Meet the Captain

The senior staff were all gathered in the briefing room, except for Lieutenant J'ross and Lieutenant McQueen, who had gone to greet Captain Taybar. The only unusual faces were those of Rachel Luwall, who was acting as chief engineer following her predecessors untimely death. Also present was the Vorta Sabá who had been brought to the briefing at the request of Lieutenant McQueen.

J'ross entered the briefing room first, followed by Lieutenant McQueen and finally a female Trill in a command uniform. The new arrival looked around the briefing table, examining her new crew. Her eyes locked onto the Vorta sat at the very end of the table and only when Lieutenant J'ross spoke did she move her gaze away from the Dominion diplomat.

"I'd like to introduce Captain Taybar." M'eko announced. "She's will be taking over command of the Taurus as soon as this briefing is over. But she requested this meeting and I think we should use it to give her an overview of what the current situation is."

Aki took the seat at the head of the table and sat down. To either side of her, Lieutenant J'ross and Lieutenant McQueen took their usual seats.

"Thank you Lieutenant." Aki started. "Now I realise that we are all going to take some time to adjust to the changes that are taking place, but I have read all the reports made by Commander Buford and those submitted since his departure. From what I've read, this is a fine, if inexperienced crew. Starfleet never saw the Taurus being placed into the heart of a battle and so that's why with the departure of the Commander, a full Captain has been assigned to the ship. But I know that this crew has and will continue to do its best, to find the two missing scientists. Now I guess we should start with the current status of the ship."

There was a short pause before Ensign Luwall spoke up. "We've managed to repair most of the damage sustained during the attack. Engineering and the warp core were the primary targets and took the brunt of the damage. The warp core was off-line for twelve hours and we've only just managed to bring it back up to full power. The weapons and shields also took a heavy beating. We have all weapons back online, but we've still only got reduced power to banks two, three and six and shields are only at ninety percent. We're working on both problems now and we should have all systems fully operational in a matter of six to ten hours. Propulsion is full operational, but we still have a problem with the short-range and targeting sensor systems, although long-range sensors are not effected."

"Thank you…." Aki remarked, pausing.

"Ensign Luwall, Rachel Luwall." Rachel replied. "Acting chief engineer."

"Thank you Ensign." Aki continued. "What about the attack itself, have we been able to analysis the attack ?"
Lieutenant Cutal was the next to speak.

"Captain, Lieutenant Cutal." He started, introducing himself. "I've analysed what data we have from the attack. With the loss of sort-range sensors they're not all that accurate and I've had to guestimate some things. We've also got the sensor records from the two Dominion vessels, although as one vessel was destroyed some of those are incomplete as well. What I can tell you is that the vessel the rogue Jem'Hadar used is very fast and manoeuvrable. They are also very well informed about both Dominion and Federation vessels, they knew all the vulnerable points on all three vessels. Their knowledge of Federation vessels would appear to be weaker and the fact that the Taurus has been completely re-designed and enhanced may have saved us from taking heavier damage. They used mainly modulated polaron beams that allowed them to penetrate the shields, but as the Taurus uses an auto-remodulating frequency system, our shields held out better than those of the Dominion vessels. They only launched torpedoes during their retreat and it looks like from the sensor logs as if they were some kind of high-yield photon torpedoes, which destroyed the first Dominion vessel."

"What do we know about the ship itself ?" Aki enquired.

"Most of what we've been able to discover we already knew about." Cutal replied. "They used a cloaking device to mask their presence. We know that the vessel was equipped with a Romulan device given to the Cardassian Obsidian order during their attempt to wipe out the Founders. We've also been able to discern the cloaking frequency, which means that at close range we should be able to detect the ship."

"How close ?" Aki asked.

"About three light minutes." Cutal admitted. "It isn't much I know but at least it gives us a chance to get the first shot off. They can't fire their weapons or raise their defensive shields whilst cloaked, making them vulnerable. Their hull has a variation of ablative armour and they're very manoeuvrable, it's going to be hard to get a weapon lock at close range, but I'm working on a predictive algorithm to compensate. Computer predictions show that we will get a sixty to seventy percent accuracy increase."

"Keep on it." Aki stated. "Does anyone else have something to say about the attack ?"

Lieutenant Lune spoke up. "Captain, there is one thing that has not been mentioned yet. The sensors showed that there was a communication flash between the Dominion vessel that was destroyed and the rogue vessel. Our sensors also picked up a transporter signal between the two a few moments before the vessel was destroyed."

"Someone transported off the battleship before it was destroyed ?." Aki enquired. "Could they have been working with the rogue Jem'Hadar ?"

"That's what I would have assumed." Lune replied. "But through Vorta Sabà, we've managed to get a crew manifest and we've come up with another possibility."

"What ?" Aki asked, her curiosity now peaked.
"As you may have read in the reports, we believe that these rogue Jem'Hadar are seeking out members of one particular batch of soldiers. We've discovered that one of those Jem'Hadar was serving on the battleship that was destroyed. The battleship has been on patrol for sometime and there's not been a crew change in nearly six months." Lune reported. "We think that this Jem'Hadar may have been contacted somehow and the rogue Jem'Hadar arrived to pick them up. The transporter signal was only powerful enough to carry one person. We'll never know exactly what happened but either way we know that one person left the ship just before it was destroyed."

"But what were the battleships doing here in the first place ?" Aki asked. "Bopak III is now part of the Federation territory. Their presence here is a violation of the treaty agreed between the Dominion and the Alpha quadrant races."

There was silence in the briefing room for a few moments, until finally Lieutenant McQueen gave the Captain an answer.

"Captain, I believe Vorta Sabà can answer that question." Logan suggested.

The Vorta who had been sat at the far end of the table looked passive and unmoved by the statement, as the entire senior staff stared at her. Only Logan and J'ross knew what why McQueen had accused the Vorta of knowing why the two Dominion battleships had been at Bopak III, but she was not going to reveal anything to the staff.

"Mister McQueen would you care to explain why you have just accused Sabà." Aki asked.

"As you know we've been co-operating with the Dominion in finding the missing scientists and the rogue Jem'Hadar. To facilitate this, Sabà has been given limited access to our computer core and a secure link with the Dominion." Logan stated. "We have been keeping an eye on the communications and the systems onboard that she had been using to ensure that she has not been accessing restricted system."

"So you've been spying on me." Sabà accused Logan. "And I thought the Federation was supposed to be honest and truthful."

"Monitoring would be a better description and we have kept to our word." Logan continued. "None of your encrypted communications have been stored or deciphered by us. However, we have been logging your communications use, which included the source and destination of all the transmissions you have sent and received. They make pretty interesting reading. Many have been to the Dominion sector control at Gartax III, which is where I assume most of the information you have been providing us with has come from. But there are also several transmissions between you and Detron Prime, which if our intelligence is correct is the main Dominion fleet base in this sector. It is my belief that these transmissions are status reports and the current location of the Taurus and that the two battleships were sent to Bopak III because of the information you provided."

The Vorta was silent, but shuffled uneasy on her seat.
"Vorta Sabà." Aki asked. "Is what the Lieutenant just stated true, have you been passing information to your governments military."

"Yes." Sabà replied. "These traitors to the Dominion must be destroyed at any cost, they have betrayed the Dominion and brought disgrace to the honour of the Jem'Hadar. Their annihilation is the Dominion's only goal, nothing else matters."

"And what of the two Federation scientists that these traitors as you call them had taken from Federation space." Aki stated. "My primary concern and that of this crew and the Federation is their safe return. Your traitors are only a secondary matter to us, but we have acted in good faith with you and your government. It was hoped that together we could solve both our problems, but I see now that I must re-consider your presence on this vessel and the co-operation we will give to you in the future. Mister McQueen, would you have the Vorta escorted back to her quarters until I make a decision as to whether she and her forces will remain onboard. I believe that there is a Dominion vessel enroute to Bopak III to pick up the survivors of the second battleship."

"Yes Captain." Lune confirmed. "They are due to arrive tomorrow morning."

"Then I will make my decision then." Aki stated. "If Sabà is to be removed from the ship, then she and the Jem'Hadar under her command can transfer to the battleship. If there's nothing else, I think this meeting is over."

Logan rose from his seat and the two security officers that had been stationed by the door flanked the Vorta and escorted her out of the briefing room. The senior staff started to leave and return to their duties, leaving only Aki and Lieutenant J'ross seated in the briefing room.