Cloak and Dagger

[m00nangel_]

Cloak and Dagger

1.

The senior officers of the U.S.S. Relentless crowded through the door past the sign attached to it that said 'Captain'. Below this other signs had been stuck or pasted on at various jaunty angles including 'Conference Room', 'Ship's Counsellor', 'Bistro', 'French Ambassador' and 'Bar'. Captain Gabrielle Mailliard hadn't minded these minor acts of vandalism. It was her policy on board ship that anything that helped morale and helped the crew stay tight-knit and working well was acceptable, as long as it didn't harm anyone else on board. Secretly she liked the affection the crew showed her and her eccentricities. It was a fine line between being close and being disrespectful but it was a line that Gabrielle walked very skilfully. Relentless' crew were cooped up in the same small space with the same fifty people for weeks at a time. On larger ships the officers would enjoy their own quarters with a lounge, their own replicator, a double bed and a window. On Relentless they were two to a small room with bunks and very few creature comforts, only the Captain and her First Officer had their own space. You wanted a drink – mess hall. You wanted privacy? Forget it. This was not for the faint of heart. Gabrielle had come to realise this soon after her first assignment to an Escort ship some nine years previously as a newly gazetted full Lieutenant. She had known instantly that a long mission in these conditions required morale and team work and these above all were the qualities she promoted in her crew. Her senior officers filed into her quarters and gathered around, leaning against the wall opposite the bed. Commander Velor had stolen the only other seat in the room, opposite the Captain in the little area under the top bunk that Gabrielle had converted to a space for two small bench seats and a little table, after all, she was the only senior officer small enough to fit. It was a small concession to comfort and Velor had followed suit, being the only other officer with her own quarters on the crew. Gabrielle surveyed her officers, her Tactical officer (also her XO), Second officer, Doctor and Chief Engineer. Five people in a Gallant class sleeping quarters was plenty. She began her briefing by wishing them all a good afternoon.

"Starfleet command 'as been able to ascertain that there is a pattern to the worlds being assimilated by the latest Borg offensive." The room remained silent, the crew focussing only on her and the slight French accent to her voice. She continued.
"They believe that this system will soon be targeted, NCG seven two five two." She indicated with a manicured fingernail to a point on the mobile computer link that sat on the little table in front of her, facing the crew.
"At their current speed of advance, the estimate is that we 'ave four to five weeks before the Borg take over. From previous surveys of the region we know that on the third planet in this system there is an in'abited pre-warp civilisation with a population of roughly one 'undred thirty million. Our mission will be to proceed to NCG seven two five two under cloak and make accelerated first contact with their leaders. We will warn them of the impending danger and offer our assistance. That assistance will be in the form of a small task force of large ships, to evacuate 'ooever they choose. We can accommodate a few thousand people. It is not ideal, but as you all know this system is too far from Federation space and we simply 'ave not the resources or time to mount a planetary evacuation. What we offer is the survival of their species and re-'oming on a new planet closer to the Federation. I will say now that this task force will be 'eading into Borg controlled space and we will be risking a few thousand of our own to 'elp them, so I will not be suffering any delays or squabbling from the crew or the in'abitants. Relentless will form the advance party for this task force to scout ahead. Starfleet is committing five large ships to this, Nebula, Galaxy and Sovereign class. They need to know what is up ahead so those ships aren't in unknown dangers."
There was a pregnant pause.
"Questions?" she asked.
"Can we presume standard deep recon running Captain?" It was Commander Deletham who spoke, the second officer and a Romulan who had joined Starfleet long before the new Romulan Republic was born.
Gabrielle nodded. "You can. That means warp six for the duration and we remained cloaked. All unnecessary systems remain offline when not in use to reduce our power signature. These are the Borg, if anyone will detect us, it is them."
Deletham nodded. The crew had seen this kind of mission under Captain Mailliard many times before, most of the questions had already been asked. Doctor Tevik took an intake of breath and the Captain looked to him expectantly.
"Captain, can we expect any less strenuous assignments any time soon? I ask on behalf of the crew; they're fatigued from long stints away in confined quarters. I believe they could use a good rest."
Gabrielle looked down, to the screen depicting NCG-7252 on the little table in front of her. She spoke without looking up.
"Doctor what can I say? We are too good. We deliver constantly what Starfleet expects, so they ask us for more and more. What can one do? I 'ave of course informed them of your concerns regarding the crew. I know this crew will 'ang on and complete their duties to the very best standard until they are given leave. I know that they cannot do this forever and will require some good rest soon. But I also know that there is a system of people 'oo are about to be assimilated and… we must 'elp them, if we can, do you not agree?" Gabrielle finally looked up.
"I do ma'am" the Doctor replied simply.
"Don't worry, I 'ave 'eard you well Doctor. It won't be much longer now until we are on leave, this I will make my main concern upon completing this mission."
Tevik nodded. "Thank you."
Another pause.
"If there is nothing else, we 'ad better get ready to get underway. You know your roles from 'ere. Let's get back in one piece and then go 'unting some leave!"
There were nods and words of approval from the officers and they filed out of the 'bistro', Captain Mailliard last in line.

*******

On the bridge of Relentless all was going well. The ship was ready to leave ahead of time and the officers and crew were re-checking their lists and procedures one final time before departure. Gabrielle sat in her chair in the middle of the bridge confident that her immediate tasks were all completed. She listened to the low hum of the air conditioning, a noise that was usually dialled out by the human brain being ever present, except for a loss of power to the life support systems.
"Captain?"
Her reverie was broken by her executive officer Commander Velor. Velor was an excellent officer and tactician in her own right and would soon make a very capable Captain herself. She was certainly like no other Vulcan Gabrielle had met before.
"Yes Commander." Gabrielle sat forward and beamed at her XO, knowing the smile would not be returned.
"All stations report ready to depart" Velor informed her in a typical prim Vulcan way, always economical with words yet always leaving no room for misinterpretation.
"Good, then let us get going, yes? Lieutenant B'Etora, signal the Starbase control U.S.S. Relentless ready to depart the docks."
"Aye sir."
'Sir' was a tradition Gabrielle didn't mind. There was a precedent for calling female officers Sir, or referring to them as Mr instead of Miss. It was a funny tradition that not many observed in the early 25th century but Gabrielle found it entertaining. Of all the possible ways to refer to her ma'am was her least favourite. She never could say why. The voice of the controller came through the bridge speakers.
"Relentless, Starbase Control. You are clear to leave Space Dock, standard departure. Best of luck to you."
"Thank you Starbase control," B'Etora responded as he keyed their departure in to the helm controls, "Relentless out."
" 'elm, release docking clamps. Thrusters reverse one third. When clear come about one eight zero mark zero and proceed on standard departure at your discretion. Once we are beyond the Starbase area set a course for the Gamma Orionis transwarp gateway, warp eight."
"Aye sir." She had likely plotted all of this already, but Gabrielle had to make it all official.

The bow manouvering thrusters of the Relentless fired and she crept back from the dock, accelerating slowly. After a short way she began to rotate in a perfect flat spin, coming to a stop facing the space doors of Starbase 24 which obediently started to slide apart, stopping around half way open. The little Gallant gently boosted forwards to standard manoeuvring speed and after a minute crept through the giant gateway and out into the vast sky beyond.

[m00nangel_]

2.

Gabrielle shifted in her chair, looking up from her book briefly to take in the stars flying past the view screen. Any outstanding paperwork she had to do had been completed within the first few hours of the voyage. The Relentless skimmed ever onwards at the positively 23rd century speed of warp six, the dimmed spots and blue LEDs that lit the bridge denoting that the ship was cloaked. At her right side stood Commander Velor, ever the belligerent X.O., reminding her that her shift was nearly over. It was a signal the two had developed without conversation or agreement, one that gently prodded, that ate away at the Captain until she eventually left the bridge to get a meal and some sleep. Gabrielle's day would start at 06:00 ship time. Out of bed by 06:45 she would perform ablutions, climb into her uniform and boots and would toil briefly but effectively on her hair and makeup, forever appreciating the improved lighting she had requested the chief install around her mirror. By 07:30 she would be in the mess hall, eating breakfast and speaking to the crew. At 08:00 she would take her place on the bridge, relieving Deletham who would take up the tactical station. There she would stay, no breaks and usually little to eat until 20:00 when Velor would almost force her to leave the bridge and get some food. She would have dinner, checking in with the crew in the mess hall and would then tour the little ship, speaking to crew and catching up with the department heads. By 22:00 she'd generally be back to her quarters and would deal with any requestmen of which there were usually very few. Bed time was when her work was done, anywhere between 21:30 and 23:00. Boredom was a constant problem for the crew, these voyages were long and drawn out days of it, interspersed with the odd moment of excruciating apprehension as they came close to an enemy ship or installation, or if there were any faults with the Relentless' systems. Fortunately the latter of these problems were few and far between. On a ship where stealth was paramount the engineering procedures were designed and enforced to prevent system failures at all costs. Generally they worked pretty well. The upshot of all of this was that the Captain got a lot of reading done.

Gabrielle looked back down to her book. It was a French novel, being read in French. Since leaving France itself some seventeen years previously to go to Starfleet Academy she'd had little opportunity to speak French and enjoyed books, especially novels portraying the French way of life from her childhood or from history. It was something she missed and she took every opportunity to go back when she could.
"Twenty hundred hours Captain" Velor informed her pointedly. Gabrielle sighed and rested her hand on the arm of the chair, ready to push up off it and stand up, but her movement was interrupted by a buzzer and Velor paced quickly back to the tactical station.
"Enemy signal contact sir, three zero four mark three five one…. A Borg Sphere travelling at high warp."
Gabrielle stood. "Red alert, all 'ands to battle stations!" The red alert klaxon sounded three times and the previously blue LEDs started to pulse red. Activity on the bridge heightened and some secondary officers on the bridge were replaced by alpha shift colleagues.
"Trajectory?"
Velor sat and examined the console. "At current course and speed the Sphere will pass in front of us… sixty thousand kilometres separation."
Gabrielle took a deep breath, calculating the benefits of various different actions they could take. "Drop out of warp and take us on a new 'eading passing be'ind the sphere's path. Drop our energy output to be low as possible. I do not want to be detected."
The stars whizzing past the viewscreen came to a halt and began to swing to the right as the ship banked left on its new course. Tensions were running high on the bridge, all eyes focussed on the tactical overlay that Velor had put up on the main screen depicting the progress of the Borg Sphere. No-one spoke and a familiar deathly hush came over the bridge officers, the only remaining sound being the hum of life support and the occasional muted beep from the bridge systems. Everyone waited. The silence went on for what seemed like an eternity as the Sphere passed in front of them and went on with its jouney, blissfully unaware of –
"The sphere is changing course Captain."
Gabrielle clenched her teeth and swallowed.
"Coming about…. headed straight for us." Velor looked up from her monitor at the Captain.
"Alright, 'old steady. They may 'ave only found our warp trail."
Further silence ensued as the Sphere bore down on them.
"Distance from where we left warp?" Gabrielle walked forward to the helm, looking over B'Etora's shoulder as she checked.
"Eighty two kilometres Captain and increasing."
"Cut impulse power and put the engines into the low power state, let us just drift." Gabrielle turned to face the rest of the bridge. "Be prepared, we may need full power and shields at a moment's notice." It was something she didn't need to tell any of her crew, but she felt better having said it. She returned to her seat and watched the tactical overlay like a hawk. The Sphere dropped from warp near where the Relentless had just a couple of minutes before and for a while stood motionless in space, gathering data. It moved again and like a bloodhound tracking pray it was coming closer and closer.
"Ready to jam all communications."
"Aye sir."
The ops officer looked up suddenly "Captain, we're being scanned!"
Gabrielle stood up, involuntarily and spoke quickly. "Just us, or a wide area scan?"
"Just us!"
There was no more time to hide.
"Drop cloak, raise shields, jam all communications!"

It was the actions of Lieutenant B'Etora a couple of minutes previously that arguably saved the lives of the whole crew. Before dropping impulse power she had used the thrusters to swing the bow of the ship around to face the enemy. As a direct result when the Relentless dropped from cloak she could bring all her guns to bear immediately on her target in a brutal tirade of energy. The forward cannons and beam banks and the rear turrets all focussed pulse after pulse, bolt after bolt of orange phased energy on the sphere. For a few seconds, seconds which seemed like at least a minute for the crew she tore at the exterior of the sphere, sending shards of its outer hull spinning off into space. There was no need to move, Relentless had her target right in the primary kill zone.
"Qauntum Torpedos!" Gabrielle yelled through the booms of enemy weapons hitting their shields.
Velor worked her console in a great feat of multi-tasking.
"Ready Captain!"
Lieutenant B'Etora fired the forward thrusters and the ship started to move backwards away from her crippled adversary.
Gabrielle waited, just a moment, just a little longer. They had to be far enough away from the sphere when it went to cause minimal damage to Relentless. For what seemed like an eternity their target got smaller on the view screen. Finally the right time had come.
"FIRE!"
Three blue pulses shot forward from Relentless and slammed into the sphere, utterly ruining any structural integrity it had remaining. It shattered in a burst of blue energy, super-heated pieces of metal punching outwards from its core like fireworks. Relentless rocked from the shockwave the sphere had produced as it disintegrated but she took no further damage.

There was a sickening silence on the bridge, suddenly back to the hums and beeping as if nothing had ever happened, only the pieces of wreckage floating on the monitors showing any sign of what had occurred.
"Did they get any signals out?" she fired.
"No ma'am."
"Casualties?" Gabrielle asked, more loudly than she normally would have spoken on the bridge.
"None reported Captain" came the reply from ops.
"Damage report!" Gabrielle followed with quickly.
Ensign Daniels checked his screens. "Shields at thirty four per cent and rising, hull integrity at ninety four per cent… we took a minor hit before the shields went up…" he stopped suddenly.
"Yes?" Gabrielle stood as she saw the look on his face as he turned to her.
"The cloaking device" he said in a quiet voice.
The bridge was silent for a moment.
"Velor, you 'ave the bridge." Gabrielle walked quickly out of the rear left door of the bridge and made a bee line for Engineering, skilfully dodging members of the crew in the narrow passageways. A door hissed open in front of her and she walked onto the Engineering upper level, gripping the railing and leaning over, scanning below her for a sign of the chief Engineer. She spotted him and called his name.
"Dgefourwoa!"
"Yes Captain."
"The cloak!"
"It's alright Captain," the Rigelian called, looking up to her, "it's still working. It was just a minor hit to one the exhausts. Surface damage."
Gabrielle closed her eyes for a moment, composing herself.
"Good. Keep me informed." She spun round on her heel and marched back out of Engineering towards the bridge. The doors parted and her voice carried on to the bridge before she'd even walked
through.
"The cloak is fine, engage cloak as soon as you are ready." Velor stood from the Captain's chair but Gabrielle did not sit down. The lighting changed again to the cool blue associated with the cloak. "Resume our original course, warp six."
"Warp six?" Ensign Daniels looked up from ops. "Ma'am shouldn't we try to put as much distance between us and the wreckage as possible?"
"Those are my orders." Gabrielle put him down quickly. He was flustered, she could see that from his face.
"But…"
Gabrielle cut him off.
" 'elm, engage when you are ready. Velor, you 'ave the bridge. Mister Daniels…" her gaze and his hadn't parted since his first outburst. "Mister Daniels, you will 'ave yourself relieved and will be outside my quarters in two minutes."
Daniels nodded and looked down dejectedly as Gabrielle turned, heading out of the rear right hand door towards her quarters which were only a few metres down the corridor.

[m00nangel_]

3.

Gabrielle sat in her makeshift bench seat, under the top bunk of her quarters, facing the door. Daniels stood to attention in front of her.
"Ensign. It 'as long been my understanding that the most important element in a successful reconnaissance mission is not the ship, the weapons, the speed we go or the route we take. What 'as been most important in my experience is the morale of the crew and that they work together in all situations for the good of the entire ship."
She paused. Ensign Daniels knew better than to respond. The tone of her voice was typically French, not angry, not loud, but firm, as if ridiculing a poor bottle of wine. Her statements were irrefutable facts, spoken in a way that only a French woman can.
"I 'ave been a senior officer on ships such as this working missions such as this for years. I 'ave been responsible for many lives, both of my crew and of those we are trying to 'elp and protect. In this time not one of my ships 'as failed to make it back from its mission, not one mission 'as failed, and not one member of the crew under my command 'as failed to come back alive."
She paused again. She imagined what Daniels must be feeling right at this moment. It was a long time since Gabrielle had been taken to the cleaners by a superior officer but now as Captain it was something she sometimes had to do. She thought about Captains of larger ships, who had hundreds of crew to watch over and wondered how they coped. She was fortunate only to have a crew of fifty, including herself.
"The reason for this is that all my crew know that I put them first. I weigh up all the factors, the good of my crew, the good of the mission, the best thing to do for the ship and for the Federation. All this is my responsibility as Captain. I 'ave one of the finest crew a Captain can 'ope for. I 'ave these signs on my door you see? Put there by the crew. By MY crew. They call my quarters 'The Bistro'. If you believe the signs on the doors we 'ave a snooker room, a library, a swimming pool and a portal to the magical land of Narnia. On the bridge all day we tell jokes, we make fun. You know this, you 'ave been there. I I 'ave one girl, a crew nurse in sickbay, she calls me Gabrielle and speaks to me in French because she also is from France. You know why I allow all this? Why the crew still respect me as their Captain in this environment? Because they know I put them first and that when I make a decision they will follow it and there is a good chance they will come out of it alive. On missions like this one small action makes the difference between whether we are detected, or we are not, whether we live or die, succeed or fail. Commander Velor 'as the authority to question me. It is 'er job but she does not do it. When you question me Ensign, in front of my crew, you de-stabilise the dynamic. You rock the boat. If you rock the boat you put everyone on the ship at risk! That is not your job. The crew are my responsibility. That is my job."
She paused for a moment.
"So, do you want to take Commander Velor's job, Ensign?"
Ensign Daniels stared straight ahead, still standing at attention.
"No ma'am."
"Do you want to take from me my job, Ensign?"
"No ma'am."
Gabrielle ducked her head forward from under the bunk and stood up, looking up at Daniels who's gaze didn't waiver.
"Good. Now, if you question me again you will spend the rest of this voyage confined to your quarters and I will spend all my days training a new ops officer. You understand?"
Ensign Daniels nodded curtly. "Yes ma'am."
"Good. Now get out."
Daniels did an about-face and pressing on the panel by the door was released into the corridor outside.

Gabrielle exhaled and sat back down on her seat for a few moments to gather her thoughts. She stared at the empty chair across from her in quiet contemplation.
"Computer, access the replicator controls and increase portion size of Ensign Daniels ration by five per cent for forty eight hours."
"Requested action is against replicator rationing protocol." The computer mocked her. Gabrielle spoke again without hesitation.
"Take the extra five per cent from my own ration."
Again, the computer rebuked her for her callous abandonment of standard protocols. "Requested action is not recommended."
"Do it anyway." The computer beeped an acknowledgement. Gabrielle rolled her eyes and stood, walking the two paces to the mirror and checking her appearance.

The mess hall was a hubbub of hushed activity. The officers and crew of the Relentless sat in small groups of three or four on the single-piece table and stool sets that made up the typically Spartan mess facility aboard ship. The lights were down low with a familiar blue accent to denote the ship was cloaked with a spot light illuminating key locations. Gabrielle insisted that the mood lighting throughout the ship be set so that the crew could know instantly when the ship was cloaked or not cloaked and what the current alert status was. Gabrielle stood back to allow some crewmen to leave before strolling through the door, surveying the scene. A few people looked up. When she had first taken command the crew would often go quiet when she arrived, but after a year that was no longer a problem. Gabrielle made her way to the replicator, ordering Boeuf Bourguignon with Dauphinoise potatoes and mixed vegetables and a glass of pressé apple juice. She found a suitable table, the loudest in the room and took the last remaining seat with a throwaway "good evening", a greeting drowned with wails of laughter. The group greeted the Captain with warmth.
Gabrielle looked around the table, sliding her fork under a pile of sliced potatoes. Sudden uncomfortable silence and murmerings met her.
"Come come, I do not want to break the party! Continue!" She urged them, smiling, before taking a bite of her dinner. One of the crewmen piped up.
"Captain…" he started with curious resolve, "Bates was practicing some impressions." A chuckle ran around the adjoining tables who had clearly been in on the joke.
"Mmm!" Gabrielle turned to the crewman to her left still chewing. Gabrielle always admired Jennifer Bates natural blonde hair which was always up in a bun of some type to keep it out of the way. Bates was a weapons systems engineer. Gabrielle swallowed.
"Can I 'ear?"
Bates smiled and clasped her hands in front of her before adopting a cold emotionless expression.
"Your intended course of action, whilst prudent is somewhat illogical."
Gabrielle started to Giggle. "Ah! Is Velor! Very good, very good, you 'ave the voice perfect! You 'ave any more?"
Bates flushed red. "Only you, Captain" she offered quietly. Gabrielle lined up another mouthful on her fork. Another crewman leaned over from the adjoining table.
"Careful Jen, the Captain's a champion fighter, she'll take you down!"
Gabrielle looked at him and grinned. "Only zero-G combat. So we go put on the suits, then I take you down hmm?"
The crew about them laughed with the Captain who took another bite of her meal.
"Ah but I am only joking," Gabrielle continued after a few moments, "Please, Jen, continue. I want to 'ear!"
Bates smiled nervously and folded her arms. "Zey call zis wine? Is terrible, 'orrible, I would not feed zis to a sheep! Is worse zan rancid fetid targ piss!"
Gabrielle snorted very unattractively into fits of laughter, putting down her fork quickly and resting her forehead on her hand. The rest of the mess hall now looking on joined with her.
"Do I… do I…" she started again after a while but started snickering again and the crew laughed with her again, especially Bates who had gone bright red. Gabrielle shook her head, smiling and put an arm around bates.
"Now crewman. I must give you some feedback on your performance aboard Relentless." The laughter died away quickly. Bates looked at the Captain, still red, her face changing from nervous to horrified. Gabrielle continued.
"Is very good, but I say they, not zey." There was a chuckle from the group. "Took me two years practice to get that right!" More laughter ensued and Bates heaved a sigh of relief before laughing herself as Gabrielle removed her arm and, smiling again, reached for her fork. She continued to eat as the crew around soaked in the atmosphere and the fun. After a while there was a moment of quiet and Gabrielle took the opportunity. She didn't look up as she spoke.
"Jen, 'ow is the starboard secondary torpedo loader?"
Bates thought for a moment, phased slightly by the sudden switch of topic. "I'm fairly sure I know what the issue is Captain, we'll need to replace one of the lifting arms."
Gabrielle nodded. "When is complete?"
"Um…" Bates calculated for a few seconds. "I could have it done by zero nine thirty tomorrow if I start straight away."
Gabrielle arranged some vegetables and gravy on her fork. "Can gamma shift do it?"
Bates thought for a moment, bobbing her head from side to side as she did so. "Yes… yes they would be fine."
Gabrielle nodded again. "Make it so."
"Yes Captain."
Gabrielle smiled and continued her meal. After a couple of minutes of silence Bates stood up wishing the table well and went to attend to her duties before turning in for the night. She was quickly replaced by another girl in a blue science uniform who wished the table "Bonsoir" as she placed her meal down next to the Captain. Gabrielle smiled to her as she sat.
"Émilie, bonsoir. Comment êtes-vous?"
"Je suis très bien, Gabrielle."
The two spoke to each other in French, a conversation interspersed with loud voices and giggling as theirs often were.

[m00nangel_]

4.

The long dark corridors were filled with a dank sickly sweetness that infected Gabrielle more with every breath. The air was warm, thick, like a hot tropical day yet without a refreshing breeze to provide any relief. The smoke in the air made everything worse, especially line of sight. She couldn't see more than a few feet in front of her. But what, Gabrielle supposed, would the Borg need with a human optical system when they had infra-red, thermal-imaging, laser range-finding and all sorts of other unnatural advantages. She shivered with fear and quaked with revulsion at the cyborg drones as they wondered lifelessly, mechanically through their existence working for the betterment of their society and the detriment of everyone else's. The familiar green lights of the Borg Cube illuminated her path just far enough for her to make some kind of idea of where she was going. And so she stepped forward gingerly through the smoke, dodging drones, listening to the pattering of feet on the utilitarian metal floor. She knew she had to go forward, there was something so very important ahead and while she knew not what it was her only mission, her only purpose, she must keep going.

Gabrielle turned a corner to her left and stopped suddenly, face to face with a drone. The machine just stood, staring at her, motionless except for the machinery that now infested her body, buzzing and beeping and hissing, moving almost on its own as if an infestation of ants or termites pervading a bastion of humanity. Gabrielle realised with horror that she recognised what was left of the face of the drone, despite the tubes pervading from its grotesquely shaven and misshapen skull. She let out a little cry of alarm.
"Émilie!" she wailed, "Mon ami, ils ont pris vous. Je vous ai manqué."
Émilie did not reply. She could not. She was a mindless, inhuman beast, a shadow of the girl Gabrielle knew. The drone moved forward and Gabrielle skipped sideways to avoid it as it lurched away into the smoke and out of view.
"Émilie…"
Gabrielle turned and continued. It was even more pressing now that she found what she was looking for, arrive at her destination, achieve that goal, if only she could work out what it was.

Gabrielle turned another corner to the right and came suddenly to an amazing sight. The middle of the cube was an open camber, a sphere, perhaps half a mile across, flood lit in green with a million pipes, tubes, cables, screens and other workings built into its sides. There were walkways like the one she emerged onto all around the edges leading the entire way around the circumference of this vast cavern. As she scanned this awesome sight, taking in all she could her eyes met the only walkway that didn't stick to the edges of the sphere. It jutted out, perpendicular to the edge making a perfect straight line to the centre of the cavern. And there, docked at the other end, sat Relentless. It wasn't the Relentless Gabrielle knew, it was dark, black, teeming with cyborg life with ungracious and inelegant augmentations jutting from its outer panels like spines on a porcupine. The engines, once lit with red and blue now shone a sickening lime and her crew marched to and fro along the docking gantry, similarly adorned with Borg technology, carrying out their duties with the mindless precision of the collective mind. Gabrielle felt the warmth of the tears she shed as they trickled down her face. She sank to her knees in submission, her failure now as apparent as anything ever could be. Her despair was such that she didn't even turn when her ears recorded but did not hear the sound of a drone behind her and the light buzz of the tubes that sprang from its hand which embedded themselves into the back of her neck…

Gabrielle opened her eyes, but saw nothing. She sat up quickly, too quickly, and hit her head hard on the top of her bunk.
"Merde! Computer, lights!"
The lights in her quarters flicked on and she was met with familiar surroundings, bathed in a warm Starfleet yellow. She held the front of her head with one hand and swung off the bed, landing lightly on the floor and moving over to the mirror. She removed her hand. There was no lasting damage. But her eyes were red. The tears had been real. Gabrielle turned on the cold tap and wet her fingers. She washed the tears from her cheeks and massaged her head gently, the cool water helping to relieve the dull ache in her temple. For a while she stared at herself in the mirror, processing the dream, predictably over-analysing what it meant. She began to berate herself internally for her useless and detrimental analysis, but her reverie was broken by the com system. It was Velor.
"Captain, this is the bridge. We will arrive at our destination in five minutes."
Gabrielle stretched out with her left hand and pressed the com button on the panel by the door.
"Acknowledged."

Gabrielle stepped over the doorframe and walked on to the bridge, moving past her seat which Velor started to vacate. She scanned the room, her mind still full of images of her dream. In her mind she shook her head like a wet dog trying to rid herself of those thoughts and bring some concentration to a mind still wishing to be in dream land.
"What is our status?"
B'Etora spoke from the helm, without turning, concentrating as she was on the impending exit from warp.
"All systems normal Captain. We are three minutes from our destination."
Gabrielle nodded. "Good. Velor, are the welcome party preparations completed?"
"Yes captain." Velor replied in her conservative Vulcan manner.
Gabrielle nodded again, pacing slowly from left to right in front of the raised platform on which stood her chair. The last three minutes of the voyage went very slowly, giving Gabrielle more time than she would have liked to consider her dream. It was not something she'd ever been plagued with before really. Why now? Why such a vivid and obvious dream. She resolved not to give it too much credence. She couldn't, for the sake of the crew. It was something that should be remembered but not dwelled upon. For now, she had to focus on being diplomatic. She was quite good at it generally. Once they were in orbit she'd be able to spend a few minutes on her appearance, creating something fitting the Captain of an alien ship making first contact. B'Etora punched up the forward camera to the view screen and announced they were dropping from warp, an announcement that was verified by the view of the stars before them slowing from streaks to points of light, surrounding the planet. The bridge crew all looked up to the view screen to gain a view of their target, the culmination of weeks of travel under cloak, the beginning of their mission. It was a beginning that no-one had expected. Gabrielle noted later that the bridge crew managed to hide their emotions very well, they knew that morale was important and to show a sign of weakness wouldn't help anyone. She also knew what they must be feeling at that moment, because she felt exactly the same. Horror. Sickness to her stomach. Disappointment, grief and sadness. They all knew, without scanning, without any technological verification exactly what had happened. NCG-7252, formerly a class M planet, with typical green plains and blue oceans was now an earthy grey-brown from pole to pole. The atmosphere, once clean and endowed with giant swirling white cloud formations was now hazy and dirty, obscuring the view of the surface, which teemed with large, dark structures. The entire planet had been assimilated.

Gabrielle broke the stunned silence. "Full scan. Life signs."
Daniels managed to drag his gaze from the screen and concentrate on his job. His hands moved in a flurry over the control panel, spurred on by pure adrenaline and emotion. He spoke quietly but quickly and firmly trying desperately to reveal no emotion.
"One hundred and four million…. all Borg."
Gabrielle took a deep breath and nodded slowly. Over twenty million had died. It was a number she couldn't, wouldn't and daren't begin to comprehend.
"Set course for the rendezvous point, and engage at warp six when ready."
"Aye sir." B'Etora pressed a few keys and the planet in front of them swung to the left and vanished as the camera feed was cut. Relentless jumped back into warp and all was suddenly quiet again. There would be much time for reflection on what had happened on the journey back to the rendezvous point. For now, Gabrielle must do something she hated. Something that couldn't wait. Her head was clouded and she couldn't concentrate to prepare anything. She had faith in her ability to come up with something on-the-fly. She moved to her chair and sat, pausing just a moment before pressing the button for the ship-wide tannoy.
"As most of you will 'ave seen, our best plans were not fast enough to 'alt the advance of the Borg in this sector. For those of you 'oo 'ave not seen the footage or the scans, I am most sorry to 'ave to tell you that our target planet, NCG seven two five two 'as been entirely taken over by the Borg collective."
She paused, allowing anyone who may not yet know to take in this information.
"We 'ave come very far to try to 'elp these people. I know that I do not need to tell you to remember them, I know each of you will remember this day and remember the people of this planet. There will be much time for our reflection on this in the coming days. Right now I must ask all of you to focus on our return trip. We will rendezvous with the rest of our group in two days. It is vital we make this rendezvous and tell the Federation what we 'ave learned. The Borg 'ave advanced quicker and further than we thought which will change the shape of this section of the Galaxy. Starfleet will need new plans, new tactics and much resolve to 'old them at bay. But we 'ave proved before that this is something we can do."
She paused again.
"I want you all to know two things. Firstly, 'ow proud I am of each and every one of you and the great things you all 'ave done on this tour of duty. The second is that our tour will end upon arrival back in the Sirius sector and we will be 'eaded for Outpost Argo to debrief, repair and for at least two weeks of leave for the 'ole crew. Now, let us concentrate on getting to the rendezvous, and getting 'ome."

 

[m00nangel_]

5.

Gabrielle stared at the viewscreen, watching the stars whizz by. The book on the PADD in her lap held no interest, it lay abandoned and forgotten. The state of mind in which she had been to enjoy it no longer existed, at least, not for the moment. She sat in quiet contemplation, her conscious and subconscious both agreeing that each star that flew past, each system that went by made them one step closer to being home and that this, psychologically, was a good thing. Her mind was tired of going over and over the same things. She longed for a break in the monotony, the end of their journey, something to take her mind away from these trains of thought that she always managed to stray back on to in a quiet moment. She wanted the book to capture her conscious mind and take it away somewhere but the subject was too close to home, the home she was so looking forward to getting back to. She resolved to download a new book to the PADD and begun to consider what it was to be. Something different, something cosetting and magical, something that provided real escapism. Perhaps a fantasy novel.

Her eyes flicked to the right as a quiet buzzer sounded on the tactical console and Lieutenant Commander Deletham, her second officer and second tactical officer quickly investigated the cause of the alarm.
"Captain, enemy signal contact showing on long-range sensors. Borg, judging by the size…. two… two spheres. They're on a pursuit course and gaining fast."
Gabrielle sat up in her chair.
"Speed?"
"Warp nine."
" 'elm, match them."
"Aye."
Gabrielle stood and moved to the tactical station. Deletham looked up from his seat.
"They must have detected the ship as we dropped from warp at NCG seven two five two" she mused to her second officer who nodded.
"I believe you are probably right there Captain. It stands to reason that if they detected us there and they follow us now they are able to see through the cloak."
Gabrielle pursed her lips.
"Red alert. Deletham, you 'ave the bridge. I will speak with Dgefourwoa."
Deletham nodded and took the chair as his Captain slid through the still-opening door to the rear of the bridge and made her way quickly through the alternating red and blue lit corridor to the top level of the twin-deck Engineering section. She wasted no time on arrival, sliding down the ladder and spying her chief Engineer working on a console in the corner to her left.
"Degfourwoa" she called and he turned as she arrived in front of him.
"Captain?"
"The cloak. It would appear the Borg are not fooled. Is it possible it was damaged by the sphere a few days ago?"
The Rigelian thought for a moment, rubbing his thumb under his chin. He replied slowly, still thinking as he spoke.
"After the hit I did a full diagnostic as per procedure, everything seemed fine. The hit we took was to a monitored exhaust port. If that was damaged it could compromise the cloak, we'd give off a trail of charged particles and gasses. Small, but detectable."
Gabrielle nodded and spoke quickly. "I think this is what must 'ave 'appened. We 'ave two Spheres after us, I am fairly certain they can detect us."
"Hmm." Dgefourwoa mused at his typical pace, slightly slower and less urgent than Gabrielle would have liked. "I can check the externals if I re-position one of the lower cameras… one moment…" he moved to another panel, pressed a few buttons and brought up an external feed. He panned the camera round to view the exhaust port and zoomed in.
"There!" He moved the camera again and zoomed in even further. There was a dark scorch mark around the exhaust which almost but not entirely hid a small gap in the covering. Dgefourwoa stared at the screen open-mouthed.
"The damage control system should have detected this!"
"But it did not." Gabrielle countered without blame or malice.
"No…" the engineer agreed, zooming in as far as possible. "It looks like… if the detection system also took a hit and has been moved to exactly the same angle…. It's possible the laser still holds true, same angle, same distance… it's a one in a billion chance but it would explain why the computer registered the hit but showed no damage."
"Can it be fixed?" Gabrielle enquired quickly.
Dgefourwoa shook his head. "Not without a space-walk, Captain."
Gabrielle nodded. "So effectively we…" she was cut off by the com system. It was Deletham.
"Captain, the Spheres have changed speed and are gaining again."
Gabrielle tapped her com badge. "Drop cloak and match them! I am on my way." She nodded to Dgefourwoa and scooted back up the ladder to the upper level, darting through the already-open door and through the corridor back to the bridge.
"We 'ave a leaking exhaust" she announced as she arrived by her chair. "It is compromising the cloak."
"Captain, the Spheres are starting to exceed our maximum speed." Deletham was already stood at the Tactical station.
"Divert power from unnecessary systems to engines. What can we make?"
The ops officer -a female Lieutenant by the name of Venturelli on this shift- complied with her order with impressive speed. "Warp nine point nine two… sir…"
Deletham countered almost immediately. "The spheres are still gaining, warp nine point nine nine."
Gabrielle thought for a moment. "We cannot win this with engines. Drop from warp, come about one-Eight-zero mark zero and prepare to engage."
The battle-stations alarm sounded again and the officers took their seats, ready for a fight. Deletham placed a tactical overlay on the view screen, depicting the two spheres gaining fast on the federation badge that represented Relentless. One of the spheres dropped from warp directly in front of them. The other zipped past and came out behind.
"Concentrate on the forward sphere. I want them gone as fast as possible! As soon as we are in range, fire at will. B'Etora, are you ready?"
"Re-modulating main deflector" the Klingon helmsman replied. She had a few tricks up her sleeve as the science officer that could help Relentless in a fire-fight. All too soon the spheres entered weapons range and all three ships started to fire simultaneously. Relentless opened with a volley of phaser cannons to the forward sphere, B'Etora sending the ship into a perfect arc, keeping the weapons on target but trying to avoid the incoming fire from the second sphere. Relentless darted close to her target and sped past and tucked in, blocking the second sphere from being able to fire without hitting its counterpart. Keeping the nacelles out of the firing line B'Etora put the ship into a vertical half-loop, exited with a barrel-roll to bring their weapons back onto the targets, now both in front of them. Gabrielle once again thanked the fates she had B'Etora at the helm.
"Torpedo spread! Fire when ready!"
"Aye sir!" Deletham quickly prepared the quantum Torpedos, sending them on their way, each with a brilliant blue flash. Those that hit the first sphere did reasonable damage, after Relentless had weakened its shields with phaser fire. The second took minimal damage as its shields remained and sent a volley of Plasma torpedos back in reply. There were too many to dodge and Gabrielle just had time to thumb the tannoy key on the arm of her seat.
"Brace, brace brace!" B'Etora tried to best the Torpedo guidance systems with a last minute dive downwards but the entire volley met their target. The torpedos slammed into the top of the ship, rocking her hard and sending those who weren't seated crashing to the floor with cries of surprise and pain.
"Keep firing! Concentrate on the original target!" Gabrielle cried, jumping from her seat to help one of the Engineering officers to his feet. The first sphere was taking a heavy barrage from Relentless' multiple phaser cannons and dual beams with quantum torpedos being loosed also as soon as they were ready. However the second sphere was causing serious trouble for the small ship. It moved away to the left, trying to catch the weaker flank of the Gallant-class starship.
"Keep the nacelles out of the firing line of that sphere!" Gabrielle shouted to B'Etora as the ship rocked hard from another impact.
"Shields down to eight per cent!" The ops officer shouted, looking at Gabrielle briefly to make sure she'd heard. "Re-routing emergency power to compensate. Main communication array is offline. Starboard phaser cannon has overloaded one of its frequency modulators."
"Shut off two barrels and keep the other two firing on the second modulator." Gabrielle told her and she nodded, working the panel.
"Deletham, hold charge on the Dual beam bank in its capacitance cell and release it in one burst, I want to pop that first sphere! B'Etora, ready with the tachyon beam."
"Yes Captain!"
"Aye sir!" B'Etora's preparations bore fruit as the main deflector emanated a dull blue-white beam that punched through what was left of the sphere's shields. Deletham began working too and the dual beam bank, displayed on the camera image on the view screen stopped firing for a few moments as it charged up. When it started firing again it was one long, strong pulse that bored into the middle of the sphere, punching a hole through to its centre and crippling it.
"Its weapons are offline." Deletham reported.
"Concentrate fire on…" Gabrielle started but a huge impact to the rear of the ship pushed her forward off her seat and on to the floor. She pushed up quickly and crouched, ignoring the pain in her knees from the impact with the floor.
"Report?!"
"Second sphere behind us!" Deletham shouted from his station.
"Rear shields have failed, surface damage to the impulse drive!" Venturelli called out. The ship rocked with another hit to the rear, forcing Gabrielle to steady herself with her hands flat on the floor.
"Gah!" Venturelli cried as her console went totally black. She jumped from her seat and staggered to the rear of the bridge, working quickly to obtain an ops read-out on another screen.
"Direct hit to rear, armour is holding but not for long!"
Gabrielle managed to pick herself up and get back into her seat.
"B'Etora, shake 'im off!"
"I'm trying sir!" the Klingon helmswoman gasped, "he's a tricksy bastard!"
"Sir!" It was Venturelli again. "One more direct hit to the rear and we'll lose structural integrity!"
"Captain!" Deletham pointed to the tactical overlay on the viewscreen. A second federation badge had appeared, directly in front of them, moving fast. The name plate on the transponder read 'U.S.S. Suurvalta.' No sooner had a smile broken on Gabrielle's face than a shining blue portal appeared in space in front of them, releasing the majestic Sovereign-class assault cruiser Suurvalta back into normal space from transwarp. She swept over the top of Relentless, a leviathan in comparison to the little escort she had come to protect. Her forward phaser banks were already in action, battering the Borg foe. B'Etora swung the ship around to face the sphere, now caught in a blue tractor beam emanating from the cruiser's main hull. The sphere was pummelled repeatedly by phaser blasts that soon penetrated through from one side to the other. Suurvalta released her tractor beam and the sphere disintegrated, large lifeless sections gently floating apart into space.

Gabrielle relaxed in her seat. It was over.
"Damage report."
Venturelli replied from her new position behind Gabrielle's chair. "Front and rear shields down, hull armour at thirty per cent. Structural integrity seventy two per cent. Minor damage to the impulse drive, main communications array offline. Minor damage to the starboard phaser cannons."
"Casualties?"
"Only minor injuries reported, Captain." Gabrielle could hear the smile on her ops officer's face. She rotated her chair around to face Venturelli, noticing for the first time the smoke in the air as it picked up the flashing lights of the Red Alert beacons.
"Bring the secondary communications array online and hail Suurvalta when done."
"Aye sir." Venturelli went to work once again. After a minute of strange silence the tactical overlay and forward camera view of the cruiser changed to display a female Trill sitting in her Captain's chair on the Sovereign's bridge.
"Captain Regan, you 'ave saved the lives of this crew. I thank you."
The Trill smiled and nodded. "You're all very welcome. Your crew has done the dangerous work to help protect us and many others it was the least we could do. Do you need any assistance?"
Gabrielle shook her head. "No thank you Tria, we are ok. But I should tell you now… NCG seven two five two 'as been taken over by the Borg. I'm afraid we are all too late."
Captain Regan looked down to the floor solemnly, looking back up after a moment with her eyes only.
"That is very unfortunate, in many ways. We should report this to Starfleet."
It was Gabrielle's turn to nod. "Yes, immediately."
"Right." Tria stood, the camera panning back and following her automatically. "Set course for the Transwarp gateway, we'll escort you. I'll signal the rest of the cruisers to join us. If you need anything at all Gabrielle, hail me."
"I will, thank you. Relentless out."
The two ships turned to their new course, the smaller completing its turn in a much smaller and tighter arc. Relentless waited for her larger slower sister to complete her turn before the two simultaneously burst forward into warp.

[m00nangel_]

Epilogue

Gabrielle listened to the sounds of the air conditioning, beeping of PADDs, fidgeting and coughing of the Captains sat around the conference table. The Commodore had been silent for a few moments, considering all that had been said. Gabrielle had been the most vocal in the debriefing by far, it was only Relentless that had been right at the front of the Borg advance. The rest of the group had been waiting at the Rendezvous and had turned back once the fate of NCG-7252 was known. She'd presented the scans and images of the planet and had not had to justify her decision to leave so quickly, there was nothing they could have done. The status of her crew and her ship and the fate of the rest of the group was most important and had meant returning to the Rendezvous point was a priority. Commodore Errington sucked air through his teeth.
"We'll have to re-think our deployment in that area, of course. With all the ships allocated to the Dyson Sphere that won't be easy. I won't waste your time with the details of that now. This is serious, but you did the right thing bringing this to me as soon as possible. Thank you."
The various Captains of various species and genders nodded to their superior officer.
The Commodore turned to Gabrielle. "Captain Mailliard, I'm impressed with this last tour, you've done excellent work. As promised your crew is now on leave for a minimum two weeks. I'm trying to secure you a third."
Gabrielle couldn't help but smile. "Thank you sir!"
Commodore Errington nodded in reply. "I'd like you to stay at Argo after that. I'll check with the operations officer but I believe they're looking for escorts for their work on the Klingon front."
"Yes sir."
The Commodore shifted his gaze to Captain Regan, sat opposite Gabrielle, who was smiling at the good fortune of her friend and her crew.
"Captain Regan, the Starship Suurvalta will be re-deployed to the Solanae Dyson Sphere immediately. They need plenty of cruisers to deal with the number of Voth ships we're running into.
The smile on Tria's face faded to a look of contemplative resolution. "Yes sir. Are we still getting those upgrades?"
"Yes, you'll need them. There are lessons we've learned from the Voth ships we've captured. Suurvalta will be getting the latest developments in Antiproton energy weapons and Photon Torpedos. I'm sure you'll use them well."
"Oh we will sir." Tria's infectious grin was back.
"Mhm." The Commodore replied. "You'll all get your official orders within a few hours. Dismissed."

The chairs moved back from the table and the various brass filed out of the room, their heads filled with the tasks that needed to be completed before their respective ships could be re-deployed. Gabrielle filed out with the rest, feeling proud. She'd spear-headed a vital part of the mission and had done an excellent job in the opinion of Starfleet Command and the opinions of the other captains. There were some who'd been Captains for years, all of them longer than she, all of them commanding significantly larger and more important ships than Relentless, cruisers for the most part, Sovereigns, Galaxys and a Nebula class. She'd done well. She finally felt like the 4th pip was well placed. She moved to the right into the deserted waiting area outside the briefing room, and stood, her arms crossed, looking through the Window at the stars. She had no pressing tasks, Relentless was docked below and would stay there for the duration of their leave. The crew couldn't disembark fully until the official leave order was received. Gabrielle had some time to think. She considered the stars, still, light, shining. Similar to the stars surrounding NGC-7252, quiet, distant, burning ever on, knowing nothing of the plight that engulfed that world.
"Captain."
Gabrielle turned. Her Trill friend stood just behind her, a cheeky grin lighting up her elven features. "You alright?"
"Mmm." Gabrielle nodded, unconvincingly.
"It was harsh. Very harsh. Enough to mess with anyone's head. You'll have to get used to it, if you want to sit in that chair." Tria grinned, clearly taking the mick. It was her way of trying to make Gabrielle feel better. It worked. Gabrielle had first met Tria Regan, a Commander as he then was, when serving as a Lieutenant tactical officer aboard Suurvalta a few years previously. Their direct style and fun-loving personalities made them best of friends. Gabrielle hadn't stayed in any of her posts very long, being promoted up and on to other things quickly. But the time she had served on Suurvalta had been some of the happiest and most memorable of her career in Starfleet.
"Shut up, Regan" Gabrielle chuckled.
"Ahhh!" her friend replied, her eyes lighting up at the impending verbal sparring match. "That's shut up CAPTAIN Regan to you….. Captain!"
Gabrielle laughed and wrapped her arms around her friend, the pair giggling quietly. Gabrielle stepped back and held Tria's arms, looking straight at her.
"Take care of yourself, my friend. Do not let these Voth get their way."
Tria raised an eyebrow sarcastically. "Not bloody likely, Mailliard. They'll need more than fancy antiproton arrays and giant dreadnaughts to whip THIS kitten!"
Gabrielle smirked and nodded. Tria patted her on the shoulder and departed, heading for the Turbolift. She'd have a lot to do before her ship left for Tau Dewa space.
Gabrielle turned back to the stars, putting thoughts of her previous mission and the dream that haunted her from her mind. Outpost Argo was to be her home for the next tour of duty and it was certainly an interesting place.

Somewhere below her a Runabout glided out of the space dock and after a few moments shot straight into warp. She watched it go for a moment, wondering who might be on it and what mission they might be on. The possibilities in a place such as this were endless. She tapped her com badge, her eyes not moving from the point it had gone to warp.
"Mailliard to Relentless."
"Relentless, this is Velor."
"Velor, assemble the crew. I have some good news!"

THE END