Rashad to the Rescue

Commander Rashad T'Kul was sitting at the desk in the Captain's ready room and reviewing the final maintenance and upgrade report on the new Leviathan-B. It took almost six months to recover and repair the Leviathan-A's slipstream drive and retrofit it onto the new vessel.

The Romulan-Bajoran instinctively raised an eyebrow as she finished reading the report. All these months being stuck at Starbase One without any of her friends and colleagues, and often only the Starfleet maintenance crew and, her favourite, Section 31 database for company. Now, at last, the new Leviathan was almost ready.

She closed the report file on the console and was about to head out for some drinks at the Starbase, when the computer startled her.

<Incoming Priority Communication from Starfleet Command>

"Onscreen." Ordered Rashad.

The tired-looking face of Admiral Marcus Devore immediately appeared on the screen.

"Admiral Devore ! What a pleasant surprise !" She almost smiled at the sight of her former Commanding Officer.

[Nice to see you too, T'Kul.] Despite his obvious tension, Devore actually smiled at his old friend. [Now, I realise that the Leviathan-B is barely out of the drydock so to speak, but we need your help.]

"How may I be of service, sir ?"

[An hour ago we at Starfleet Command received a communication from the Gamma quadrant. Your former Commanding officer Captain Taybar and the rest of the crew of USS Taurus are heading for a system called Regial Seven system on the Federation-Dominion border. The system is the suspected base for a group of rogue Dominion forces. But the signal was cut off half way through and having read all the status reports, I think she'll need some additional assistance. The Leviathan-B is the best vessel available to deal with the situation. Unfortunately, we cannot give you much in terms of the crew for the new vessel that would take too long under the circumstances.]

"Well, Admiral, the good thing about the Leviathan-B is that she is substantially automated. While it will be difficult without the full crew complement, I think I can manage with the few people I got aboard at the moment."

[Then I am ordering you to Regial Seven system, at maximum slipstream speed, Commander.]

"Aye Sir !" Replied the Romulan-Bajoran with a respectful nod. She quickly tapped the console in front of her, bringing up the system. "At maximum slipstream speed it will take about thirty six hours to reach Admiral. We'll need another couple of hours to prepare and recover the crew. We'll leave orbit at 18:30 hours, San Francisco time."

[God Speed, my friend !] Admiral Devore gave her a weary smile. [And good luck.]

"On my way, sir !" Replied T'Kul as the transmission ended and the screen lit up with the Starfleet logo.

She exited the ready room and came onto the Bridge, noting that some of the positions were actually manned. Sitting down in the command chair she tapped the intercom switch:

"Attention all hands, this is Commander Rashad. We will be leaving Starbase one in two hours. Effective immediately, we are on high alert. All crew report for duty."

It took just an hour for the assigned crew to come onboard and thirty minutes to prepare to leave. Many of the crew were new to the ship and the crew manifest looked very bleak. The crew consisted of mainly Engineers and Operations staff. Amongst the new crew were three new Tactical officers, including Lieutenant Garret Loh and a Klingon Ensign Kren Sutai Rustazh.

Many of the crew were straight out of the academy and Rashad was worried about going into battle with such an inexperienced crew. But she knew the capabilities of the ship and it's weapons and shields.

"Helm, release docking clamps and take us out," She ordered a fresh Ensign she did not know.

Ten minutes later, the Leviathan was clear of the Starbase and ready for its maiden voyage.

"Set course for Deep Space Nine." Ordered Rashad. "Maximum slipstream speed."

"Aye, Ma'am" Came the reply from the helm console. "We'll be as the station in ten hours."

"Engage !"

Immediately the viewer screen lost the now familiar image of Starbase one, and showed the slipstream vortex.

The Romulan-Bajoran leaned on the armrests, deep in thought. She valued the friendship she had with Aki Taybar and her other former colleagues, and did not fancy losing any of them to the enemies of the Federation.

*Well, so far so good.* Thought T'Kul to herself in the command chair. *Now if only we can make it there in time…*