Star Trek: Cardassian Galaxy

Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Paramount Studios and the estate of Gene Roddenberry own copyright of all things Star Trek. The original plot is my own as are any characters created specifically for this story. 

Aboard the Heghta the atmosphere was markedly different. There was no fear or trepidation. One emotion ran through the crew. Expectation. Today would see a great battle. Not the first for any of them, certainly not their Captain whose sat grinning wolfishly in the command chair as he barked orders to the crew around him. Yet they knew that if there were a chance of the Cardassians succeeding the Central Command might just send assistance, knowing that their duplicity in the action was already known. Very possibly they might send a warship to destroy the rogue vessel and claim the crew as renegades. Somehow Kurn doubted that, as he knew the Central Command and was not as sure as his Federation allies that they would willingly throw away the chance to obtain such a weapon. He leaned forward to accept a data pad offered by one of the crew and grunted in satisfaction. Whatever the Empire's enemies had in store for them today, they would be ready. 

'Signal the Enterprise. The squadron is ready for battle.' 

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Back onboard DS9 Kira Nerys was decidedly harassed. Not only was she responsible for the combat readiness of the station, but also provisioning for that of the fleet gathering around it. She tapped her comm. badge. 'Chief, how are we doing?' O'Brien's voice came back. 'I'm just returning now from the Enterprise, Colonel. Looks as though Lieutenant Reetek has kept things running smoothly in my absence. All systems check out perfectly.' Kira grinned, and couldn't resist, 'That's a first isn't it Chief?' There was a pause and a slowly drawled 'Yesss... Actually that's a good point. Nothing has ever worked absolutely spot on around here. I'm going to run through the diagnostics one more time to make absolutely certain that it isn't the routines themselves giving false readings. What we don't need is an EPS conduit or a power relay blowing at the wrong time in combat. Give me ten minutes. O'Brien out.' Nerys nodded, vaguely aware he would not see the motion and turned back to the display on her desk. She flicked the display off and stood. Always a preference for action, she strode out to the main Ops Centre to see first hand the work of her command staff. Ezri Dax noticed the movement as the door slid open and raised an eyebrow at her. She returned the look and shrugged. Ezri knew her as well as anyone; knew she could not sit idly in an office while there was work to be done. 

'How's it going Dax?' Ezri mimicked the shrug and grinned. 'We're on top of things here. Shields, phaser banks, all systems up and running. Long range scanners keeping an eye open for our visitors, although to be brutally honest I think the first time we are going to have positive ID on their location is after they've opened fire on the Merrimac. All ship commanders have signed in at peak readiness so although they may get the first shot off, we are pretty much guaranteed the second. From then on it's every ship for themselves. Let's just hope the Cardassians keep out of it.' Kira directed a sharp swift glance at her. 'Something I should know about?' Again Ezri shrugged, 'Probably nothing, but in his status report Captain Kurn indicated he and his ships are ready for 'anything they can throw at us'. Call it intuition but if he was only expecting a Galaxy class he would have said so.' Kira pursed her lips. 'Maybe, equally it could just be our noble comrade's wishful thinking. A single Galaxy would be made mincemeat of in seconds. If however the Central Command decided the prize was too good to lose that easily, things could get ugly in a hurry. She made her decision. 'Signal the Enterprise and notify them. Tactical command is Captain Picard's area. He should be aware of the possibilities.' 

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The sick bay of the Enterprise was a hive of activity. 

'I said medical tricorders!' The raised, and agitated, voice of Beverley Crusher carried across the bay to where Bashir was standing with his back to her while supervising the construction of an emergency triage area for the most severe wounds. He glanced over his shoulder where she was glowering at an ensign in front of her and called across 'You're beautiful when you're angry!' She looked over and snapped 'Shut up!' However a grin spread across her face. 'Alright Ensign, nobody's perfect. Just make sure you get the right ones this time.' 'Yes Doctor.' He turned and left the room.