CHAPTER I. THE U.S.S. EUROPA INTERVENTION

The U.S.S. Europa (NCC-1648-E), an imposing Sovereign-class vessel under the command of Captain T’Vok, emerged in all its majesty from the Bajorian tunnel, a space phenomenon more unique than rare, as it is a stable and natural link between the Alpha and Gamma Quadrants.

Although originally the mission was to spend a full 18 months in the Gamma Quadrant, with the dual objective of exploring a region of the Milky Way so remote that it could only be accessed through the wormhole and gathering as much information on the Dominion as possible, the crew had been urgently called back due to the increasing number of incursions into Federation territories at the hands of the Dominion. This was causing Starfleet’s exploration plans to be revised, forcing the vessel’s relocation.

The order to return to the Alpha Quadrant had come directly from Starfleet Command, and had reached the Europa during the final stages of initial contact. It was Lieutenant Commander Leeda Sevek, who was in command at the time, who had contacted Captain T’Vok while she, along with First Officer R’Mau, Security Officer Moq and Lieutenant Lon Sonoda, a science officer specialising in interfacing with new cultures, were on the planet, informing her of the new orders from Earth.

To be honest, the Europa was not the only ship to be recalled from its mission: precisely because of the growing threat from the Dominion, most of the vessels sent to explore deep space had to be returned to the Federation and Starfleet as soon as possible, thus allowing the Federation Command and Presidency to have as many resources as possible at their disposal to deploy before a further escalation between the two powers at play.

As soon as the Europa delegation had been able to disengage from the festivities organised by the planet’s government following their success in the negotiations, Captain T’Vok ordered a course to be set for the Celestial Temple and the Alpha Quadrant, for a journey that would take no longer than a few days before they were able to reach the entrance to the Bajoran tunnel. Once they reached the Alpha Quadrant, they were to make their way to Deep Space 9, where they would be docked for a handful of days to await their next assignment; this would then allow the crew to take some time off before returning to operations, as well as providing a valuable opportunity for the ship’s quartermaster to replenish the ship’s stores.

The crewman at the helm, a very young Bolian who had been recruited into Starfleet right when the Europa was commissioned, announced: «We have cleared the event horizon: we are once again in the Alpha Quadrant.» Settling herself upright in the Captain’s chair and looking up from the report she was reviewing, Eva Ferrari, commanding the Gamma shift for that night, did not have time to order to set course to Deep Space 9 when a series of pings caused her to look questioningly towards the Ops console to the helmsman’s left, where a woman with a very slight french accent notified: «Incoming transmission from Deep Space 9, Lieutenant.»

Arching an eyebrow, Ferrari straightened and, setting aside the PADD from which she was reading, ordered: «On screen, Ensign.»

The faces of Captain Benjamin Sisko, the station’s commanding officer for the UFP and Starfleet Command, and Major Kira Nerys, the first officer and Bajoran Liaison Officer for the Bajoran Provisional Government, replaced the screen otherwise occupied by the continuous sensor feed superimposed on a pitch-black sky characterised with glowing dots. If, at first the two officers seemed surprised to see a mere second Lieutenant in charge, it didn’t take them long to recover from their astonishment. In fact it gave the impression that there was something else going on that wasn’t as it should be.

«Europa, it’s good to see you again,» were the first words spoken by Sisko as a greeting, while at his side Kira seemed to be analysing some data from a PADD she held in her hand, twisting her lips with her left hand. Even from a distance, it was possible to feel the tension emanating from her body: whatever was written on the device she was so eagerly analysing, clearly did not bode well with her. It was only when Ferrari replied – «The pleasure is ours, sir. We were just about to head for Deep Space 9, is there a problem?» – the Bajoran looked up, resting her gaze on Europa ‘s command deck and, perhaps, really seeing it for the first time. However, it was Sisko who took the floor again: «We have just received a distress call from the BDR-1940 Hikawa Maru, a passenger transport heading for the Trill system under attack by a group of Breen privateers.»

Kira interjected: «Our runabouts are not equipped to deal with them and the Defiant is still under repair, Chief O’Brien won’t be able to complete them before the next 48 hours. We need you to intervene, Europa.»

Ferrari, listening to their deepening report, nodded to herself. «Send us the coordinates, Deep Space 9. We’ll take care of it,» the woman answered, before taking her leave, «Europa out.»

The image on the screen switched from the Captain’s office aboard Deep Space 9 to the star field that had welcomed Europa once the event horizon of the Celestial Temple had been cleared. Ferrari activated the intercom located to her right: «Captain T’Vok report to the Bridge.»

*

A few minutes later, Captain T’Vok entered the Bridge from one of the turbolifts located at the rear of the command bridge, behind both the tactical and medical-scientific consoles and, in turn, immediately behind the chairs reserved for the trio of officers consisting of the Captain, XO and Counselor.

Ferrari, as soon as she had heard the turbolift doors open, had risen from the centre seat and made way for the Vulcan, simultaneously turning to face the woman so she could look her in the eyes: «We have been contacted by Deep Space 9: they have received a distress call from a passenger transport en route to Trillius Prime. They say they are under attack by Breen privateers.»

Continuing to her own station, at which she took her seat shortly afterwards, T’Vok asked: «Did DS9 send the coordinates?»

«Yes, ma’am,» Ferrari replied, after receiving confirmation from the Ensign at Ops.

«Very well, Lieutenant,» T’Vok commented, before continuing, «Red alert. All hands to battle stations. Helm, warp 3. Engage.» The Bolian at the helm obeyed immediately, responding with a very simple «Yes, Ma’am,» before taking the Europa to warp.

The red alert scenario, in a starship, involved dim, reddish lighting, dimly lit corridors, a frantic bustle of people, the sound of alarm claxons and, normally, all command and Alpha shift personnel at their stations, with security teams deployed to safeguard the ship and other personnel. In this situation, as evidenced by the empty seat to T’Vok’s right, that was not exactly the case.

Protocol also called for the XO to lead an intervention team to go into action once they had arrived in support of the passenger transport, but the Caitian First Officer, Commander R’Mau, was still recovering in Sickbay after a close encounter with the Dominion during their last first contact in the Gamma Quadrant. On the other hand, the possible clash with the Breen required Lieutenant Moq, the Klingon Tactical and Security Officer, to be on board and at his post, to better coordinate the defence of the ship and the reconnaissance teams sent into the field.

Since she had not been ordered to resume her usual position at the helm, Ferrari had moved further to the right. This way she could directly monitor the constant sensor feed running continuously on the tactical screen located at the position usually occupied by R’Mau. As was the case aboard all UFP vessels, the officers serving on them had to be able to adapt as needed, in cases of extreme necessity. They needed to be ready to step out of their comfort zone, and take control. It was essential if they wanted to advance their careers or simply explore new possibilities for their future within the ranks of Starfleet.

Reasoning that the experience the Lieutenant had gained immediately after graduating from the Academy, during her years at the Zefram Cochrane Space Flight Center as a pilot and test pilot (both in the holosuite and in the field), would certainly be useful should there be a need to evacuate the passenger transport without employing the transporter but, rather, one of the shuttles aboard the Europa, T’Vok issued a further set of orders, this time in Ferrari’s direction: «Assemble a team, Lieutenant, and go to Transporter Room 3: after engaging the Breen, you will be beamed aboard the Hikawa Maru to assess the damage and casualties sustained. Should the situation not allow you to lower your shields long enough to teleport down, you will be forced to take a shuttle to complete the mission. In any case, we will have your backs.»

Ferrari, who had looked up from the tactical feed she had been studying until a moment before, offered a simple nod, before leaving the command deck and heading to prepare for her rescue mission.

***

Within a relatively short time, the Europa would be coming out of warp with shields up and weapons at the ready, prepared to deal with any threat the Breen might pose should they attempt to offer more resistance than anticipated. All crew members had reached their stations, with Transporter Room Three and the Shuttle Bay on standby, ready to respond as needed, depending on how events would unfold in front of them.

In the Shuttle Bay a team of engineers had prepared a shuttle in case the team assembled by Ferrari could not be transported. The members of said team had assembled and were awaiting orders from the Bridge to proceed. Lieutenant Ferrari, who had found herself in charge of the entire operation, had assembled a group of six people. In addition to herself, there were three Security Officers, the Chief Engineer and the Chief Medical Officer.

Leaving Security and Lieutenant Commander Cartier to make a final check of their equipment, Ferrari walked over to Dr. Katherine Pulaski, who’s eyes stared out, uncaring of the events unfolding around her, focused on the Transporter Platform: «Doctor, is everything all right?»

The middle-aged woman seemed to be torn from her musings at the words of the Lieutenant, turning to look at her with a wry smile on her face: «I used to hate this damn technology. Hell,» she shrugged, «I still hate beam tech, every single little megabyte of it.» She returned her gaze to the platform in front of her for a moment, before continuing: «But, a few years ago, I was forced to reconsider some of my attitudes towards the matter.»

Ferrari arched an eyebrow, ready to ask where the other woman was going with this, but was beaten to it: «If it wasn’t for Data and beam technology, I wouldn’t be here right now. Wondering if it’s really worth trusting or not.»

«Well, Doctor,» Ferrari observed, «Beam accidents are not as common as you think. It’s not like it was a century ago, during the five-year mission of Kirk’s Enterprise: you have nothing to be afraid of.»

The Doctor tightened her mouth, but before the conversation could continue any further, the intracom activated and the voice of the second officer, Lieutenant Commander Leeda Sevek, filled the air: «Transporter Room Three, this is the Bridge: we will be out of warp in less than thirty seconds.»

With one last glance at her own team, who were now arranging themselves on the Transporter dais, Ferrari raised her voice in answer: «We are ready, Bridge. At your discretion. Ferrari out.» Both she and Dr Pulaski were the last to take their posts, with the three from Security and Ferrari herself armed and ready, in case things went worse than expected.

*

The Bridge brimmed with a contradicting mix calmness, expectation and anticipation: the Bolian at the helm stood ready to bring the massive vessel out of warp and, at the same time, prepared for the eventuality that evasive manoeuvres might have to be taken to disengage the Breen.

At his left side, Commander Leeda, who was also standing in for the first officer at that juncture, informed them that they were «…exiting warp in 15 seconds.» The words were immediately followed by a change of mood around him: in a matter of nanoseconds, in fact, all the officers present on the bridge went from absolute stillness to growing excitement, while the ever-impassive T’Vok imperceptibly shifted her weight in the Captain’s chair, trusting her crew would be able to carry out their duties without further input from her.

At his station, located behind the triptych of command chairs, Lieutenant Moq had just finished reconfiguring part of his terminal to function as a communications display. Thereby, allowing constant contact between the ship and the landing party, in coordination with Leeda, with whom he shared the duties of Communications Officer.

The Bajoran began counting down to warp out, reaching zero while the starry sky shown on the main viewer by the external sensors slowed to a stop on a more static view of the area of space in which the Europa was located. A moment later, the sensors registered, relatively close to the Sovereign -class vessel, the passenger transport that had sent the distress call, an old Clipper-class ship, little more than a large four-tier shuttle with two oversized nacelles, and its assailant Breen.

The sensor feed soon began to be enriched with information from the medium and long-range sensors, with Commander Leeda reporting, «The Breen ship has its shields down, Captain.» He checked his terminal again: «Sensors have identified a transporter beam in progress from the pirate ship to the passenger transport: they are sending boarding parties.»

The Captain promptly issued a series of specific orders to her officers who, with proven efficiency, started to efficiently carry out her commands: «Conn, ¾ impulse, get us in. Tactical, target their weapons, shields, engines and communications, to disable them. Coordinate with Operations and Transporter Room Three: we need our people on that transport immediately.»

A chorus of «Yes, Ma’am,» filled the air and the massive vessel was deployed in no time at all. In Transporter Room Three, the NCO on duty reported that everything was ready and that the team was just waiting to be beamed aboard the civilian transport. Despite the fact that the Hikawa Maru‘s command deck was protected by a low-intensity transporter inhibitor, powerful enough not to allow stable docking, they could circumnavigate this issue by teleporting Ferrari and her team to the area closest to the deck.

In record time Lieutenant Moq disabled not only the shield emitters, but also the communication arrays, weapons and engines, leaving the Breen pirates unprotected; with the same kind of efficiency, the Transporter Room, coordinating with the Bridge, teleported the rescue team aboard the passenger transport in a flash. Moments later, Moq had once again raised its shields, while Europa prepared to secure as much time as possible for Ferrari and her men, in case the Breen managed to fix the communications system to send a distress call to their fellows before communications were cut.