any abort order that might have been given.

Hopefully, the work that must still be done, will be enough to keep all 
of us from thinking too much about what we have lost in this campaign.  
Of course, our gains have been enormous, including knowledge of a 
cibilization that was exploring the possibilities of high technology 
while Earth was frozen at the height of the ice age, twenty-five thousand 
years ago.  The temporary recession of the Borg threat is another 
fantastic benefit, and one that I am very thankful for.

*.*.*
McGinnis switched the log recorder off, and looked about his 
still-disheveled quarters.  Although no Borg had attempted entry into the 
compartment, a number of running battles had been fought in the corridor 
outside, and serious damage had been caused by blast effects.  With all 
that had been going on, he had had little time to get around to 
straightening out the mess in his rooms.  In fact, if the doctor hadn't 
ordered him to rest for eight hours, he would have been helping out with 
the repairs to the optical communications system.  With the ship 
immobile, his presence wasn't needed on the Bridge, and his skill as an 
engineer was needed all over the ship.  This fact alone, had led him to 
allow a number of junior lieutenants to watch the conn and the sensors, 
while the higher command staff was out and about, making repairs, or 
directing the repair effort.

At this moment his door chime sounded, and he turned from the old copy of 
_The Republic_ that he was putting back on its shelf.
"Come,"

The door opened to reveal Kyla Moran in a tight-fitting athletic jumper.
"Lieutenant, what can I do for you?"
"Admiral, I just wanted to check to make sure that you were OK, I know 
that you've been up a lot, and you've not said much about your wife...."
"Kyla, Thank you for your concern, but I need to deal with that in my own 
way, whatever that is.  When I know how to deal with it, you and the 
doctor will be notified.  Until then, you can help me the most by keeping 
an eye on the bridge for the next few hours.  I expect that some of the 
fleet will be coming in soon."
"If you're sure that's all..."
"Yes, I just need some rest according to the doctor, He'll be unhappy 
that I even answered your page," he said a small smile curving his lips.
"I'll be on the bridge," she said, quietly withdrawing from the doorway.  

After that brief conversation, McGinnis felt very tired.  He turned down 
the blankets on his bed and stretched out for a nap.

*.*.*

The chime of the com unit awoke him some time later.  
"Sir, Moran here, The fleet has achieved rendezvous, and Kalis wants to 
bring you up to speed on the news from home."
"Very well, Have all senior staff report to the Bridge immediately, tell 
him that I'll be there momentarily."
"Aye Sir."

McGinnis hastened from his quarters, noting that nearly ten hours had 
passed since he had last checked a chronometer.  Clearly the doctor had 
decided that a little extra rest wouldn't hurt him, and with the ship's 
repairs going very well, he had trouble getting truly angry with him.

McGinnis entered the bridge and noticed that all of the senior staff, 
save Thale who was still in critical and unstable condition were already 
there.  MacLeod too was missing, directing repairs on some part of the 
great ship's main engineering deck.

"Ops, open channel to Kalis."
"Channel open," replied Anderws.
"Admiral, it is good to see that your repairs are going well.  I must 
report to you that your Federation commanders have suffered a number of 
important reversals over recent days.  House Durass has constructed a 
powerful battle force, which has taken control over most of Klingon home 
territory, including the homeworld.  Gouraon is still occupied with 
wiping up Romulan resistance, and some of his commanders have proven 
loyal to house durass.  The Romulans have broken the treaty which they 
signed with Gouron, and have moved to support House Durass.  Between the 
Romulan forces and those of house Durass, I think that Gouron will not 
command imperial forces for long.  Federation ships have been dispatched 
to the Klingon and Romulan borders to ensure Federation security.  The 
the Farengi are being denied access to those parts of Federation space 
which border with either the empire or the Romulans, and they have 
declared war on the Federation.  So far, their attacks have not proven to 
be a major nuisance to Admiral Jellico.  This is all that I know."

Suddenly, before McGinnis could respond, one of the Klingon ships powered 
its weapons and fired a full broadside into Ticonderoga's secondary 
hull.  The effect was devastating, as the shields had not been raised, as 
no attack could have been expected from a supposedly friendly fleet.  The 
aft recreation deck was immediately vented to space killing many.  More 
died in the sudden collapse of the main shuttle deck's structure, and 
finally, and most importantly, a photon torpedo exploded just short of 
the great bulkheads that protected the engineering deck.  These were 
blown in, and before the shocked systems could respond, many had been 
blasted apart by the huge chunks of flying tritanium and duranium from 
these thickly armored pannels.  Others died as a result of exposure to 
vacuum before the ship's systems could respond.  The loss in life on the 
Engineering deck was terrible, and would have been worse had the 
atmospheric containment fields not come up about half way down the length 
of the great chamber.

"Red Alert, shields up! ..." said McGinnis from the floor.  "What was 
that?" he demanded as he tried to climb into his command chair. 
"Sir, we've been hit by a broadside from one of the new Klingon light 
dreadnoughts.  Severe damage on all engineering decks, massive loss of 
atmosphere, casualties are reported as "devastating,".", said Anders 
looking at her board which had lit up like a stock exchange.
"Sir, the remainder of our fleet  has destroyed the rogue, no damage to 
other vessels," reported Schultz, as he shook his head to clear it.
"Very well, why didn't we know that that was coming?"
"Sir, the new Klingon ships can power their disruptors very quickly, and 
so they took all of us by surprise.  There was nothing that either the 
defense programming or human controllers could do."
"Understood, I suggest that we try to improve both before next 
time....Get me in contact with Kalis."
"He has just hailed us sir."
"Put him on."
"Admiral, I convey the regrets of myself and my people for the 
dishonorable attack.  I offer all assistance in your repairs and with any 
medical needs that your Federation ships can not handle."
"Unfortunately, there are few cases needing attention, most crew were 
either killed by exposure to disruptor ipact, torpedo blast or vacuum.  
If we need assistance, I'll be sure to ask, what we need right now is 
time to consider our damage and decide whether we can get the ship back 
to Federation space under her own power."
"Very well, I shall speak with you in an hour's time, if that will be 
enough for your damage survey."
"That will be acceptable, McGinnis out."
The screen blanked, and McGinnis turned to the job of coordinating his 
crew's response to the fantastic damage that had been done.

Thirty minutes later, the entire senior staff, or at least all of those 
who were able to report, were in conference-1.
"I want concise reports, we will report to Kalis, and to the rest of the 
Federation fleet in less than half an hour.  I need to know what our 
needs are....Medical"
"Sir, we have 143 confirmed deaths, thirteen missing, and thirty-seven 
requiring immediate stasus treatment, as due to their condition.  I have 
stabilized them so that they will make the trip back to base without 
difficulty."
"Very well, that means that we have approximately sixty able-bodied crew?"
"Yes Sir," replied the doctor.
"Very well, Engineering?"
"Sir, most of the engineering crew is dead, the computers are handling 
most of the repairs, the automated systems are functioning as well as can 
be expected under these conditions.  We need a lot more duranium and 
tritanium, I estimate about thirty-thousand tons of each, and time.  I 
think that the ship is structurally sound, and that we can proceed at 
anything up to warp eight for the moment, but higher speeds will require 
diversion of energy and resources away from the structural fields and 
atmospheric containment systems." Said Elane Johnson, who was now the 
head of the engineering department, as Robert MacLeod was currently being 
maintained in a stasus field after a tritanium shard struck him, causing 
massive internal injuries, which were far beyond the ship's comparatively 
limited sick bay's ability to handle.  
"Thank you lieutenant, you'll get all of the resources that we can 
spare.  We will proceed at warp seven until you clear us for higher 
speed, we are in no absolute hurry to get home, and its a long 
trip....Weapons?"
"Sir, all weapons systems are intact, except for the engineering hull 
collimators, all of which have suffered structural rupturing.  We have 
been able to jurry-rig the lower collimator, but port, starboard, and 
upper collimators are irreparable in space.  All other weapons are fully 
available.  Security systems are seriously compromised while we are 
putting so much energy into the engineering systems, but there is little 
likelihood of boarding at the moment.  I have the security crew in armor, 
so if anything comes up, they'll have the firepower to deal with it." 
said Schultz.
"Thank you,  ... Mr. Data?"
"Sir, I have been inspecting the ship from the outside, and I believe 
that we will be able to patch the hull within hours.  After that, we will 
need much time to repair the structural members and I suspect that we 
will not be able to launch shuttles or other small craft without repairs 
to the shuttle bay's  sub-systems in a star base facility.  Other than 
this, I believe that we are able to proceed on your orders."
"Very well, I shall contact Kalis and the Federation commanders, tell 
them of our needs, and as soon as that is done, I believe that we should 
go home.  We will fly a course that will allow us to avoid Klingon space, 
which is obviously frought with dangers which I believe it best not to 
tempt under the conditions likely to prevail aboard ship when we reach 
near-home space.  We will therefore circumvent Cardassian territory, and 
travel through an area of space which seems to show little activity in 
terms of highly-developed civilizations.  We will stop for nothing, until 
we reach the outpost in the Bajoran system.  We all have much work to do, 
so let's get to it so that we can begin the trip home.

*.*.*
Command Log: Stardate 56503.4: Admiral William McGinnis Commanding USS 
Ticonderoga recording.

Kalis found the spy who was able to allow the Commander of the rogue ship 
access to our communications.  He has dealt with him in the traditional 
Klingon way.  Between the twenty remaining ships, and the Myria, we have 
collected enough raw materials to make all possible repairs on the ship 
while in transit.  The computers are fully restored after these difficult 
experiences, and the automatic repair systems are doing an incredible 
amount of work.  Without them, I think that it is likely that we would 
have had to scrap this vessel.  All energy systems are back on line, and 
Engineer Johnson reports that she feels that we can safely travel at warp 
9.5, if absolutely necessary.  For the moment, we will fly at warp 9, 
until all repairs are made.  The Federation Commanders have chosen to 
accompany us until we are able to travel at maximum velocity, at which 
point they will move to assist Gouron.  Our course will allow us see to 
both crewmembers and ship's systems alike, with as little disruption as 
possible.  I expect that our journey home will not be quiet, and am 
expecting to return to known space in approximately forty-five days 
time.  In the mean time, we will have much to keep us occupied.

McGinnis turned to the helm, where Kyla Moran sat awaiting orders.
"Ms Moran, warp 9 on your preprogrammed course, engage."
"Warp 9, aye."

All throughout the ship, those who remained, rejoiced at the beginning of 
the homeward journey.  A journey, which they all knew,  was far from over.


********************************



SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part IV: Chapter XVI
By:
 Matthew Weed

Command Log: Stardate 56737.8, Admiral William McGinnis Commanding USS 
Ticonderoga reporting.

We are less than three hours from the outer edges of Federation space, 
and five hours out of Bajoran station DS9.  The trip home, thanks to good 
fortune, has been quiet.  For some reason, I have the feeling that the 
events at home will bring this peace to a sudden end.

The ship is now at 99.2 percent of optimal functionality, with the 
remaining losses related to the port, starboard, and upper engineering 
phaser collimators, which can not be repaired without total replacement 
of most of that equipment.  The ship's structure is still somewhat 
weakened in the engineering sections, but in general, I feel that the 
ship's repair systems and those crew that have been able to return to 
duty have done a truly miraculous job, particularly under the terrible 
circumstances that we have faced.  

The ship has not been out of warp  space since we left the Myria sphere, 
and less than a quarter of the original crew is fcapable of performing 
its duties.  The computers were not at full functionality until the third 
week of our trip home, and without them, the repair systems and equipment 
is much more difficult to control.  Fortunately, we were able to get 
enough raw duranium and tritanium to fill our needs before we left, and 
most other parts have been replicable from ship's stores.  However, we 
enter an extremely unstable political situation in our home region 
terribly under supplied and exhausted.

I have been in continuous communication with Admiral Jellico at Starfleet 
Headquarters, and the military situation is far worse than I had feared 
that it might be.  House Durass has taken control of the Klingon empire, 
with a fleet nearly as powerful as that which the Klingons had four and a 
half years ago before the military losses suffered at the battle of 
Borg.  Gouron has been defeated by a combined Durassite Romulan force, 
which quickly dispatched the few remaining Klingon forces.  I must assume 
that, unfortunatley, Kalis will be attacked as soon as he reaches Klingon 
home space next week.  I can not warn him, and hope that he will know to 
proceed with caution.

Federation forces were not able to intervene, and this has cost us 
dearly.  The Klingons, Romulans, and Farengi have struck at various key 
points in the Federation, including a number of military positions, and 
the planet Betazed.  Civilian casualties there are estimated at 
approximately 3 billion.  War has been declared, but the fleet 
construction program is still a year from full swing, and it will require 
at least two years for us to reach parody with our enemies.  I have been 
directed to have a look at DS9, and show the flag on the Cardassian 
border, so that their government does not decide to break their treaty 
with us.  For this reason, we are proceeding to DS9 at warp 9.6 and 
expect to be there soon.  Hopefully we will have a few hours to get some 
shore leave in while we are there.

*.*.*
McGinnis sat in the command chair of USS ticonderoga as it swept into the 
Bajoran system.  Finally, after just slightly more than six months, the 
ship was back in Federation space.  The peace that everyone felt at the 
knowledge was tempered by the fact that all of them had lost many friends 
in the recent conflict with the Borg, and and that they were coming home 
to a Federation whose future was in peril.  A situation which had not 
prevailed for more than a century.

"Ops, main scan, report on in-system traffic."
"Activity seems normal enough in all areas, we are still out of range for 
direct scan of DS9, wwe will enter range in thirty seconds."
"Understood, get me a channel to DS9."
"Channel open, sir."
"This is Admiral William McGinnis, commanding the Federation Starship USS 
Ticonderoga, to DS9, requesting permission for transfer of shore leave 
parties."
"DS9 to Ticonderoga, you are cleared for docking on outer pylon 6, 
welcome home."
"Thanks for the welcome, we'll perform docking procedure in four minutes, 
Ticonderoga out."
"Sir, I am now scanning the worm hole, no activity in the area at all, in 
fact, DS9 is almost devoid of docked ships.  I see no designs that the 
computer doesn't recognize, so there's apparently no Gamma quadrant 
traffic in at the moment.", said Janet Anders.
"Very good, I want the computer to maintain scan on the wormhole while 
we're docked, Although DS9 has been upgraded to some degree since we were 
last here, we still have more firepower than the station, and should 
anything come through, we'll be the point ship."
"Aye, I'm setting the sensors to continuous tactical scan, the computer 
will notify all bridge personel should anything come through."
"Very good, ... Helm, begin to decellerate, perform docking maneuver at 
your convenience."
"Aye Sir," said Moran.
"I am setting all of you loose the minute we're docked, the computer will 
be set at defense protocol one, so if you want to beam back, make sure 
that the computer has cleared you before you come aboard.  I expect that 
most of us will not get much time off after this, so take advantage of 
it, its been nearly four months since we've had any rest, and all of us 
need a breather.  Should you need me, I'll be  With Commander Cisco and 
then at Quark's."
Nods of acknowledgement came from all of the officers.  At least two of 
them made quiet plans to keep an eye on the Admiral, as General order 15 
was still on the books, and none of them wanted to be the first to have 
to tell Starfleet that the hero of the Borg campaign had been lost to 
kidnappers or Bajoran terrorists.
"Sir, we're thirty seconds from dock," announced Moran, as the ship 
decellerated from warp to sub-light speed.
"Good, Ms. Moran, you have the conn until we dock, I'll be working with 
the dcomputer.  All of you may leave your stations as you finish your 
closing down cycles."
All of the crew, even data, began shutting down their stations, locking 
them to restart with either voice or retina scans from at least two 
bridge staff officers, or McGinnis' general restart command codes.  Only 
tactical and helm remained unlocked, in case the ship's weapons were 
needed at short call.
"Computer, recognize McGinnis William R.  Code lock protocal defense-1, ..."
"Recognize, Admiral William R. McGinnis, ship protocol defense 1, ready, 
give final codes for ship-wide security lockdown."
"Code Alpha 1273, condition one hour, or departure of all active crew."
"Code Alpha 1273, with time one hour recognized, give codes and 
conditions for general restart."
"Restart code, recognize  McGinnis, William R, Admiral, or any two 
first-watch officers voice and retina scans.  Codes appropriate to those 
officers."
"Codes loaded, conditions loaded, awaiting final code for one-hour 
countdown."
"Code McGinnis, William R, Alpha 3257, continuity, one hour countdown, mark!"
"Code approved, one hour to security one lockout."

Ops, put me on intership."
"You're on, sir."
"This is Admiral McGinnis, as you are all aware, we have just docked with 
the station Deep Space 9.  You are all encouraged to take leave while we 
are here, I expectthat we will depart in about twenty-four hours.  The 
ship is under a code-1 lockdown until then, so you will be able to get to 
your quarters, but all ship's systems are under security lockout.  You 
will need either myself, or two command officers to access any core 
systems.  Have a good break, I believe that we shall be out for some time 
again, so take advantage of the time, McGinnis out."
"Sir, docking complete," said Moran.
"Very well, dismissed."

With this all of the bridge officers rose and left, leaving McGinnis 
alone for a few moments.  However, soon, he left as well, headed for his 
meeting with Commander Cisco.        


SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part IV: Xhapter XVII 
By:
Matthew A. Weed

"Admiral, it is good to see you after more than a year.  I understand 
that you've been busy lately." said Commadore Benjamin Cisco who had 
recently returned to command the Federation detachment at Deep Space 9, 
after a period of exploring in the Gamma quadrant.  
"Yes, Commadore, I am glad to see you here as well.  With the growing 
importance of trade with the Gamma quadrant, this station, and the 
Bajoran system in general, have gained tremendous strategic importance to 
the Federation.  Admiral Jellico tells me that you were requested by the 
new Bajoran government's chief minister?"
"Yes, Minister Kira did ask me to come back, she felt that having me here 
while the Federation's attention was diverted from this part of space 
would be helpful to her regime's efforts to stabilize traffic and develop 
further economic returns from the growing trade coming through here.  As 
I've never been a military commander, Command agreed to let me come back 
if I wished."
"Well, as I said before, I'm pleased to have you here.  Can you tell me 
anything about recent Cardassian activity in the area?"
"yes, they have shown some signs of fleet reconstruction, but the Bajoran 
in-system fleet is now more than sufficient to handle them for long 
enough to get major starfleet assistance here, should that become 
necessary.  Personally, I am more concerned about the Dominion, their 
interest in the activities on this side of the wormhole has grown sharply 
over the last few months, and since we can't get major military units 
through the wormhole, and have no base rights anywhere in the Gamma 
quadrant, our information about their capabilities is limited."
"I see.  As I remember, there is no way to get a cruiser or 
battle-cruiser-sized ship through the passage?"
"Yes, but scout-sized ships are capable of passage, and the Dominion's 
resources shouldn't be underestimated.  I would think that they can 
probably put firepower equal to most of Starfleet into action, if they 
feel the need."
"True, but as long as they can't get large ships through, I would think 
that they won't be much of a threat, as long as the Bajorans are aware of 
the threat, and given Starfleet as a back-up.  I will be in the area for 
the next few weeks, "showing the flag," if you need further assistance, 
but obviously I can't do any kind of reconnaissance on the other side 
with Ticonderoga."
"Thank you for the offer, I hope that we won't need that kind of help, 
but its good to know that you'll be in the area for a while."
"Then, unless you have anything else that I need to pass on to Fleet 
headquarters, I believe that I'm going to go down to Quark's for a bit 
and get my mind off of business."
"Very well, I can send security if you need it," offered Cisco.
"No, I have my phaser with me, and There are few beings on the station 
that would have had the chance to know our schedule, as Ticonderoga was 
only ordered to come here twelve hours ago."
"All right,... I hope that you have a restful time."
"Thank you."

McGinnis moved through the DS9 operations center, and took the turbolift 
to the promenade.  Almost immediately after he stepped out of the lift, 
he saw Walter Schultz and one of the  ship's security officers trying to 
remain unconspicuous, while still able to see him.  He knew, 
intellectually, that this was their duty, but he had ordered them to get 
some time off while they had the chance.  However, giving them a direct 
order to stop shadowing him would be grounds for a fleet investigation, 
and he had no desire to deal with a General order inquiry.  He turned 
away from them, and headed toward Quark's.

Immediately on entering the place, he saw Quark moving toward him.  The 
little Farengi had, to McGinnis' mind, an almost infinite capacity for 
scheming, and despite early setbacks, he had made the proverbial  pretty 
penny from Gamma quadrant activities.  The Farengi had moved to take 
advantage of business opportunities, and despite some nasty run ins with 
peripheral members of the dominion, they had been quite successful in 
developing a thriving trade with many races in the Gamma quadrant.  
However, with the recent hostilities, the wormhole had been closed to 
much traffic, both Farengi and other, and it was clear that quark was 
glad to see the business, even if it was from a Starfleet military crew.

"Admiral, it is good to see you again, its been nearly two years since 
you honored my establishment with your presence," said the barkeep in his 
oily voice.
"Quark, I see that you still remember me.  If you remember me well, you 
will know that I do not wish to be bothered with inconsequential small talk."
"I didn't mean to bother you,..." said the Farengi backing off quickly.
"You weren't, ... yet, and you would be well not to do so at the moment.  
Have your help get me my regular, and leave it at that."
"Yes, yes, Terran "BLT," with "fries," and "salad,"" said Quark, 
hastening away to fill the order personally.  The man, who Quark's 
sources told him, had just led Federation forces to a sound defeat of the 
Borg, was not to be trifled with.

*.*.*
After his meal, and a  game of dabo, McGinnis left the bar, wishing to 
see what had changed on the station since his last visit.  Again, he 
noticed a trail, this time composed of the station security chief, Odo, 
and Kyla Moran.  He could not order Odo off, but Kyla could be released 
from her self-appointed duty. ... McGinnis turned around quickly, and 
tapped his communicator while looking directly at the tall, blonde young 
woman.
"McGinnis to Lieutenant Moran," he said.
her surprised look was quicly followed by the proper response:
"Moran, here."
"As Mr. Odo is likely to follow me about the station, you may consider 
yourself released from the requirements of General Order 15, I don't need 
a security detail, and you need your rest. ... McGinnis out."

He turned around, after seeing her confer with Odo for a moment, and then 
turn toward the Klingon restaurant.

Not thirty seconds after this conversation, The feeling of impending 
throuble that McGinnis had been having since Ticonderoga reached 
long-range scanning range of Bajour materialized in the form of two 
rapid-fire events.  The first was the sounding of the red-alert klaxons 
on the station.  

McGinnis stood, indecisive as to whether to return to the ship or go to 
station ops.  He quickly realized that the ship would need to get clear 
of the station's firing arcs to allow it maximum effectiveness if this 
situation had an external cause.  

Less than a minute later, he stood at the outer gangway, as the second 
ceal opened on the air lock, giving him admittance to the ship.  he ran 
to the nearest turbolift and got to the bridge.  Ten seconds after this, 
he was sitting at the Ops station, reading the mass of data coming in 
over the sensors.

These showed at least nine Cardassian cruiser-class ships headed for 
Bajour, and the response of the Bajoran fleet.  Then, they began to 
detail the second, far more serious, event.

The wormhole flared to brilliant activity, and as McGinnis watched in 
mute fascination, hundreds of small warp-capable ships began pouring out 
of it.  These were quickly followed by twenty-three larger ships, which 
began, almost immediately, to move into some form of docking maneuver.  
With this event, McGinnis realized that a very serious situation had 
begun to develop.

"McGinnis to central computer, condition Alpha 1, emergency crew recall, 
all personel, USS Ticonderoga, return to ship immediately, for immediate 
departure."
"Code Alpha-1 message to all crew has been sent, all crew have responded 
as per regulations," replied the computer.

McGinnis knew that many would have criticized his decision to allow all 
available crew to leave the ship at once, but with the computer's 
security measures, and the ability to fly the thing single-handedly if 
necessary, he felt that staggered shore-leave parties would do little 
good for his space-weary crew.  The worst thing about this situation, in 
his opinion, was the fact that his crew would not be getting any more 
rest, which all of them richly deserved.  His mind quicly turned from 
this issue to other matters.

"McGinnis to deep space 9 control, request immediate clearance for 
undocking. ... Request open channel to Commadore cisco."
"Cisco here," replied The Commadore as his image replaced the main 
viewer's picture of the construct now being finished just outside the 
wormhole.
"Commadore, you know this area, is this a Dominion force?"
"I know of no other power on the other side capable of sending through 
that many ships, I would make that assumption for now."
"Understood, I am ranking officer, and will make contact with the 
Dominion commander, you shall liaise between me and Bajoran military 
authorities.  For the moment, you should consider the Dominion forces as 
top priority, as their combined firepower is far greater than that of the 
Cardassian squadrons.  Contact Starfleet Command for assistance, I will 
be too busy to do so.  Also, be aware that I may have to leave you to the 
dominion forces, should the Cardassians break through the Bajoran defense 
fleet.  Launch all of your run-abouts, and do whatever else you feel 
appropriate to your command and resources, notify me as necessary, 
mcGinnis out."

By this time, his crew had all come aboard, and the ship was ready for 
emergendcy departure.

"Mr. Schultz, scan that fleet, report on capabilities. ... Ops, get me a 
channel to the main vessel."
"Aye Sir," replied Schultz and Anders together.
"Helm, undock, as soon as we're clear of the station, set us on a direct 
course, full impulse, to intercept those fighters."
"Aye Sir," replied Moran.
"Sir, I have scanned the fleet, their technology is comparable to ours, 
with the main ship being constructed of smaller units as you have already 
seen.  It has phased-plasma weapons as its main offensive capability, 
these are more powerful than our plasma torpedoes, but also require more 
energy to fire.  There are more than 200 secondary particle phasers, with 
single-unit output of about 1/3 of each of our particle weapons.  
Over-all, I'd say that we can take that ship with some difficulty.  The 
fighters use particle phasers, and have small photon-torpedo style 
missiles, estimated yield of about three megatons per weapon, there are 
four missiles per fighter.  Each fighter is easily capable of knocking 
out an unshielded run-about, but the run-abouts should be able to polish 
off a number of them due to superior speed and phaser output.  However, 
there are too many to take out that way, Bajoran close-defense forces 
will have to do a lot of that work, and they'll be strained to the limit."
"Understood, Ops, that channel," said McGinnis.
"They aren't responding as yet, I'm still trying."
"I see, tell them that we will be forced to try to halt their advance, by 
force if necessary, if we do not communicate."
"Aye Sir, adding the information."

long seconds passed, while everyone waited or a response, any response.
"Sir, they're continuing to advance," said Schultz.
"Very well, change course to 153 mark 24, close on the main ship and 
energize the main ring.  main and auxiliary shields up, bring the ship to 
red alert status."

With this, the computer announced the cnage in status with a combination 
of klaxons and verbal notification.
"Sir, shields up, main ring charged, we are now within range."
"Very well, Ops, notify them that if they don't change course and stand 
to, that we will open fire."
"Aye Sir,"

The construct continued to advance, its bulk now clearly visible on the 
main viewer.
"No response," said Anders.
"They're still approaching," announced Moran from her station.
"Very well, Tactical, fire a full blast across their bow, duration one 
second."
"Firing," replied Schultz.
The bolt flared white against the blackness of space, and then the bridge 
staff had to wait to gauge the effectiveness of the warning shot.


SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part IV: Chapter XVIII
By:
Matthew A. Weed

"Sir, they have stopped advancing," announced Schultz.
"Good, Ops, get me a channel to that ship," said McGinnis.
"Aye, ... chanel open ... sir," said Anders, some surprise manifesting 
itself on her face.

"Put them on screen," replied McGinnis, somewhat surprised himself.

The image that came on the main viewer was, to say the least, ugly.  
McGinnis was not normally a xenophobe, but this being was quite clearly 
the most distasteful thing that he had ever seen.  Were it not for his 
starfleet training, he suspected that he would have ordered his crew to 
destroy the ship on sight, simply as a response to the purely visceral 
feeling that he got from looking at the being.
"I am Taklat, commanding the Dominion forces in this area.  You will 
agree to cease and desist in your "exploration," of our part of space, or 
we shall destroy the planet in this system, and your base."
"I am Admiral William McGinnis, commanding the United Federation of 
Planets Star Ship Ticonderoga.  Your demands are heard, but I do not 
recognize your authority to make them on *this* side of the wormhole.  
You shall retreat to your side of the phenomenon, or I will be forced to 
use all available resources to incapacitate your forces."
"Your explorations, and the activities of your farengi allies have 
brought much social disorder in the dominion, and I will not stop until 
you agree to utterly cease all activity in our spaces."
"I have no authority to speak for the government of Bajour, in whose 
system your forces are now located.  I am also not empowered to speak for 
the Farengi, but on behalf of the Federation,i am willing to consider a 
temporary halt to all Federation activity on your side of the 
phenomenon.  At least until a Federation negotiating team can be sent to 
your capitol in order to negotiate other terms."
"This is not acceptable, *all* activity will stop, or we shall destroy 
the planet."
"I am sorry to hear that you are unwilling to negotiate, I suspect that 
it will require at least fourty-eight Federation standard hours to bring 
the necessary Farengi and Bajouran negotiators together.  I shall speak 
with the Bajouran government if you like, as this is their system, they 
can probably order all non-bajouran ships out of the system, but I 
suspect that they will not be willing to do so."
"I shall tell them directly."

and with this the channel closed.
"Evaluation?"
"Sir, we can not defeat both Dominion and Cardassian forces.  I would be 
damned surprised if they are working together." said Schultz.
"Why?"
"Because the Cardassians want the system as an economic resource in order 
to develop tolls and other imposts on wormhole traffic.  Bajour has 
become a wealthy planet, and after the current hostilities with the 
Romulan and Klingon Empires are over, I suspect that the economic 
benefits of the wormhole for Bajour will only grow.  The cardassians are 
probably thinking the same thing, and since our defeat of their main 
fleet five years ago, their economy has been in terrible condition.  
Reconquest of this system would go far to help them out of their current 
troubles."
"Very well..."
"Sir, we must protect the planet, the Bajourans must be the top 
priority," said Anders.
"I tend to agree, but there are a number of key targets in this system, 
if the Cardassians or the Dominion forces capture any of them, it will be 
much more difficult to get rid of them," replied McGinnis.
"I think that we should try to contact the Federation and see if Star 
Fleet Command can send help." said Moran.
McGinnis stared at her for a moment.  In the mad series of events, he had 
forgotten that he'd ordered Cisco to do just that.
"Ops, get Cisco on the viewer," he said.
"Commadore Cisco coming on screen," replied Anders.
"Comaadore, report on your progress." 
"I've gotten to Admiral T'laz at Starfleet, she says that there are no 
available resources at the moment, and she expressed her confidence in 
your command and tactical abilities...  I've talked with Minister Kira, 
and she asked you to do what you could to defend the planet, she says 
that they can't handle the Dominion and the Cardassians at the same 
time.  All of my ships are out, and we're shadowing the fighters on their 
way to Bajour.  Mr. Nog's report is that he should be able to hold them 
long enough for you to get their and negotiate with them."
"Very well, this means that you're on your own versus that ship out 
there, I can't stay to help.  I'm going to try to help the Bajourans slow 
down the Cardassian fleet, and then give the Cardassians something more 
important to use their ships for.  Do you think that you can handle that 
ship out there?"
"It'll be close, our weapons aren't the best.  If you can divert the 
run-abouts, I think that i can trap them between my ships and the base, 
and we'll have to see after that."
"Very well, order your ships back, I'm on my way to deal with that fleet."
"Good luck, sir."
"The same to you Commadore, keep in direct contact with Admiral T'laz, 
I'm turning command of this situation over to her."
"Aren't you going to tell her tat?"
"No, and since I outrank both of you, she won't have too much to stand on."
"Yes sir!", said Cisco, who was clearly not pleased at having to act as a 
messenger.
"McGinnis out."

With this McGinnis turned back to Anders.
"Dommander, get me a channel to minister Kira."
"Aye, .... Channel open."

"Minister, This is Admiral William McGinnis commanding the United Star 
Ship Ticonderoga.  Have you heard from the commander of the Dominion forces?"
"Yes, and I won't accept his terms.  For that reason, I'm making a direct 
request of you and all other Federation resources in the area for 
assistance to a Federation-allied government."
"Thank you, we are on our way.  If you would get me a link to your 
commanding officer?"
"yes, the code is being transmitted now."

Anders nodded to show that she had it.
"Thank you, Ticonderoga out."
"Comander, get me through to the Bajouran commander."
"Aye, coming up now."
"Admiral McGinnis, I am general Tyrae, it is good to speak with you."
"General, what is your current diployment?", asked McGinnis bypassing the 
courtesies as unjustifiable under the current conditions.
"We are diployed against the Cardassians, with only ground-based forces 
to hold off the Dominion fleet."
"Very well, I am moving to occupy them for a bit, so push the Cardassians 
back as much as you can, I'll deal with them as soon as you've engaged 
the dominion forces."
"What is your plan?"
"I don't think that it would be wise to discuss it in detail, simply say 
that I will make sure that the Cardassians decide that a rediployment of 
their forces is ... necessary."
"All right, I'd like to know what you're planning to do, but as ranking 
Federation officer, you have the right to refuse to tell me."
"General, I would do so if I felt that there was time, but there isn't, 
and this channel is not fully secured."
"You are right, do as you see best."
"McGinnis out."

"Helm, set course 157 mark 36, short duration burst at warp nine to get 
us in front of those ships.  ... Tactical, engage all shielding, bring 
the secondary weapons on line, set for rapid-fire, independent targeting, 
"Aye, Sir," replied Schultz and Moran.

The ship leapt forward, and slowed just as quickly. Immediately the 
computer-controlled weapons opened fire, blasting many of the small and 
comparatively under-defended fighters out of space.  As the toll began to 
rise, the fighters began to duck and weave, trying to avoid the far 
bigger ship's guns.  Their maneuvers wer semi-successful, both because 
there was little pattern to them, and because there were too many targets 
for the independent targeting nodes to handle.

"Sir, they're avoiding our shots, we're barely ten percent effective.  I 
suggest that we commit the auxiliary computer core to assisting the 
rapid-fire weapons targeting controllers."
"I agree, you may proceed at your earliest convenience," replied McGinnis.
"Redirecting, ... now!" said Schultz.

The act was only minimally helpful, despite the massive computing 
resources now going to predicting and targeting, there were just oo many 
targets, acting too randomly.  Worse still, even though Ticonderoga had 
slowed their forward progress, the fighters were beginning to fly around 
the ship at a range sufficient to defeat the comparatively short range of 
the particle phasers.
"Mr. Schultz, bring the ring to full power, knock out some of those ships 
that are trying to slip past us, and try not to miss, I don't want them 
to get an idea as to our range on that weapon for a bit.  I don't want to 
have to start chasing those little ships with torpedoes."
"I agree, but despite the fact that we're running low, we may have to use 
them."
"I am well aware of  that, but the better your shooting, the longer we 
can wait."
"Ring charged, standing by to fire."
"You may proceed."

 The fighters' tactics had suddenly become ineffective.The main ring's 
greatly superior range and striking power resulted in the destruction of 
many of the small ships.  Also, as the ring could strike over greater 
ranges, it's effectiveness was even greater, as it could more easily 
knock out fighters that had slipped past the ship's mid-line.  The tactic 
forced the fighters to begin a rapid retreat away from the great ship's 
new weapon.  However, McGinnis didn't want to show their entire hand, so 
the ring was only used out to a range of 700,000 kilometers, slightly 
less than its maximum effective range. 

"They're still backing off, trying to get around us."
"Good, keep them backing, fire *one* torpedo, set it to detonate at one 
million kilometers range, try to take out a clump of them."
"Why ... Aye, sir." replied Schultz, realizing McGinnis' plan.

The photon torpedo flew from its bube, and detonated amongst a small 
cluster of the little ships.  Because space does not carry shock waves, 
it only destroyed four, but the blast still forced the Dominion crews to 
back off very quickly.
"Good, they are probably wondering just how much they have to give before 
we hit our limit, since the particle weapons stopped at half a million, 
and we haven't fired the ring at more than 700,000 kilometers, they've 
got to be getting tired of playing cat and mouse like this." said 
McGinnis, noting that the little ships had moved out to nearly 2 million 
kilometers.
"Tactical, plasma torpedo, just one, tshoot for any of those fighters at 
1.9 million." said McGinnis.
"Contained plasma torpedo ready," replied Schultz.
"Fire!"
The longer torpedo raced through space, and a second later, blew another 
pair of fighters to atoms.

"Sir, they're backing off *very quickly*.  Range now 2.3 million... 2.4 
million... 2.5 million... 2.7 million.... 2.85 million and holding."
"Very well, just let them think on it for awhile."
"They're just sitting there, apparently they don't want to test us 
again," said Moran from her station.
"Well, we've got no better place to go, so we
 shall wait until they decide to move. ... Tactical, have another torpedo 
ready the second that they move."
"Standing by...." replied Schultz, ordering the computer to fire at 
anything that moved and was within safe range.

The wait continued for nearly half an hour.  It was tedious, frustrating, 
and very concerning to McGinnis.  While he sat, holding down one force, 
the Cardassians were taking their toll on the Bajouran home fleet.  If 
this were lost, the system would be in enemy hands, and retaking it would 
be just as difficult, no matter whether those hands were Cardassian or 
Dominion-dominated in character.  Meanwhile, DS9's small ships had been 
destroyed by the construct, which had broken into its constituent parts 
in order to handle them.  It was a contingency that McGinnis had 
considered, but had hoped would not happen.

He was waiting for the Dominion to make a mistake, and they were waiting 
for Cisco to let down his guard.  Over all, there was much too much 
waiting going on for his satisfaction.  However, there was nothing to do 
but keep waiting...

Finally, things changed, and not for the better.

"Sir, I have an incoming transmission from Bajouran fources commander."
"... yes, yes, put it on screen."

McGinnis brought himself out of his trance, and turned to the main viewer.
"Admiral, the Cardassians are about to break our line, we need your help 
now!"
"I can't move, more than two thirds of the entire Dominion forces are 
still sitting in front of me, and if I move, they'll level every 
structure on your planet.  There's no way that you can hold them off 
without your main fleet."
"I am well-aware of that, but you'll understand that we do not want the 
Cardassians to return to power in this system," said the Bajouran 
general, somewhat tensely.
"I am aware, but if you are alive, you can always be freed later.  The 
dominion will ensure that that is not a possibility. ... unless..."
"Ops, put that on hold!"
"done," replied Anders.
"Tactical, helm, how long would it take for us to get to Cardassia from 
here at maximum possible speed?"
"About forty-five, maybe fifty seconds, at warp 9.975, but we'll have to 
shut everything else off to get theree that fast."
"Fine, set a course for the Cardassian fleet, warp seven.... wait until I 
tell you to engage."
"Ops, reopen that frequency."
"General, switch all of your forces to my location, I'm going to handle 
the Cardassians now, but its a risky bet at best."
"What are you going to do?"
"Let them fire on us."
"What!"
"Let the mfire upon us, it will let us intervene more directly, as it 
will be a violation of the cease-fire that was signed five years ago."
"Very well, ... For Bajour's sake, I hope that you know what you are 
doing.  We are disengaging now, I hope that you can intercept the fleet."
"I'm not concerned about that."
"Very well, Tyrae out."
"Helm, set course, and engage, ... tactical, shields up, main ring to 
full power, load torpedo bays, bring secondary phasers on-line, and 
prepare to lock into distributed computers.  Lock main ring and torpedoes 
into central computer, and have the systems control the firing sequence."
"Aye Sir, standing by for range....  ten 
seconds...eight...six...four...two...range achieved, awaiting your 
clearance to fire."

As McGinnis had hoped, the Cardassians fired at the Federation vessel, 
doing only moderate damage to the outer shielding.  However, it gave him 
the excuse that he needed.
"You may fire at your earliest convenience," he said. 

The blast of energy from the federation super-starship ripped into the 
Cardassian formation, reducing the seven remaining ships to five.  
McGinnis was glad to see that these ships were too seriously damaged to 
pose any serious threat for at least a few minutes.  It wasn't much of a 
window, but it was all he had time to create.  As McGinnis expected, the 
Cardassian vessels returned fire, but both due to their damage, and 
Ticonderoga's massive shielding advantage, they  scored no damage.
"Now, accelerate to maximum possible velocity! execute!" McGinnis said, 
and the great ship shot through the Cardassian formation, and accelerated 
to nearly warp 9.98.  Except for navigational shielding limited computing 
power, and  inertial dampeners,  *nothing* was powered.  The ship was now 
streaking headlong into a very risky divertion which McGinnis hoped would 
get the Cardassians to back off from Bajour, and remember the treaty 
limitations to which they had agreed, not five years 
previously.              


SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part IV: Chapter XIX:
By:
Matthew A. Weed

Command Log: Stardate 56745.8: Admiral William McGinnis Commanding USS 
Ticonderoga Recording:

We are headed to Cardassia, on what I would call a "diversionary 
tactic".  I hope that it works.

"Tactical, the moment we begin decellerating, engage the phase-cloak, and 
stand by.
"Helm, keep our course so that we come out of warp in near-orbital space, 
and set a course straight for the Cardassian capitol city, bring us to a 
halt at 200 kilometers above ground level."
"Aye Sir, plotting post warp course.  It may be difficult to get the kind 
of acuracy you want in twenty seconds..."
"Well, if you miss, we're all going to be in trouble, so do your job as 
well as you always do it."
"Aye..." replied Moran with a concerned and thankful look his way.
"Tactical, the second that we stabilize, switch off the phase-cloak, and 
raise all shielding.  Bring the auxiliary phasers on line, and leave them 
charged.  I hope that we won't need to use them."
"Aye Sir, programming..." replied Schultz hunching over his station.
"Now fifteen seconds from deceleration," announced Moran.
"Stand by.... and hold on, I suspect that we will feel this decelleration 
with power shunted as it is," said Anders.
"Commander, send out a lock down warning, and hope that everyone's 
already at stations."
"Aye, warning out."
"Now five seconds...four...three...two...one......"
The rest of Moran's countdown was overwhelmed by the shriek of the ship 
coming down from ultra-high velocity as hard as it possibly could.  
Everyone was buffeted about in their stations, but because the computer 
had locked them all down, noone was thrown to the floor.
"Engineering, report!" said McGinnis into the air, as he felt the slight 
shift of perspective that always came with the use of the phase-cloak.
"Engineering, Data here, sir.  I believe that all of the crew here are 
functional, no major injuries.  The phase-cloak is operating normally, 
and all other systems and structures are holding at nominal levels."
"Thank you Mr. Data," said McGinnis to his first officer, who was now in 
charge of engineering, as no senior officer was left to handle the 
responsibilities.  The bridge could function without him, and both of 
them had thought that his presence in engineering would be the most 
"useful," after the extent of the casualties had become clear after the 
incident with the rogue Klingon ship.  Therefore, Data had been 
supervising the engineering repairs since that time, and would retain his 
post until the ship could return to base for final repairs.

"Sir, now passing through upper atmosphere," reported Moran.
"Hold your course, notify me when we're inserted at the proper level."
"Twenty seconds to position."

All of them watched as Cardassian defenses scrambled to deal with the 
invader that had ripped into their system at speeds that the Cardassian 
command had assumed were impossible.  However, with the phase-cloak in 
operation, the regular levels of ionic interference in Cardassia's upper 
atmosphere made finding the ship absolutely impossible.  Of course, 
McGinnis had counted on this....
"Position achieved," announced Moran.
"Very well, ... tactical, disengage phase-cloak, shields and auxiliary 
phasers to full power.... Ops, get me a channel to the Cardassian 
leadership."

The ship flipped into visibility, only a few hundred kilometers above the 
capitol city of the Cardassian Empire.  To put it mildly, this was the 
last place that the Cardassian defenders would have liked to find such a 
powerful, and unhappy, enemy.

"Sir, we've gota response," said Anders, with more than a bit of humor in 
her voice.
"Put them on screen," replied McGinnis.

"I am Gul Meset, and I demand to know why you have invaded Cardassian 
territory."

McGinnis recognized the man, he had dealt with him, both on the field of 
battle, and over the negotiating table.  He did not like, or trust,  him 
in the slightest.
"Gul Meset, It is good to see that you are still alive," said McGinnis, 
more than a bit of sarcasm in his comment.  "Your ships have crossed into 
Bajouran space, thereby violating the treaty that you and I signed five 
years ago.  Quite honestly, I am surprised that you would be so lacking 
in respect for your old enemies.  However, that is not important now.  
What is important is that you have violated the cease-fire, and this 
being the case, I will have to respond in kind unless you withdraw from 
the Bajouran system immediately."

"Admiral, it is good to see you again," replied Meset in his typical, 
oily voice.  "Had I known that you were back from your recent mission, 
and with such a grand new ship, I would have rethought the wisdom of 
trying to retake the wormhole at this time.  However, I know that things 
are going very badly for the Bajourans, and that we will be able to take 
the planet without too many shots fired.  By the time your response is 
made, I will have the wormhole, and you will have to retake it by force."
"That is as may be, but you forget that I'm sitting so close to your 
capitol city that if you fire on my ship, and miss, you will do great 
damage to your governing center.  Of course, you'll have to turn your 
defensive satellietes around to hit this ship, and by that point, they 
will be annihilated.  In any case, I believe that you need, ... 
convincing, ... of the seriousness of my intentions.  Therefore, I shall 
destroy a large fraction of your orbiting defenses ...in two minutes, 
unless you call off your ships."
"I can not do that, Admiral." replied Meset.
"Very well, but know that I did warn you, ... Ticonderoga out."
"Tactical, lock auxiliary phasers on those orbiting platforms, knock them 
down as quickly as possible.  Charge the main ring, but don't use it 
unless you can't shoot down anything with the smaller weapons."
"Aye, Sir!", replied Schultz, rapidly programming the computers to do 
something that he thought should have been done long ago.

The phasers struck in many different directions.  There were a lot of 
orbiting defense satellites, and some were shielded.  However, combined 
fire from the auxiliary weapons was sufficient to deal with even these 
platforms.  However, the work went slowly, and it took nearly half an 
hour to knock down all of the close-range orbiting defenses.  Those that 
were in far orbit would have to wait until later.

Just as the ship was finishing with the first stage of its assigned task, 
a small cardassian defense shuttle streaked in, hoping to get in a lucky 
shot on the upper edge of the ship's main hull, or on a warp nacelle.  
The auxiliary weapons were not fully charged, so the main computer was 
forced to use the ring to knock the flea out of the way.  The  flare of 
light was so bright that anyone who was looking at the great ship was 
blinded.

Apparently, this event got the Gul's attention where the knocking out of 
his home defenses had not.

"Sir, I have a transmission from Gul Meset," announced Anders.
"Put him on."
"Admiral, ... it is possible that we could negotiate a new agreement that 
would be satisfactory to both sides, I hope?"
"No, unfortunately, you have proven your inability to stay with 
agreements that you make.  Here are my terms.  
1.  You surrender all military vessels of the Federation classification 
of light-cruiser or higher to the Bajouran provisional government.
2.  You allow me to destroy all ship construction facilities on Cardassia 
IV, and you release all prisoners held there.
3.  You remove all of your planetary defenses, except for the deep-space 
and atmospheric defenses.  
4.  You agree to flash inspections of all military and civilian 
construction facilities by any power that desires them.
and 5, you withdraw from Bajouran space immediately."
"Those are incredibly harsh terms!" snapped meset.  "You must know that 
they would leave us practically defenseless, and that they would cause 
major disruption to our internal political and economic  structure."
"Yes, I am aware of the consequences, and believe that you and your 
friends in the military would be rather too busy dealing with your 
internal problems to cause Bajour, or the Federation, any trouble for 
quite some time.  ... Meset, I have too many other problems demanding my 
immediate attention to allow you the ability to come in on the side of 
house Durass in the action going on with the Klingons and Romulans, and I 
am unwilling to trust you to keep any lesser bargain."
"I see, then I suppose that I shall have to refuse your terms."
"As I said, I am quite busy at the moment, and would rather not have to 
delay here any more than is necessary.  I will, if necessary, begin a 
bombardment of your planet ... which is within my rights under the 
treaty, considering that you broke the cease-fire first." 
"I shall contact you in a moment," said Meset, who cut the channel from 
his end.

"Sir, with all due respect, I'm not sure that Command will be happy with 
what's going on here," said Anders from her station.
"I think that you are very likely right, but unlike the treaty five years 
ago, which we signed under conditions which approximated those of the 
golden age, we can't afford kid gloves any more.  Cardassia is not a 
major threat to the Federation as a whole, but it can threaten allied 
governments like Bajour, and with much of our military strength occupied 
in other areas, they pose a reasonably serious threat to some members in 
the outer areas of Federation space. This game of brinksmanship, if it 
works properly will allow me  to ensure that they are busy with their own 
concerns, and with our inspectors, for a while.  Sooner or later, a 
politician will cut back on my restrictions, and it will be back to 
business as usual.  However, for the moment, while I've got them where I 
want them, it seems prudent to make sure that business as usual will stop 
here and now, for a while at least."

Anders turned back to her station, shocked at the hard hand that McGinnis 
was willing to use on the Cardassians.  Had this been an unknown 
civilization, the violations of the prime directive that he was 
contemplating would have been too numerous to count.  As it was, she felt 
that McGinnis was taking the short-term view, and that ultimately 
Cardassia would have to be reformed, not forced into an unacceptable 
peace.  However, McGinnis was a brilliant military strategist, and she 
knew that the star fleet that she had joined as an ensign fifteen years 
previously was not the organization that now defended the Federation from 
a newly hostile galaxy.  She hoped furvently that she would not be forced 
to command a ship in this "new", and retrenched organization.

Her reverie was cut short by a blinking light on her pannel.  It was 
Meset, calling back.

"Sir, Gul Meset on main viewer," she said.

"admiral, I have conferred with my colleagues, and we have a counter 
proposal."
"I'm listening," replied McGinnis, well-aware that negotiating was not 
one of his strong suits.  he had been included as military representative 
on the negotiating team five years ago because some of the diplomats had 
not been sure that The Cardassians would listen to the Federation 
delegates without an obvious sign of "commitment," to their original 
cease-fire terms.

"We are willing to pull out of Bajouran space, allow inspections of our 
construction facilities, and disarm to the levels set in the treaty five 
years ago."
"Unacceptable," replied McGinnis. ... "If you follow your terms, plus 
disarming to the fleet strength of the Bajouran home forces,  release all 
political prisoners, and allow me to take out your construction 
facilities, I will accept your offer."
"A moment, please."
"My time, and patience, are short." replied McGinnis.

The screen reverted to its view of the suddenly-empty air and ground 
traffic patterns on that side of Cardassia.

McGinnis felt that he had no choice but to up the ante even further.  
However, in spite of his inherent lack of respect for the Cardassian 
military, whose technology was twenty years behind this new ship, he did 
know that if he pushed too hard, things could slip out of control.  
However, a strong enough blow against the Cardassian Empire would also 
force them to deal with internal problems before they could retalliate.  
By that point, the war in the north would have either been won or lost.  
He therefore decided to use the strongest card in his hand. 

"Computer, log general Order number 24, stardate 56745.9.  The following 
procedures for this bombardment schedule.  All offensive and defensive 
systems of this vessel shall now be under direct control of the main 
computer core, with override priority to the commander and tactical 
officer.  Should these be incapacitated, control shall stay in the main 
computer, until the first officer can assess the situation.  Bombardment 
priorities shall be as follows: military installations, space-based;  
Military installations, ground-based, communications, transportation, and 
governmental control facilities;  and Civilian populations as lowest 
priority targets."
"Command order, general order 24, recognized.  Prioritizations and 
computer control procedures accepted.  Awaiting time for commencement of 
controlled weapons assault."
"Time is 60 minutes, mark." said McGinnis.
"60 minutes recognized and locked, bombardment shall begin in 60 minutes."

"Sir, Gul Meset back for you," said Anders.
"Put him on," replied McGinnis.
"Admiral, we will agree to all of your terms, except for the disarmament 
clause.  We can not hold down our military commitments with such minimal 
forces."
McGinnis translated this in his mind to 'hold down our conquered 
territory'.  Verbally he said:
"you must disarm or I can not accept your terms."
"I am not permitted to disarm to that level, but I am willing to allow 
you to ensure that we will not build further forces."
"You will not stand in the way of a total bombardment of your 
construction facilities on Cardassia IV?"
"yes, that is quite right."
"That is a welcomed concession, but it is still insufficient. ... I would 
trade you Bajour and a half forces for relief of the destruction of 
purely civilian construction facilities on Cardassia IV. "
"I shall be back with you momentarily."
"Meset, tell your people that this ship's computers have been set to 
begin a general order 24 bombardment of this planet in fifty-eight 
minutes forty-five seconds."
"I see... Meset out."

"Sir, I respectfuly suggest that you're pushing him too hard," said 
Anders from her station.
"Ms. Anders, I understand your reservations, but we do not have enough 
force to take a more standard route, so I must hold the proverbial gun to 
Meset's head.  If you can't accept what is happening now, you are 
welcomed to call for relief and stand down on your duties until we return 
to home port."

Anders' head turned sharply at this, the shock clear in her eyes.  
McGinnis had come down on her hard in the past, but this was unprecedented.
"No Sir, that will not be necessary."
"Good!, I would hate to lose one of my best officers at a time like this."

Time passed, and the small status clock in the main viewer was showing a 
bit less than ten minutes when Anders turned to McGinnis.
"Gul Meset for you sir."
"Put him up there, and let's hope that this is the last time."
"Admiral, if you will agree to forces twice the size of current Bajouran 
strength, destruction of our ship-building facilities, unnanounced 
inspection tours, and no releases of political prisoners, we can live 
with that."
"Very well, I shall write an agreement, and we shall sign via sub-space 
link in five minutes."
"Very well, I await your call."

McGinnis was glad that the original treaty had allowed him (or any other 
full admiral), to sign such a reinforcement of the treaty, if Cardassia 
broke it.  He had been surprised that they had gone for it then, but with 
three-fourths of their fleet destroyed, and the Bajourans calling for the 
destruction of Cardassia, they had had little choice.  He was even more 
surprised that the Cardassians had tried to break the agreement so 
flagrantly.  Admittedly, there wasn't much in the way that the Federation 
could have done, had Ticonderoga not been in the area. This single 
happenstance was all that stood between Bajour and either Cardassian 
defeat, or destruction by the dominion fleet; McGinnis knew2 that either 
could still happen if things didn't play out just right.

"Ms. Anders, get me Star Fleet HQ, priority one, for Admiral Jellico only."
"Aye sir, it will take a moment."
"Very well,"

McGinnis quickly wrote the terms of the new cease-fire, and loaded them 
into the ship's main computers for immediate transmittal to Admiral 
Jellico when the link was established.
"Sir, Admiral Jellico on the main viewer," announced Anders.

"William, what is your status?"
"Sir, While my crew was taking shore leave at Deep Space Nine, a powerful 
Cardassian fleet struck at the Bajouran system.  At practically the same 
moment, a powerful fleet from the Dominion crossed through the worm hole, 
and began to move toward Bajour.  We gave them appropriate warnings, and 
then began to fire upon their fleet, as their stated objective was the 
destruction of Bajour.  The Cardassians, meanwhile broke through the 
Bajouran line, so I told their commander to deal with the Dominion 
forces, while I stared down the Cardassians.  before I could even come to 
a halt,  they fired upon this ship.  I did not fire first, and therefore 
interpreted this as a violation of the Federation/Cardassian treaty.  As 
the Bajouran military asked for Federation assistance in the matter, our 
alliance and economic treaties also seemed to govern  my actions since 
then.  I am now sitting over the Cardassian capitol, and have forced the 
Cardassians to agree to major force reductions, destruction of their 
military construction facilities, and a pull-back from the Bajouran 
system.  I wanted to be sure that you'd back me on this before I make 
them sign the new cease-fire."
"Yes, of course, I will back you, their actions in the last few months 
have been a concern as you know, and that was why I wanted you in the 
area.  The council may have some problems with the preemptory nature of 
your action, but they owe you a lot, after the Borg campaign's success, I 
wouldn't worry about that much.  Go ahead, take whatever action you feel 
is necessary, but keep Cardassian casualties to a minimum."
"Thank you, Ticonderoga out. ... Ops, Get me in touch with Gul Meset."
"He's waiting on channel II."
"On the viewer if you will," 

"Meset, here are the terms of the new cease-fire, you should begin 
evacuating your facilities immediately, I will be at Cardassia IV in four 
hours to begin the destructions."
"Yes, I am sure that you will be, your treaty is now signed by me, 
representing the Cardassian military and government."
"Good, then I look forward to reports that your forces have departed 
Bajouran space."
"You shall have them.  Admiral, as always, it is a pleasure doing 
business with you."
"I'm glad you think so, if you and your government would take a less 
beligerent stance, I believe that we could meet less frequently.  Gul 
Meset, you must understand that such a decrease in the frequency of our 
meetings would please me as much as it would you.  For now,  I wish you 
good health and prosperity, ... McGinnis out."

The channel closed, and McGinnis sat back, letting out a deep sigh.  The 
"negotiations" had been easier than he had expected.  He had honestly 
expected to have to destroy a number of Cardassian cities before the 
Cardassian government gave in.  Of course, they might well be planning 
something, but there was no way to know for sure.  Until the ship was out 
of Cardassian space, it would remain at red alert.

"Ms. Anders, keep an ear open for a call from Bajouran military or 
governmental headquarters.  Notify everyone that we will remain at 
condition 1 for the moment, but that if crew get clearance from their 
departmental heads, they are welcomed to stand down their stations for 
brief periods of time in order to move about the ship."
"Aye Sir, notification is out, awaiting Bajouran signal."

Within moments, the message had come through.  The Cardassians were 
pulling back, and the computer had confirmed that it had been General 
Tyrae making the report.  With this out of the way, McGinnis could begin 
to think about the work ahead.

*.*.*

Four hours later, the ship was in orbit over Cardassia IV, but as 
McGinnis had expected, a major difficulty had arisen.  Apparently the 
Cardassian military had chosen not to evacuate their construction 
facilities.  McGinnis saw no reason for unnecessary casualties, but then 
again, he wasn't a cardassian.

"Ms. Anders, try to raise Gul Meset."
"Trying... I have another Gul, by the name of Dahrat."
"Very well, put him on the main viewer."
"Gul Dahrat, I want you to know, that I intend to destroy your 
construction facilities, and I would like to keep casualties on both 
sides to a minimum.  That won't be possible, if your government does not 
remove your personel from those bases.  You and I both know that I am 
within my rights under the treaty of Bajour, and the cease-fire of 
Cardassia  to destroy those bases, inhabited or not.  However, I see no 
reason for unnecessary casualties.  Therefore, I will give you an hour to 
remove your personel."

"Admiral, many of our soldiers do not want to leave those bases.  We have 
removed all of the people that can be removed."
"Very well, but I want it known here that I gaave those people the chance 
to leave your installations.  I do not want to be known as the man who 
heartlessly slaughtered innocent Cardassian construction workers."
"We will not record it so, but you must know that the Cardassian people 
will remember you that way."

McGinnis knew this well, and there was nothing to be done about it.  He 
also knew that the Cardassian government would portray him as a heartless 
killer, representative of a power full of officials and military people 
who wanted to kill Cardassians so that they would not rise to their 
appointed place in the Galaxy.  It could not be helped.
"Gul Dahrat, I will offer those people one more chance to evacuate 
themselves, then I shall destroy those bases, inhabited or not."
"I understand, Admiral. Dahrat out."
"Ops, send those people a final warning, tell them that they are welcomed 
to evacuate by transporter or shuttle for the next fifteen minutes, after 
that, we shall open fire."
"Sent, Sir."

At this moment, the Cardassian patroll ships that had, until then, 
respected the great warship's firepower, drove forward, hoping to defend 
their friends and relatives on Cardassia IV.  The automated systems were 
ready, and the small ships, though numerous, were destroyed out of hand 
by torpedo and auxiliary phaser fire.  Only one ship was powerful enough 
to break through the defenses to the fifty-thousand kilometer defense 
limit, which resulted in the discharge of the main ring.  One shot, and 
this small light-cruiser-class ship disintegrated into a violent 
maelstrom of light and heat.  By the time that these ships were 
destroyed, McGinnis' time limit had passed, and the bases awaited 
destruction.

It was handled, as everything else this day had been, by the computer.  
Carefully targetted blasts took out power generation facilities, which 
either fusion or matter/antimatter powered, supplied more than enough 
destructive potential to destroy the orbiting facilities, or render them 
unusable for many months to come.

The planetary facilities were taken care of by discharges from the main 
ring, mostly using its particle phaser settings.  Although not as 
destructive as the high-energy standard settings, these were more 
appropriate to carefully planned and targetted fire.  The planetary 
facilities were often located near prison facilities, many of which 
contained Cardassian political prisoners.  The fire was carefully aimed 
and none of these prisons suffered damage.  This despite the fact that 
the ship never came closer than a million kilometers from the  planet.  
Within an hour, the job was done.

"Tactical, shut down all weapons, save the main ring.  Leave it at 
stand-by status, and engage the phase-cloaking device.  Also, give me 
your analysis of what we have seen here."
"Sir, all weapons except main ring are now shut down.  The ring is at 
stand-by status, phase-cloaking device engaged.  In so far as what we've 
seen here is concerned,  I would say that we can safely assume that the 
Cardassians hurried forward construction on a number of the ships that we 
saw at Bajour, because they believed that they could capture the system 
while Federation and other resources were directed elsewhere.  this is 
the main reason for the lack of ships in progress in the docks at this 
time.  We were very fortunate to have been there when we were."
"Thank you, I tend to agree. ... Helm, set course for Bajour, warp 9.6, 
we still have the Dominion to deal with."
"Course laid in, and warp 9.6 engaged," replied Moran.

With these words,  the already invisible ship, accelerated toward Bajour, 
and a situation which had not yet been fully dealt with.


SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part IV: Chapter XX
By:
Matthew A. Weed

Command Log: Stardate 56746.2: Admiral William McGinnis, Commanding USS 
Ticonderoga, recording:

We are returning to Bajour, in order to assist their dwindling defense 
forces against a large fleet of craft sent there by the Dominion.  It is 
fortunate that we were there, because there are few  resources in the 
area.  Had the Bajourans sent a distress call, and another federation 
vessel responded, it would have taken too long for it to arrive, and any 
other single ship wouldn't have had sufficient firepower to dislodge the 
Cardassians from Bajour, or defeat the Dominion fleet.  I can't avoid the 
feeling that we've been lucky.

HOwever, while we have been ensuring that the Cardassians will not be 
able to violate the cease-fire agreement for some time to come, the fleet 
from The Dominion has continued to work over the Bajouran home fleet, 
which was already weakend after their defensive battle against the 
Cardassian attack  force.  We were able to whittle the Dominion ships 
down some, and stop the Cardassians, but there is still a very real 
possibility that the Bajouran civilization will be destroyed by the 
Dominion, which claims that the influences coming from this quadrant of 
the galaxy are disrupting their internal political relationships.  Quite 
honestly, I can't say whether this is true, and because of the size  of 
this vessel, and the serious depletion of its crew, I believe that  
direct investigation would be difficult.  Hopefully we can come up with 
an acceptable arrangement, as the Dominion has declared its determination 
to destroy Deep space 9, and Bajour as well.

The destruction of the space station seems a reasonable goal, but it is 
unclear to me why they wish to destroy the sponsoring government's 
planet.  This is only one of the many issues to which we now return from 
Cardassia.

"Helm, ETA at Deep Space 9?"
"At our current warp 9.6, we will arrive at DeS9 in two minutes twenty 
seconds."
Tactical, do we  have an evaluation of the military situation yet?"
"Sir, computer's working on it now, but preliminary results suggest that 
the Bajouran fleet has held against the fighter forces, and DS9 is still 
trading fire with the Dominion construct.  We are still too far to be 
able to tell what the conditions aboard either the station or that ship 
are.  It'll be another half minute before I can guess, and about eighty 
seconds before we're close enough for a final evaluation."
"Right, disengage phase-cloaking device, power all weapons, and stand by."
"Phase-cloak disengaged, all weapons powered and standing by," replied 
Schultz.
"Helm, adjust course so that we have the construct trapped between 
ourselves and the space station."
"Aye, computer is handling tactical navigation, and has changed course 
according to your new perameters," reported Moran.

The computers were best at making split-second changes in course, as they 
could take simple perameters, and make the mathematical calculations 
necessary to achieve the goal.  Therefore, when in battle, the helmsman 
could just use a touch-sensitive surface and tell the computer where the 
ship should be.  This was only useful in high-speed situations like this 
one, where the actual course correction was tiny, only requiring a slight 
change in the ship's angle of approach.

"Sir, we now have preliminary data on shielding and weapons," announced 
Schultz.
"Report."
"DS9 is nearing shield failure, with moderate damage to many parts of the 
outer areas of the station.  All of its weapons are still functional, but 
with loss of shield integrity, this probably won't hold long.  The 
construct has suffered much more structural damage, possibly due to the 
weaknesses which would result from using that kind of modular design.  
Their shields are in better condition than those on DS9, and they still 
have full estimated weapons."
"Thank you, when we get into range, have the computer target shields and 
weapons, I want to be sure that they can leave if they so choose."
"Aye, setting perameters."

The great ship closed on its target, and began to slow in order to come 
into the proper position.  However, the commander of the Dominion ship 
could see Ticonderoga closing on his vulnerable weak side, preparing to 
catch him in a powerful trap.  There was no choice but to back off, any 
other action being likely to result in the fiery deaths of his crew, 
their mission not yet complete.

"Sir, Dominion construct moving to avoid the vice," reported Schultz.
"Very well, then we take them on one-on-one. ... Helm, course 168 mark 
299, warp 8."

The ship dove down and right,  nearly reversing its direction.  This 
maneuver took it away from the Dominion vessel, which slowed its retreat.
"Now, come around to course 16, mark 24, warp 9.6," said McGinnis tensely.

The ship swung about sharply, and was suddenly closing on the surprised 
dominion commander.
"Tactical, fire all weapons, target weapons and shielding, secondary 
targeting on engines."

The ship spat torpedoes and then phased energy, all of which crashed into 
the shielding of the dominion vessel, nearly crumpling it on the first 
attack.  Ticonderoga shot past the Dominion vessel, and then began to 
swing around for a second run.

However, the Dominion commander now knew that his opponent had better 
speed than he did, and so depended on superior maneuverability.  The ship 
reversed course hard, and caught Ticonderoga with a blast from its plasma 
torpedoes.  The great ship staggered slightly, but remained unaffected.  

Now, it was a battle of maneuverability against firepower, and despite 
its over-powered impulse drive, Ticonderoga could not maneuver as quickly 
as the Dominion ship did.  However, it could use vastly superior 
firepower to deal with the ship.

"Helm, bring us around to 196 marc 38, warp 2.  Then, when we're just 
passing over them, bring us straight up, full impulse."
"Course plotted, laid in."
"Tactical, ready the main ring, and load aft torpedo tube with photon 
torpedoes.  When we've swung up, the computer should fire the torpedoes, 
and then hit them with the ring after they passs below us.  If it 
doesn't, do it yourself."
"Aye sir, computers are in agreement with you, locks are already set."
"Good,..."
His comment was interrupted by a hard jolt from the enemy vessel which 
was trying to get a lucky shot in on the forced quantum generator.  
Unfortunately for them, the auxiliary shields took the hit, where the 
main shields had temporarily been overwhelmed.  There was no damage from 
the attack.  Ticonderoga was much more lucky.  Its torpedoes slammed into 
the weakened shielding of the enemy vessel, breaking it totally.  The 
blast from the main ring smashed into the weapons section of the alien 
ship, utterly destroying it.  The force of the blast was so great that 
the construct broke up into its constituent parts.  Clearly, they could 
not recombine.

On the surface of the matter, this was good, meaning that the enemy had 
lost their main heavy weapon.  However, some of the parts careened 
through space, unpowered, and uncontrolled.  One of them struck DS9 a 
glancing blow, causing massive structural damage to the habitat ring and 
the new outer docking facility as well.  the station hadd clearly been 
put out of commission for some time to come.

"Sir, those ships are headed for the fighter groups, I think that they'll 
try to slug it out with the Bajouran ships, and I'd bet that they'll have 
a respectable shot at it.  On a unit-for-unit basis, they're about a 
match," said Schultz.

"Very well, we'll have to make sure that they've got fewer units.  Also, 
since we're nearly out of resources, tell the computer to set the 
torpedoes to hunt down groups of fighters and destroy them."
"Aye, setting perameters, computer is already locking on the constrct's 
units.  Firing the main ring."

Pulses of fire struck at the scout-sized ships, which had no chance of 
withstanding this heavy artillery.  After a few moments, the combined 
efforts of the Bajouran and Federation weapons had knocked out most of 
the construct's subunits.

McGinnis now felt that he could push the commander of the Dominion's 
forces to give him a cease fire, and a retreat from Bajouran space for 
some period of time.

"Ms. Anders, get their ranking officer for me, put him/her on the main 
viewer as soon as you have established contact."
"Aye Sir, it may take a moment."
"We have time."

Meanwhile, the great ship's rapid-fire weapons were knocking out more of 
the fighters, which were trapped between it and the Bajouran space 
forces.  McGinnis knew that if they broke the Bajouran line that there 
were still far too many for the Bajouran air forces to handle, and that 
their little photon-style missile weapons would do critical damage to 
populated areas of the planet.  For this reason he was willing to take 
added risk, such as allowing himself to be in a position in which he 
could be hit hard by these same craft.  Clearly the pilots realized this, 
and were maneuvering to fire at their large adversary.

The primary shielding was still down, but the auxiliary and secondary 
shields, just as powerful as the primaries, were holding well, despite 
the hail of three-megaton explosives hitting them.  Ultimately, it came 
down to whether the combined fire of Ticonderoga nad the bajouran fleet 
would destroy the fighters before they could take out either of the two 
forces opposing them.  Clearly, the dominion's commander was willing to 
wait until a clear decision came before discussion with McGinnis would 
occur.  

The final decision came when a number of short-range patroll ships from 
the Federation's Cardassian border fleet arrived in-system, in response 
to Commadore Cisco's continued calls for assistance.  Their added 
firepower began to allow for a slow, but steady offensive that pulled the 
Dominion's fleet back to the area of the wormhole.

Seeing that he was in a natural position to hold the Dominion fleet in 
the system, without chance of easy escape through the wormhole, McGinnis 
simply decided to sit still for a while.
"Helm, just sit here for a while, I want him to have to negotiate his way 
home." said McGinnis.  With this, a signal from the Dominion forces 
commander came to Ticonderoga.

"Admiral McGinnis, you have bested us this day, but I do not intend to 
leave the matter unfinished.  The presence of you and your allies in our 
spaces is dangerous to our way of life, and we are willing to fight to 
the death to protect it."
"I understand your concerns,but there is little that I can do to address 
them.  I suggest that you speak with the head of the Bajouran government, 
they may be willing to restrict trafficthrough the wormhole  until a more 
satisfactory agreement can be made.  As commander of Federation forces, I 
can only tell you that Federation shipping will be given direct orders 
not  to pass through for some period of time, until my superiors on Earth 
overrule me, or until they feel that we can make Bajour safe from any 
attack that you may attempt."
"Very well, but I believe that you should be a part of this conversation, 
as yours is the most powerful force on your side at the moment."
"Agreed, I shall set up the conference call.  If you will please wait a 
moment."
"Certainly."

With this McGinnis waved to Anders to begin making the necessary calls.  
He then turned to Walter Schultz.

"Mr. Schultz, what is your analysis of remaining forces, both sides?"
"Sir, the Bajourans have taken heavy losses between the Cardassians and 
the Dominion forces.  I estimate that less than half of their fleet is 
battleworthy.  Two of the light patroll craft from our own fleet are 
destroyed, with four left more or less undamaged.  DS9 is seriously 
damaged, repairs will take quite some time.  We have suffered major 
losses in shielding, but only one of their missiles penetrated, and it 
did practically no consequential damage as it struck the upper 
engineering hull, just increasing the damage to the secondary collimator 
there.  It was too weak to do much damage to the hull itself."
"Thank you, dominion forces status?"
"Sir, they have only two of those construct parts left, one is the 
command section, the other appears to have been part of the energy 
production system, and is unusually heavily shielded and lightly armed.  
They still have almost half of their fighters, but I am quite certain 
that we can deal with those should it be necessary."
"Good, would the Bajourans be able to handle them alone?"
"No sir, not a chance.  There are too many of them and they're too mobile 
for the remaining Bajouran forces to deal with without Federation 
assistance."
"Thank you, that is important to any hope of peace."

"Sir, Minister Kira on channel two, she is willing to confer with the 
Dominion force's commander."
"Very well, put them both on screen,"

"I am Minister Kira of the Bajouran Government.  You have invaded our 
space, and tried to destroy The Bajouran people.  Now that you are 
defeated, I demand your immediate surrender to either Federation or 
Bajouran authority."
"Minister, your activities threaten the survival of the dominion, and we 
can not permit you to continue to use the wormhole.  Therefore, we demand 
that you agree to stop all missions through it, something that Admiral 
McGinnis claims that he can not do."
"We have the power to do so, but you are not in a position to enforce terms."
"MMinister, I can see all of your forces here, and although the 
Federation is very powerful, its ships here are few, and I am unwilling 
to believe that they would waste such resources here on the chance that 
we will come back.  I will also tell you that ours was a probe force,and 
that larger forces can be collected to defeat your defenses."

At this point, McGinnis cut in.
"Commander, you may be able to bring greater forces, but at the moment, 
you would have difficulty getting home to inform them of what you have 
seen.  As long as you are on this side of the hole, I can keep you from 
getting back through, by simply sitting just outside the portal and 
letting you try to pass.  Also, rebuilding your forces, even for another 
attack might take longer than it would take for us to get enough ships 
here to stop you.  I suggest that you accept a temporary stop to transit 
through the wormhole, until such time as better negotiations can be 
carried out.Otherwise I will have to keep you from transiting the 
wormhole, and you  can not get to Bajour, which would leave you totally 
defeated and dead as well.  If you were completely defeated, your people 
wouldn't know what you've found out,which would leave your government in 
danger for a longer period of time, while the Bajourans continued to 
sponsor use of the wormhole from this end.  At your end, you can always 
stop ships coming out, and force them to return to this side."
"Admiral, you speak wisely, and I believe that it may be best, for the 
moment, to blockade the effect on our end.  However, if ships continue to 
pass through, we will be back, and with a force many times the size of 
this one.  For the moment, I shall leave in peace, and hope that you can 
resolve things for your allies here."
"I have something to say here," snapped Kira, thinking that she had been 
ignored.  "We have the right to use the wormhole any way that we choose, 
and as allies of the Federation, we demand that you protect us."
"Ops, close the commander's channel for a moment," said McGinnis.  He 
then turned to Kira's image.
"Minister, please accept a temporary truce, most of these resources are 
needed by actual members of the Federation, and with our ... other 
commitments at the moment, keeping a force of this nature here forever is 
not possible.  I suggest that you follow the commander's lead and accept 
a truce that is less than what you want, as anything else may prove to be 
far less acceptable."

Kira looked at him in shock, not fully believing that he was forcing her 
to accept a peace that would threaten Bajour's economic security.
"I can't believe that you're doing this."
"Minister, their needs are as legitimate as yours are, my ship is 
terribly undermanned, my crew is exhausted, I have very few torpedoes 
left, I have long standing damage, and I must return to my home port soon 
in order to make necessary repairs.  The federation is at war against 
most of the powers of the galaxy, and I only barely avoided a war with 
Cardassia, which would have been rather bad for Bajour no matter what the 
situation with the dominion. I am not in the mood to negotiate over this, 
and would be happy to leave you to the tender mercies of the commander  
of the Dominion's fleet.  You don't have the resources to hold them off, 
and you would be in a much worse place than you are now.  If you had 
signed The Articles of Federation, things would be different, but you 
have chosen not to, so I have little responsibility to you, and in fact, 
have done more than I probably needed to."

She stared at him, unwilling to acceptthe fact  that, again, Bajour was 
under the control of a power far larger than it would ever be.

"Very well, I suppose that I must accept this agreement, but know that I 
shall lodge a protest concerning how you have treated the Bajouran 
goverment and people.  I don't see that I have a choice, as far as the 
current situation is concerned."

"No, unfortunately, I think that you don't have another legitimate option."

"Ops, put the commander back up in conference mode."

"Admiral, what is your decision?" asked the other being, understanding 
well that the final decision lay in the hands of the person with the most 
firepower in the area, no matter what the needs of the local governments 
might be.

"The Bajouran government agrees to a cessation of hostilities, but if you 
come bakc through, know that we will be ready for you," said Kira, not 
waiting for McGinnis to begin speaking.

"It isn't my issue any more, you must leave, but I can guarantee that 
Federation forces will not follow you, and the Bajourans are independent, 
so I think that you have the word on their plans from The Minister." said 
McGinnis.  "However, I do suggest that you two find a neutral third party 
to negotiate some kind of agreement between you, I am not that person, 
and unless you choose to make a request to the Federation diplomatic 
bureau, the Federation will not involve itself in local affairs of 
non-alligned worlds." said McGinnis.  "For now, plese leave Bajouran 
space and let things cool off for a while."

"Very well, good luck in your travels Admiral, I have grown to respect 
both your ship and your strategy over the last few hours." replied the 
Dominion commander before his ship turned and disappeared through the 
wormhole.

quickly enough, all of the dominion craft were back on the other side, 
leaving Ticonderoga, a few small Federation ships, and the tattered 
remains of the Bajouran fleet to tend to the needs of the many wounded 
and dead on DS9.  However, before Ticonderoga could do anything, a signal 
came in from Star Fleet Head Quarters.

"Admiral, Admiral Jellico on for you."
"Put him on screen," replied McGinnis, hoping that they would get some 
time in port from this call.

"William, i know of the events in the Bajouran system, and conggratulate 
you on a good temporary truce.  You need to get back to your home port 
for repairs, I don't want your crew out in space any longer than 
necessary, you haven't had significant leave in more than seven months.  
You will therefore set a course for your home port at maximum velocity, 
and not divert for any reason, unless I order you to change your flight 
plan personally."
Apparenlty, Jellico had expected to get some kind of resistance from 
McGinnis.  He was terribly surprised when McGinnis said:
"Agreed, Sir, setting course immediately."

"Excellent, I look forward to hearing of your safe arrival at home soon.  
Also, tell your crew that I share their loss, and wish that the Borg 
campaign had not been so bloody.  I know that you and I have talked 
several times in the last few days, but I have been too busy to remember 
to deal with things other than those that are very immediate."
"We all understand, and know of the situation throughout the rest of our 
space.  Thank you for your kind words, and unless there is anything else, 
I should let you bet back to the business at hand."
"No, nothing else, travel safely and have your port commander contact me 
when you arrive."
"Aye Sir, Ticonderoga out."

With that, McGinnis sighed, and turned to the helm.
"Ms Moran, set course for the Polaris system, maximum possible speed."
"Aye Sir, course laid in, velocity is warp 9.75, ETA seventy-four hours."
"Very well, if I'm needed, I'll be in my quarters.  I want all of you to 
get relief as quickly as possible, but until you have it, Mr. Schultz, 
you have the bridge." 

With these words, McGinnis left the bridge, giving himself and his crew 
time to reflect on the victories won, the losses encurred, and life in 
general.  he knew, as he entered his quarters, that this ship still had 
many missions to perform, but at least they would get some rest, 
relaxation, and medical care for those who needed it, before they would 
see action in the widening war.  For the upcommning respite, all of them 
were very thankful.  McGinnis could only hope that it would last quite 
some time.  he knew that everyone was exhausted, and the time would do 
all of them good.  With these thoughts, he fell asleep, while the ship 
streaked toward home, and temporary peace.     




**********************************


SUPERDREADNOUGHT: Part V: Chapter XXI:
By:
Matthew A. Weed

Personal Log: Stardate 57003.4: Admiral William McGinnis, in command of 
USS Ticonderoga recording:

After the last few weeks, I am beginning to know what it is like to be a 
hero.  People are giving me far too much credit for the victories against 
the Borg, the Dominion, and the reinforcement of the Cardassian treaty.  
Star Fleet Command wants me to return to Earth and take a desk job.  Like 
James T. Kirk almost 100 years ago, I do not want to do it.  I think that 
I can get around the request, but it may require a rather nasty break 
with Head Quarters to do so.  I sincerely hope, both for my sake and for 
that of Star Fleet, that this will not be necessary.  However, as with my 
feelings of trouble concerning the arrival at DS9, I feel that I must 
stay in space for a while longer.

McGinnis sat back in the command chair of the bridge of Ticonderoga, 
feeling the quietness of the ship.  The work crews had had much to do to 
get the ship back into optimal condition, despite the fantastic work that 
his crew had done in order to get them home.  He reflected, that in their 
case at least, the last steps to optimality had been a lot harder than 
the first.  However, the engineering hull was repaired, the auxiliary 
phaser collimators had been removed as they had proven too sensitive to 
enemy fire, and had been replaced with modular photon torpedo launchers.  
The ship had gone from a phaser-dependent configuration to a 
configuration that was approximately balanced between phaser and torpedo 
firepower.  

Considering the situation that Star Fleet found itself in, McGinnis had 
the feeling that the torpedo launchers would prove more useful in any case.

As things now stood, the Federation was on retreat on nearly all fronts, 
with many colonies lost to conquest or to bombardment.  Fortunately, none 
of the major planets had been lost, save Betazed.  However, with the new 
Romulan advances, the heart of the Federation was at increasing risk.  
McGinnis knew that this would be the next destination for his ship, once 
the crew returned four days hence.  However, at the moment, they were 
spread throughout the Federation, getting some well-deserved leave, after 
nearly seven months of continuous fighting, fleeing, and repairing.  Only 
Kyla Moran was still at construction dock, saying that she hadn't any 
family to see, and no places that she wanted to go.  McGinnis hoped that 
this was true, considering that her motives might not prove so 
innocuous.  He didn't think that he was quite ready for the attentions of 
a young woman who had grown up to see him something like an older 
brother.  After all, he was fifteen years her senior, and only four 
months beyond the death of his wife of nearly twelve years.  He decided 
that if something happened, he would find a way to deal with it.  For 
now, ....

"Admiral McGinnis, emergency communicae, all channels from Vulcan 
government." announced the computer.
"Put it on screen," said McGinnis moving from the ops station to his 
command chair.

"This is Vulcan Space Central to all Star Fleet units.  A large Romulan 
force has appeared in orbit over this planet, and has begun 
transportation of a significant number of troops to the surface.  There 
are currintly  insufficient resources in this star system  to repell this 
assault force.  Any assistance available is needed at this time. ..."

The message repeated over and over, the face of the young Vulcan 
Commander showing absolutely no emotion at what he was saying.
"Computer, status report, all systems, particular emphasis on weapons, 
computers, shielding, engines, structural members, and service load status."

The computer took a moment to respond.
"All ship's weapons systems are properly tied into main network, 
auxiliary and distributed hook ups are in place for main hull but not 
available for engineering hull torpedo weapons.  All computer systems are 
functioning at optimal perameters.  The main, auxiliary and secondary  
shielding is available at all settings, and phase-cloaking shields are 
fully operable.  All engines are fully optimized, and all power 
production systems are available.  Ship's  superstructure shows nominal, 
with all structural support fields available on demand.  Torpedoes are 
fully loaded for both plasma and photon torpedo launchers.  reapair 
materials are at thirty percent load status, and systems spare parts show 
fifty-three percent loaded.  The ship is at three percent of optimal 
replicator materials load."

McGinnis began to think quickly.  None of the crew were around, but the 
ship was needed, and needed now.  None of the construction workers were 
could be taken into battle, as they were either totally inexperienced, or 
working on a number of other heavy units at the moment.  It appeared that 
only Kyla was available, and he immediately called her.

"McGinnis to Lieutenant Moranm, priority alpha."
"Yes .... Sir, ....." she said, apparently just trying to wake herself up.
"Lieutenant, there has been an attack on the Epsilon Aeridoni system, and 
they have put out a general distress call.  You are the only ship's crew 
in dock, and we need to get out there immediately.  When can you be aboard?"
"Sir, it'll take about twenty minutes, I need to collect my armor and a 
few other things dockside."
"Very well, I will be waiting for you in the weapons control center."
"Understood, I will be there as quickly as possible, sir."
"McGinnis to docking control, I need all of the replicator raw materials 
that you can get onto this ship in the next fifteen minutes, I will be 
departing on a priority mission to Vulcan in exactly nineteen and a half 
minutes, so clear traffic for me."
"Yes, Sir, we are transferring replicator materials aboard your ship now, 
all non-military traffic will be cleared for your departure."

"Very good, McGinnis out."
"Computer, set all systems to alpha two lockout, respond only to the 
voice prints of myself and Lieutenant Kyla Moran.  Varify her voice print 
with retina scan, my voice with finger print scan."
"Alpha-two lockout, conditions and cleared personel recognized.  Awaiting 
lockdown code."
"Code McGinnis, William R.  Alpha 35624-alpha two."
"Code recognized, alpha two lockdown now in place."
"Computer, engage all energy production systems and shielding.  Stand by 
for course input."
"All energy systems are now fully operational, ten minutes to warp 
power.  Standing by for main course input."

With this, McGinnis left the Bridge, and hastened to the weapons control 
center through the turbolift that was the best access to this heavily 
armored and transporter shielded room.  Of course, it was not perfect, as 
a transverter could pull a person through even the best transporter 
shielding, but as far as Star Fleet knew, the Romulans didn't have the 
technology.  McGinnis knew, however, that they were working on something 
similar.  Therefore, assisting Star Fleet Command's staff in developing a 
subspace scrambler that could deal with inverters would have to be one of 
his engineering staff's first duties.  Without it, all ships would be in 
danger of being destroyed through the simple tactics that had proven so 
effective against the first two Borg cubes.

McGinnis was now in the Weapons Control Center, and he began issuing 
orders to the computer immediately on arrival.  His first order brought 
the ship to its highest level security status. 

"Computer, lock down vessel for emergency warp, departure in sixteen 
minutes."
"Lockdown procedure beginning, security status per regulations is now 
security one with clearance settings for security two maintained."

The change would not interfere with how the ship interfaced with its two 
person crew, merely that as soon as it left, anything coming aboard would 
be designated unfriendly by the computer and killed as soon as it had 
finished transporting.  Transporter shields would be up, and the ship 
would be using some of the repair units as a secondary patroll system 
reporting to the distributed computing network.  With only two crew 
aboard, most of the ship would be deserted, and so the computer had to 
take over the security functions that crew performed simply by going 
about their daily duties.

"Now ten minutes from departure," reported the computer.
"Computer, report load status on repair materials and replicator stores 
as ten percent changes occur."
"repair materials now at sixty-four percent load, replicator stores at 
thirty percent load.  Base has added medical stores for unknown reason, 
ship is now forty percent over standard load for this subset."
"Understood, continue reports on medical stores as well."
"Lieutenant Moran is now aboard, proceeding to her quarters."
"Understood, report when she is proceeding to the weapons control center."

The next several minutes were dominated by preparatory tasks like setting 
a course, and ensuring that the weapons control center was ready to 
handle its function as the emergency bridge.

"Kyla moran now departing her quarters, proceeding to turbolift." 
reported the computer.
"Understood, give final ship load status, and power up warp engines."
"Power-up complete, ship load status is sixty-seven percent load on 
repair materials, ninety-three percent on replicator raw materials, and 
260 percent of standard medical load, with up to 400 percent in subsets 
of storage load, such as first-aid supplies."
"Understood, stand by  to proceed at warp 9.8 phase-cloaking engaged for 
the Epsilon Aeridoni system."

The inner doors of the air lock opened and Kyla moved to her station.  In 
the two-person configuration, she controlled all non-tactical functions 
including communications, long-range scans, damage control and intruder 
control systems.  McGinnis station controlled helm, navigation, shields, 
weapons, and all engineering functions.
"Ready to depart?" asked McGinnis.
"Yes, ready to go," she replied.
"Open a channel to docking control," he said.
"Opened," 
"Control, this is USS Ticonderoga, reporting that we are ready to undock, 
and proceed on emergency mission to Vulcan."
"Understood, all space lanes are clear, you may depart when ready."
"Undocking now."

The computer handled the undocking procedures, and and as soon as the 
ship had cleared the great construction dock, McGinnis hit the "go" 
switch on his console, and the ship dropped into warp and phase-cloak at 
the same time.
"Computer, ETA for the Epsilon Aeridoni system."
"Arrival in three hours, fifty-six minutes."

"Kyla, Take some time off, the computer will call us when we're five 
minutes out." he said.
"Aye Sir," she saidand rose to walk out with him.       



SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part V: Chapter XXII:
By:
Matthew Weed

"Admiral McGinnis to the weapons control center," announced the computer 
throughout the ship.
McGinnis had taken his com badge off, and was in the middle of his daily 
work out.  With more than an hour to go before the ship reached Vulcan, 
there was nothing else to do, and after his short nap, getting some 
oxygen back into his system felt good.  

He moved to the nearest wall pannel and tapped it.
"Computer, report on command status."
"Lieutenant Moran is currently in her quarters, ship's systems are under 
central computer control." replied the computer in its female voice pattern.
"Very well, clear weapons control center access," he said, hastening to 
the nearest turbo lift.

The ride to the WCC was fast enough, and as McGinnis left the car, he had 
to wonder what the computer felt required human intervention.  The 
programming in the new systems was not unlike that in the M-series  
computers that Dr. Richard Daestrom had experimented on nearly a century 
ago.  This was what gave the ship the ability to handle complex tasks 
like tactical analyses with nearly equal creativity and far greater 
efficiency than a human weapons officer could.  The bureaucracy at Star 
Fleet HQ had objected strongly to the modifications to the basic 
programming, but McGinnis had been able to drive the changes through, for 
Ticonderoga at least.  Whether the three other planned Ticonderoga class 
ships would receive the programs was anyone's guess.

"Computer, Weapons Control Center access, voice Print William R. McGinnis."
"Voice print approved, taking retinal scan," replied the computer.

The new retinal scanners didn't require a beam of light, the new scanners 
were so acurate that the check could be done by any of the ship's 
on-board sensors.
"All security approved," replied the computer as the doors to the WCC opened.

McGinnis moved to the command seat and punched up the ship-wide status 
check.  It was clear, and so he turned to find out why he had been summoned.
"Computer, report," he said.

"Long range scans of the Epsilon Aeridoni system have been completed, 
main tactical analysis suggests no less than fifteen heavy Romulan units 
in orbit over Federation member world Vulcan.  Tactical analysis 
indicates that this ship's capabilities will be insufficient to defeat 
currently-diployed forces."
"Are there any Federation forces in the area?"
"Affirmative, however, they are very light, comprised of system defense 
vessels, which will be destroyed by the time that this ship is 
in-system.  No military response has been made by Earth Defense Command, 
and other planetary governments in the area have chosen to refrain from 
commitment to the situation at the moment."

McGinnis was glad that he had not had to ask the computer to search out 
this information, as it would have taken several minutes for it to deal 
with the mass of data that poured over the Federation data net.  Even 
with pattern matching algorithms, there was a lot to search through in 
order to get the proper information.

"Very well, put a tactical analysis of the situation on the main 
viewscreen, shut down all non-essential life support and other systems, 
and accelerate to maximum possible velocity."
"Ship-wide systems review now in progress."

Thirty seconds later, the computer had finished its analysis, and had 
managed to squeeze enough energy out of the ship's systems to get it to 
warp 9.82.  This would mean that Ticonderoga would be within visual range 
of Vulcan in about eight minutes.

"McGinnis to Lieutenant Moran, report to WCC on the double," he said to 
the air.
"On my way," she said, surprise ringing in her voice.

Three minutes later she walked through the inner doors and stared in 
surprise at the counter on the screen.

"What's happened?" she asked, while taking her station.
"The Romulans have brought a much heavier force than I expected.  We 
don't have enough firepower to handle their ships, most of them are 
either their new class of warbird, or something that looks to me a lot 
like their version of a heavy dreadnought.  Apparently, they've decided 
to take advantage of the Federation's unpreparedness and reunify with the 
Vulcans their way."

Kyla looked at him with surprise and concern on her face.
"If that's so, then what can we do here?"
"We certainly can't remove the Romulans from the system without help.  
However, we can get a good tactical look at what we'll be facing when we 
get back.  Earth-1 can get scans of the Romulan ships, even at this 
distance.  However, they won't be able to count the troops on the ground 
or tell where the troops are located.  I want to get a full orbit in to 
look over the situation, so that Admiral Jellico and I can plan a strategy."
"I understand," she said.  "What are we going to do after we scan the 
planet?"
"We are going to Earth, undper phase-cloak, and I am going to talk with 
Admiral Jellico.  You will need to get the ship's systems ready to 
accommodate a lot of troops.  They'll have lots of equipment that will 
need to be transferred, and since we can land, after a fashion, I would 
think that they'll want to bring some heavy materiel aboard.  If we 
decide to bring troops back with Ticonderoga, you will liaise with the CO 
of the ground forces units to set up space."
"Understood," she said.
"Now decellerating into outer Epsilon Aeridoni system." announced the 
computer.
"Computer, set up a tactical scan of the system, highlight Romulan ships 
and troop concentrations."
"Acknowledged," replied the computer.
"Ms. Moran, plot an orbit that will give us the most information possible 
concerning the number and position of Romulan troops on the planet and 
its space facilities.  We can't come out of phase-cloak, so take this 
into account while you're plotting the course.  I don't want to be here 
more than an hour or two."
"Got it, plotting ..."
*.*.*
Two hours later, the ship's scans were completed, and the picture that 
they presented was, in McGinnis' opinion, damned depressing.  Nearly four 
thousand romulan troops were spread across the surface of Vulcan, with 
thousands more still in troop transports in orbit.  There were twenty 
heavy romulan ships orbiting the planet, and their combined firepower was 
at least three times that of Ticonderoga.  Some of the vessels were of 
types that  McGinnis had never seen before, and his own personal estimate 
was that these might be even more powerful than the computer gave them 
credit for.  He knew that the force would have to be thinned before there 
would be a chance of recapturing the planet.  This would have to happen 
through either a larger Federation star force, or a diversion elsewhere 
which would force the Romulan High Command to withdraw some of their 
heavy ships from Vulcan.

McGinnis knew that he needed to sit down with Admiral Jellico to plan 
strategy, and see what resources might be available.  usually he wouldn't 
even expect to command such a mission, as he was more a tactical genius 
than a great strategist, but Star Fleet's resources were stretched to the 
maximum, and he knew that Ticonderoga was one of a very small number of 
large ships which might actually prove useful in this situation.

"Ms. Moran, plot a course for Earth, maximum velocity."
"Plotted, and laid in." she replied.
"engage." he said as he watched space shift on the viewer.
Only minutes later, the ship dropped from warp.  McGinnis knew that the 
Romulans were able to scan Earth from Vulcan, and so he couldn't come out 
of phase-cloak until after the ship was docked.  Fortunately, even Vulcan 
scanners weren't yet up to the task of seeing what was going on inside 
docking facilities from a distance of more than ten light years.  
Therefore, the ship could dephase as soon as it docked.

"This is USS Ticonderoga to Star Fleet Command," said McGinnis after 
opening the communications channel.  "Request secured docking facility 
and priority meeting with Admiral Jellico."
"Star Fleet to Ticonderoga, welcome to Earth, Admiral, you are to dock at 
old space dock, main bay.  Admiral Jellico will see you as soon as you're 
able."
"Understood, Ticonderoga out."

The docking assignment wasn't that much of a surprise to McGinnis, since 
Ticonderoga was likely to be departing soon, the smaller, and almost 
never used, facility at old Star Dock was an excellent place to put the 
ship.  It was also a good place to transfer cargo, as the ship could be 
serviced by the full facilities of the base.  It could also leave via 
comparatively quiet space lanes, ensuring that its departure wouldn't be 
disturbed by the still-active civilian traffic in the Sol system.
"Sir, they've left the doors closed," said Kyla as the ship came around 
the side of the dock.
"I'm not surprised, since they only use this facility for high priority 
traffic, and since we can just go through the doors while phased, they'll 
make it look like there is no priority traffic in the system," replied 
McGinnis.
"Yes, but won't the Romulans know anyway?"
"Probably, but since our home port is the only facility which is out of 
scanner range of all neighboring systems, we have to do with the fact 
that they'll have to get the report by hand, rather than simply by using 
Vulcan Space Central's long range scanners to keep an eye on us.  it may 
be all the time we need to give them a surprise.  Since this ship is 
supposedly, still in dock, they won't be expecting to see this ship for 
at least another eighteen hours.  It'll take at least that long for our 
crew, both new and old, to get back to Polaris point."
She nodded and then returned to maneuvering the ship through the dock's 
doors and into the center of the great cavity.
"We're in place," she said.
"Very well," you have command.  "If you need me, I'll be at Star Fleet 
Headquarters for at least the next few hours.  If you need time off, just 
have the computer take care of things, leave the ship at security status 
one, whether you're here or not."
"Yes Sir," she said.
"I'll shut the phase-cloak off from the transverter console, so don't 
worry about that.  The ship can't be scanned in here, at least not from 
Vulcan, so just stay cloaked unless they want to start moving troops and 
equipment aboard."
"Yes Sir," 
With this acknowledgement, McGinnis stepped through the inner doors and 
headed toward his meeting with Edward Jellico, a man who had been 
malligned as an unreasonable hawk until only a few years ago.  Now, he 
was Chief of operations, Star Fleet, and the second most powerful being 
in the Federation.   



SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part V: Chapter XXIII:
By:
Matthew A. Weed


The shimmering effect of the transporter ended, and McGinnis stood in the 
great central transporter facility of Star Fleet Command.  The activity 
in the room seemed even greater than the last time that he had been here, 
not quite a month ago.  Then he was leaving after receiving his Fleet 
Admiral's commission, and continued command of Ticonderoga.  Like James 
Kirk, a hundred years ago, he had wanted to stay in space, and his 
continued command had been the price of his continued service.  Star 
Fleet had not been happy, but heroes are not generally denied what they want.

He looked around for an escort, knowing that command would send one, 
whether he needed it or not.  However, he saw no one, and decided that 
since he knew the way, that he should simply go to Jellico's office.

As he left the great room, he looked around, and realized what had been 
bothering him ever since he had transported down.  The activity level 
was, indeed, higher, but there was almost no noise.  Apparently, things 
were even worse than he had thought.

After moving into the central hubg of Star Fleet Command's buildings, he 
took the turbolift to Jellico's office which was on one of the top 
floors.  He entered the outer office, and saw that the Admiral's aide was 
slumped down in her...its chair, fast asleep.  He felt awful having to 
wake it, but there was really no choice, as he needed to make sure that 
he was expected.

Standing a few feet from the desk, he quietly said:
"Captain ...." when there was no response, he tried again. 
"Captain ..."
This time the Chalerian awoke with a start and turned to see who was 
talking to it.  When it realized that it was Fleet Admiral McGinnis, whom 
it was supposed to meet in the transporter nexus, its normally light 
green skin darkened noticeably.
"Sir!  I'm sorry, I was to meet you below, but I haven't slept in more 
than four days, and ...."
"Captain, it happens, and everyone here is under terrible stress.  I 
won't tell Admiral Jellico, but i should probably see him."
"I'll page him for you."
The response from the inner office was nearly as slow as the aide's had been.
"Oh, yes, send him in," replied Edward Jellico as soon as he was told who 
was waiting to see him.
"Sir, you may go in," said the captain to McGinnis' retreating back.

*.*.*
McGinnis looked at his old mentor and friend, Edward Jellico across the 
small office.  Jellico, though not much older than McGinnis, looked as if 
he had aged tremendously in the last few years.  Clearly the 
responsibilities of command had not worn on him well.  His hair was 
white, his mouth a tight line.  The tinsion lines, always present, even 
when he had been younger, were now much deeper. McGinnis was glad that 
his rise throughthe the ranks had been loaded with less continuous 
stress.  Certainly the dimentional transit, and the Cardassian campaign 
had been hard, but there had been long periods of peace and tranquility 
when he had been able to explore the galaxy and support science missions 
with his heavier ships, all of which had been stimulating, both 
intellectually and physically.  Sitting behind a desk had never appealed 
to him, and he now remembered why.

"William, it is good to see you again, although I hadn't expected to see 
you quite so soon." said Jellico, extending his hand.
"Admiral, I am glad to see you too, but wish that the circumstances of 
our meeting weren't so ... tumultuous."
"Yes, I know." sighed Jellico returning to his seat.  "Please, sit down."
McGinnis did, and then told Jellico what had brought him to Star Fleet 
Command.
"Sir, eight hours ago, Ticonderoga was sitting in dock when I received 
the planetary distress message from Vulcan.  The ship was, is, not fully 
loaded with replicator materials and a few other non-essentials, but I 
knew from the fleet dispersal reports that there wasn't any way that the 
forces in the area would be able to handle a major assault.  I, 
therefore, decided to take Ticonderoga in under phase-cloak, with the 
help of one crewmember, to get a tactical look at what's going on on the 
planet.  We completed the scan, and then came here to report directly, as 
I was concerned about the possibility of the Romulans intercepting my 
message and realizing that they had missed Star Fleet units in the Vulcan 
system."
"William, what you did, it was foolish.  Even your ship, with all of its 
technology, can't handle what is in orbit over Vulcan right now."
"Sir, I realized that as soon as we were in range for the strategic scan 
to image the system.  However, the phase -cloaking device is impenetrable 
by transporter, and as far as I know, the Romulans aren't very good at 
finding phased ships as yet."
"That's true, but they're getting better, as their own phasing technology 
is nearly as good as ours.  They'll be able to find, and pinpoint, phased 
ships soon, which will take away much of the benefit of the phase cloak."
"I know, but it seemed that quick information was best.  From what I know 
of Star Fleet assault techniques, the special forces prefer to hit a 
target as quickly as possible, especially when its invaders aren't fully 
settled in yet."
"Yes, its best if we can get through quickly, the Romulans won't have the 
chance to fortify themselves well."
"I know, that's why I wanted a look, without data, we'd need to send in 
cloaked probes, and delivering them would have taken at least a week, as 
I understand it."
"That's true, but still, I want you to consult with me before you try 
something like that again."
"Understood, Sir." replied McGinnis, knowing intellectually that although 
Jellico agreed with the strategy, he had to maintain the chain of command.
"In any Case, Admiral, what do you have to report?"
"Sir, there are at least fifteen heavy Romulan units in the system, most 
are in orbit over the planet itself, although a few seem to be detailed 
to patroll the inner system and watch for any move on our part.  There 
are at least four thousand troops already landed, and there were a number 
of transports in place, which appeared to have most of their  troops 
still aboard.  I was only able to complete one orbit of the planet, but 
it appeared that many of the troops are still in the various stations in 
orbit over the planet, and only a few have landed in some of the major 
cities as yet.  Mt. Silaya is still free, and the Vulcan Science Academy 
was only lightly occupied as we passed over it.  However, I wasn't able 
to scan for any vulcans with weapons, and I must assume that both 
Government forces and fifthe column members are also on the planet."
"At least as far as the government's concerned, they have surrendered, as 
the Romulans told them that they would bombard the planet if resistance 
was offered.  The Vulcans, quite rightly I think, said that it was 
"logical", to surrender and avoid bloodshed.  However, they have 
contacted the Federation, and have requested assistance in dealing with 
the Romulan forces.  Of course, the Federation council gave all kinds of 
assurances, assurances that Star Fleet, at least, can't back up at the 
moment."
"Why not?" asked McGinnis, shocked to see Jellico apparently bending to 
the Romulan Government's desire to force the Federation to wait to move 
against their forces until it was too late."
"Because I don't have the resources to hold down all of our other fronts, 
and divert the necessary firepower to both defeat that fleet, and get 
enough troops onto the ground to make a difference."
"Sir, I have an idea, but its risky."
"Well, an idea is better than none, and we're out of them here."
"What if we were to organize a major offensive, which might divert some 
of the forces from Vulcan.  I don't have the resources aboard Ticonderoga 
to do it now, just because I only have one crewmember, and she's a 
security and weapons specialist, not an engineer.  However, we could use 
some of the tactics that worked against the Borg, like inverting 
torpedoes through their shields, and we could then send troops down to 
help the government with the land-based opposition."
"A good plan, and one that I'd already thought of, but the romulans know 
of our development of subspace transportation technology, and they've 
built subspace scramblers into their ships, making it damned near 
impossible to destroy them that way."
"yes, but the transverter doesn't work like a subspace transporter."
"I know, but its close enough so that it won't work.  I'm the only one 
who knows about the work that you have done at Polaris Point, but you'll 
have to trust me on this, those that I have shown the rutian data, say 
that those inverters won't work.  Considering that your transverters work 
on the same principle, if not the exact same equipment, you won't be able 
to do it."
McGinnis sighed, ... <well,> he thought <that's one idea down the tube.>

"William, the only way to do this is through sheer hard work, and lots of 
casualties.  The strategists here estimate that it'll take thirty 
starships, fifty thousand troops, and two years to get the Romulans off 
Vulcan."
"Sir, I refuse to accept that, you know all too well the risk that the 
Romulans pose to all of Star Fleet's operations from Vulcan.  They can 
watch what's going on here, directly, and can tell what ships are in and 
out of dock with probes on the outer edge of the Epsilon Aeridoni 
system.  Not to mention the fact that the Vulcans have been a prime 
member of the Federation from its inception, sit on the Federation 
Security Council, have a veto, and could seriously damage war policy 
through simply shooting down anything that might cause the Romulans to 
take revenge on their civilian population at home.  We've got to get them 
out of there, now, no matter the cost.  I wouldn't be so determined on 
this, if I weren't so convinced that we've got a huge problem here."
"Don't you think that I've considered those issues?!" exploded Jellico.  
"We don't have the resources to get the Romulans out of Epsilon Aeridoni, 
and that's that!"
"Sir, if I put Polaris construction facilities to the task, we can finish 
two of the three remaining Ticonderoga class ships within three months.  
However, if I stand down on those projects, divert those construction 
crews to building a bunch of small, light ships, say run-abouts, for 
example, we could get a couple hundred of them ready in a few weeks.  If 
we can get them into the system, they'll be able to  keep the Romulans 
busy while I get control of the stations that control planetary defense, 
and get the ability to knock out their troops on the groun.  The 
run-about crews will be sacrificed, but if we try a full-system assault, 
especially with two years for the Romulans to prepare, the Vulcan 
civilization will be blasted from the face of the Galaxy."
"How many casualties do you think you'll encur?"
"I don't know, I'm thinking on my feet here, I suppose that total 
casualties might total fifty-thousand military personel and an unknown 
number of civilians, largely depending on what Romulan ships stay in 
orbit over the planet.  Every ship that I saw in orbit can be defeated by 
Ticonderoga, and it would take three or four of them to pose a serious 
threat.  I would think, though, that we could assume that more than half 
would be busy with the smaller ships.  Then, it'll be a matter of making 
them decide that ticonderoga is more interesting than blowing up the 
planet with which they want to unify.  I'd give it half a billion 
ground-based casualties, before I could either use planetary defenses, or 
destroy them with Ticonderoga."
"Half a billion?  That's a lot of casualties for a long shot."
"Yes, but much better than twenty billion with a plan that may or may not 
work, and will require two years of time to prepare for."
"How long would you have to delay Agencort and Louisbourg?"
"It depends on how our plan shapes up, and how badly Ticonderoga is 
damaged in the actual battle.  I would think that given serious damage to 
Ticonderoga, and heavy construction costs in smaller ships, something 
like six months."
"That's a lot of time to lose the three heaviest units I have in the 
works.  The mass-produced ships are doing surprisingly well, but the 
Romulans have a lot more heavy ships than we do, and since most of the 
Science fleet is still going through conversion, we're at a terrible 
disadvantage.  I don't even know that I can keep our promise to keep the 
Gorn trade routes open.  If we lost those, we'd be totally on our own, 
economically speaking, and most of the new Federation members would be 
out on a limb against the Farengi."
"Sir, we can't hold those routes open with the heavy ships anyway, 
they're not built as trade protectors, and as soon as they're out, we'll 
need floatillas of smaller ships for them to support. On their own, the 
Ticonderoga-class can do a lot, but its not like we can assault the 
Romulan home system alone, without a lot of smaller ships for support.  I 
think that the delay is worth clearing the Romulans out of near-space, 
and getting the resources of the Vulcan alliances back in the hands of 
the Federation, and not tied up in a balancing act between Federation 
obligations and Romulan threats.  Particularly when the vulcan colonies 
don't have as many residents as the homeworld, and so it would be 
"illogical", to do anything that might result in Romulan bombardment of 
Vulcan.  I don't think its likely, but its a realistic possibility, and a 
terribly effective threat."
"Yes, you're right, much as I don't like to do it the traditional way, I 
think that your plan has as much chance as any other of working, and it 
will have the Romulans on the defensive within three or four months.  Go 
ahead and do it, is there anything you need from here?"
"yes, Sir.  I've got plenty of construction people, but more wouldn't 
hurt, we've got the space, and with the expansion of Polaris starting in 
ten or fifteen hours, we'll be secure from subspace probing as the star 
will jam any scans that probes might try to take for a while.What I 
really need, though, is lots of security and marines.  I don't want to be 
taking engineers off of other work to train them how to use heavy 
weapons.  If you can get me as many as you can spare from any Earth-base 
facility in the next twenty-four hours, I'll take them back to Polaris, 
and we'll get them equipped from there.  They will need heavy equipment, 
we've not got the facilities to build that, but we can outfit them, and 
arm them with anything up to heavy phaser rifles."
"Very well, your ship is in Stardock?"
"yes, Sir, but we're cloaked to avoid scan or sighting.  I can send you 
coordinates, or you can beam the people to the dock's transporter 
facilities and we can transfer them on from there, if you think that's 
best.  Oh, and sir, we'll need pilots and gunnery specialists for the 
run-abouts, I can make another trip for those later, I'll need tactical 
information about Vulcan in any case."
"That's a long shopping list, but I think that we can fill most of it."
However, you will not make another pass over Vulcan, the risk is growing 
to high for that.  You may go into the system a day ahead of your other 
forces to look things over later, but in general, you'll need to go in 
blind on this, ..." McGinnis objection was cut off by Jellico's next 
words. "... we'll try to get some probes in to find out what we can to 
help you brief your troops."
"Very well, Sir, but I must tell you that I don't like being so 
uninformed on a mission like this.  We need more data to make sure that 
people know what they're going after, and what the resistance will be like."
"I know, but I distinctly remember telling you what a risk it is to have 
phased ships too close to the Romulans right now.  The less it happens, 
the longer it'll take for them to learn what our phase-cloaking 
signatures look like."
"Understood, but I must say that in this case, I think that the possible 
cost in military and civilian casualties justifies any danger to us in 
terms of lost advantage later."
"Your objections are noted," said Jellico, ending the conversation.
"I'll be aboard Ticonderoga, contact me there if you need to."
"Understood, we'll only do so via subspace squirt, so that interception 
of both message and recipient are cut as low as possible," replied Jellico.
"I'll have the computer watching for them sir."
"Excellent, dismissed."
McGinnis returned to Ticonderoga, where the loading process would soon 
begin with a vengence.

By the end of the following twenty four hours, they had brought nearly 
four thousand personel aboard, most of whom were marines equipped with 
everything from mobal amrored units to phaser artillery and short-range 
micro photon missile launchers.  Lasers, particle canon, armor, 
communications gear, all of it was beamed aboard.  It was a massive 
undertaking, both finding space for all of it, as well as ensuring that 
the ship could carry everything that it needed to.  By the end of the 
process, McGinnis was exhausted, but pleased that there seemdd to be 
enough personel to have a chance, given upgrades to their armaments, and 
the element of surprise, to retake Vulcan.  The force movements had, 
almost unquestionably, been noticed by the Tal Shiar, which would 
probably be expecting an assault within the day.  The fact that it would 
take at least six weeks, assuming that the plan could be kept secret, 
would help too.  Since by the time that the assault could be mounted, 
their warnings would have less credibility than normal, after the first 
had proven inacurate.  In this game, anything might help, and McGinnis 
was willing to play every card.

"Ms. Moran, set course for home, maximum warp."
"Course plotted, and laid in, maximum velocity under phase-cloak is warp 
9.6, estimated time of arrival is four hours, thirty-six minutes from now."
"Understood, you may depart space dock, and proceed to Construction 
facility at your earliest convenience."
"Yes Sir, we're on our way."      



SUPERDREADNOUGHT: Part V: Chapter XXIV:
By:
Matthew A. Weed

Fleet Command Log: Stardate 57252.6: Admiral William McGinnis, commanding 
Vulcan relief Fleet, and Starship USS Ticonderoga recording:

The last months have been terribly busy.  We have been working double, 
and even tripple shifts in order to build the ships that we need.  The 
effort, here at least, has taken on all of the characteristics of the 
holy wars that dominated Earth eight centuries ago.  The ten thousand 
personel that I have brought from Earth have worked as desperately as 
anyone else, and in the last months, we've done a tremendous amount of 
building, sweating, and for those who still choose to, praying.  All of 
this effort has been directed toward the impending attempt to break the 
Romulan hold on the Epsilon Aeridoni system, and on Vulcan in particular.

The situation on Vulcan has not changed much since I left Earth on my 
first supply run.  Since then, I've made two others, and we are now ready 
to make our move.  We have nearly two hundred run-about sized  attack 
ships, with ... armament added.  USS Louisbourg's engineering section and 
systems have been completed, and Captain Data will be commanding this, 
the second Ticonderoga Class vessel, as a command ship.  They only have 
modular torpedo launchers and phaser collimators, enough to defend the 
ship, but certainly no more.  All ships are capable of cloaking, but only 
Louisbourg and Ticonderoga carry phase-cloaking technology, as it is 
easier to pick up at long range.  the idea, in this case, is to come in 
as stealthily as possible, in order to get the small ships as close in as 
possible.  After they've launched their attack, they have been ordered to 
close on the planet, transport their crews to the surface, and set their 
computers for suicide runs against the Romulan forces in the area.

Unfortunately, There is no more that we can do.  Only ready the fleet for 
launch and do our jobs.  Hopefully, if fortune smiles upon us, we shall 
be able to liberate Vulcan, if not ... we shall make the ultimate 
sacrifice in order to do what we can to break the Romulan hold on one of 
the oldest, and most civilized, races of the Federation.

McGinnis turned off the log recorder, and turned to the viewscreen.  
Hundreds of small ships floated throughout the docking facility, all 
crewed by one pilot, who could handle the weapons as well.  These ships 
were run-about in size only.  They were longer, more slender, with 
weapons almost everywhere on their outer hulls.  Since they were meant to 
act like the old patroll/Torpedo boats of World War II on Earth, their 
primary benefits were heavy weapons, tremendous maneuverability, and 
loads of electronic countermeasures gear.  They couldn't stand much 
weapons fire as their engines weren't powerful enough to support shields 
powerful enough to handle the high-powered disruptor fire of the Romulan 
ships.Therefore, the ships would strike once, unloading all of their 
photon torpedoes, and then self-destruct, after transporting their pilots 
to the surface below, where they would hopefully be able to assist the 
ground forces.  Meanwhile, Ticonderoga would wait, phase-cloaked, in the 
best-available position.  As soon as the effectiveness of the first 
strike could be determined, the ship would move against the most powerful 
of the remaining Romulan ships in orbit over Vulcan.  With luck, there 
wouldn't be enough of them to overwhelm Ticonderoga while it transverted 
the thousands of lightly armored troopers down to Vulcan.  The heavier 
equipment would be off loaded using an atmospheric pass, with the heavy 
armor and artillery dropped on antigravs from Ticonderoga as it passed 
low in the atmosphere.  The ship's main artillery would also support the 
troops on the ground, if everything worked right.  McGinnis knew his Von 
Klausewitz well, and expected that something, somewhere, would fowl up 
the plan.

With this thought, he turned his mind toward preparing for departure.

"Ops, notify traffic control that we are prepared to leave dock."
Janet Anders moved to fill his order.  espite her promotion to full 
commander, with its attendant ability to take a small dcommand of her 
own, she did not feel ready to take a command in these violent times.  
Therefore, she remained aboard Ticonderoga, where she felt that her 
skills as a command and communications specialist could best be used for 
the time being. 
"Traffic control reports that we are clear to depart, and they wish us 
good luck." she reported.
"Tell them that the good wishes are appreciated, and that Louisbourg will 
be the contact ship until the main force has departed."
"Aye Sir," she replied, knowing that McGinnis' reminder to dock control 
was more due to his nervousness over having to command the fleet, thaan 
to any lack of trust in the dockside controller.
"Space doors opening," reported Thale, who was finally back at his 
station and in full health.
"Very well, engage thrusters, ahead one-half." replied McGinnis.
"Tactical, engage phase-cloaking device, and metaphasic shielding."
"Phase cloak is now up, metaphasic shields are at fifty percent power," 
replied Walter Schultz.
"Sir, we have now cleared main docking perimeter, ready to engage warp 
drive." 
"Very well, Helm, set course for Vulcan, maximum warp."
"Course plotted, laid in, and ready for warp 9.75."
"You may proceed."

The ship leapt to high warp, preparing to plunge into the heart of the 
Romulan occupation force around Vulcan.  its job was to get a tactical 
summary of the current Romulan positions, plus figure out where the 
weapons depots, supply dumps, and otherr key points of the occupation 
were.  it would then report back to the fleet, which would be gathered at 
two diameters beyond maximum estimated Romulan scanner range.  After 
this, the troops would get their final briefings, and the action would 
get under way.
*.*.*
"Now decellerating from warp, range is one trillion kilometers to Vulcan 
sir."
"Very well, science, tactical, scan the area, tell me what you can before 
we go in.  Anything may be significant, so report everything that you see."
At least two minutes passed while T'mayek and Walter Schultz did their 
jobs.  T'mayek was the ship's only scientific compliment, simply because 
the rest could do little to help in this situation,considering the 
limited scientific resources of the ship, and the equally limited space, 
most of which was being taken up by heavy marine invasion equipment.  Her 
report was completed first.
"Sir, the romulans have strong subspace jamming equipment in place 
throughout the system.  It is impossible to get any readings at all on 
the planet, and I assume that whatever resources they have there will be 
unable to scan for activity beyond their jamming fields.  I believe that 
they are communicating between vessels using short-range subspace shunts 
which can penetrate their jamming field.  With this equipment, however, 
it is impossible toprovide information concerning the size or location of 
the various vessels."
"Very well, ... Tactical, what's your assessment?"
"Sir, I agree with Commander T'mayek on most of her analysis.  With the 
available equipment , I can find no buoys, cloaked ships, or other 
communications and sensory pickets in the system.  However, we're still 
at long range for tactical scanners, so we could be missing ships or 
objects hidden closer to the planet."    
"Right, what do you think our chances of getting in and out phase-cloaked 
are?"
"Sir, a ship in standard cloaking mode will be able to find us, and if 
they've got a link to the rest of their fleet, they'll be able to get 
enough firepower ready to make our life difficult.  Of course they won't 
be able to do any direct damage to us, but they would be warned that 
Federation ships are in the area, and that we may be planning something.  
I suggest that we go in under standard cloak, and then engage the 
phase-cloaking device just inside their jamming field.  It will require 
all of the ship's power to make the switch, so we won't have any defenses 
or weapons for about ten seconds, but we should remain invisible to the 
Romulans at all times."
"That sounds reasonable to me, anyone else have suggestions, we're going 
into a dangerous situation, and if we make a mistake it will be nearly 
impossible to complete our mission.  So I want to be sure that all 
alternatives have been considered."

No one had any other ideas, so McGinnis decided to proceed into the system.
"Tactical, keep the  cloaking circuits only, divert power to main 
shields, fifty percent power.  Do not charge any weapon or other system 
without express permission."
"Science, Tactical, all scanners on passive mode, ... navigation, have 
the computer navigate according to star charts and visual observation only."
"Aye Sir," replied the three officers.
"Helm, set course for Vulcan, warp eight.  Decellerate to 5,000 
kilometers per hour just outside the field.  Reaction controll thrusters, 
only after that."
"Aye Sir, course plotted, alaid in." replied Thale.
"Engage,"

The ship moved rapidly toward the center of the Epsilon Aeridoni system.  
the thousands of beings aboard knowing that if any major mistakes were 
made, that the mission that they had been working on for nearly three 
months would be lost.  All that most could do was sit and wait, a job 
that the marine assault troopers were used to.  However, used to it or 
not, waiting was never easy, and the tension aboard ship was increasing 
by the moment.

Minutes later, Thale turned to McGinnis.
"Sir, we are now beginning programmed decelleration, we'll be in orbit in 
about fifteen seconds.  I'm using visual scanners to try to ascertain 
where all of the Vulcan stations are.  We won't be able to find the 
Romulan ships and other new objects, as they'll likely be cloaked, but at 
least I can plot an orbit that will avoid the Vulcan installations."
"Fine, I understand the other problem, but have the computer keep an eye 
on the gravimetric scan, it may give enough warning to avoid a collision."
"Aye Sir, but with the sensor jamming, I doubt that we'll be able to pick 
their ships up in time."
"Understood, hopefully we'll get lucky, this mission depends on luck and 
good wishes."

Thale nodded before turning back to his station.  As he did, the ship 
decellerated out of warp, and moved into a polar orbit that would allow 
it to cover the entire surface of the planet with a minimumnumber of 
passes.  With partial, or non-existent sensors, the best that they would 
be able to do was take a lot of pictures, and hope that they could 
discern the location of the Romulan military implacements from the 
photographs.
"Sir, beginnning mapping operation, I have almost no sensors, and only 
limited life sign scan." reported T'mayek.
"Sir, I'm in even worse shape, most weapons scans require much greater 
sensitivity than life-sign scan.  However, I've got some limited data 
coming in, most of it on the space stations that we're passing close 
enough to get some idea of what is going on inside."
"Understood, don't try to push too hard, if the soldiers on those 
stations realize that someone's looking around, their command will be 
notified.  "
Schultz nodded and carefully edged the power shunt down a bit on the 
scanners.
*.*.*

Twelve hours later, the great ship snuck back out of orbit.  McGinnis 
suspected that the Romulans didn't know that they had been there.  The 
one benefit behind their subspace jamming was that it made it as hard, or 
harder, for them to find Ticonderoga, than it did for Ticonderoga to find 
them.It helped that he was looking not to be found, while the  Romulans 
on the ground just couldn't be invisible all of the time.

"Sir, we're out of the jamming field, accelerating and engaging 
phase-cloaking device.
"Very well..."
AT this moment, the ship rocked violently, and everyone was thrown about 
the bridge.
"Red alert!" yelled McGinnis climbing back into his chair.  "What happened?"
"Sir, we had just entered phase when we struck an object of some kind.  I 
don't know what it was, but I'd guess that it was a cloaked Romulan 
ship.  Since we were not fully in phase, we suffered some impact shock, 
but clearly, since neither we , nor anything that I can see, were 
damaged, I have to assume that the phasing operation probably saved us." 
replied Schultz, who was still trying to shake off the effect of the 
sudden disturbance.
"Anything that you can see?" McGinnis asked, wanting to clarify the 
Commander's last statement.
"Yes, Sir.  The computer had already begun a scan by the time I could get 
to the controls.  It couldn't find any visible object in the area of 
space that the disturbance occurred."
"Right, so you are assuming that if it was a Romulan ship, that they 
weren't damaged sufficiently to result in a failrue of their cloaking 
device?"
"Yes, Sir.  I'm almost certain that it must have been a ship or other 
object, simply because there are no subspace  distortions in the area at 
the moment."
"Understood, ... Helm, continue course for the meeting point, notify me 
when we have arrived.  Mr. Schultz, you have the conn."
"Aye Sir," replied the two officers, as McGinnis arose to have a look at 
the preparations occurring throughout the rest of the ship.  The last 
thing that he saw aas the turbolift doors closed was Schultz moving to 
the center seat.

McGinnis stepped off of the turbolift and hastened down the short 
corridor that ended at the shuttlebay.  This was where General Morris was 
currently located.  The doors opened onto a scene of controlled, but 
still quite frenetic activity.
"Admiral, how are things throughout the rest of the ship?" asked Morris 
as he turned from one of his officers to the mission commander.
"General, we are closing in on the rendezvous point, I expect to be there 
within the hour.  I wanted to be sure that you didn't suffer any severe 
problems as a result of that little tremmor a few minutes ago."
"No, nothing serious, what happened?"
"We struck a Romulan ship which was also cloaked, but due to the 
phase-cloak's effects, neither ship suffered major damage.  When I left 
the Bridge, we hadn't seen any unusual activity as a result of the 
accident, so I must assume that their communications were down, or that 
they will report the incident directly, either because they can't do so 
via communication link, or because they don't know what happened."
"That seems reasonable to me, I have the troops assigned to various 
missions, according to the information that you sent me.  Since it 
appears that most of the vulcan defense platforms were either destroyed, 
or cloaked, I have had to assign most of my troops to the recapture of 
Vulcan Space Central, or the ground assault.  I must say that I don't 
like having to drop from a facility like this, but there aren't too many 
alternatives I suppose."
"No, you know the philosophy behind this mission, and you know the 
reasons for doing things this way.  We will give you all possible  
support, but you know that there will be a lot of activity for this ship, 
so you'll be on your own until we can clear them out of the system."
"Yes, and we're prepared for that.  One area that we definitely have an 
advantage, is the firepower of our mobile units.  Between those, and the 
new assault armor, we should have a fair shot at dealing with the troops 
on the ground with a significant advantage in terms of firepower at least."
"Good, I suspect that the situation in space may be less fortuitous."
"I tend to agree."
"Well, I should probably return to the Bridge, I'll notify you half an 
hour before we enter the system.  After that, as you are already aware, 
you'll be working with my tactical officer."
"yes, we're all ready for that, good luck Admiral."
"And the same to you, General, I look forward to speaking with you in the 
central halls of the Vulcan Academy of Sciences."
"I shall look forward to that as well."


With this, Morris hastened across the bay to help with a recalcitrant 
plasma canon that was not linking into the energy systems of its 
anti-grav sled.  McGinnis watched the activity around him for a few 
minutes, and then turned to go back to the Bridge.

When he arrived, Schultz was just ordering the ship to decellerate from 
warp and begin scanning for the fleet, which had orders to remain 
cloaked, except for a few of the small attack craft which were to be 
uncloaked to help Ticonderoga find the fleet, which would be given extra 
camouflage by its position inside a large cloud of hydrogen and dust that 
would, in a billion years or so, become a blue giant star.

"Sir, I've got the pickets, awaiting your orders." said Schultz.
"Very well, Ops, signal them, and have them transfer our tactical 
analysis to the rest of the fleet.  Then get me a channel to Captain Data."
"Channel open sir," replied Anders.
"Captain, You are now receiving what little intelligence we could 
acquire.  I think that the only way to successfully prosecute our mission 
is to send in the torpedo craft cloaked, and then decloak when they hit 
the jamming field, over Vulcan, which is very intense.  If the Romulans 
don't respond, then we'll just have to fire the torpedoes in some random 
pattern, which will cover as much of the near-planetary space as 
possible.  Hopefully that will do the job knocking out some portion of 
the Romulan fleet.  As we could find no phased regions of space, I must 
assume that they're just using standard cloaking, to avoid the phase 
tracking problems that we are familiar with."
"That would seem reasonable, sir." replied Data.
"If you can have your staff calculate the best positioning for the ships 
so that we get coverage, I would appreciate it.  I will wait to move into 
the atmosphere until after the first wave of torpedoes is fired.  We will 
make our drops around SheKhar, and then around Mt. Silaya, as planned.  
The troops for Vulcan Space central will be sent in immediately before we 
begin atmospheric operations.  After those moves are made, we'll send 
troops to whereever it appears that they will be the most useful.  
Unfortunately, the sensor jamming went far enough into the atmosphere to 
make it impossible to get an acurate picture of the troop concentrations 
on the ground.  You will do what you can, but remember that your primary 
job is to pick up any survivors of craft that are destroyed before they 
can self-destruct after their pilots have beamed clear."
"Understood, Sir.  AS you know, our weapons are not fully ready for use, 
so we shall avoid direct confrontations when ever we can.  I will have 
the tactical staff begin the calculations for vessel placement 
immediately after this communication ends."
"Very good, and Captain, good luck.  I look forward to seeing you on 
Vulcan, or at Star Fleet, after the successful completion of our mission."
"Thank you, Sir, and good fortune to you as well." replied Data.
"Ticonderoga out."
"Louisbourg out."

*.*.*
"Now entering standard orbit sir," announced Thale.
"Excellent now we wait for the rest of the fleet to arrive." said McGinnis.
"How long do you expect them to take?" asked general Morris from his 
position just outside the starboard lift doors.
"The attack craft can only make warp seven, so I would expect that it 
will take them about six or seven hours to get here.  Until then, we 
remain in phase-cloak, until they begin decloaking.  At that point, we 
are to drop into the atmosphere, and drop you at your various start 
points.  The Vulcan military has not been apprised, they only know that 
it would be "logical", to expect a planetary assault at some point or 
other.  I don't know if they've got any weapons or contingency plans, so 
if I were you, I would expect that any vulcan with a weapon was a member 
of the Romulan fifth column.  However, if you can, stun them, rather than 
killing on sight, as I understand you are to do with the Romulans?"
"Yes, we're to kill them unless they've got hostages, then we stun them 
and then transfer them to a safe holding area that will be set up in the 
heart of Vulcan's Forge."
"Very well, the Vulcan Government can decide what to do with them from 
that point."
"Yes, Sir." replied Morris, knowing that the Vulcans would want the 
Romulan troops held in protective custody, somewhere on one of their 
colonies.
"General, I suggest that you get some sleep, you've not had much over the 
last few weeks, and I suspect that you will be rather busy over the next 
few hours."
"A good idea, Admiral.  I will speak with you in five hours, and then 
I'll await your signal."
"Sleep well, general." said McGinnis.

The general left the Bridge, and everyone turned back to the main 
viewscreen, hoping to get some last-minute idea of what they were about 
to face.  McGinnis knew that StarFleet had sent cloaked ships into the 
system before Ticonderoga's recent visit, but they had been able to find 
out even lless than the superdreadnought, simply because they were small, 
and didn't have the analytic, information processing, and data storage  
facilities that the big ship had.  <Of course, it wasn't as if all of the 
facilities aboard the big ship were that helpful, the damned Romulans had 
done their job too well for him to do his ... yet> thought McGinnis, as 
the third shift officers came on deck to give the first watch people a 
few hours added rest.  With the phase cloak working perfectly, and the 
computer ready with the standard cloaking device, should the main system 
fail, McGinnis was confident that the ship would remain hidden until the 
time came for action.
*.*.*
Six hours later, the ship was at full alert, and everyone was waiting for 
the proverbial other shoe to drop.  The strike fleet was less than ten 
minutes out, if they had calculated things properly, so in about ten 
minutes, fifteen seconds, two hundred small attack craft, whose combined 
firepower was nearly sixty times that of Ticonderoga would unleash their 
weapons on the hidden romulan fleet.  Although the low-power scans that 
could be performed  were inconclusive, McGinnis doubted that the Romulans 
were in phase.  If they were, things would get more complex, as the small 
ships only had one load of torpedoes, and all were to fire in the first 
blow.  None were held as a back-up, simply because that was Ticonderoga's 
job.  They could help with their phasers, but ultimately, they would be 
able to do very little to help out if it turned into a slugging match, 
their shields and structure weren't up to that kind of battle.  This was 
why they had been ordered to set for suicide self-destruct, with the 
pilots beaming down to the planet to help the ground assault.

McGinnis' reflections were interrupted by Schultz words. 
"Sir, now five minutes to ETA, all systems still nominal." 
"Very well, continue as you are, tactical, ... Helm, get us to a position 
as close to both Vulcan Space Central and the SheKhar/Mt. Silaya area as 
possible."
There was a brief pause, and then Thale reported that:
"Sir, Vulcan Space Central Space Station, and the Vulcan's forge are 
currently on opposite sides of the planet.  Which is the preferred target?"

McGinnis stared at Thale in shock.
"You mean that we're unable to have direct access to both?"
"No, Sir." said Thale.
McGinnis was furious with himnself.  He thought that they had taken every 
contingency under consideration.  Clearly, this had not happened.
"The station is more important, its probably being used as their main 
orbital command center. ... Tactical, can we transvert the necessary 
troops over through the planet?"
"Yes Sir, but it will take time, as the subspace jamming from their 
jamming antannae and our photon attack will make all forms of long-range 
matter/energy transportation difficult for several hours after we begin."
"Very well," said McGinnis a frown on his face. "Plot course for Vulcan 
Space Central, maximum possible velocity."
"Sir, we'll show up like a star going supernova should they decide to 
take a phase scan," warned Schultz, who was performing his duty as first 
officer flawlessly.
"I know, but if they do, it won't help them much, as they won't know what 
kind of vessel we are, and if they suspect anything, and they clear 
interference to look for other ships, they'll only put themselves at a 
disadvantage, since they'll make it easy for us to find their ships."
"I agree," said Schultz after a moment's thought.
"Helm, execute course," snapped McGinnis.
"Aye Sir, and after the transversion, where next?"
"We'll have to do it the hard way, and take the ship into atmosphere at 
maximum impulse.  Keep us as high as you can, while we move into position 
over SheKhar, and then drop down as fast as you dare."
"Yes Sir, ... that'll take about a minute, before we can start the drop 
operation."
"I know, but as they've clearly moved the space station since the last 
time we were here, we'll have to make do with what we can.  We'll outgun 
anything on the ground, and I suspect that the remaining space forces 
won't be willing to face us until they've made sure that all the smaller 
ships are gone. Since they're going to crash into whatever their 
computers  can find, I suspect that the fleet willl be too busy to do 
much down here for awhile, and their forces will be seriously reduced."
"Yes Sir..." replied Thale.  "We're now in close proximity to Vulcan 
Space Central, awaiting your orders."
"Ops, notify those troopers to be ready, we'll beam them over as soon as 
we can take a picture of what's going on in there."
"Done sir, their commander reports that they're in position now."
"Excellent, Tactical, take us out of phase, and a full-power 
high-intensity concentrated scan on that station, helm, we have two 
minutes, so if Mr. Schultz needs to move us, make sure that you do it 
quickly."

Thirty seconds later, after a number of minor changes in position, 
Schultz sent the information that they'd collected to the marines, and 
set the transporter sequence.  As they had suspected, there were about 
two-hundred troops aboard the station, most concentrated in the old 
traffic control center.  Those that weren't there were either moving 
about as if on patroll, or stationary, either asleep or relaxing.

"Sir, ready to begin transportation," said Schultz.
"Execute, divert whatever power you need from any system, exept life 
support, cloaking, and shields."
"Energizing now!" said Schultz.  After a few moments, he said "Thirty 
seconds to recharge, forty-five to fleet arrival."
"Continue as planned," said McGinnis, hoping that everyone couldn't see 
how tense he was.  Fleet operations weren't his specialty, and they'd 
planned everything so carefully.  Already they had lost a bit of their 
timing sequence because of the unplanned for jump from Vulcan Space 
Central to  SheKhar.  However, there was nothing to be done about it now.
"Second wave away, battle has been joined." announced Schultz.
"Very well, drop out of the jamming field, and reengage phase-cloaking 
system."
"Now clear of jamming, reengaging phase-cloak." reported Schultz, who had 
taken over helm functions at his station, due to the need for rapid movement.
"Sir, I have a light flare on the dark side of the planet, I assume that 
its a general warning of some kind." said Schultz.
"Damn!" said McGinnis.  
However, before he could say anything further,  space seemed to tear open 
and the fleet of small attack craft appeared in the space surrounding the 
planet.
"Sir, they're firing!" said Schultz, watching as nearly eight hundred 
modified torpedoes began to move through the space surrounding Vulcan.  
"Helm, execute planned maneuver, and notify all aboard that operation 
"John Thomas" has begun.  




SUPERDREADNOUGHT: Part V: Chapter XXV:
By:
Matthew A. Weed

The operation began with more of a whimper than a bang.  The torpedoes 
had to look for cloaked ships in a situation in which their very limited 
sensors were practically useless.  The only truly effective way they had 
of finding Romulan ships was to simply crash into them as they moved 
through their search patterns.  Fortunately, since the cloaking device 
had only limited capability as a shield, the torpedoes could travel even 
farther, as their warheads didn't have to explode with much force to 
score critical damage.  Therefore, the range had been increased to five 
million kilometers, at the cost of a 2/3 decrease in yield as compared 
with the standard sixty-four megaton blast.

Therefore, rather than being a wild scene of torpedo explosions, there 
was a long pause during which only occasional explosions occurred.  With 
all of the hardware in orbit, these explosions were spreadd widely around 
the planet.  Finally, when those torpedoes which ahd not found a target 
had hit the end of their search range, all of them simply detonated where 
they were, hoping to cause damage via this method at least.

Meanwhile, the small ships were plunging toward the atmosphere, and a 
point at which their pilots could beam down to the planet in order to 
assist the marines that Ticonderoga was putting down at that very 
moment.  Fortunately, the attack had now been registered by all Romulan 
commanders, and, mostly out of a desire to join in the battle, they had 
begun to decloak, making both the torpedoes, and the computer-guided 
suicide runs increasingly effective as time passed.

"Sir, now descending through the atmosphere at maximum safe velocity.  
Range to SheKhar is ten seconds, the first wave of antigrav units should 
drop now."
"McGinnis to General Morris, you may begin immediately."
"Right, first wave is now off," replied the general's voice through some 
kind of microphone.
"General, good luck," replied McGinnis as he turned off the comlink.
"Sir, first wave is clear, they're encountering some resistance, mostly 
anti-aircraft ," said Schultz.
"While we pass over, you may suppress that fire as you see fit," replied 
McGinnis.
"Aye Sir, particle batteries firing now," said Schultz.

The ship's phasers, each as powerful as those on the old 
Constitution-class Enterprise launched a devastating response to the 
limited Romulan fire coming up from below.  Like all phasers, these were 
tightly targetted, and there was little damage to the surrounding 
buildings, with only minor flash damage and broken windows resulting from 
the incoming fire.
"Sir, now passing out of range, coming to second drop," reported Schultz.
"Very well, transport the troopers down, the Marines know the schedule," 
replied McGinnis.
"Aye Sir, shock troops are down, heavy equipment is now on its way to 
assist, some of the attack craft pilots are already inside the Mt.Silaya, 
they report that they are encountering very limited resistance."
"Good," send the last wave down, and climb for altitude," this respite 
won't last long...."

At this moment, the first Romulan response to Ticonderoga's activities 
came, in the form of heavy disruptor fire from an orbiting 
dreadnought-class ship.
"Shields holding," yelled Schultz.
"Return fire, main ring only," said McGinnis, leaning forward in his chair.
The flash of the ring's discharge was brilliant against the background of 
Vulcan's skies.  The impact caused the enemy ship to stagger, but little 
real damage resulted.
"Sir, only minor damage to their shields, they're recharging?"
"Set main ring for autotargeting, it may fire as full charge is 
available, target at computer's disgression," snapped McGinnis.
"Aye, computer now taking over main ring systems," said Schultz.

This setting was by far the most powerful weapon that the ship had.  
Against the Borg or the Dominion fleet, it was useless, as the first had 
shields that required special frequency combinations to break, and the 
second had too many small craft to make simple raw energy output a 
factor.  In this case, ship-to-ship, Ticonderoga had the advantage in 
energy production and shield/weapons capacity, and it   became quite 
obvious over the next half minute.  By the fourth blast, the Romulan 
shields were gone, and the fifth struck the forced quantum singularity 
generator dead on, turning the Romulan ship into a blinding white 
fireball.  Ticonderoga, on the other hand, had only lost one layer of 
shielding, and had suffered no major hull damage from the Romulan ship's 
fire.
"Sir, the attack craft are beginning to suicide," said Schultz, as he 
watched the growing toll in Romulan craft.
"What's the count?" asked McGinnis.
"Sir, I have eight Romulan ships destroyed, most of their jamming 
apparatus is gone, and there are a number of damaged ships in orbit.  
Louisbourg took heavy damage from a cruiser, but their modular weaponry 
knocked it out before they took any critical damage.  We now have no 
small craft left, and I estimate three fully functional heavy units, with 
a number of damaged smaller units on the enemy side."
"I see, do we have any more marines aboard?"
"No sir, we got the last set off just before that first attack, those 
portable transporters were extremely helpful in getting all of them clear."
"Yes, an increase from eighty to eight-hundred transport cycles per wave 
is definitely a help.  I think I'll suggest that more transporters should 
be built into the next class of Federation heavy ships," said McGinnis.  
"The added troop carrying dcapacity is a real help."
"yes Sir, its too bad we didn't have it against the Borg." said Schultz.
"Agreed." 

The ship came to an altitude of about 1,000 meters, and began to move 
rapidly through the atmosphere.  The troops had been offloaded, and now 
it was patrolling in order to use its heavy weapons to support the troops 
as they moved against the Romulan forces which still held most of the key 
points on the planet.  This kind of activity was risky as it left the 
ship underpowered and with only limited maneuverability should the 
Romulans strike with their remaining space forces.

"Sir, the marines are having solid success against most of the Romulan 
and fifth column groups.  However, the Romulans have a strongly fortified 
base in the mountains near Vulcan's Forge. I think that our weapons will 
be the only way to break that position quickly.  However, there are two 
heavies orbiting above the site, and we will be in serious danger if we 
don't try to take them out first," reported Schultz as the image of the 
passing landscape was replaced by a tactical depiction of the Romulan 
fortification.
"Helm, reverse course, I want to get enough distance between those ships 
and us to allow us to climb without being in danger from short-range 
disruptors."
"Aye Sir, course is now reversed, our velocity is 1,500 KPH, and we are 
climbing at 5,000 meters per minute."
"Good, tactical, engage the main ring, autofire, supported by photons as 
the computer sees fit, computer controlled targeting and weapons selection."
"Aye Sir, settings now in place, diverting energy from auxiliary phasers 
to main power grid."
"We are about four minutes short of clearing the upper atmosphere, 
Romulan ships are already moving to intercept.  I estimate one minute to 
close range for disruptors," said Thale.
"Very well, clear the computer to open fire," said McGinnis.
"Main weapons cleared to fire, ... charging cycle is complete." replied 
Schultz.

At this point, the main ring flared white, and the by-now-familiar bolt 
of brilliant light connected Ticonderoga to the Romulan dreadnought-class 
vessel above and behind the great ship.  The Romulan vessel took only 
moderate shield damage, and no structural damage.  Its response, and that 
of its sister ship was immediate, and even less effective.

Ticonderoga struck again, concentrating both phaser and torpedo fire on 
the ship which it had first attacked.  This time, the added firepower 
directed against its shields caused more serious harm, nearly draining 
the shields, and causing minor structural damage as well.

However, a number of Romulan ships had now moved to support the first 
two.  Although these were all damaged, they were capable of adding 
noticeably to the firepower directed at Ticonderoga.  The combined effect 
of their weapons fire was great, and as a result of the damage that had 
already occurred, the main shields fell completely, and the auxiliaries 
were weakened.  However, the ship was now clear of the atmosphere, and 
able to move more quickly and efficiently in persuit of its enemies.

"Sir, computer suggests that we reprioritize to destroy the damaged ships 
first, and maneuver to avoid the heavier ships for the moment."
"Very well, bring the remaining weapons systems under the control of the 
computer."
"Done sir."

Immediately the ship's weapons began striking against the Romulan ships 
which were either small or damaged.  Within minutes, the five damaged 
attackers had been reduced to debris, and the heavier Romulan ships had 
been forced to retreat by occasional strikes which McGinnis had inserted 
in order to keep them at bay and off balance.  Now there were only two 
heavy units left, but both were at near peak operating condition.  
Ticonderoga was not in equally good shape.

The Romulan fire had weakened the auxiliary shields, and minor structural 
damage had ocurred as a result of energy bleed-through.  The main shields 
were still under repair, and this set of defenses could do nothing to 
withstand incomming attacks.

"Sir, we're at about half of optimal shielding capacity and structure 
shows just barely below nominal.  All weapons are stil available, and I 
would estimate about a fifty-fifty chance of successfully knocking out 
the enemy vessels.

McGinnis had to think on this.  If the Romulan fortifications could not 
be destroyed, they would be able to withstand the Vulcan and Federation 
forces for some time, and with reprogramming of their ground-to-space 
plasma weapons, they could destroy most of the cities on the planet.  
However, to destroy these targets, Ticonderoga would have to use its 
weaponry, as there was nothing in the area that could do the job, and the 
ground-based forces hadn't sufficient firepower to do it themselves.  
Doing so would, however, result in a several-minute gap during which 
Ticonderoga would not be able to defend itself against the two Romulan 
dreadnoughts still in the area.
"Tactical, I need to know hwether we can successfully knock out those 
ground bases and still have ennough shielding to handle the space-based 
resistance, or not."

Seconds passed while Schultz worked with both his computers and his 
instincts.  McGinnis knew that the technology was the best available, and 
Schultz' instincts were as good as his computers.

"Sir, I would say that either way we go, we're not sure to carry out the 
mission.  I'd say that its better to cripple the ships first, deal with 
the fortifications, and then finish off whatever remains in space.  I'd 
suggest taking prisoners, except that I expect that we won't have any 
shielding by that point, and if they have operational weapons..."
"Understood," replied McGinnis with a sigh.  Clearly this would be a 
tough, and close-run, job; but it had to be done, and he was actually 
rather surprised that things were going as well as they had been, 
considering the resources that they had started out with.

At this point, the Romulans took the initiative.
"Sir!" yelled Thale, his normally quiet voice cutting the atmosphere on 
the bridge like a knife.  "The Romulans are moving toward the planet, 
their disruptors are charged for firing."
"Helm, close in, ... tactical, choose your target, maximum firepower, ... 
throw the kitchen sink at either ship."
"Aye sir," Thale and Schultz replied.

Moments later, the by-now-familiar white lance flared from the 
mega-collimator ring, and a salvo of photon and contained plasma 
torpedoes impacted on the ship which was closer to the planet.  The 
effect was less than McGinnis had hoped for.  The Romulans' shields were 
severely weakened, but clearly they couldn't count on being able to kill 
these new ships in one broadside.
"Sir, they're returning fire," Schultz said.

The effect on Ticonderoga was staggering.  The plasma torpedoes hit 
first, shattering what remained of the auxiliary shields, and biting 
deeply into the secondaries.  Then the romulans next weapon, old-style 
nuclear fusion weapons  took their toll.

"Sir! they're firing ... nuclear weapons at us!" cried Schultz.

Nearly twenty warneads appeared around Ticonderoga.  Their combined yield 
was nearly half a billion tons of TNT, and in spite of the inefficiency 
of their energy/mass conversion, and the fact that their impact couldn't 
be directed as photon and plasma torpedoes could, the raw energy in the 
attack took its toll.

"Damage report," cried McGinnis as he climbed back into his chair.
"Sir, auxiliary shields are gone, secondaries at about thirty percent.  
Serious leakage as a result of that last attack, many crew are suffering 
radiation burns and other injuries in the ship's outer areas.  Sickbay is 
responding..." said Schultz.  

McGinnis looked over to see why both tactical and injury reports had come 
from him, and saw that Anders was knocked out cold and lying on her 
station's console.
"Science, take over ops systems," said McGinnis.
"Operations is now at science," intoned T'mayek.

"Tactical engage cloaking system, no phasing.  Helm, come around to 314 
mark 47 and charge the ring."
"Aye Sir," replied Schultz and Thale.

Long before, when McGinnis had been working over the design 
specifications of the ship with MacLeod and Tharael, an escaped Romulan 
engineer who had helped the Federation with the quantum core project, 
they had realized that one of the keys to building a nearly 
indestructible warship, was energy production.  Without it, shielding, 
phasers, warp drive, torpedoes, everything that makes a ship hard to 
beat, becomes impossible.  This was the reason for the truly fantastic 
expenditures on power production in the four planned Ticonderoga class 
super starships.  This planning, which had already proven invaluable 
against the Borg, would prove even more important now.

The ship came around, and swung so that it was slightly above and behind 
the weakened Romulan ship.  This allowed it to bring its main phasers, 
the contained plasma torpedoes, and two of the modular photon launchers 
into firing positions.  With this, McGinnis could pull one of his few 
remaining trump cards.

"Tactical, fire available weapons."

As far as the Romulans were concerned,a bolt of phased energy and a mix 
of plasma and photon torpedoes came crashing into their weakened vessel.  
Some of the torpedoes struck just before the phaser bolt, and as a 
result, the shields were temporarily weakened, allowing the phaser strike 
to crash through the weakened deflectors, incinerating the aft disruptor 
array.  Nearly simultaneously the remaining torpedoes came through the 
same region of the shields, effectively blowing apart the engineering 
sections of the ship, leaving it powerless in space.  With this, McGinnis 
knew that the Romulans would destroy themselves, rather than be captured 
by Federation forces.  

However, the brief firing sequence allowed the remaining Romulan to lock 
in and strike in the general direction of Ticonderoga.  Although all of 
the energy directed at them did not hit, enough of the disruptor fire and 
plasma torpedoes hit to further weaken the auxiliary shielding, and 
temporarily overload the cloaking device.  Unless McGinnis chose to go 
into phase, Ticonderoga would remain visible.

"Report," said McGinnis, "Ops, then tactical."
"Sir, we now have twenty-five percent auxiliary shielding. Engineering 
reports that the main and secondary shielding will not be available for 
at least forty minutes.  standard cloaking device will remain inoperable 
for no less than two hours, and there is no other damage to the ship.  
There is, however,  a report from sick bay which states that seventy-two 
crew members were injured in the previous Romulan attack, most are 
suffering from radiation burns in the second third and fourth degrees.  
Twelve are not expected to survive." said T'Mayek.
"Tactical?"
"Sir, as you have seen, the Romulans have only one remaining ship, but it 
is fully functional, in all respects.  I suggest that we gain some 
distance, and try to get them with long-range plasma torpedo fire."
"Very well, Helm, course 45 mark 318, warp one, with emergency reciprocal 
should they choose to move on the planet, rather than follow us."

The Romulan commander did as McGinnis expected, following Ticonderoga, 
rather than helping his people on the ground.  Like McGinnis, he knew 
that if Ticonderoga survived his ship, the Romulan occupation of Vulcan 
would end.  Therefore, the dreadnought closed on its prey.  McGinnis now 
chose to perform a maneuver which had, in defense fleet circles, become 
known as "Picard II".

"Tactical, fire aft torpedoes, use any other weapons to cover our retreat."

As with Picard's Enterprise, the big ship fired its aft weapons, hoping 
to beat off its persuer by causing damage, while avoiding an outright battle.

The Romulan Commander also recognized the maneuver, and accelerated while 
turning to avoid the aft weapons.  Of course, Unlike Enterprise, 
Ticonderoga was a fully distributed ship, with all broadsides at equal 
weight, save the forward broadside, which was greater than the others.  
Therefore, as soon as it had moved away from the aft-directed weapons, 
the auxiliary phasers and the ring could make their contributions.

"Tactical, autotargeting on the ring, computer may fire when ready."
"Aye Sir, firing ... now."

Although the main phaser weaponry of Ticonderoga was the heaviest 
phased-energy weaponry in the known galaxy, it didn't have the range that 
torpedoes carried.  Therefore, all the Romulan Commander had to do was to 
make sure that her ship avoided the arcs of her enemy's photon and plasma 
torpedo batteries.

Of course, this was as obvious to McGinnis as it was to her.  He, 
therefore, ordered the computer to handle maneuvering while Schultz took 
whatever shots became possible.  Sadly for the Romulan, her navigator was 
not as qualified as the most powerful distributed computing system ever 
built by the Federation, and Schultz was able to give better than 
Ticonderoga got. A good thing, considering the still-deteriorating state 
of the ship's defenses.

"Sir, auxiliary shields at thirteen percent, repairs continuing on main 
and secondary shields, but weaponry repair expects that it will be at 
least half an hour before either set of shields can do much." said Thale 
whose responsibilities at the helm allowed him the time necessary to take 
part of Walter Schultz's job so that he could concentrate on getting in 
effective shots. 
"Understood, Mr. Thale, what's the enemy's status?"
"Their shields are at about forty percent, no damage to super-structure 
as yet."
"Understood."
"Science, could we get in for a transverter shot?"
"We are, of course, capable of such action sir, but local subspace is 
very disturbed by the recent action, and I believe that there is almost 
no chance of success. What chance does exist is negated by the added risk 
posed by the enemy's short-range disruptors."
"Understood,"

All that this meant was that Ticonderoga would have to work for 
long-range shots while hoping to avoid enemy strikes when they themselves 
came within range.

"Coming around, ..." said Thale who was helping with tactical monitoring 
while his systems were under the main computer's control.
"Now four million ... 3 and a half million, ... lock ... fire!" he said.
As he counted the distance down, Schultz was finalizing his lock, and as 
the fire notification was given, he struck his board, causing the great 
ship to launch a volley of long-lance photon torpedoes and contained 
plasma weapons as well.  However, with the ship barely in warp, and the 
great distance, the Romulan defense computer had nearly a second to 
estimate which areas of the shielding would need reinforcement.  With the 
technology available to both combattants, a second might as well have 
been a century.  While his computers were allocating energy to the 
shields, the weapons officer was allocating energy to her ship's 
long-range weapons.

Their fire was not terribly effective either, but Ticonderoga's auxiliary 
shields were knocked down to only ten percent of optimal power.  As a 
result, the ship took damage for the first time since the battles with 
the Borg nearly nine months earlier.  However, the damage was limited, 
and no injuries were caused by the attack.

"Sir, we're vulnerable to further damage now, the shields aren't very 
effective anymore.  We're going to need to do something soon," said 
Thale, whose words drew a short nod of agreement from Schultz.
"Understood, accelerate to warp 8.5, and come to the outer edge of the 
system.  You may choose your course."
"Reasserting helm control over nav' system," said Thale, coming to course 
17 mark 28, and accelerating to warp 8.5."
"They're following, sir," reported Schultz, his words surprising no one 
on the bridge.
"Good, as they match our speed, continue accelerating in one-tenth warp 
stages until we achieve warp 9.4, or until we hit their maximum velocity."
"Aye, Ssir."
"Mr. Schultz, get the computer to lock onto that ship and charge all 
available weapons."
"Aye Sir, ... weapons locked and charging."

The ship was now at slightly less than warp nine, and was accelerating 
for that velocity.  The Romulan commander was continuing to push, and as 
yet, neither vessel was seriously strained.  The gap had widened 
somewhat, but the Romulan, not fully aware of Ticonderoga's various 
abilities was counting on her ship's ability to gain added energy at high 
warp through the added efficiency of its forced quantum generator.  When 
at high velocity, more matter could be collected for immediate use in the 
forced quantum power generation system, allowing the ship to increase its 
energies as it accelerated.  Of course, there was a theoretical limit to 
this ability, and McGinnis was willing to bet that he could force the 
Romulan beyond it.  <Of course, there is another way...> McGinnis thought 
to himself. 

"Now at warp 9.4, our lead is about half a billion kilometers, or less 
than half a second at this velocity." said Thale.
"Good, Mr. Schultz, auto lock the computer on target, and allow it to 
control weapons fire.  Have it set to fire the microsecond that that ship 
comes within range."
"Aye Sir," said Schultz, beginning to guess McGinnis' next tactic.
"Ops, put me on general address."
McGinnis was so occupied in his work that he had temporarily forgotten 
that Janet Anders was not on the bridge, and that he had ordered T'mayek 
to take ops, as there was little that she could to to contribute, as a 
science officer, in this situation.
"Sir, the channel is now open," she said.
Before he spoke, he glanced at T'mayek, hoping that she would understand 
his temporary lapse.   
"All decks, we are about to reverse warp, please take your emergency 
positions, I suspect that the ride is about to become rather rough."
"Mr. Thale, come to warp eight."
"Aye Sir," replied Thale.

The ship slowed, and although the Romulan commander had had her 
navigational computers following Ticonderoga's actions, the superior 
technology in the Federation ship allowed it to slow more quickly, which 
brought the ships nearly within range of each other.  Now McGinnis pulled 
his surprise.
"Helm, full reverse on all engines," he said.

The ship shook violently, not fully able to overcome the enormous stress 
of decelleration with most of its spare energy and computational power 
directed to either weapons or engine systems monitoring.  This shaking 
was, however, beneficial, as it caused some of the Romulan weapons which 
were able to fire as the two ships passed each other at the equivalent of 
warp four, to miss.  Fortunately, Ticonderoga's computer did not miss.

The first torpedoes bit deeply into the shields.  The auxiliary phasers 
added to the damage, opening a hole for the main ring to take advantage 
of as soon as the Romulan ship moved beyond the engineering complex, 
which caused a blind spot in in the aft part of the ship's lower 
hemisphere of fire.

The, by now, all-to-familiar white bolt of energy flared and impacted 
against the Romulan ship, and held it as it passed.  Although the total 
contact time was less than a second, the effect was still terrific.  The 
blast tore through what remained of the shields, ripping a tremendous 
gouge through the ship, cutting the bridge module from the rest of the 
hull, and puncturing the vessel's impulse engines.  These exploded, 
shorting out the remaining power systems, leaving the Romulan vessel dead 
in space.

"Mr. Thale, move in on their ship, transport any remaining crew to the 
shuttle bay, make sure that all of their weapons are deactivated."
"Ops, damage report on this vessel?"
"Sir, we have no shielding, and there is serious flash damage on the main 
hull.  Auxiliary phaser batteries number 25 and 26 are unavailable, and 
there is a temporary breech in the supporting structure for the 
mega-collimator which will require an unspecified time to repair.  
Thirteen crew were injured, four killed in the last action."

"Thank you," McGinnis said with a sigh.  Considering the shoestring 
nature of the recent operation, he knew that they were lucky, but like 
most commanders, he hated to lose the lives of his crew in battle, he 
always felt as if he had failed them in some way. 
"Sir, we're now within transporter range, there are about forty Romulans 
alive, and their quantum core is moving toward instability, so I suggest 
that we make this quick," said Thale.
"Very well, Science, beam them aboard, ... Helm, as soon as the Romulans 
are in the shuttle bay, accelerate to maximum velocity, and set course 
back to Vulcan.
"Aye Sir," reaplied the two officers.  Thale's voice, however continued, 
louder than any of them had ever heard it.
"Core instability has accelerated, laying in course and executing!"

The ship leapt forward, but unfortunately in his haste, Thale had 
miscalculated the optimal escape course, sending the great ship toward, 
not away from, the Romulan vessel.  Fortunately, the ship was able to 
just pass the Romulan vessel before its quantum singularity exploded with 
a force equal to that of ten million megatons of TNT.  The computer could 
do little to protect the ship in this situation.  Its automatic defense 
protocols could only reenergize the available shielding, and direct it 
all aft-ward, before the sub-space shockwave hit, carrying the 
still-accelerating ship forward at uncontrolled speeds.  Between the 
tremendous acceleration caused by the engines, and the force from the 
explosion,  the ship hit warp 9.98, while its warp field was only able to 
support warp four.  Before he blacked out, McGinnis thought that he saw a 
wormhole,--blue not orange like most others he had seen, either 
personally or recorded-- open before the advancing ship.  Then, like the 
rest of his crew, he blacked out, overwhelmed by the tremendous 
gravitational forces caused by the uncontrolled charge into high warp. 





********************************************



SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part VI Chapter XXVI:
By:
Matthew A. Weed

Darkness ...
The feeling of utter darkness around him brought McGinnis awake, although 
he didn't yet realize that he was awake.  He shook himself, slowly coming 
out of his stupor.  The first thing that he noticed was that it was dark, 
absolutely, totally, dark.  The second was that he was lying on the 
floor, head padded against some rather hard objecct, which seemed to be 
wet in some way or other.  As he continued his rather slow return to 
consciousness, he realized that the wetness was his blood, and that he 
was lying on the floor of some room, his head propped against the support 
for one of its pieces of furniture.  He then remembered, hazily, a great 
explosion, and the feeling of horror, realizing that he had done this... 
whatever this was... before.  For the life of him, he couldn't figure out 
what was going on, and the utter lack of light was neither helping him, 
nor comforting him either.
He shifted, feeling above him for anything that might hit his head when 
he sat up.Feeling nothing, he moved to a seated position on the carpeted 
floor.  Doing so, caused him to become extremely dizzy, and he remembered 
that his head was bleeding.  Apparently, he had hit it rather hard.He sat 
for a moment, before moving backward gently and coming in contact with 
the piece of furniture under which he had come to rest. ... Interesting 
that his mind would phrase it like that, he thought to himself, wondering 
just exactly what had happened.

After trying to remember for a minute or two, he felt around, and quickly 
realized that he was leaning against his command chair.  With this, he 
quickly remembered that he was on the Bridge, and that the ship had 
entered some kind of wormhole, or other subspace anomoly.

Quickly now, he got into his chair, and struck his com badge.
"Bridge to weapons Control Center, Kyla, report."
There was no answer.

"Bridge to all decks, come in," he said into his combadge, despite the 
fact that people wouldn't be able to report back to him this way.

Again, no answer.

Now, he was nervous.  The ship could eject the "mushroom", if things were 
bad, and in this way, the command center, computer core, weapons control, 
auxiliary computer core, and a small bank of impulse engines could act as 
a lifeboat for the command crew, which was unable to evacuate the ship if 
emergency egress was necessary.  Gravity seemed normal enough, but still, 
the lack of response from the rest of the ship, and the lack of other 
sound on the Bridge was not encouraging.

He turned to the arm of his chair, and punched up emergency lights.  With 
the exception of the small light on his chair arm, nothing else came up.  
However, this was enough to see by, and he saw that the Bridge looked 
alright, but that the crew therein did not.

All were knocked out, and with the exception of T'mayek, it appeared that 
most had lost a good deal of blood.  McGinnis knew well that just because 
there is no blood, one can not assume serious internal injury.  However, 
in this situation, he would take what he could get.  Schultz had a good 
deal of blood on his head, and it appeared that his left arm and right 
leg had suffered compound fractures.  Thale was lying on his console, and 
it appeared that he had some broken ribs, or whatever passed for ribs in 
an andorian.  There was also a lot of blood underneath his station, 
suggesting that something had happened to his legs.

At this moment, T'mayek groaned, and McGinnis moved toward her.  He leant 
over her, attempting to deduce her condition, when, very quietly, she spoke.

"Admiral, you must strike me."

McGinnis had spent two years on Vulcan in his early career, and so knew 
about the vulcan heeling trance.  However, considering his own condition, 
he wasn't sure that he could do what she needed him to do.  However, 
there was no one to do it for him.  He swung with all of his reduced 
strength, and his hand connected with her face with a resounding 
*crack*.  He swayed, hauled off, and slapped her again, somewhat less 
effectively this time.  Again, he tried, connected, and then fell back, 
overwhelmed by his own injuries.

When he had recovered sufficiently, he realized that the Vulcan was 
leaning over him.

"Sir, are you well?" she asked, the tension of the situation clear, even 
in her normally well-controlled features.

"No, but my current condition will have to do for the moment.  
What...happened...?

"Assuming that he wanted to know how he had come to be lying near the 
Sciences station on a very dimly lit bridge, T'Mayek began to reply.
"You were attempting to bring me out of a healing trance and ..."
"No, I know that, I mean to the ship," he snapped, somewhat testily.
"I am not fully certain.  I was conscious longer than any other being on 
the Bridge, and I am quite certain that we entered some type of subspace 
anomoly, in some way related to worm holes.  however, this phenomenon 
differed in some ways, which will require significant computer analysis 
to fully elucidate.

"Fine.  How long has it been?"
Normally, with most beings, it would be impossible to tell without a 
chronometer, but Vulcans were extremely self-aware, and although her 
estimate would not be as accurate as Data's, it would be enough to give 
him some idea of the seriousness of the problem.
"I am not fully certain, but I would estimate some three to four hourrs."

This was more than McGinnis had hoped, but less than he had feared.

"Very well, let's see what we can get out of the computer, so far, I know 
that comlinks are down, and that my chair's control circuits seem to be out."

"I shall run a systems check, Commander Schultz and Mr. Thale will prove 
of little help, their injuries are extremely serious, and require 
attention in sick bay.
"Very well, I shall try to check some of the near-by compartments to see 
whether any of the systems are working there.  Since the subspace 
controllers are down, and the optical links are apparently out too, you 
will need to find me, if you have anything important to report."
"Understood, sir.  When should I expect you back to check in?"
"Half an hour," he said, moving to the aft access doors, which would lead 
him into the airlock that would take him to the Bridge access corridor.  
He got to the doors, and grabbing the big wheel-shaped emergency handle, 
cranked the half-meter thick tritanium doors open.  Through the growing 
gap, he saw that emergency lighting was indeed working, in this small 
place at least.
"Commander, the air lock has emergency light, I'm going to get our armor, 
put yours on before I proceed any further."
"Very well, Sir." she said, moving to receive the bulky mass of material 
and working equipment from him.  

As soon as both were fully enclosed in the suits, and the fusion 
microcells were operating, McGinnis moved to open the outer doors.  
Unfortunately, if he was met with hard vacuum, although T'mayek would 
survive, Thale and Walter Schultz would die of exposure, as there had 
been no way to get them into their protective gear without adding to 
their injuries.

Fortunately, when he opened the meter-thick outer doors, McGinnis found 
only a deserted, and fully-pressurized corridor.  Here, the lighting was 
also at emergency levels only, but it appeared that the computer consoles 
were atleast somewhat active.  he stripped his armor off, after using its 
added strength to receal the bridge's inner and outer doors.

he then turned to the computer console, and, noting that it appeared only 
partly functional, called for a status report, only half hoping that he 
would get one.  It appeared that his luck had turned, as the computer's 
voice responded immediately.

"Ship's systems are currently on main and distributed computing support.  
Life support is maintained in all sections of the vessel, except the 
forward observation lounge, all sections of the mega-collimator ring and 
its support structure, and the main-hull quantum core access  tube."
"Report on other systems," said McGinnis, hoping that things were less 
bad on the rest of the ship than they were on the Bridge.
"Computer and structural damage makes a complete report of ships' systems 
status impossible," replied the computer.
"Give me a report on communications status," said McGinnis, now sure that 
things were as badm or worse, than they were on the bridge.
"Optical communications are available to all sections of the main hull, 
with the exception of the Bridge.  Limited optical communications are 
available in the Engineering complex, subspace communications are 
unavailable for all sections of the ship." said the computer.

McGinnis could now get some idea of the well-being of his crew at least, 
and for this he was thankful.

However, his first need was to get to the Weapons Control Center, as the 
Bridge was unserviceable without communications, and he needed to be able 
to begin the process of getting his ship back on its proverbial  feet, 
and finding out where they were.  Within ten minutes, he had gotten to 
the Weapons Control Center, where Kyla Moran was just recovering from her 
own, rather nasty, bump on the head.  As soon as he was sure that the 
lieutenant was alright, he sent her to tell T'mayek to come to the WCC. 

"McGinnis to sick bay," he said into the com unit on his station.

"Sick bay, Anderson here, sir." replied one of the younger nurses.
"Ensign, there are wounded on the Bridge, if you can send a team up 
there, I'd appreciate it."

"Sir, I would be happy to, but we only have three people here, and we're 
trying to treat the casualties here, and log the dead."

"I see, what is the count so far?" McGinnis asked, not wanting to hear 
this report at all.
"Sir, most of the burn victims died when we hit the ... whatever it was, 
there were too many objects and shards of equipment flying around here.  
The gravimetric pressure was usually too much for their dressings, and 
their skin came off, ... they bled to death sir.  There are many 
seriously wounded from around the ship, and at least fifty confirmed 
dead.  Many of the wounded have suffered serious internal injuries due to 
falling equipment,  and none of us here has the training to help them.  
I'm putting them into stasus as quickly as they come in."
"What happened to the senior staff?"
"Drs Peters and MulHollen died when a stasus unit broke loose and crushed 
them.  Slan the heeler is in trance, his arm and a number of ribs were 
broken when he was thrown against a wall when the compensators failed."

"Thank you, Ensign, you are doing a fine job down there, and I'm proud of 
the work that you are doing.  Continue doing what you can, and when he's 
able, have Spel contact me at the Weapons Control Center."

"Thank you Sir," she said, "I doubt that he'll be awake for some time, 
but when he is, I'll have him find you."
"Very well, ... McGinnis out."

The fact that Alecia Andrews was running the sick bay was unsettling to 
McGinnis.  She was one of the highest-ranked graduates of Starfleet 
nursing academy, but she was barely two years out of school, and her 
battlefield experience was limited.  His mind moved to other, equally 
important matters.

T'mayek was now in the WCC, and Lieutenant Moran had found some people 
who could help transport Thale and Schultz to sick ay.  It was now time 
for these officers, now his command staff, to begin collecting a 
ship-wide damage report.     
          



SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part VI: Chapter XXVII
By:
Matthew A. Weed

Command Log: Stardate 57275.0, estimated: William McGinnis, in Command, 
USS Ticonderoga recording.

I now have a full damage report on this vessel's systems.  The anomoly 
which we created via an uncontrolled warp acceleration combined with the 
energy from the destruction of a Romulan dreadnought, has done extremely 
serious damage to this vessel.  We currently have no sensors, external 
monitoring systems, and shields.  Fortunately, we have not been struck by 
any objects, wherever we may be.The ship's super-structure has suffered 
varying levels of damage.  Fortunately, neither the main hull, nor our 
core super-structure have suffered major damage.  However, many of the 
bulkheads, and other less-well-supported sections of the 
micro-super-structure have suffered serious damage, and this, combined 
with a partial failure of the artificial gravity system, has resulted in 
a large number of deaths in the crew.  We have not been able to ascertain 
the situation in the shuttle bay, and are not even certain that we were 
able to successfully transport the Romulan survivors from their ship 
before it exploded.  The bulk heads between main engineering and the 
shuttledeck are very thick, and we must proceed carefully, since if we 
break into open space on the other side of the bulkhead, main engineering 
will lose all atmospheric containment.

The main phaser array, many of the auxiliaries, and all of the modular 
photon torpedo systems are off-line, and will either require repair, or 
replacement in the case of the torpedo launchers, which apparently broke 
away from the ship in transit.All computer systems, communications, 
transporters, and internal monitoring systems are now back on line, and I 
expect to have limited maneuvering control up soon.  We have apparently 
suffered systems failures on the main reactor and the forced quantum 
core.  It is unknown at this time whether these problems result from 
unseen computer damage, or a more serious problem.  However, almost all 
of our secondary fusion reactors are operable, and are slowly being 
worked into the main energy transferral grid for the time being.  My 
biggest problem at the moment is my terribly understaffed, and 
demoralized crew.  This is the second time that many of us have suffered 
a major disruption in our lives which has been directly tied to an 
anomoly of some kind or another.  Many of the rest of us are in shock 
over the nearly two-hundred casualties which have resulted from this 
experience.  added to those suffered during the engagement in the Epsilon 
Aeridoni system, and the losses resulting from the need to leave some 
crew behind for the mission, I have less  than fifty able-bodied crew 
available at the moment.  There are still some who are listed as missing, 
most importantly, Commander MacLeod.  Until he is found, I must hope that 
the computer will be able to provide the necessary support to assist us 
with repairs.

"Sir, I expect to have external visuals up in a few seconds, sensors are 
going to take a bit longer." reported Moran from somewhere in the ship's 
innards.
"Good, If we're going to be without main engines for a couple of days, we 
might as well know where we are."

T'mayek's voice came from engineering.
"Admiral, I have found Mr. Macleod, he appears to be unconscious, and the 
doors to his office have been warped by the anomoly's effects, and it 
appears that his communications system is out.  I will have a repair 
droid open the doors, and see that his injuries are tended to."

"Good, I want you to do everything that you can to get him out, and back 
on duty.  Should you need any other resources, make sure to call upon them."
"Understood, Sir."

"Sir, Moran here, I have external visual link, bringing up forward view 
on the WCC viewer," she said.
Moments later, the holoprojector came on line, and showed McGinnis what, 
at first, appeared to be the image of a distant class "M" planet, with 
unusually heavy cloud cover, and more than average water coverage.  He 
glanced away, and then looked back, and realized that this was indeed 
what he was seeing, but that the planet's image seemed to be growing 
rapidly, as if the ship were closing on it at a great velocity.  
Considering that the repair crews didn't think that  the impulse drive 
would be back up for at least an hour, he sincerely hoped that Kyla had 
made an adjustment to the viewer's circuitry.

"Lieutenant Moran, did you just make an adjustment on the external camera 
linkage?"
"No sir, why do you ask?"
"Because I'm getting the image of a planet, and by the rate that its 
image is growing on the screen, I'd guess that either we've got camera 
trouble, or we're closing at about five percent of light," he said.
"We haven't changed the settings since I got you the link," she said.     
"the computer shows all hull breaches have been repaired, so we might 
land and try to finish repairs if its class "M"," she suggested as an 
after-thought.
"We might land, but considering that we have no drive control, I think 
crash might be the more appropriate description for what's going to 
happen, divert all of your droids to engineering, and return to the WCC 
immediately, I'll need to take over down there."
"Aye Sir, I'm on my way." she said, more than a slight tremmor in her voice.

Less than a minute later, she was in the weapons control center, and 
McGinnis was on his way to main engineering.

On his arrival, he redirected all of the ship's resources to the repair 
of the impulse drive, the shields, and the navigational control circuitry 
which connected the engines to the main computer.  Without this 
circuitry, the ship would crash, no matter how well its engines were 
working.  McGinnis didn't have time to think on the pure bad luck 
represented by the loss of all six of the control pathways from the 
various computer systems to the impulse engines.

Several minutes later, Moran's concerned voice came over the optical link.

"WCC to Admiral McGinnis, please come in."

McGinnis, whose first duties had been as an engineer on one of the 
Federation's great Nebula-class starships was hanging upside down in a 
jeffrey's tube when the all-call came, and was not able to answer right 
away.  When he finally disentangled himself from the ship's systems, he 
immediately moved to the nearest com pannel.

"McGinnis here,"
"Sir, I've been running calculations here, based on the aspect ratio of 
the planet that we are approaching, and I estimate eleven minutes to 
atmospheric contact."
"Thank you," replied McGinnis with a sigh.  Atmospheric contact was as 
good as planet fall, considering that their best estimates put their 
approach velocity at something approaching fifty thousand kilometers per 
minute.  At this rate, the ship's impact on the planet would have greater 
kinetic energy than had been contained in the asteroid that had ended 
Earth's "age of the dinosaurs," sixty-five million years previously.  In 
short, the mission to Vulcan would end in a mighty bang, at an 
undetermined distance from that planet.  McGinnis reflected that this was 
decidedly not a tempting thought.

"Commander T'mayek, what is your status?"
"Sir, I have all of the computer-to-engineering links back on-line, and 
the computer is running a diagnostic of the impulse drive and thrusters.  
It estimates that the complete diagnostic will require thirty-seven more 
seconds."
"Very well, but fix anything that you can see, we have less than eleven 
minutes before we intersect that planet, and we must either slow or 
divert the ship before that point," he said, unnecessarily reminding the 
Vulcan of something that she already knew all-too-well.
"I am aware of the situation sir, and have already begun to make a visual 
inspection of the starboard main-hull antigravimetric systems."
"Excellent, report progress as it seems necessary, I will be in impulse 
engineering."
"Sir, Commander MacLeod is there, although Ensign Anmderson wanted him to 
remain in sick-bay, once the repair droids had brought him there, he 
ordered her to give him stimulants, and he then left sick bay to direct 
repairs in engineering."
"Thank you, in that case, I will be in shield control."
"Understood, Sir."
"McGinnis to MacLeod."
"Here," replied the engineer.
"Robert, I'm glad that you  are well, but next time, let Sick-bay agree 
with you before you go off, and help me save the ship."
"Help *you*!," MacLeod's voice returned, more than a hint of mirth in it, 
"I thought that you were helping *me*."
"Never!" replied McGinnis before his voice became serious.  "Seriously 
though, what's the situation in impulse?"
"We're three minutes from start-up on the auxiliary reactor here, and I'm 
shunting power from the operational particle phaser batteries as their 
reactors are reconnected to the grid.  We're not going to get main power 
for a while, so we'll have to depend on the auxiliaries.  It should be 
enough for about one-quarter  impulse power, internal systems, and one 
layer of shields, as long as we're not trying to do anything else."
"What about the antigravity units?"
"Damn!" replied MacLeod, "I forgot about those.  If we have to go 
atmospheric, ..."
"Which appears very likely," interposed McGinnis.
"...then we'll either have to give on the impulse engines or the shields 
once we're actually in atmosphere."
"Very well, what about the forced quantum core?"
"The computer estimates that it will  be available in ten minutes, so we 
shouldn't count on it for our current emergency."
"Right," replied McGinnis unhappily.

There just wasn't enough time, as McGinnis personal estimate gave them 
about three minutes, fifteen seconds to atmospheric contact, and limited 
impulse power would not be enough to avoid a contact.  It was better to 
try to slow down than to turn, as this would not allow them to escape an 
unfortunate meeting with the planet's atmosphere, and since the ship's 
engines wouldn't have been used for breaking, their impact, glancing 
though it might be, would be at a terribly high speed ... <too high> 
McGinnis thought.
"Sir..."
"Sorry, Robert, keep working, and  prioritize on bringing up any extra 
power that you can, we'll need everything that we can get for breaking."
"Understood, MacLeod out."

There wasn't enough time for McGinnis to do much to help the repair 
effort on the shields, so while he moved back toward the Weapons Control 
Center,he called for a report.
"Lieutenant Thompson, what's your status?"
"Sir, we're just bringing the main shields on line, the auxiliaries could 
be powered to 50% if we need them, and the auxiliaries are out of the 
question for at least an hour."
"Good, you'll need to configure the shields for atmospheric entry and 
breaking, we're going to try to set down to finish our damage repairs, 
and figure out where we are, but the impulse drive is only marginal at 
best, so we're going to hit the upper atmosphere rather hard."
"Understood, inputting the configuration now, we'll be ready in about a 
minute," she said.
"Excellent news, energize as soon as you're able."
"Aye Sir, Thompson out."

Immediately after this, the doors opened onto the WCC's access corridor, 
and McGinnis quickly entered and pulled his armor back on, ordering all 
who could do so to do the same.
"Now forty-five seconds from atmospheric contact," reported Kyla Moran, 
who was already in her gear, and strapped into her station.
"What's our present velocity?"
"We're still moving aat about thirty-five thousand kilometers per minute, 
we should make contact at about a tenth that speed.
"Very well, adjust our angle of entry to maximize atmospheric breaking 
while also putting us down in the deepest water available."
"Aye Sir, adjusting course .04 degrees to starboard, we can't turn much 
more than that on available engine power."
"Very well, can you tell whether the planet is inhabited?"
"No sir, but it is certain that they have no space-going technology, if 
they exist, as there is nothing in orbit with an albedo sufficiently high 
to suggest machined metal, and no objects have crossed out path in 
anything but a stellar orbit."
"Good, hopefully we'll be lucky and end up on an uninhabited Class-M 
planet," said McGinnis.  <The lastthing we need right now is a prime 
directive violation on top of the ship's damage.> he thought to himself 
as they continued to close on this unknown world.

Of course, if they had found signs of limited space-faring technology, 
McGinnis would have had to destroy the ship, as the Prime Directive 
forced ship commanders to avoid disturbing a planetary culture at any 
cost, including their ships and the lives of their crews.  Since 
Ticonderoga could not cloak, and they could not avoid the planet, there 
would be no choice but to destroy the ship.  So, as they began to knife 
through the outer layers of the atmosphere, McGinnis was glad that there 
was a good chance that they might avoid either a violation, or the 
command decision that all Federation commanders feared most of all.

"Now entering upper magnetosphere, shields at full power, impulse drive 
is still at maximum available reverse thrust.Our current velocity is 
3,000 kilometers per minute, decellerating at 100 kilometers per minute 
every second.  Our current altitude is approximately 1,000 kilometers." 
reported Moran.
"Continue reverse impulse, but shields have unconditional priority.  When 
we're five seconds above the water, reset to maximum hydrodynamic form on 
the shields." replied McGinnis.

He knew well that the ship would hit the water hard, but with the shields 
at full power ... and then McGinnis had one of his now-famous strokes of 
genius.  If his idea worked, it would be hard on the shields, but better 
for the super-structure.

There wasn't time to have Kyla implement the maneuver, so he switched the 
helm to his console, and despite the difficulties inherent in trying to 
pilot the ship with his armor's gloves on he managed to turn the ship so 
that it was now entering with its "upper" surface toward the water.  The 
problem was that at this attitude, there was no way for the antigravs in 
the gravimetric drive to assist them in slowing their fall.  McGinnis was 
counting on the tremendous mass of the engineering complex and the warp 
drive to force the ship to alter its momentum just enough so that its 
shields could be used to, in effect, flatten the impact angle of the 
upper--and now temporarily lower--surface into something like that 
presented by the surface of a flat stone that one would skip across a 
lake.  If the ship didn't turn too far, it would hit just right, so that 
most of its forward momentum would be transferred into lateral momentum, 
in effect, forcing it to skip across the top of the ocean, like a rock, 
nearly a kilometer long, and weighing something like 14,000,000 tons; 
whose impact impact velocity would be about fifty kilometers per minute.  
If it worked, the shields would take the brunt of the impact, rather than 
transferring it to the super-structure. An impact of that force would 
almost certainly tear the ship apart as it decended into the ocean; 
probably to a depth far greater than its 4,500 meter (400 atmosphere) 
pressure tollerances.

As they decended toward the water, Kyla Moran's voice counted the last 
few seconds: 
"Now fifty meters above the surface, our forward velocity is 160 
kilometers per minute, decending at ten meters per second."  After these 
words to McGinnis, she went on the all-call, her voice ringing throughout 
the ship.
"Now four seconds to impact ... three ... two... one ..."    



8SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part VI: Chapter XXVIII
By:
Matthew A. Weed



The first impact threw those who weren't strapped into stations about 
with terrific force.  Any equipment that wasn't bolted down flew wildly 
about the ship.  However, all of the active crew had their armor on, and 
their suits' shields and inertial dampeners were enough to protect them 
from most of the  impacts.  McGinnis, who had had to strip off some of 
his armor to program the ship was stunned by the first blow.  The ship 
skipped across the water thirteen more times before finally coming to a 
rest.  After this, the computer reoriented it so that it was quantum 
core-side down, as it was supposed to be when in the water.  As soon as 
this maneuver was completed, McGinnis, who had recovered quickly from the 
shock of the first blow, ordered that the ship be locked down while they 
considered what to do next.

*.*.*

Command Log: Stardate 57267.4: Admiral William McGinnis, commanding USS 
Ticonderoga reporting:

Our situation could not be much worse.  We are at least four days away 
from having warp drive, our sensors are not fully functional, we are 
hundreds of miles from land on a planet whose meteorology is utterly 
unknown.  We can not tell whether there are other intelligent lifeforms 
here, and are being forced to assume that there are none, simply because 
we did not observe anything which would suggest them during our decent.

We have lost long-range communication, and can not try to find out where 
we are via the Federation locator system.  I estimate that repairing the 
ship will require at least a week, and hope that nothing untoward happens 
between now and that thime.
 

With these sobering words, McGinnis rose and walked across his quarters.  
There were about forty-five minutes before the briefing was to begin, and 
he decided to go to the aft observation deck and look at the life which, 
according to T'mayek, filled the waters of this ocean.
*.*.*

McGinnis' officers came in, until all six sat around the room.  only half 
had been in charge of their departments less than a day before.  
Fortunately, McGinnis had recognized the inherent weaknesses in a ship so 
heavily focused on military capacity.  Therefore, he had ensured that his 
crew was deep in experience, and because of this, only one officer, Kyla 
Moran, had less than seven years of deep-space experience.  She, 
fortunately, was charged with tactical, a department that would be of 
comparatively little import in the near future.

In his opening comments, McGinnis wanted to be sure that everyone was 
agreed on the situation, and fully aware of his thinking.  

"I am glad that you could attend at this time." said McGinnis.  "You all 
know our situation, and that we have no idea where we are, and that we 
need significant time in order to repair the damage caused by the recent 
battle, and our recent transit through the unknown anomoly. ... Tactical, 
your report?"
"Sir, we are still repairing the strategic scanners, but I have 
short-range scans, and they suggest that there are no intelligent 
lifeforms nor significan land masses  within a thousand kilometer range 
of this vessel.  Doubtless the Science officer will be able to clarify 
the tremendous diversity of life in the ocean, but I have never seen a 
scan this rich in lower lifeforms." 
"What about the rest of the planet?"
"We can't scan that yet, our main sensors are still under repair," 
replied Moran.
"Very well, engineering?"
"Sir, we're still in pretty bad shape.  Many systems, including warp 
drive, the auxiliary computer, and large sections of the 
micro-super-structure are still in need of repair.  Ms. Moran has already 
noted the damage to the sensors, and secondary shields are still 
unavailable.  our recent transit through the atmosphere has knocked out 
the primary shields, so we're only able to operate the auxiliaries, and 
they can only be rigged to about 70% power.  I expect that all systems, 
except the micro-super-structure and warp engines will be back on line 
within twelve hours, structural repair will be completed in two days, the 
warp drive will be back up within eighty hours."
"Very well, thank you.  Medical?"
"Sir, many of the injured crew are recovering well, and I believe that 
only seventy-two will require care for which this vessel is not fully 
equipped.  I have chosen, therefore, to begin stasus treatments on those 
crew members.  The rest of the crew currently in sick bay are recovering, 
and will return to duty as they become fit," said Slan, the Vulcan heeler 
who was now in charge of the ship's severely depleted medical staff.
"Lieutenant, what is the status report on Mr.s Schultz and Thale?"
"The tactical officer is recovering somewhat slowly  from his wounds, 
which included a fractured skull, a broken arm, and a large number of 
bruises and abrasions. ... Mr. Thale is recovering quickly, but his 
wounds were extremely serious and he will require no less than ten days 
before he will be able to resume his duties."
"Thank you," replied McGinnis.  He then turned to the officer whose 
report was the one he was most interested in hearing.  "Science Officer, 
your report?"

"Admiral, I have limited datta on which to make an analysis of the planet 
on which we find ourselves.  It appears that there are two large polar 
land masses,  each approximately equal in size to Earth's Asia.  There 
are at least two small continents which are located near the planet's 
equator, each is approximately equal in size to Earth's Europe.  I have 
gathered most of this data via a careful computer analysis of the images 
which we received during our entry into this system. Unfortunately, that 
data is not sufficient to make any well-reasoned estimates concerning the 
climatic, biological, geological, and other conditions previaling on this 
planet.  When the main sensors come back on line, we will be more able to 
make a thorough analysis."

"Thank you, Ms. Thompson, do you have anything which you feel deserves 
consideration?"
"No sir," replied Karen Thompson who was being pressed into service as 
the ship's navigator while her husband recovered in sick-bay.

"Very well, we shall continue to make repairs on the ship  while we 
consider our future actions.  repairs on the sensors, communications, and 
computers have unconditional priority.  We shall set a course for the 
nearer of the two equatorial continents, and on reaching that place, I 
shall grant limited shore leave to any and all crew who desire it.  Ms. 
Thompson, discuss optimal naval courses with Commander T'Mayek, and 
remember that since we are not familiar with this planet's meteorology, 
that you will need to stay in constant contact to avoid any unusual 
phenomena until our structural repairs are certified complete by 
Engineering.  You are all dismissed."

With this, all of the officers left in order to complete their assigned 
duties.

*.*.*

Command Log: Stardate 57269.3: Admiral William McGinnis, Commanding USS 
Ticonderoga: Recording:

For the last twenty-four hours, we have been moving on a course of 245 
degrees, at a steady thirty-seven knots.  This is probably the first time 
in three centuries that a Federation vessel has been piloted across an 
ocean like a naval vessel of old.  All of us have benefitted from limited 
break time topside, and we hope to make landfall on a medium-sized 
continent within thirty-six hours.

McGinnis finished his log entry and looked up to see the image of T'mayek 
on his desk viewer, her mouth just opening to summon him.  He quickly 
struck the two-way visual link and requested her report.  

"Admiral, I have just been notified that all sensors are now back on 
line, and I am beginning sweeps of this planet, and the surrounding 
region of space in order to improve our understanding of this vessel's 
current situation," said T'mayek from the Bridge science station.

"Very well, as soon as you have anything to report, call me to the 
Bridge.  I will continue to supervise the repair work until then." 
replied McGinnis.
"Understood, Sir."

McGinnis turned back to the enormous work which still needed to be done 
to ensure the ship's return to optimal function.  Damage to the sensors 
had proven to be far worse than originally expected, and so many of the 
other repairs, such as tthose needed by the auxiliary computer and the 
warp drive had been delayed, as there were few people who could handle 
directing the ship's self-repair functions on these difficult-to-repair 
systems.  Fortunately, the computer was able to handle the repairs to the 
bulkheads, deck plating, and other parts of the micro-super-structure 
without any assistance, so this part of the work was not behind schedule.

However, McGinnis thought morosely, there was enough work left to do to 
keep a thousand hands busy for many days.  If it weren't for the ship's 
self-repair systems, the ship wouldn't have been back to full 
functionality in anything less than a month.  With the systems ... ten 
days if they were lucky.

With this, somewhat encouraging, thought in mind, he returned to work.  
Several hours later, the sound of T'mayek's voice on the all-call brought 
him down from the inside of a jeffrey's tube.

"McGinnis here," he said, straightening his back to work out some of the 
kinks that had formed during hours of cramped work.
"Admiral, I have completed a thorough scan of this planet, and the 
surrounding spaces to a range of four parsecs.  You may be interested in 
the results...."
"I'm on my way," he replied.

Moments later the turbolift opened and he walked onto the Bridge.  As 
soon as he appeared, T'Mayek began her report.

"Sir, we are now aproximately one thousand kilometers from the continent 
on whose northern shore we intend to complete our repairs.  The continent 
itself is heavily forested, showing a broad diversity of forests, with 
many types of plants which, although not exactly similar, are quite 
analygous to species found in the Eastern United States and Southeastern 
Canada on Earth.  There are major mountainous regions, however, we will 
not come near these on our current course.  The life on this continent is 
extremely diverse, but none of it shows more than an extremely 
rudimentary intelligence.  In short, it should be an acceptable continent 
for both scientific study and shore leave parties.  The planet has two 
other small equatorial continents, and two major land masses which 
dominate its polar regions.  Like this continent, the equatorial land 
masses show significant vegetation and lower animal life, but no 
intelligent life forms.  The polar land masses are largely devoid of all 
but the most rudimentary life forms, and are largely covered by ice caps, 
which are up to 3.5 kilometers in thickness.  The ocean on this world 
covers nearly eighty percent of the entire surface, and due to the fact 
that much of the land mass is outside the planet's general east-to-west 
jet stream flux, the planet has a somewhat higher than expected amount of 
cloud cover, which tends to rais precipitation, and lower temperatures in 
the equatorial regions.  Average rainfall on the three equatorial 
continents seems to be approximately two hundred centimeters annually.

The planet itself is in a star system of eight planets, whose inner 
planets include two class-M bodies, and two small rocky planetoids, whose 
orbits are unusually close to the corona of the central class G-6 star.  
There are three gas giants and one small ice planet in the outer system, 
with the outer-most gas giant being nearly large enough to become a red 
dwarf star.  The system is located some two hundred light years beyond 
the current limit of Federation-explored territory, nearly three thousand 
light years from Earth.  The nearest Federation colonies are a number of 
science colonies which have been established by the Vulcan Academy of 
Sciences and other research institutions.  I should note that the Farengi 
do pose a significant threat in this region of space, and that we should 
expect some difficulties from them once we depart the system."
"Thank you Commander," said McGinnis.

"Sir, what are we going to do once we reach land?" Karen Thompson asked 
from her station.
"We have at least ten days' repairs yet to go, and we're still more than 
a standard day from land.  Although we could, hypothetically simply  make 
repairs where we are, I think that some time off-ship would be good for 
all of us.  Therefore, once we reach a suitable natural harbor, we shall 
take two weeks for repairs, with half crews on the ship to assist the 
computer with its work where necessary.  When not on duty, all are 
expected to get some rest.  Therefore, you may organize landing parties 
and other activities as you see fit.  All holofacilities are to be 
available for recreational programming, as long as you understand that 
the programs will we wiped after this leave period."

This pronouncement brought smiles from all of the bridge crew.  Many of 
them were quite fond of nature, especially considering the unusually 
sterile conditions in which they worked.  All knew, instinctively at 
least, that some rest would be a good thing, particularly in a place in 
which Federation ships would not be expected, and therefore not looked for.

"Sir, what are your plans?" asked Lt. Moran.

"At the moment, I am thinking to lead a party to the mountainous region 
in the Northwest of this continent.  Obviously any officers and crew are 
welcomed, but no one is expected to come with me, and considering the 
nature of this world, I think that general Order 15 does not apply, so no 
security will be assigned to me, unless they *choose* to come along."

No matter McGinnis orders, Moran had her own agenda, and a multi-day 
camping trip would do quite nicely to forward it, so her decision was 
already made.

"Ms. Thompson, please set a general notification concerning shore leave 
arrangements.  Clear any extra space you need for general in-ship 
discussion on the distributed computer net. ... Oh, please note that any 
who choose to accompany me will need to plan their leaves for the second 
half of our stay."

"Aye Sir," said Thompson who was now doubling as Operations Officer, now 
that T'mayek had had to return to her duties at the science station.

After making sure that all continued to run well, McGinnis rose and went 
to his quarters for some well-deserved, and medically prescribed, sleep.
    
  



SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part VI: Chapter XXIX:
By:
Matthew A. Weed

Command Log: Stardate 57279.3: Admiral William McGinnis, Commanding USS 
Ticonderoga: recording.

We have been in harbor for approximately three days, and I must say that 
I have never been in a place with so much natural beauty.  The effects of 
our surroundings on the Crew have been outstanding, both mentally and 
physically.  Many who were having difficulty recovering from their 
injuries have made great progress in Slan's make-shift recovery unit 
placed under the trees on shore.  Those who have not needed medical 
attention have been working and playing hard, and we are learning much 
about the planet, through the simple expedient of sending tricorders 
along with those parties that have chosen to explore various areas as 
part of their shore leave.  Because of our need for rest, and the 
unusually dense nature of the planet's flora and fauna, I have chosen to 
extend our stay here by another week, while we finish repairs on the 
ship, and do some simple test runs in the system to make sure that all is 
back to normal.  The added time will be good for both ship and crew, as 
we can get the first significant rest that we've had in three and a half 
months, and can also replenihsh our stores of tritanium, as there are 
rich deposits of that rare ore on the planet's eastern-most continent.  
As soon as Commander Macleod is able, he will proceed to set up a 
processing center there, using this ship as its base.  However, we will 
not be ready to move for nearly a week yet, and when the move occurs, the 
computer will handle it, allowing those who are on leave to continue 
their relaxation without significant interruption.  As for myself, I will 
wait until we have moved and will then leave the ship for ten days of 
hiking and mountaineering in this continent's highest mountain range, 
some thousand kilometers to the north-west of our current position.  I 
look forward to the excercise, and the company of most of the Bridge 
staff, whom I look forward to having a chance to relax with after our 
latest period of work.

McGinnis turned the log recorder off, and returned to the frustrating 
task of coordinating the massive repair effort.  He truly envied the crew 
members who were already taking advantage of the immense natural beauty 
of the great bay in which Ticonderoga now lay.

It had apparently been formed by a terrific volcanic explosion some time 
in the last million years.  One of its great advantages as far as 
McGinnis was concerned was its great depth and the steepness of the 
under-water cliffs which formed its edges.  This meant that Ticonderoga, 
despite the fact that its lower-most parts were nearly 160 meters below 
the surface, could lie very close to shore.  Because of this, the crew 
could walk from ship to shore on the ship's gangways which could be 
extended from some of the mega-collimator ring's support struts.  

Many didn't like to transport such a short distance, either because they 
still suffered negative side effects as a result of the transporter's 
actions, or because it was simply more fun to walk ashore, and explore 
the great forests which surrounded their temporary center of activity.

The forests came to the edge of the cliffs, and many of the trees were 
more than 100 meters high, with comparatively thin growth under the 
nearly-impenetrable canopy.  Many of the crew had set up hammocks or 
other sleeping places in the trees, and even those who were not on leave 
were permitted to sleep in the trees, as long as they were within easy 
range of the ship, as transporter technicians were not always available 
for duty, as their skill was needed elsewhere.

Despite the shore leave parties, there was still a great deal of activity 
aboard ship.  All power systems were back on line, and most of the 
micro-super-structure had been  repaired.  Only a few bulkheads in the 
main hull and some support struts in Engineering still required repair or 
replacement.

Because of the need for monitoring during its transit, no repairs could 
be affected on the ship's warp drive, and this system, the most complex 
aboard ship, was far from operability.  Repairs to the warp engines would 
require at least two weeks, and McGinnis had no intent of leaving the 
planet until the ship was fully warp capable.  Even though it was fully 
operable in every other way, the ship would be at a serious disadvantage 
versus other heavy ships without a fully functioning warp drive.

Fortunately, the ship's weapons were fullly repaired, and shielding would 
be back to optimal status in only a few hours.  If it became necessary, 
the ship could maneuver on impulse power and use its weapons to maximum 
possible effect.  Since all power generators were available, the only 
disadvantage that they might face would be speed.  In every other way 
they were ready for anything, and though McGinnis didn't expect trouble, 
he was truly comforted by the amount of progress that had been made over 
the last few days.

*.*.*
Command Log: Stardate 57295.5: Admiral William McGinnis Commanding USS 
Ticonderoga recording:

We are under way to the Eastern continent of this resource-wealthy 
world.  I have chosen to temporarily call off shore leaves while we make 
our move, primarily due to the need for careful monitoring of all ship's 
systems while maneuvering in atmosphere.  We are about twenty minutes 
from our new site, which lies off the northern tip of this new 
continent.  Rich veins of tritanium exist there, and we hope to be able 
to process around eighty thousand tons in the coming days.  As soon as we 
have achieved our new docking point, I will be taking some much 
anticipated leave in the Northwest mountains of the continent which we 
first visited.

McGinnis sat back in his chair, admiring the fview of the ocean as it 
passed some 15,000 meters below the ship.l  Even from this altitude, the 
deep blue of the water was inviting,except where puffy clouds disrupted 
the view.  Meteorological reports had indicated that the tropical 
latitudes were prown to powerful cyclones, particularly in the huge 
expanses of the unbroken ocean on the other side of the planet.  However, 
this area, with its comparatively small and broken oceans was less prown 
to such disturbances, at least at this time of the year.

"Sir, now beginning decent to docking point beta.  Our altitude is now 
14,000 meters, dropping at one kilometer per minute.  Atmosphere is clear 
of any turbulance which will pose problems for us, but it is surprisingly 
unstable considering the lack of meteorological systems in the area," 
said Thale.

McGinnis was glad to have the Andorian back at the helm/navigator's 
station.  The recent missions had been hard on him, and McGinnis had a 
growing feeling that there might be something wrong in the design of the 
station at which Thale worked.  Usually Andorians just weren't prown to 
the kind and number of injuries which the lieutenant had suffered.  
However, when he had mentioned it to Commander MacLeod, the engineer had 
strongly disagreed and put it down to a run of bad luck.

"Sir?", Thale's questioning tones broke through McGinnis' musings.
"Sorry Lieutenant, I heard your report, I was just considering some other 
concerns.  ... Continue reporting our status every three minutes until we 
reach final decent altitude, then place us into the course which you and 
I agreed on."
Aye Sir," replied the andorian, his curiosity concerning the Admiral's 
distraction not fully hidden.

The panorama below them grew slowly on the monitor, which McGinnis had 
ordered represent an true-vision image of what was below them, rather 
than with computer enhancement.  Of all of the parts of the planet which 
McGinnis had seen, either live or via pictures sent back from the ship's 
scouting parties, this was clearly most ... interesting.  McGinnis knew 
that unusual formations were common in areas with high levels of 
tritanium, it had been one of the key signs in the early search for this, 
the hardest of natural (or semi-natural, depending on whether you 
believed the oft-proposed theories that suggested that previous 
civilizations had left it about as a waste product, or as a gift for the 
less-well-developed civilizations that might explore space later) ores.  
In any case, the hardness of the ores allowed for unusual weathering 
patterns, which often left the land heavily ridged, with pinacles and 
other deposits more reminicent of a volcanic region.  This was certainly 
not unusual, but the fact that these areas were usually extremely 
geologically stable was the key.

"Sir, now entering final decent, one minute to surface, estimated depth 
in this area is 400 meters, there is no place sufficiently shallow to 
allow us to send parties in at the tip of the peninsula, but four 
kilometers southeast of here is a suitable place, although it is exposed 
to the open ocean."
"Very well, alter course, and set down there, program the gravimetric 
compensators appropriately,  if you think that our mass will be 
insufficient to hold the vessel steady."

McGinnis hadn't ordered a check for landing spots, as this part of the 
trip would be more work-oriented, and  for that reason, the main work of 
the parties in this area had been looking for the richest tritanium 
deposits.  This concern, included with the fact that they had reported 
that the climate was incredibly rainy, even for this unusually wet 
planet, caused McGinnis to feel that there would be comparatively little 
opportunity for the kind of frolicking that his crew had done, and still 
intended to do, in their first resting place.

"We have set down, sir" said Thale.  "we won't need stabilization unless 
swells exceed fifteen meters, and minimal added support for the natural 
shielding of the warp engines and ring installation will be necessary 
with swells over ten meters.  Currently, the sea is running at about five 
or six meters, and there are no meteorological systems which could result 
in heavy seas."
"Very well, lock down the vessel, call replacements to your stations when 
you are ready, and meet me in the shuttle bay in four hours, at which 
point leave for those who have chosen to accompany me will commence."
"Aye Sir," replied those who would be going on the ten-day hike in the 
mountains.
As  he was about to leave the Bridge, McGinnis turned and signalled to 
Thale, whose injuries would make it necessary for him to stay aboard 
ship.  For this reason, he would be in temporary command while Commander 
MacLeod directed the resupply process. "Mr. Thale, please accompany me to 
the engineering deck."

Thale rose quickly, while Walter Schultz waved to him to tell him that 
his duties would be taken care of.  The andorian nodded in thanks and 
hastened to join McGinnis.

After the turbo-lift doors closed, McGinnis turned to Thale to prepare 
him for his duties.  "Lieutenant, Although the Chief Engineer outranks 
you, I want you to retain over-all command of the vessel, as you have 
tactical experience, and your duties should be minimal.  As you know, the 
Chief Engineer will be very busy with the refining operation, and I don't 
want that duty interrupted with shipboard duties unless absolutely 
necessary.  Should a tactical situation arise which precludes your 
contacting the command party,  take whatever decisons you feel are best, 
you have full clearance to use all of the ship's resources to defend your 
people here, we will get back aboard in the attack craft as the situation 
permits."
"Do you expect trouble sir?" asked Thale, please with the compliment 
which his responsibilities implied.
"No, we are far from Romulan and Klingon spaces, and the Farengi, though 
close to this system, apparently don't know about it, otherwise they 
would have a large processing operation here."
"Aye Sir," said Thale as the turbo-lift doors opened.

The conversation with Commander MacLeod followed the pattern of the 
previous one  with Thale, and McGinnis was pleased to see how relieved 
the Engineer was that he would be  relieved of any command 
responsibilities while he worked to replenish the ship's tritanium stores.

After this conversation was finished, McGinnis hastened to his quarters 
to finish packing for the trip.  Although the planet seemed quite safe, 
he had decided to let his party mates take weapons if they chose, as he 
was planning to do.  Therefore, along with the dried stores, spare 
clothing, light tent, and other things that went onto his hiking frame 
(he refused to use an anti-grav sled for this, the idea being to get away 
from technology for a bit, at least as he saw it), he slung a heavy 
phaser rifle and a small tranceiver unit, ... just in case.

*.*.*
Three hours later, he stood in the ship's shuttle deck, next to one of 
the four attack craft which also served as half of Ticonderoga's fleet of 
small launchable ships.  Each of the four light attack craft carried port 
and starboard phasers, as well as ten micro-photon torpedoes, with three 
million kilometers range and twenty megatons yield; mixed with a number 
of long-range nuclear-tipped micro torpedoes, each with a range of 
thirty-million kilometers, and a yield of about four megatons.  These 
ships were twenty meters long, four deep, and of the delta-wing variety, 
expanding from a sharp prow to a ten-meter section at the tail, which 
protected the ship's powerful micro-warp drives.  The ships could hit 
warp six if necessary, had cloaking devices, dive to ten thousand meters, 
and had on-board facilities for four crew.  All-in-all, a very versatile 
ship, as long as you wanted to  spy on or kill something, not talk to it.

However, for his current purpose, this kind of ship was better than the 
ship's two shuttles or a run-about, simply because the ships had a better 
chance of  getting back to Ticonderoga than the other types of ships did 
if something were to go wrongc

While he hae been packing his gear, T'mayek, Walter Schultz, Kyla Moran, 
Slan and Karen Thompson had arrived in the great shuttle deck.

"Well, it looks like everyone's here," said McGinnis.  We'll be taking 
the attack craft Sherman and Montgommery, so stow your gear as you see fit."
"Admiral, I would like to take a shuttle if at all possible for the 
collection of samples for further analysis either here aboard ship or in 
the Federation," said T'mayek.
"Commander, I know that you'd like the extra computing power and storage 
space, but we don't know what the situation is outside this system, and I 
am worried about the risk of Farengi encursions on this space.  I don't 
know if you heard the report from Ensign Kamerev, but they have found 
signs that the Farengi have found the tritanium deposits here, but 
weren't able to stay for some reason.  A planet as ressource-rich as this 
, in a war.... would be an important base."
As always, the Vulcan's face showed no emotion, and her counter-argument 
was quite solidly based in logic.
"Sir, you are quite correct, there is a logical chance that the Farengi 
might return, however, the chance is less than one in a thousand that 
they will return during the next ten days, and with the combined 
firepower of this ship, and the two attack craft that you already intend 
to take, I find it very unlikely that a shuttle would be at great risk."
"Commander ... I agree with your reasoning, but, admittedly quite 
illogically, I don't like giving you a shuttle.  A run-about is too large 
for some of the places that we will be entering, would you be willing to 
take a third attack craft."
T'mayek was surprised that McGinnis was willing to consider something of 
the sort at all, but considering his own, quite illogical form of 
reasoning, this "concession," was probably an improvement in the tactical 
position, and he was still giving her permission to take a third craf.  
Even though more could be done with a properly equipped shuttle or 
run-about, the attack craft were dapable of doing a number of things that 
the other ships couldn't, and she would have the ability to work 
independently if she felt the need.
"Sir, if I may have an hour to make some modifications to one of the 
remaining vessels, I will join you at landing place alpha."
"Very well, take the Rommel, I will expect to see you in two hours at our 
original landing point."
"Thank you, sir." she replied as she turned to begin the work of 
downloading the necessary programs into the third ship's powerful 
tactical computers.

McGinnis turned to the rest of the landing party, which by this point, 
had stowed their gear and were awaiting his next ... suggestions.
"Very well, let's get a move on.  I'll pilot Sherman, Walter, you put 
your things aboard Montgommery, didn't you?"
"Yes, ... William, its there, and I think I'm the most qualified 
navigator aboard, so I'll pilot her."
"Great, let's get out of here!" said McGinnis, finally allowing his 
anticipation to show through.

An hour later, the first two ships had landed on the western edge of the 
great bay in which Ticonderoga and her crew had spent the last ten days.  
McGinnis and Schultz had wanted to do some diving in the bay, and between 
the Admiral's command duties and Schultz' recovery from the injuries that 
he had suffered during the transition through the anomoly, they hadn't 
had the chance.  As T'mayek had also wanted a look at the life in this 
part of the ocean, a return trip to this area had seemed logical.  A 
number of other parties had expressed interest in the area, so as 
McGinnis wanted some peace during his time off, they had agreed to stay 
only long enough for a couple of dives, and the Science Officer's 
studies, most of which would be carried out at extreme depth aboard her 
science-modified attack ship.

By the time they had completed their first dive, T'mayek had come and 
checked in with those who had chosen to remain on shore.  McGinnis could 
see the sensor blip which represented her ship, nearly 2,000 meters below 
the surface of the bay.  She was apparently studying the deep-water 
chemistry, as their scans had shown that few life forms lived that deep, 
even in these comparatively warm and nutrient-rich waters.  As he was 
tired, McGinnis chose to stay ashore with the rest, while Schultz took a 
deep-water diving suit and went to have a look at the waters near the 
mouth of the bay, where some very large under-water lifeforms had shown 
up on the scans that Ticonderoga had maintained while here.

Almost immediately after checking in on T'mayek, McGinnis set up his 
hammock some fifty meters up in a tree, stretching it from the trunk out 
to an branch that jutted upward from the first lateral branches of the 
tree, which were about three meters below the hammock's level.  The 
others had set up tents or hammocks depending on their feelings about 
heights.  McGinnis was concerned to see that Kyla had waited to set her 
sleeping place up until he had done so, and that when he did, she chose a 
high place for her antigrav-supported sleeping cot, which floated beside 
a tree within speaking range of his hammock.  Yet another sign that there 
might be an ... attraction that he would need to deal with at some point 
in the future.  However, until she made a move, he wouldn't say 
something, for fear of embarassing them both.

*.*.*


The next morning, five out of six party members collected for an early 
breakfast.

"Where's Kyla?" asked McGinnis, after noticing that she had not joined them.
"I don't know sir," said Walter Schultz.  "I thought that she was 
sleeping somewhere near you."
"You're right, but I didn't see her hovercot when I got up," he said.  As 
he did so, he was finally able to put his finger on  what had caused him 
to think that something hadn't been quite right all morning.
"McGinnis to Moran," he said after pulling out his old-style (but more 
powerful), communicator.

There was a pause, and then Kyla's voice came back to them.
"Moran here, ... Sir, I think I have a problem."
"What's the matter Kyla?" asked McGinnis, a smile trying  to appear on 
his face.
"Sir, I think that I must've forgotten to secure my antigrav to a tree, 
and now I'm ... somewhere out in the middle of the bay."

McGinnis barely kept from cracking up, and the only thing that held him 
back was the fact that he was her commanding officer.  Thompson and 
Schultz were grinning so broadly that McGinnis was afraid that their 
faces would crack from the strain of it.  The two vulcans simply looked 
at each other, quite obviously confused over this clearly illogical burst 
of human humor.  All that the rest of the landing party members got from 
them were a couple of arched eyebrows.

"Kyla, ... I'll come with Walter and we'll pick you up in  a minute," 
said McGinnis, before either Schultz or Thompson could start laughing, 
which would have almost certainly broken his own self-control.
"Thank you Sir," she said, embarassment ringing in her voice.

McGinnis decided to take advantage of this ... unusual reason for getting 
started, and told the others to pack their gear so that as soon as they 
had ... retrieved Kyla, they could set out for the mountains.

Some twenty-five minutes later, McGinnis and Schultz, aboard the Sherman 
were closing on Moran's position.  During the night, she had been blown 
about twenty kilometers across the bay, and in the general direction of 
its mouth.AAs they closed on her position, Schultz pulled on his armor, 
(as second-in-command and tactical officer, he felt it was his duty to 
bring it along, even on shore leave), and prepared to go out and pull the 
close enough to the shuttle so that he could lift Moran across and then 
return for the bed, which he would put into the ship's small cargo hold, 
which had been cleared of most of the  other gear.

As soon as Schultz had brought Kyal aboard, McGinnis turned to her, and 
grinning broadly, took the shot that his somewhat sarcastic sense of 
humor had almost required.

"Kyla, please don't float away like that again, because if you do, I'll 
have to get T'mayek to have a look at you."
As he suspected she would, she flushed for a moment and then, seeing that 
Schultz wasn't back aboard yet, She began to smile as well.
"Sir, I always thought that I was my own best company, ... and the time 
last night was quite refreshing."
McGinnis smiled back, and was about to respond when Schultz' head 
appeared in the open hatch.  Seeing this, McGinnis changed what he was 
about to say.
"Kyla, we're headed for the mountains, I told T'mayek to look for any of 
your gear that you might have left..."
"I had it all with me," she said, glad that she wouldn't have to go 
through the embarassment of inconveniencing another senior officer.
"Very well, then go and clean up, we'll be there in a few minutes."

Quickly enough the three ships arrived at a suitable starting point, and 
McGinnis suggested that they take the rest of the day to explore as they 
liked.  The vulcans were particularly in favor of this plan as they 
wanted to continue cataloging the planet's incredibly rich biosphere.  
Quickly enough everyone moved off to explore the thick forest into which 
they had come.Kyla had chosen to come with him,and after the morning's 
incident, McGinnis was happy to have her along to make sure that she 
hadn't been too embarassed by what had happened.

They walked through the rforest for a while, and McGinnis couldn't resist 
the feeling that they were intruding on a place which had not been meant 
for the presence of intelligent lifeforms.  It was very cool here, and 
the dense trees formed a very thick canopy through which little light 
could pass.  There were few noises, and beyond those of the insect-like 
creatures that flitted past from time to time, only the occasional howl 
or shriek suggested the presence of larger creatures.
"Uncle William," said Kyla, who had not used this term of endearment 
since before she had entered Starfleet Academy.  Although not her 
biological uncle, McGinnis had spent a lot of time with her when she had 
been younger, and when she had begun to call him uncle william at the age 
of three, the young Starfleet ensign that he had been then hadn't 
objected to it at all.
"Yes Kyla?"
"I don't know about you, but I feel sort of like we don't belong here, 
like this place was supposed to stay undisturbed by us."
"I know what you mean, its a bit spooky, but its also very beautiful, and 
I don't think the forest will object as long as we're careful.  Still ... 
I think we'll move before we set up camp for the night.
"I agree, I definitely feel like we should just leave this place as 
undisturbed as we can."
Although he didn't want to deal with the issues that were coming up 
between them, McGinnis did want to thank Kyla for her support during the 
trip home from Borg territory.  She had taken on many extra 
responsibilities so that he could have time to grieve the loss of his 
wife, rather than always having to worry about the ship's repair effort. 
"Kyla, ... I wanted to thank you for helping out with some of the ship 
repair concerns while we were coming home from Borg territory.  You, 
probably more than anyone else aboard, knew how much I needed the time, 
and no matter how much Star Fleet tells its officers to push aside their 
own problems during a crisis situation,  I don't think I could have 
pushed that aside for two months."
"I'm glad that I could have been there, The doctor knew that you and I 
have known each other for a long time, and he asked me to do what I could 
to keep some of the ship's  day-to-day business off of you, and even 
though I wasn't a full bridge officer, I did what I could to help out."
"I know, and i have been very impressed with how you handled your duties, 
both then and during the Vulcan campaign.  I think you'll make a fine 
commander some day."
Kyla's smile was very broad as she thanked him for the compliment.
"Well, let's get back to camp and see what everyone else has found today."

After their return, all of them felt that they should move to another 
area, as they had all gotten the feeling, even the vulcans in their own 
"logical" way, that they shouldn't disturb the forests here.  Walter 
Schultz had come back early and scouted about in one of the attack ships, 
and had found an area that had higher mountains and lots of streams and 
rivers some two hundred kilometers to the west, not far from the western 
coast of the continent.  McGinnis agreed that this sounded good, and they 
moved to this new place.




SUPER-DREADNOUGHT: Part VI: Chapter XXX:
By:
Matthew A. Weed


McGinnis awoke suddenly, wondering what it was that had awakened him.  
Over the last eight days, the travellers had moved about the great 
mountainous region which McGinnis had wanted to explore.  Their travels 
had been highlighted by a climb to the top of a 5,000 meter mountain, 
whose peak offerd a clear view of all of the lands of this beautiful 
planet to a distance of more than 400 kilometers.  They had also hiked 
through one of the deepest and narrowest gorges which any of them had 
ever seen.  In some places the walls were nearly 2,000 meters high, with 
the fifty-meter-wide bottom being in perpetual shadow.

On a personal front, Kyla had finally come out with her interest in him, 
and although his rejection of her had been as gentle as possible, he 
could see that it had hurt her.  However, his previous personal and 
command relationships with her didn't allow for any kind of romantic 
relationship, even if he had been ready for one.  However, he was still 
far too close to the death of his wife to be able to think about anything 
new.

However, he was quite certain that these things had not been what had 
awakened him.  He couldn't put his finger on it, but whatever it was had 
registered strongly enough to awaken him, despite a number of days of 
strenuous activity.  At this moment, Walter Schultz' quiet voice came to 
him from the tent which he could barely see in the unusually bright night.

"Sir, I think something's going on..." he said, his voice slightly tense.
"How do you mean "something's going on," commander?"
"Well, I was awakened about two minutes ago by a brilliant flash in the 
southeastern skies, ... as far as I know, this planet's aurora australis 
isn't supposed to be bright enough to see this close to the equator."
"You're right," replied McGinnis, now realizing what had disturbed his 
own sleep.  "I'll contact the ship and see if they've got anything there."

McGinnis moved to touch his communicator, knowing that the fact that he 
was checking in off schedule would probably concern both MacLeod and 
Thale a great deal ... <unless there's already reason for them to be 
concerned> he thought to himself.
"McGinnis to Ticonderoga ... come in," he said into his communicator.
There was no response.
He tried again.
"McGinnis to Ticonderoga ... respond."
Again, there was no answer.
"Walter, try your communicator," said McGinnis, concern creepin into his 
voice.

Like the Admiral, Walter Schultz was unable to reach the ship, and when 
he tried to reach the attack crafts' computers, he had no more luck.
"Damn!" he swore, some of his fiery nature flaring to the surface.
"How far are we from the attack ships?" asked McGinnis, wanting to 
confirm what he already knew.
"We're about two kilometers' walk from there, at night it'll probably 
take us about an hour to get there.
"Well, we'd better get Kyla and Karen up, while you're doing that, I'll 
try to get T'mayek on Rommel."
"Right," said Schultz, now as worried as his commanding officer.
"McGinnis to Rommel, emergency code five, come in immedately if you are 
able to respond."
As with Ticonderoga and the other ships, there was no response for a 
moment, and then McGinnis got an answer ... of a sort.
"Look!" cried Karen Thompson pointing to the west.
McGinnis turned and stared in disbelief as a small Farengi shuttlecraft 
streaked above the trees, travelling at nearly mach one.  Almost 
immediately behind it was the larger, but still quite recognizable form 
of T'mayek's attack ship.
"Sir, the Farengi must have brought in a ship in hopes of restarting 
their own quarrying operation," said Schultz as he threw himself on top 
of Karen in order to try to hide them both from the Farengi pilots, whose 
sensors were probably as inoperative as the Federation communicators were.
"Probably, but if their ship came into orbit above Ticonderoga, why is 
there still a lot of jamming," asked Kyla who was lying next to McGinnis.
"Who knows, maybe they've got more than one ship," replied Schultz, 
clearly not liking the thought as he spoke it.
"It doesn't matter how many ships they've got, we need to get back to 
Ticonderoga to assess the situation," replied McGinnis.  "Take only the 
critical gear, weapons and anything that will speed our trip back to the 
other ships.  Walter, you and Karen go back independently of Kyla and I, 
and don't come back to help us if it looks like we're in trouble."
"But Sir, ..." said Schultz before McGinnis interrupted him.
"Mr. Schultz, you or I must get back to the ship, as we're the 
best-trained tactical people aboard, and Ms. Moran will act as armed 
escort to clear your concerns about General Order 15."
"Aye Sir, ... but what about the Vulcans, neither of them is a tactical 
specialist, and Slan has almost no combat experience, save this last 
mission."
"I know, and I don't expect that they'll be able to do much, I'd like to 
have Kyla aboard that ship right now, but unfortunately she's not, so 
we'll have to hope that T'mayek's legendary skill with the computer will 
be enough."
"Aye Sir," said Schultz as he and Lieutenant Thompson began to run back 
to the small clearing where they had left their ships.
"Kyla, let's take the other path and keep an eye on the sky, if you see 
*anything* report it immediately."
"Understood," she said, having to slow herself down to avoid outrunning 
McGinnis.

The first kilometer or so was no problem, McGinnis warned Kyla of 
anything that they might trip over, while she kept an eye out for either 
friendly or unfriendly craft.  However, just as they broke over the crest 
of the last ridge before the long sloping run into the valley in which 
the ships lay, a small craft streaked just barely fifty meters over their 
heads.
"Sir! Farengi patroll shuttle, get down!" cried Kyla, throwing herself to 
the ground in hopes of hiding from the small ship, whose armament, though 
not powerful, was more than they had available at the moment.
McGinnis, who was lying a few feet downhill, turned and as if to ask a 
question.  Before he could, however, another Farengi shuttle shot past, 
also headed in the general direction of Ticonderoga's original landing 
spot, which was now about two hundred kilometers southeast of where they 
now lay.

After a few minutes without activity, McGinnis cautiously rose and waved 
Kyla up as well.
"We'd better keep moving, we're only about 800 meters from the ships now."
"Right," she said, and it looked to McGinnis as if she might say more, 
but an odd rumbling which seemed to come from all around them cut her off.

It lasted nearly half a minute before coming to an end.
"What the hell was that!" was the call from Walter Schultz who had been 
forced to track toward McGinnis and Moran.  Although McGinnis still 
couldn't see him, and assumed that it was a rhetorical question, he 
thought that it was a damned good one in any case.
"Well, what do you think," said McGinnis to Kyla in a voice barely above 
a whisper.
"I don't think it was an earthquake, there wasn't any ground motion.  
Maybe a photon exploded somewhere and we didn't see it.  That would be 
the right kind of sound, if it blew a couple hundred kilometers from here."
"That could be, but I haven't seen anything that bright in quite a bit, 
and even though sound propagates slowly in atmosphere, ..." McGinnis 
shook his head, there wasn't time to wonder, just keep moving back to the 
ships.
"Commander, whatever it was, don't worry on it, just keep moving," yelled 
McGinnis.
"Sir, where are you?" replied Schultz, who hadn't realized that McGinnis 
was close enough to hear him.
"A bit behind you and to your left, keep moving!"
Schultz' response, whatever it might have been, was overwhelmed by the 
roar of a couple of small Farengi ships, almost immediately followed by 
T'mayek in Rommel.  Immediately after the ships passed overhead, a bolt 
of red energy passed from one of the Farengi ships and struck Rommel's 
shielding.T'mayek returned fire, the yellow phaserbolt striking the much 
smaller Farengi shuttle, blasting it out of the sky.

The other shuttle turned and opened fire on the forest below, hoping to 
start a forest fire, whose smoke would allow it to hide until its mother 
ship could do something to support it.  T'mayek knew that the rest of the 
landing party were somewhere in this forest, and so she struck with her 
phasers, hoping to disable the small shuttle without knocking it down.

Unfortunately, the blast missed the Farengi ship, as all targeting had to 
be done manually, as the targetting sensors were being jammed by the 
Farengi subspace supressing fields.  The bolt crashed into the forest, 
not two hundred meters from where McGinnis and Kyla stood, watching the 
action above them.  As soon as it struck, the forest began burning, and 
McGinnis decided that it was high time to be elsewhere.
"Come on!" he yelled, grabbing Kyla who was somewhat shocked by the 
effects of phaserblast from Rommel.

As they ran on the ground, the two ships, one powerful and somewhat lesss 
maneuverable, the other, highly maneuverable but with few weapons 
maneuvered above them.  McGinnis knew that the Farengi ship was too 
nimble to be caught by T'mayek who, had little training in tactical 
operations without the assistance of  the computer.  Unfortunately, the 
best that she could hope for was another lucky shot like that which had 
knocked the first enemy ship out of the sky.

McGinnis knew that he had to get to the other ships if they were to deal 
with the small Farengi craft effectively.  His other concern was that, 
quite simply, a ship that small could not be of the interstellar 
variety.  With this in mind, he knew that there must be other, larger, 
ships in the area, and even though the Farengi didn't  have truly 
powerful ships, the inexperience of the people that Thale had to help him 
command Ticonderoga was all-too-great for his comfort.  

He thought that it was fortunate that whatever the Farengi were using to 
scramble communications seemed to scramble their sensors as well.  With 
this in mind, he saw that it would be a simple test of wits and luck, 
with whichever side could destroy their opponent first, winning 
possession of this planet and all of its massive stock of biological and 
geological resources. McGinnis had no intention of losing this particular 
battle.

As the thought came to the forefront of his mind,  McGinnis saw that they 
had reached the clearing where the party's remaining ships should have 
been.  However, instead of their reassuring bulk, McGinnis and the others 
saw absolutely nothing, beyond the grasses and tree-like forms that had 
been there when they had arrived.

"Where are they?" asked Lt. Thompson more than a bit fearfully.
"I don't know," said Schultz and McGinnnis at nearly the same time. 
"...Whereever they are, I think that we should get to that side of the 
clearing, as I remember the forest there is much thicker and we'll have a 
better chance of avoiding detection for the moment," said McGinnis.

Without another word, Commander Schultz began to race across the 
clearing, straight for the other side.  However, he had run less than 
fifteen meters when he suddenly disappeared, and then reappeared, his 
arms flung out in an attempt to halt his fall.
"Well, I think he's found them," said McGinnis, hastening over to help 
Schultz to his feet.
"Thanks, sir."
"No problem, any guess which ship you ran into?"
"No, but I think I hit about five meters ahead of the warp nacelles, so 
I'll get aboard and decloak, that'll tell us which ship I have, and where 
the other is."
"Fine, ... Ms. Moran, go with the Commander, I'll take Ms. Thompson with me."
"Yes sir," replied the two lieutenants in near-stereo. McGinnis, however, 
did not miss Kyla's sharp lance at him, and knew that despite the week's 
events things were not fully settled in her mind as yet.

Schultz and Moran hastened around the invisible attack ship and then 
Schultz disappeared inside, after calling for the airlock, which 
obediently opened, showing a rectangle of white light floating nealry a 
meter above the ground.  McGinnis thought that it was a rather 
disconcerting sight, but kept the observation to himself.

Moments later, there was the typical hum of a cloaking field being shut 
down, and Sherman wavered into view.  As soon as he saw which ship 
Schultz had taken, he ran about forty meters further down the clearing, 
and then turned left, his hands touching the cool surface of the equally 
invisible Montgommery. By the time McGinnis and Thompson had climbed 
aboard, Schultz had reengaged the cloaking device aboard Sherman and 
lifted off, hoping to assist T'mayek in destroying the small Farengi ship 
which was still flitting about, just barely avoiding her shots, any of 
which would have resulted in the death of everyone aboard the tiny craft.

McGinnis and Thompson were quickly on their way too, Montgommery's 
impulse drive straining to keep up iwth McGinnis' rapid-fire sequence of 
maneuvers.  As soon as they had cleared the trees, McGinnis set an 
immediate course to cut off any escape that the small enemy shuttle might 
make to the east, while holding a higher altitude in order to prevent a 
run for orbital space.  The Farengi shuttle quickly descended into the 
canyons of the mountain range, and would have gotten away, except for 
Schultz' determination to see this persistent problem solved ... using 
all force necessary.  In this case, he apparently felt that one of his 
ship's nuclear-tipped micromissiles would be best.  It streaked forth, 
and detonated only a few hundred meters in front of the Farengi ship.  
Between the heat of the initial four-megaton blast, and the atmospheric 
shockwave that accompanied it, the small ship's navigation systems were 
over-taxed, and with a violent explosion, several times greater than that 
of Schultz's original shot, it ploughed into the side of a mountain, 
nearly obliterating it in the process.

After they were sure that the Farengi ship was really destroyed, McGinnis 
turned his ship toward Ticonderoga's last position and accelerated, 
keeping low in the atmosphere in order to avoid visual detection by 
anything in orbit.  However, the flash of the destruction of the shuttle 
had been seen, and a bast of disruptor energy ripped across the face of 
the planet from somewhere behind them.  Fortunately the first bolt 
missed, and McGinnis and Schultz immediately engaged their ships' 
cloaking devices.  T'mayek who had less familiarity with the attack craft 
took a moment longer to find and engage her cloaking device, and for the 
enemy gunner, who was also working by sight only, it was enough.

McGinnis watched in horror as a second bolt of yellow energy slammed 
between his ship and Eisenhower, striking the partially-visible Rommel on 
its starboard side.  As with all other ships with cloaking devices, save 
the  Ticonderoga-class super-starships these ships couldn't both cloak 
and maintain full shielding at the same time.  Therefore, T'mayek wasn't 
able to protect her ship from enemy fire while cloaked, ... they had 
always hoped that the cloaking would be enough.  The attack craft 
reappeared, its cloaking device compromised and its starboard warp 
nacelle and phaser cannon blasted away from the rest of the ship. 
McGinnis and Schultz could only watch as it fell the fewhundred meters to 
the ocean below.

"Karen, can we get down there and pick them up?" McGinnis asked, 
suspecting that he knew the answer already.
"I don't think we should risk it, it didn't look like the passenger 
compartment was compromised, and with the capabilities of these ships, I 
think we'd be better off marking the location and returning after we've 
returned to the base," she said.
"Very well, drop a marker buoy in the area, I can't control those 
functions from this console," said McGinnis.
"Done, sir."

McGinnis watched as another marker fell from a slightly different angle, 
knowing that Schultz had probably had the same conversation with Kyla.  
Knowing that Schultz's ship was more-or-less in between him and 
Ticonderoga, McGinnis swung Montgommery far to the left, and then climbed 
for altitude, hoping that his simple evasion would be enough to avoid a 
mid-air collision.

Only seconds later, Thompson pointed at a rapidly-growing flare of light 
which seemed to be moving toward them.

"What's that?" she asked.
"I ... think that's Ticonderoga," said McGinnis, staring at the white 
ship, covered in a corruscading shell of blue discharge flares, 
apparently caused by the ship's shields.

Almost immediately McGinnis realized that Ticonderoga was not quite 
headed in the direction of the attack ships.  With this in mind, he 
decided to set a parallel course and wait to see if he could figure out a 
way to signal Thale that he wanted to be brought aboard.

Within seconds Montgommery was flying only a few hudred meters off 
Ticonderoga's starboard-aft quarter, which gave it protection from the 
fire of the known enemy in front of them, and also allowed McGinnis to 
observe his ship's actions without much difficulty.  Seconds after he 
came into his parallel course, he saw Schultz's Eisenhower drop out of 
cloak a few thousand meters directly behind the larger ship.  Schultz had 
apparently decided to take the more direct approach, and was headed in at 
high speed toward the aft sections of the ship.  McGinnis hoped that 
Thale, or whomever else might be in charge, would be smart enough to drop 
the aft shields and let him aboard.  Unfortunately, the opportunity did 
not arise just then.

Just as Schultz was getting close enough to begin docking approach 
procedures, the Farengi ship which had damaged Rommel took a shot at the 
new, and far larger, target which was closing in.  Of course, the blast 
did no damage, and clued whomever was i charge aboard Ticonderoga that 
there were targets about.  McGinnis couldn't quite resist the opportunity 
to watch his ship in action from a better angle, and almost before he had 
consciously decided to do so, he had moved Montgommery into a position 
which put it alongside the far larger ship.  Moments later, McGinnis 
watched in near-awe as the ring, wich had been dormant to that point, 
flared to life, climbing through the visible spectrum almost more quickly 
than his eyes could follow.  Of course, the most awesome thing was the 
absolute brilliance of the magnetic discharge which preceeded the firing 
of this, the most powerful weapon in the Federation's vast arsenal.

The characteristic white bolt flared from Ticonderoga, but due to the 
ship's position in the middle atmosphere of the planet, a large number of 
unfortunate molecules got in its way.These were destroyed, either by 
plasmatization, or by fusion of their constituent atoms.  In either case, 
the atomic matter was severely shocked, resulting in a bluish corona 
around the main beam, which in some places was nearly a kilometer 
across.  The other thing that shocked McGinnis was the noise of the 
thing.  Even through Montgommery's heavily shielded hull, and its own 
powerful deflectors, the roar was nearly deafening.  McGinnis suspected 
that had there ben any glass windows on that side of the planet that they 
might have been broken.

Of course, the bolt didn't care about its aesthetic effects, and ripped 
free of the atmosphere, just barely missing its intended target.  The 
Farengi ship in question tried to run, but it found its path blocked by a 
smallish ship, which had already unloaded twenty micro-photon torpedoes 
into it.  As soon as Schultz realized what had happened, he had "pealed 
out," and had streaked at full impulse toward the Farengi ship's 
approximate location.  As soon as he had broken free of the atmosphere, 
at nearly the same time that McGinnis was pulling even with Ticonderoga, 
Schultz had found the Farengi ship, and had set an immediate course 
directly toward it.  At almost the same moment as the bolt from 
Ticonderoga had passed it, Schultz had dropped into a position that would 
prevent the Farengi commander's quick departure.  In actuality the 
Farengi warship was far more powerful than Schultz's craft, but he had 
surprise on his side, and so when he struck with his entire load of 
photons, the Daemon in charge could only register his presence before a 
large number of explosives struck his ship.  The hits were far from 
deadly, but they did give those on Ticonderoga something to use as a 
visual target.  They did so, and the next blast from the ship struck 
home, finishing the work that Schultz had started.  With this, the 
jamming field, which required at least two ships to maintain, fell and 
before it could be caught by the larger ship, the third Farengi warship 
turned and ran before it could be detected.
The ore carriers which they had brought along to carry the tritanium back 
to a large processing center were neither fast enough nor well enough 
defended to withstand Ticonderoga's weapons.  McGinnis realized this 
immediately, but because he was to far away, he felt that it was best to 
order Schultz and Moran to get aboard Ticonderoga.

"McGinnis to Schultz, come in," he said, is voice tight due to the time 
pressure that he knew that they were now under.
"Schultz here,"
"Commander, get aboard Ticonderoga, take care of the convoy as best you 
can, I doubt that you'll get the remaining warship, but you may get rid 
of most of the other ships."
"Sir, shouldn't you be doing that?"
"Unfortunately, I'm too far away to get to the ship quickly, and I think 
that you will be quite capable of dealing with the convoy while i deal 
with the situation on Rommel." 
"Understood, I'm already on my way, ETA about thirty seconds."
"Very well,  we'll meet you at Commander MacLeod's processing site.  I 
hope that the vulcans will be with us."
"Right," replied Schultz.
"McGinnis to Ticonderoga," he said while beginning to bring Montgommery 
into a rapidly arcing turn which would allow him to make a rapid decent 
toward the surface.

"Ticonderoga, MacLeod here," replied the chief Engineer's voice.
"Robert, what in hell are you doing there?" McGinnis snapped, truly 
surprised to find his friend and Chief of Engineering both alive and 
well, and also aboard ship.
"I was aboard getting some stores set in place when the Farengi tried to 
attack us, Thale knocked their closest ship down so fast that I couldn't 
even get to the bridge before it happened.  We decided that he would 
maintain command until we could reach one of you, and then I'd take over 
until either you or Commander Schultz was aboard."
"Good thinking, how many did we lose at the mining site?"
"Only three as far as I know, the rest were supposed to be in protected 
areas at the time, and shouldn't have been hurt insofar as I can tell.  
There may be a few more casualties, ... I haven't been able to talk with 
them yet."
"Understood, ... as Soon as we have Rommel able to limp back  to base, 
I'll check up on them.  Schultz will be aboard any second, so I'll be 
leaving the ship to him for a bit."
"Aye Sir," replied MacLeod. ... Ticonderoga out."

McGinnis turned to the other matter at hand, the rescue of his science 
officer, ad the ship's sole remaining doctor.

"Admiral, when we get back to the crash site, what can I do to help?" 
asked Lieutenant Thompson, temporarily disturbing the state of 
concentration into which McGinnis had fallen.
"I suspect that the ship will have sunk to an equilibrium depth, probably 
about twenty to thirty meters below the surface.  our sensors have 
cleared, so communications have probably cleared also.  Try signalling 
them, and get me a full damage report.  We're about three or four minutes 
from them, and I need to keep an eye on Ticonderoga's progress against 
the Farengi cargo ships."
"Understood," she said, immediately beginning to hail T'mayek and Slan 
aboard their crippled ship.

As he navigated toward the sensor markers, McGinnis watched the 
long-range scaners, and found that the Farengi ships which remained were 
no match for Ticonderoga.  This was no surprise to him, but still, if all 
of them could be destroyed, the Farengi would e forced to wonder what had 
happened to their convoy, rather than being certain that a Federation 
warship was in the area.  McGinnis knew that if the Farengi had to wonder 
what had happened to their convoy, they might not send a sufficiently 
powerful force to investigate.  If that happened , he might get a chance 
to weaken them further, while keeping the knowledge that a heavy 
Federation unit was far from where it should be, out of their hands.

"Sir, I have a text-only message from Slan, he reports that Comander 
T'mayek is unconscious,and in heeling trance.  He says that they are 
approximately twenty-five meters below the surface and that all power 
from the starboard warp nacelle is out, and some other systems are 
unresponsive.  He believes that no hull damage has occurred, but due to 
his lack of familiarity with the tactical/structural readouts, he can not 
be certain."
"Very well, it is worse than I had hoped, but not as bad as it might have 
been," replied McGinnis.  "...Tell him that we are approximately ninty 
seconds from his position, and that we will evacuate them from the ship 
and return for it later."
"Sending, sir."

The rescue operation was somewhat more difficult than McGinnis had 
expected, simply because when they had built the attack craft, noone had 
expected to have to rescue the crew while under water.  The ships had 
been built with the submersible capability, more as an added stealth 
device than for any other purpose.  Therefore, it had been expected that 
the ships would remain cloaked or on the bottom until friendly forces 
could transport the crews aboard or the ships could be repaired or scuttled.

McGinnis finally decided that the easiest way to get the Vulcans off 
their craft would be to boost it up to surface level and then simply have 
them take one of the tried-and-true inflatable life boats until he could 
return and have Thompson assist them aboard Montgommery.

After Thompson had notified them of the plan, McGinnis brought 
Montgommery just under the damaged Rommel and then engaged, ever so 
gently, the antigravity generators.  Because they weren't built for this 
kind of work, the antigravs took time to lift nearly twice as much mass 
as they were rated for to the surface. As soon as Rommel broke the 
surface, the vulcans exited through the aft hatch, and inflated the small 
life boat. As soon as he was sure that they were safely aboard, McGinnis 
simply turned the antigravs to about two/thirds of their standard output, 
and the two ships slipped slowly below the waves.  His plan would have 
worked perfectly, save for the fact that a major weather front was moving 
in, and the surface chop was growing by the minute.  The vulcans weren't 
at risk as their lifeboat was capable of cealing its passegers in, so 
that the worst that they were likely to suffer would be a serious case of 
seasickness, as the boat was nearly unsinkable, unless something were to 
puncture it.  

The problem lay with Rommel, which was powerless and being tossed about 
by the surface activity. Fnally McGinnis decided to drop down as quickly 
as possible so that Montgommery wouldn't be threatened by its jostling 
burden.  The decent was performed nearly perfectly, but a sudden strong 
wave swept Rommel from the top surface of McGinnis ship.  As it moved, 
the powerless craft turned on its side, smashing its still-attached port 
warp nacelle against the edge of Montgommery's hull.  The nacelle broke 
loose, and water poured into the opening, quickly threatening the systems 
which maintained  the power generators' containment no matter what the 
ship's other systems might be suffering.   
McGinnis watched as the now-totalled craft sank off his starboard gbow, 
and almost didn't notice as Thompson's body suddenly went rigid with tension.

"Sir! sensors show that Rommel is going to lose anti-matter containment 
in about two minutes, we've got to move!" she cried, seeing the readouts 
on the sensors, which hadn't held his attention for the last few moments.
"What?" he said, his attention turning to matters aboard Montgommery, 
which, fortunately, was not damaged in the accident.  He then saw that 
she was right, and that they were in serious trouble.

"Lieutenant, get the aft hatch ready, we're only going to have one chance 
at this.  When I come along side the raft, tell them what's happening, 
and give them each a hand.  Be sure that you're braced, they are strong 
enough to pull themselves aboard, assuming that you don't slip."
"Understood, sir."

McGinnis brought the ship around, meanwhile thanking his good luck that 
it had suffered no appreciable damage.  Meanwhile Karen moved to the 
narrow projection behind the seats which served as open cargo storage and 
accessway to the hatch.  There was little that she could brace against, 
save the frame of the airlock, which was already cycled open, with only 
the outer hatch between her and the waters which were still rushing past.

Quickly enough, the ship was on the ocean's surface, and only meters from 
the vulcans.  However, the manuver had taken precious time, and they had 
less than ninty seconds left before the nearly fifty kilograms of 
antimatter aboard Rommel would make themselves felt in an explosion 
yielding approximately two gigatons.
"I'll be in position in ten seconds, you have only thirty before we must 
evacuate, so move!" yelled McGinnis over the now roaring wind and waves.
"Right!" Thompson responded.

McGinnis brought the ship to a halt, less than a meter from the violently 
bobbing life raft.  Although the attack ships were small compared with 
Ticonderoga, they were still nearly seventy feet long, and massed in at 
more than 500 metric tons.  Such a craft was far less affected by the 
violent waves than the almost massless life raft with its less than 250 
kilograms of living cargo.

"Sir, they're going to be hard to reach!" Thompson cried in frustration.  
"The waves are very large, and I can't reach them!"
"All right, We'll take the raft on the top of the ship, tell them that 
you'll get them if they swing down from the top surface."
"She relayed this news, plus the fact that there were less than eighty 
seconds until, as she put it, "all hell will break loose when your ship 
blows up!"

The vulcans didn't waste comment on the illogic of her statement's 
formation, simply moving so that they could grab any available handholds 
as soon as they landed on the ship's upper surface.

Seconds later, the ship had moved so that the next wave washed over it, 
and the raft came to a crashing halt against the upper phaser collimator, 
an impact that caused McGinnis to groan with frustration at their bad 
luck.  While they were now able to use the collimator as a handhold, 
McGinnis had hoped that the would end up almost anywhere else, as the 
collimator was probably the most sensitive part of the ship.

"One minute to explosion, fifteen seconds to departure!" yelled McGinnis.
"Understood," responded Thompson who relayed the news.  "Commander 
T'mayek is about a meter from me, I'll have her as soon as she can get 
through the next wave."," said Thompson, hoping that the ship's 
forcefields would protect the inside from getting overly wet.
A moment passed, and then T'mayek was aboard, dripping wet, clearly cold, 
but with no new injuries as far as McGinnis could tell.  Slan, 
unfortunately, was clearly a different matter.It appeared that one of his 
ankles had been broken by the hard blow against Montgommery's hull, and 
he was not able to move easily as a result of the combination of his 
injury and the occasional wave hitting the top of the ship.
"Sir! I don't think that we can get him oriented as we are, turn the ship 
180 degrees, then we can at least try to get him when the waves push him 
toward us," said T'mayek, who had replaced Thompson due to her advantage 
in physical strength.
"If you miss Commander, we will be without any serviceable doctor!" 
warned McGinnis.
"I am aware," she replied, not sparing any further words as she hung on, 
hanging out through the force barrier which protected the inside of the 
ship from the nearly-continuous waves.

mcGinnis turned the ship quickly... almost too quickly, as T'mayek 
reported a moment later.
"Sir, Slan is now hanging onto this side of the ship with only one hand, 
his only chance is to release the hull and trust that my training is as 
good as Star Fleet Command has told you it is."

The sarcasm caught McGinnis off guard, but he had no time to respond as 
the sensor board, which had been monitoring time, began to chime softly, 
warning him that there were four seconds before the ship would begin to 
enter that period of time in which it ... might be destroyed by the 
detonation of Rommel's power core.

"Four seconds!" he said.
T'mayek leaned out, gabbed Slan's leg, just above the broken akle, and 
began to swing him so that she could bring him aboard.  Her grip nearly 
failed, and as it was, she was only able to bring him into a position 
from which, with some clambering on his part, he could bring himself in.

At this moment, the board chimed, and McGinnis knew that their safety 
margin was gone.

"Hurry! we're over the margin." said Thompson who stood by, ready to help 
if either vulcan needed it.
"Sir, Slan will require three more seconds in order to come aboard," said 
T'mayek.
"Right, powering up for immediate departure," replied McGinnis working 
over the board.

Moments later, McGinnis heard the thump of a body hitting the deck, and 
T'mayek's words to the airlock computer which commanded it to ceal the 
doors.  McGinnis knew that their window was already closing, and that 
their chances of escape were somewhat slim.  He brought the ship nose-up 
on the waves and pushed the impulse drive for all that it was worth.  
With less than forty seconds before Rommel's core would explode, he knew 
that the greatest risk to the ship was not the primary explosion, but the 
vast atmospheric shock that would follow.  

The ship climbed rapidly, but between the thickness of the lower 
atmosphere, and the need for velocity and shielding, neither impulse 
engines nor shields could get full priority. If the engines pushed the 
ship too fast, it would be destroyed by friction heating.  If McGinnis 
didn't move quickly enough, the atmospheric shock would do the little 
ship in.

The ship was at about fifteen thousand meters when the ocean below seemed 
to part for just a moment.  The flash of the explosion, even though it 
had been damped by the water in which it had occurrred, was still bright 
enough to cause the windows to polarize to blackness.  Despite the fact 
that the ship was moving several times the speed of sound, a blast as 
great as that which had just occurred could result in transsonic 
destabilization of the atmosphere, as well as the acceleration of some 
objects to extreme velocities.  These threats were McGinnis' primary 
concern as the little ship continued to rise as quickly as its impulse 
drive could manage.

As the windows depolarized, McGinnis could see the enormous plume of 
steam rising skyward above the still-boiling surface of the ocean.  The 
tidal shocks which the violent release of energy had doubtless caused 
were not yet apparent, but McGinnis was willing to bet that the coasts of 
the two near-by continents would suffer from a number of rather large 
tidal waves.  Fortunately, as far as he could see, no objects had been 
thrown their way, and the ship's external scans showed that within ten 
seconds they would be able to warp out of the upper atmosphere without 
serious risk.

Just as they were about to achieve escape altitude, a warning sensor went 
off, and a brilliant flash lit up the space off the starboard bow.  
McGinnis immediately realized that one of Rommel's nuclear warheads had 
been thrown out of the conflagration below, but apparently without 
escaping enough damage to cause it to explode, rahter than simply going 
into stand-by mode until found by either a friendly craft or by an 
enemy.  If found by an enemy craft, the warhead would act as a 
self-guided mine and explode at a pre-programmed distance from its new 
target.

In this case the blast had occurred nearly a mile away, and the autonav 
had been able to bring the ship around the blast zone, but in any case, 
this was a reminder that even the upper atmosphere was not totally safe.  
Fortunately, they had escaped with no damage, and only minor bumps and 
bruises from the ship's sudden maneuvers.

"Sir, what was that," asked Slan, an unusual tightness in his voice.
McGinnis knew without asking that the jarring had doubtless agrivated the 
Vulcan's injuries, which though not life-threatening, would doubtless 
cause pain.  Pain that that would be difficult to  control, even with a 
vulcan's training.

"We had a nuclear detonation off the starboard bow, doubtless one of the 
warheads off Rommel, the navigation systems took control and brought us 
around the blast zone.  We're about a minute from Ticonderoga, it would 
appear that Schultz has handled all of the Farengi ships in the area, 
except the one warship that, I think, turned and ran before they could 
get in position."
"It is fortunate that we are closing on the ship, Slan must enter healing 
trance soon if it is to be flly effective, and I am the only one who can 
help him should he need it," said T'mayek.
"I know, we're forty-five seconds out."
McGinnis opened a channel to the only ship that he truly considered his.  
Even the earlier ships which he had commanded hadn't felt quite right.  
He had been important in all phases of the design and staffing of 
Ticonderoga, and although he recognized that it had flaws, he felt that 
it was the best design that had ever been implemented by the Federation.
"McGinnis to Ticonderoga, I have a medical emergency and request 
immediate landing clearance."
"Clearance granted," replied Schultz's voice.
Thirty seconds later, Montgommery sat beside Sherman in the landing bay, 
and McGinnis was headed for the Bridge.

After getting Schultz's report, he thought for a few moments on what they 
should do.  As soon as things were as clear as they were likely to get, 
he set the crew to preparing the ship for a reentry to the atmosphere in 
order to pick up their mining equipment.

Command Log: Stardate 57330.6: Admiral William McGinnis, Commanding USS 
Ticonderoga: Recording:

I believe that we should return to the surface in order to retrieve 
Commander MacLeod's processing equipment which had to be left behind 
during the ship's recent battle against the Farengi mining convoy.  It is 
interesting that they sent any warships along with this group of vessels, 
considering that Federation probes have barely entered this part of 
space, and that the front of our  manned exploration is still nearly 100 
light years away.  However, no matter the reason for their dispatch, two 
of three of the Farengi ships have been destroyed, the third has, 
however, managed to escape and will doubtless bring news of the presence 
of this ship to the Farengi trading council.  Along with the two warships 
that we destroyed, Mr. Schultz destroyed thrteen ore carriers, calling 
the action "like shooting monkeys in a barrel,".  No matter the exact 
meaning of the statement, the fact is that all of the ore ships have been 
destroyed, and we now know about another valuable source of tritanium in 
our galaxy, a discovery of tremendous import.

It is reserved to the future to see how this discovery will be dealt with.


After theese somewhat philosophical ramblings, McGinnis rose and move to 
the Bridge, preparing to take control of the departure-oriented work that 
his crew had now to complete.



