Valdago was first to spot the massive bleep on sensors. The tactical station was empty. It had been so for some time. Javier's death had caused a deep feeling of sadness in the crew. He was still missed. Tara was still sitting in a nourishing biosynthetic solution Nori had concocted for the disembodied symbiote.
Now, back to the bleep. Before Valdago had been able to announce it, K'Lara had also seen it. "Captain, we have a problem."
Valdago continued for her. "The object is approximately two kilometers high and 1.5 kilometers wide. I'm detecting Human life signs inside. I'm also detecting about 800 alien life signs." He observed more carefully. "Captain, they're Kelvan.
Benton looked at the Captain. Maruu looked back. Both remembered the recent debriefing in the briefing room. It looked like the Kelvans indeed were here, as in Benton's predictions.
Lataro took over. "The ship is drifting. It's completely powered down. We can send in a team..."
Maruu interrupted. "Valdago and Benton, you're with me."
Benton nodded. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."
As Maruu began to stand up, Lataro grabbed his arm. "Captain."
"Now, Commander, you have had enough fun for quite some time. Allow me to get some of the adventure too. Besides, I need you, Garek, and Dana to follow us in. We may need some help is caring for the wounded."
Lataro smiled and released him. "All right."
Maruu, Benton, and Valdago left the bridge.
Three figures transported onto the Kelvan bridge. All but Benton were shocked to see immense creatures with hundreds of tentacles attached to their bodies. They appeared to be unconscious. The bridge was huge. Of course, it had to be to fit its crew.
Maruu and Valdago were awed at the site of these creatures. Even Benton was impressed. "This is a Kelvan Conqueror. It is used for long range patrol and for taking over alien territory. Before Captain James T. Kirk, the Kelvan Empire had planned to send thousands of Conquerors to this galaxy. The plan was postponed by the ancestor of my grandfather, Admiral Rojan. He proposed to come to the Milky Way in a single scout ship first and examine the area."
Valdago nodded in approval. "So, do you know the guy in the central pedestal?"
"Yes. I recognize him from old Kelvan data tapes. He is Senator Dernom. He was one of the most opposed to the postponing of the conquest of this galaxy. It looks like he was given a military commission though. He appears to be a Captain now."
"Well, I guess we have a megalomaniac on our hands," said Maruu. "And a very old one too."
Benton nodded. "Kelvans have a maximum life span of 800 years."
Maruu slowly moved his attention away from Dernom. Well, crew, let's find our humanoid brethren."
Valdago and Benton smiled as they followed Maruu, who was waving a tricorder in front of him. Valdago suddenly turned to the side. "Hey, Captain, I think I found them. They're just on the other side of this hatch. It looks like a research lab from the scans."
Benton pressed a button on a panel beside the door. He looked in. "Definitely a research lab. I should have access to the computer logs from this room."
"Good. Get to it, Benton," Maruu replied. "John, help me find the Humans." Valdago and Maruu continued to search the room while Benton accessed the computer logs.
Before long, Benton found something interesting. "Okay, look at this. This ship was pulled into something the Kelvan Empire recently discovered called a tesseract. Apparently, this was in late February. After going through the tesseract, they immediately set the brain wave neutralizer. It should have kept them in stasis for only an hour but it must have been damaged in the tesseract." Benton read on. "They were in conflict with a Federation ship called the USS Ilion." He turned around quickly. "The transwarp prototype! Oh dear."
Maruu said, "Well, it's just coincidence after coincidence. I want to know what happened to the Ilion." He paused. "And I think I know who to ask." He looked at the source of the Human life signs. A small mound of 32 three-dimensional shapes laid on a table. They were all labeled with alien symbols. "Now, Benton, what is this?"
Benton smiled. "They have been dehydrated. Pass me that small black device on that table will you?"
Valdago proceeded to throw him the device.
Benton began to reset its firing modules.
Valdago asked, "Benton, why did we need to come to the research lab to access the computer logs? Couldn't we have done that from the bridge?"
As Benton continued his repair work, he said, "Yes, I could have. However, the brain wave neutralizer has a failsafe device that cancels its function if anyone attempts to access main ship functions from the ship." He smiled triumphantly as he finished resetting the weapon. "Trust me, Lieutenant, you do not want to see a Kelvan wake up in an bad mood." He fired the modified weapon at a shape.
It began to transform into Human form. A man in a tactical officer's clothing fell to the floor. He looked up and sighed in relief at seeing Federation uniforms. "Where am I?"
Maruu approached the officer. "I am Captain Stephen Maruu of the Federation Starship Virgo."
"The Virgo? So I'm in the Gamma Quadrant? Great. How's the Dominion doing?"
"They are doing well. Please identify yourself."
"I am Ensign Richard Wallace of the Federation Starship Ilion. The shapes you see before you are security and tactical officers from my ship."
Benton fired at another shape. It transformed into a member of the Starfleet Marine Corps. His uniform showed the rank of second lieutenant. "Where...? Ensign Wallace. Where are we?"
Wallace looked at the Marine. "We are in the Gamma Quadrant. These people are from the USS Virgo."
The marine then address the Virgo crewmember with the highest rank. "Captain Stephen Maruu I presume. I am Second Lieutenant Johnny Chee of the USS Ilion."
Valdago threw his hands in the air. "Great! Another John! That makes three!"
Chee examined Valdago. "I'm sorry. You are..."
Valdago chuckled. "Human/Kirusan hybrid. I was mutated. What can I say?"
Maruu asked, "What were marines doing on the Ilion?
Chee smiled. "We were there as a safety measure in case the prisoners on the Peacock managed to escape."
Maruu placed his hand on Wallace's shoulder. "Well, I guess I should welcome you to the family."
"Are we far from the Federation?" asked Wallace.
"Suffice it to say, we're not in Kansas anymore," answered Benton.
Lataro, Nori, and Loran beamed onto the Kelvan bridge. "All right, people. I want to know what happened here. Garek, access the computer logs," ordered Lataro. He tapped his badge. "Captain, you here?"
[Maruu here. We're in the research lab. We found our friends. Jon, whatever you do, don't touch the bridge consoles. They will...]
Suddenly, a klaxon began to sound.
[...wake the Kelvans.]
"Damn it. Everyone back to the Virgo!" The entire team beamed back to the Virgo.
Maruu looked around him and saw the 32 Ilion crewmembers come back to life. He tapped his com badge again. "Virgo! Thirty-five to beam up!"
[Captain?]
"Just do it!"
The roomful of people beamed to the Virgo.
Some minutes later, Maruu, Lataro, Benton, Valdago, Wallace, and Chee arrived on the bridge. K'Lara was glad to see them. "Captain, we're being hailed."
"On screen."
Captain Dernom appeared on the screen. He was large and in charge. [USS Ilion. This time we have...] He paused. [Wait a second. You are not Captain Neil.]
Maruu looked at Dernom unwaveringly. "No, I am Captain Stephen Maruu of the Federation Starship Virgo, and you are no longer in your Empire."
Dernom replied, [No matter. We will take your vessel and imprison your crew.]
Wallace retorted. "It won't be that easy. You're in our playing field now."
[We'll see.] The Kelvan Conqueror attached itself to the Virgo with a tractor beam.
Wallace moved to tactical. "He's using a tractor beam. He did this to the Ilion too. This time, though, this ship is working."
Benton smiled. "I have an idea. Kelvan ships run with enhanced warp drives able to travel twice as fast as Federation vessels. They are powered by a refined form of dylithium. It is called quadilithium. If I can send a photon burst through the beam, we will be able to break free and disable their ship at the same time."
Maruu nodded approvingly. "Do it!"
The Virgo flashed a light blue as a yellow burst was released from the ship. It reached the Kelvan vessel in its bottom midsection and caused an explosion that shook the Kevlan ship.
Dernom quickly reactivated the com link. [This is only the beginning, Captain Maruu. We will rule your galaxy soon enough.]
Maruu only smiled. "We'll meet again, Senator."
Dernom clenched his teeth and disconnected the link. His ship activated their thrusters and zoomed forward in a flash of blue light.
Richard Wallace and Johnny Chee entered the briefing room. Lataro was sitting in Maruu's chair. "The captain asked me to welcome you two and your teams to the Virgo. The security officers will be placed in Benton's command. As for the tactical officers, well, we're looking for someone to lead them. I've already read their reports of your bravery on the Ilion. Thus, Captain Maruu and I agreed to make you our new Chief Tactical Officer."
Wallace couldn't help smiling. "Thank you, sir!"
Lataro stopped him. "Wait! I'm not done. With your new responsibility comes another. You must carry the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade with honor and dignity." He handed the new pips to Wallace.
"Sir. I don't know what to say."
"Just take your station and do your best to keep us all out of harm's way."
"Will do, Commander."
Lataro looked at Chee. "And you, Johnny, I'm looking forward to having you on our senior staff."
Chee didn't understand. "Excuse me?"
"You are hereby promoted to First Lieutenant and Commanding Marine on this vessel. You will command the marines you served with on the Ilion.
"Dismissed." Lataro sat there watching as Wallace and Chee happily left to their stations. He could only wonder what Maruu was doing that was more important than attending the promotions of two new members of the crew.
Maruu walked into the Intelligence Officer's office. "Lt. Sinclair. It's been a while."
"Way too long. Please sit down."
Maruu sat down reluctantly. "How is the USS Ilion?"
"How should I know? We haven't been in contact with the Federation since we crossed the border to the Gamma Quadrant."
"Liar. You've always kept an open com link. That's how you manage to get new orders all the time. That's also how you managed to convince the computer that Zultok signed your appointment to Starfleet Intelligence. It was forged. By an expert. I was in the Bajoran Resistance. You can't fool me too easily."
"And still you play along."
"Let's just say I like to guess what your next scheme will be. You're not the only one with an hidden agenda you know."
"You and I are very much alike, Captain."
Maruu stood up. "I asked you a question, Lieutenant."
Sinclair laughed. Then, the smile left her face. "The Ilion exploded after returning to the Alpha Quadrant in February of this year. Its crew have been given a one year leave and will be reassigned to the USS Knight under Commodore Jeffrey Pike."
"Jeffrey Pike. We served together on the USS Sentinel. Fine officer." He paused. "Thank you." Maruu began to leave. "Sleep well."
"You too."
Maruu left the room.
Immediately, Sinclair tapped a button on her computer. Luther Sloan appeared on screen. "Well?"
Sinclair smiled. "You were right. He is very perceptive. Shall I deal with him?"
"No. Complete your mission. Then, make sure none of them return."
Sloan was about to hang up when Sinclair stopped him. "An additional matter. The transconnection technology the Klingons obtained on the J'Rigagh was incomplete. They weren't done yet when they were surprised by the Kirusan kamikaze pilots."
Sloan only stared, expecting a continuation to Sinclair's report.
"Well, our latest encounter with an advanced alien race has revealed an advanced form of our own project to Lt. Benton. I was able to get my hands on the transconnection device which has allowed me to complete the information I need. I've 'appropriated' the device and deleted any reference to it in the ship's data banks. I'm ready to proceed with my mission at your command."
"Good. Have Ensign Marcus Jacobsen assist you. He is a promising young agent. He will perform well." Sloan cut off the com link.
Sinclair sat back in her chair with a PADD in her hand. It contained the modifications for a transporter with the ability to transconnect alternate realities.