Finally Home

The USS Leviathan-B reached the Gamma quadrant end of the Bajorian wormhole and dropped out of warp. As they did so, three Starfleet vessels and a couple of Klingon cruisers greeted them. The Federation were guarding the wormhole and the relay station heavily. Things were obviously getting worse.

They travelled through the wormhole and appeared on the other side to the image of the Bajorian station floating in space, almost dwarfed by the large Dominion vessel docked to it. As they grew closer, they saw the Taurus, docked at one of the lower pylons.

Commander Rashad was sat in the command chair with, Lieutenant J'ross at her side. Doctor Kahfre was sat on the other side, having requested to be on the Bridge when they spoke to DS9.

"Mister Borealiou open a channel to DS9." Rashad requested.

The image of Colonel Kira Nerys appeared on the screen.

[Welcome back Commander.] She said.

"Colonel, may I ask why there is a Dominion vessel docked at the station." Rashad enquired.

[A lot's gone on since you left us Commander.] Kira stated. [We'll debrief you went you and your crew arrive. Starfleet Intelligence would like to speak to the scientists you rescued as soon as possible.]

"Understood. We also have detailed records from Elifia Prime that we'd like to bring with us. Leviathan out." Rashad replied.

"Helm take us into transporter range and hold station."

An hour later, Rashad and the senior staff of the Leviathan were all ushered into the main briefing room. Rashad handed the reports from Elifia Prime to a senior Intelligence officer and took her seat at the table. Soon after they had arrived, Captain Taybar arrived in the room and after a few moments of re-acquaintance, sat down beside Rashad.

"It's good to see you again Captain." Rashad said as Aki sat down.

"As it is to see you T'Kul." Aki replied. "And in one piece."

"Do we know what's happening in the Gamma quadrant ?" Rashad enquired.

"Not a great deal." Aki stated. "The Dominion are keeping very tight-lipped about everything. However, it looks like our rogue Jem'Hadar friends have more support within the Dominion than we'd been led to believe. It's looking like there's a civil war brewing."

Just then the doors opened and Colonel Kira arrived, followed by someone neither Aki nor T'Kul had expected to see, Admiral Devore. Everyone in the room stood up at the sight of the Admiral, although few actually knew him personally. But if he was here, then this was serious.

"Captain Taybar, Commander Rashad." Marcus said, taking his seat at the head of the table. "It is good to see you both."

Both nodded at the Admiral.

"Okay, first the good news." The Admiral started. "With the safe return of the Leviathan and the two missing scientists, we can finally put together a good idea of what has been going on in the Gamma quadrant in the last two months."

The Admiral paused and looked around the room.

"Now the bad news. He continued. "With the data that was recovered from their base and the data brought back from Elifia Prime we know that the Dominion is on the verge of war with itself. The rogue element within the Dominion is far larger than we have been told. The Dominion are unsure about who they can trust and who they must fear and so as a gesture of friendship between quadrant, the Federation and the Klingon Empire have offered to help."

"The Dominion has asked for our help ?" Rashad announced.

"Not exactly." Devore replied. "They have flatly refused any direct help in seeking out these rogue Jem'Hadar within their territory, but they have agreed to give us all the information they have on the rogue Jem'Hadar they know about. We're going to search our own space for these Jem'Hadar and if we capture any of them, we are to hand them over to the Dominion."

"Sounds like they're calling most of the shots." Aki remarked.

"I agree." The Admiral said. "Which is why I've assigned the Leviathan back to the Gamma quadrant as of now. Your orders will be to penetrate Dominion space and seek out and destroy these rogue Jem'Hadar. The Dreadnought is due to return to the Gamma quadrant in forty-nine hours. The Leviathan will follow them back into Dominion space and go from there. Lieutenant Commander Barker is already working on the refractive shielding to make the Leviathan appear to be a Dominion cruiser when at warp, hopefully it will fool them."

"What about a crew ?" Rashad announced. "The Leviathan is severely undermanned, we need more crew."

"As of now, all the crew of the Taurus will be officially re-assigned to the Leviathan." Devore stated. "Captain Taybar will re-take command and you'll remain as first officer."

"Thank you Admiral." Aki said.

"Have your crew ready to leave in forty hours." Devore suggested. "Hiding the Leviathan from the Dreadnought is going to be hard, they'll need to be ready."

"Understood." Aki announced.

"Then I think that's all." Devore said. "Captain, I'd like you to stay. There are some things we need to discuss."

The room quickly cleared until only Admiral Devore, Captain Taybar and Commander Rashad remained.

"Admiral, could I speak to you in private before you speak with Captain Taybar." Rashad requested. "It's important, very important."

Devore looked over at Taybar. "Captain, if you'd wait outside, I'd like to talk to you once I've finished."

Aki rose from her seat and left the room. As she did so, Rashad beckoned the Admiral over towards the window. Had they been on a Starfleet station, she would have been able to secure the room, but that was not possible here. Instead she placed a device on the window and activated it.

"This device will create a noise field which will scramble everything we say." Rashad stated. "So I'd come a little closer, Admiral else you'll not hear me."

"Commander…." The Admiral asked, stepping towards the Commander.

"Admiral. I've looked over all the data we recovered from the base and received from Elifia Prime." Rashad announced. "And there's a lot of things I don't like."

"Upto your old tricks." Devore suggested. "That data was supposed to be secure."

Rashad just smiled. She was an expert hacker, capable of breaking any encryption codes. That was what had got her into trouble in the first place and what had first brought her to work with the then Captain Devore on the original Leviathan. Back then, she'd be coerced into breaking codes, but had also show a streak of morality that had earned her the trust of Devore. Few knew her dual role, not even Captain Taybar was aware of Rashad's second role onboard.

"There are things in the records that point back to Section 31." Rashad announced. "More specifically a name."

"A name." Devore said. "You're judging everything on a name. Who's name."

"I found it in a set of records back on Earth a long time ago, before I joined the Leviathan." Rashad explained. "It held information on an individual from the future. From what I managed to decrypt, he came through time from the twenty-sixth century to the mid twenty second century. There was something about him defecting to Section 31 around 2160, but then double crossing them."

"And all your suspicions are based on this name." The Admiral asked. "What was it ?"

"Drakara, Adam Drakara." Rashad replied. "There are hundreds of records in the files that were recovered from the Jem'Hadar base that refer to a Doctor Drakara. Most of it was just research notes about DNA manipulation, but there is one record describing a visit to the base by Drakara himself. As far as Section 31 is concerned, he is to be eliminated with extreme force, he's enemy number one."

"So what's that got to do with our current situation ?" The Admiral asked. "If Section 31 are after this Drakara and he's working with the rogue Dominion, then for once we'll both be on the same side."

"Admiral." Rashad said loudly. "Section 31 would destroy an entire planet just to kill Drakara, let alone destroy half the Gamma quadrant in the process. All I'm saying is that we should be careful, by now I'm sure they'll have accessed and analysed the same data and picked up on the same things I did."

"What would you suggest I do ?" Devore asked. "We can't tell Captain Taybar, that would blow your cover."

"All I need is access to all the Intelligence we get." Rashad said. "With that I can access Section 31 via the secure links."

The Admiral was silent for a while, thinking. Then he smiled.

"I have a solution. How would you like your old job back ?" Devore suggested.

"I thought I just did." Rashad stated. "First officer of the Leviathan."

"No." Devore said. "I mean as Chief of Intelligence. You would retain your rank and your position as first officer, but you'd also have access to the Intelligence network."

"That would work." Rashad said. "But how will you get it past the Captain and Starfleet."

"Admiral McCaffee will approve your transfer and you can leave the Captain to me." Devore suggested.

Rashad removed the device from the window and shut if off. She then headed over to the replicator and set it to recycle. The device disappeared and was converted back into energy. She then headed out of the door. Moments later, Captain Taybar came into the room to talk to the Admiral.

Devore was working on a Padd he had with him. He looked up at the Captain. "Aki take a seat, I'll be with you in a moment."

He finished working on the Padd and handed it to Aki.

"These are your new orders." Devore said. "Along with a few transfers and promotions."

Aki looked down the list. Most of the promotions were acceptable and Aki agreed with them. It included the three new crewmembers, however the last transfer puzzled her.

"Admiral, what is this ?" She asked.

"I've re-assigned Commander Rashad to be your new Chief Intelligence officer." Devore replied. "She's to remain as your first officer, but I need her to be at the top of the Intel chain. I can't tell you exactly why, but I will say that you should and can trust her one hundred percent. Do not question her too much about her answers, because she will not reveal everything, even to her Captain."

"So what do I do about a command officer." Aki asked. "I can't have Rashad hold both positions, there's too much work."

"What about Lieutenant J'ross ?" Devore suggested. "From your records and those of Rashad, she'd make an excellent replacement."

"Her rank is a little low to be a Captain's right hand, especially for a vessel the size of the Leviathan."

"We can fix that." Devore stated, taking the Padd back from Aki. Moments later, he handed the Padd back and Aki read it again and smiled.

"She will be pleased." Aki said.

"I'd suggest you carry out those orders before you leave." Devore said. "I'll be around if you need any help."

"Tomorrow morning, 11:00 hours." Aki suggested. "In the officers lounge on the Leviathan."

"I'll see you at 10:00 hours. I'd like to take a look around the new ship before I leave for Earth."

"10:00 hours tomorrow, I'll give you the guided tour myself."

"Until then Captain." Devore said, rising from his chair and picking up the Padds he'd brought with him.

Aki read through the list once more before heading off for the transporter room and back to the Leviathan.