"Getting Underway"

"Commander, the Washington has reported that they have transferred all the supplies we required and Ensign Riggins has reported to Lieutenant Okul." Lieutenant Lune announced. "We are ready to leave."

"Helm, do you have the co-ordinates the Dominion gave us ?" Commander Buford announced.

"Confirmed." Ensign Davis replied. "We are eight hours from the Federation border at transwarp and another two from the Dominion outpost."

"Prepare to brake orbit." Buford announced. "Inform the Washington and the Sutherland that we are preparing to leave. Take us out of orbit Ensign."

"Breaking orbit." Ashley reported. "Moving away at half impulse."

"As soon as we are clear of the system jump to transwarp." A.J. ordered.

"Transwarp in five, four, three, two, one…" Ashley counted down.

The Taurus left the Juno system behind. What had started out as a simple re-supply mission that should have lasted four days had so far lasted a week. DS9 and the Alpha quadrant were two days away, but the crew of the Taurus had other priorities now.

A group of Jem'Hadar had kidnapped two Federation scientists and decimated the base on Juno III. The Sutherland, a Nebula class vessel has been assigned to rebuild the base, whilst the Washington, a Defiant class was assigned to protect the Sutherland and the base. Now that the two Federation ships has arrived, the Taurus had the task of finding these Jem'Hadar and rescuing the scientists.

Also during their mission to the Gamma quadrant, they had picked up some passengers, a Vorta and a group of Jem'Hadar soldiers, members of the Dominion's elite guard. They had remained onboard at the request of the Dominion to act as 'advisors'.

Commander Buford had reluctantly agreed, realising that the Taurus was more than likely to need to enter areas of space controlled by the Dominion. Some of the crew had shown their annoyance at having Dominion forces onboard, the most vocal being Lieutenenat McQueen and Doctor Kahfre. Both had suffered heavily at the hands of the Dominion. But they also realised that having a Dominion presence onboard was an advantage. They knew the area better than any Federation Captain and in a fight, the Jem'Hadar would battle to the death.
The Taurus's task had been made even harder by the fact that when an away team had been sent down to the surface of Juno III to search for survivors, they had taken a prisoner. This Jem'Hadar had been badly injured and treated by the Doctor and for her thanks, had killed the Taurus's XO during an escape attempt. Commander Buford had kept the existence of a prisoner a secret from the Dominion, but things had become even more complex when the prisoner had died during interrogation. The exact cause was still unknown, Doctor Kahfre had not as yet provided the Commander with the results of her autopsy.

One thing they did know, the prisoner had not been poisoned. The Doctor's brother, Ashraf had analysed the vial of 'White' which Lieutenant McQueen had given the prisoner moments before he had died. It had been proved pure, infact Ashraf had commented in his written report that he had never seen such a pure batch of 'White'.

Commander Buford sat watching the viewscreen, pondering all the problems he currently faced. The prisoner had been the Taurus's best lead in finding the scientists and now that was gone. His only hope now was the Dominion outposts they were heading for.

Eight hours later….

"We are approaching the Federation border." Ensign Davis announced. "Do we continue ?"

"Drop us out of transwarp." AJ replied. "Let's scan the area before we proceed."

"Understood, dropping out of transwarp." Ashley replied.

The Taurus slowed back into normal space and proceeded at impulse towards the Federation border.

"Scanning the area ahead." Lieutenant Ashraf Kahfre announced from the science station on the Bridge. "No signs of any activity in the local area."

"The Dominion rarely patrol the Federation border." The Vorta Sabá announced. "The Dominion and the Federation are at peace. If there is any trouble, the nearest base is the one we are approaching. They are three and a half hours away at maximum warp and we have sensor stations in the area that constantly scan the border for hostile vessels. If any vessels are detected, the outpost should have enough time to despatch a vessel before they reach the border."

"So we can expect a welcoming committee." AJ asked. "Would they have detected our approach ?"

"They should have, but the Dominion is aware of your ship and it's configuration." Sabá replied. "It is unlikely that they would send a vessel to meet us, but if they did they would attempt to communicate first, especially if the vessel is a Federation one."

"Well we don't have any vessels on scanners." Ashraf announced.
"What about the Outpost ?." AJ enquired. "Any signs of a vessel ?"

"Long-range sensors are picking up some kind of warp trail, but at this distance I can't determine how old it is or even if it matches the vessel we are searching for. It could be another vessel."

"Helm, prepare to jump back to transwarp." AJ announced. "We're going in."

The Taurus sped up once more as it headed towards the Dominion outpost at transwarp speed.