Captain’s Log, Stardate 2305.13: The unthinkable has happened. The Dominion has returned. After all this time, the Dominion has returned. The Fourth Fleet has been summoned to the Deneb Sector. The Cardiff has been tasked with scouting for resources to aid the war effort. 

  Reva watched as her crew filtered into the briefing room, taking customary seats. She shared a look with Commander ap Gareth. He’d heard the priority briefing with her. Knew the truth. The Fourth were going to be alone in this fight. Starfleet wanted to pretend this wasn’t happening, that the Dominion couldn’t return. Because ignoring a problem always resolves it…

     “I’m going to be brief. The Dominion has returned. They, and their Breen allies have begun attacking colonies and worlds in the Deneb sector. Starfleet is choosing to deny the presence of the Dominion, attributing the attacks solely to the Breen. 

     It is not known exactly how they are here, as they did not come through the Bajoran Wormhole. These Jem’Hadar believe the Dominion War never ended. No time has passed for them at all. Admiral Ramar has summoned the Fourth Fleet to the Deneb Sector. We are taking this seriously, even if the rest of Starfleet wishes to deny the threat.”

    “The… Dominion?” Kaalir asked. Of all Reva’s primary crew, Kaalir was the youngest, at age 30. Young enough that she’d not faced the formidable force that was the Dominion.

     “Aye, it appears the fleet reported lost in the wormhole all those years ago has finally arrived. In the Deneb Sector, of all places. Starfleet is treating this as Breen incursions only.”

     “Trying to keep panic down before Frontier Day, no doubt,” Gareth said.

     “No doubt.” Reva did little to keep the disdain she felt for stuffy self-aggrandising ceremony out of her voice. 

     Ch’Shraoness gave a slight huff, antennae twitching in annoyance. “Well, if this is war, surely they’d call off Frontier Day?”

     Rrr’varric laughed a throaty Caitian laugh, “Now, Commander. You are not so naive. It won’t get canceled. Should, but won’t.”

     “Our task is resource hunting, looking for anything to aid the war effort,” Reva drew the conversation back to the task at hand. She steepled her fingers, growing still. “To that end, we are going back to Paxtar.”

     “Paxtar, Captain?” Commander Gareth asked. “Are you sure you should return there? Wouldn’t the forensics crews have found anything of military interest by now?”

     “Well no, I certainly don’t want to go back. But since these orders came through, I have had a growing pull to return. That there is something useful still there. The planet is closed to all but the forensics crews… and us, now. I am certain there’s something of use to us on Paxtar.”

     There *is* something there. 

     Reva rubbed her right temple. A slight depression there, and persistent headaches were all she had to show for her abrupt sojourn to Paxtar. Well, that and a new captain’s yacht, seeing as how the Rhiannon had been destroyed in the crash. The planet was a veritable ship graveyard, shrouded by persistent ion storms that made landing difficult and would pull ships in and fling them planetward. They’d named the storm region the ‘Maelstrom’. 

     “Gareth, I know you aren’t going to like this, but I need to be the one to go down.”

     Gareth grimaced. “You’re right. I don’t like it. It should be me going.”

     “Kaalir, you are with me. Faarn, assign a pair of security officers to our away team. Shrao, likewise, assign two engineers to accompany us. Doc, line us up a field medic or two, as well. Breckin will round out our team. We’ll need some more fancy flying to get planet-side and back.”

     “Aye, Captain,” Faarn said. Rrr’varric and Ch’Shraonness echoed the security chief.

     “Good. We’ll reach Paxtar tomorrow. Let’s be ready.”

     The others filed out of the briefing room, all except Gareth.

     “The Dominion, Captain? Brings back nightmares.”

     “Truth, Gareth. Nightmares beyond counting.”

     “And you really believe there’s something to help the war effort on Paxtar?”

     “I know there is, Gareth. What that is, exactly, remains to be seen,” Reva replied. The image of the Cardiff flashed in her mind, morphing into a much larger Galaxy class then shifted into a massive ship of unknown origin. Pain throbbed behind her eye. “I think I’m going to have Shrao add a few more engineers.”

     “I still think you should allow me to go instead, Captain.”

     “Noted,” Reva said with a slight smile.

     “Bah, there are times I wish the Vulcan half were a wee bit more dominant in you.”

     Now Reva laughed, then drew a solemn face. “Commander Gareth, it is logical that I am the one to go.” 

     “An’ why might tha’ be, Captain?” Gareth asked

     A sly smile. “…because my intuition has never led me wrong.”

     “Bah. A Vulcan with intuition. What’s the world coming to?”

     “I’m also half Rihannsu, and Vulcans *do* have intuition. Most have just buried it deep and let it wither, in favour of logic.”

                                       *********************

     Ezill sat on her bunk, stomach in knots. She’d been a youngling during the last war with the Dominion, but she remembered the news. Remembered the family that never returned home. She’d studied the Dominion as part of her xenoanthropology studies. An implacable foe who’s motto was ‘Victory is life.’ The Jem’Hadar were said to be fiercer than Klingons. 

      /Kaa, I’m scared./

     /That’s understandable, young one. But we are together, and we’ll get through this./ The symbiont felt thoughtful. /It’s interesting, though, that these forces don’t seem to have tried to contact what remains of the Founders, who would no doubt call them off./

    /Do you think we’ll really find something on Paxtar?/ Ezill asked

    /I trust the captain, and her intuition. She’s rarely wrong. It’ll be interesting to see what we find on Paxtar. Might even change the war./

    /I hope so, Kaa. I hope so./    

                                      *********************

     “Captain! I didn’t expect to find you here. You should be asleep,” Rrr’varric rumbled. “And this is beginning to border on unhealthy obsession.”

     Reva looked back at the Caitian CMO, before her gaze returned to the drawer table before her. Waist-high, it was filled with the mummified body of the one-legged giant that had been found near Reva’s crash site on Paxtar. She was determined to bring him back to his people herself, should they find them. She found herself increasingly drawn to the morgue stasis to stare at the puzzling body. 

     “I’m not that bad yet, Doc. But I can’t help but think that someone pulled me out of the wreckage, and the only body out in the open where I was found was this one. And no other life signs but mine.”  Reva pushed a button and the drawer slid back into the wall.

     “I guess, tonight, I’m wishing he could tell us what we might find. And as always, who he is, who his people are, it’s the anthropologist in me.”

     Rrr’varric handed Reva a cup of chamomile tea, steaming gently. She took it, inhaling the soothing fragrance. 

     “Are you sure you’re not using it tonight as a distraction from the Dominion news?”

     “Maybe a little, Doc. Maybe a little.” Reva sipped the tea, then cocked her head. “Fresh, not replicated. Hint of marshmallow and spintal root. You never cease to amaze me.”

     “My delight, Captain. And now that you’ve finished that, you need to go lie down. It kicks in quick.”

     Rrr’varric chuckled as the Captain drained the cup, thanked her, and left. The Caitian gave a long look at the closed stasis drawer, before heading back to where she’d been setting up field kits for her two medics. For Murr, who had been with her nearly as long as Kensi, she was including some of her more unusual medicinals. 

     Wherever Rrr’varric had gone, she’d set up a small herbarium that also housed terrariums with small critters that had value in her surgery. The Caitian doctor had been in the forefront of many battles and skirmishes, been assigned to low tech colony world’s being set up, and worked among refugee groups. She’d developed a strong preference for natural medicinals as a support for tech and processed or replicated drugs. Murr and Kensi had become excellent apothecary students. When she was done, Rrr’varric settled behind her desk with another cup of tea, to get some work done. 

     Rrr’varric woke with a guilty start. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep at her desk. Curse of the neuroimmune condition she suffered from. But what had woken her. An ear twitched towards a faint noise. Someone was in the back. Had she been so asleep she’d missed someone coming in? That seemed unlikely since Rrr’varric was a very light sleeper.

     She stood and prowled on silent feet, searching for the sound’s source. Reaching the area where the stasis chambers were, Rrr’varric was… not… surprised to find the Captain back again. She hung back, just out of sight.

     But Sarrik looked out of it. She had the drawer open again and had uncurled the fingers of one hand on the body. As Rrr’varric watched, the mummified hand seemed to shrink, matching Reva’s hand. After a moment, she recurled the fingers of a hand now obviously larger than hers, and closed the drawer.

     Reva looked up briefly, her injured eye glowing a warm grey. An eye normally purple was now glowing grey. The Captain turned and promptly disappeared. 

     What the hells? 

     Rrr’varric tapped her combadge, calling the Captain. A sleepy voice answered her. 

     “Sarrik here. How can I help you at this early hour?”

     “Captain, where are you?”

     “Where am I? What the hells, Doc? I’m in my quarters, trying to sleep. Been here since I left you. Why?”

     “We’ll, you just left my sickbay again. After looking at that damned mummy again.”

     There was a long pause. “I don’t know what to tell you. I’ve been asleep. I’m up now, though. I’ll have security search the ship for an intruder. Was anything taken?”

     “No, Captain. Nothing was taken. I heard noise, followed it to the stasis room and found you… found your doppelganger with the drawer open. She put her palm against the mummy’s, which seemed to shrink to match size, but when she pulled her hand away, it was unchanged. Then she closed the drawer and vanished. 

                                       ******************

    “Chief, is it true? Are the Dominion really back. And we’re leaving the fight?”

     “Ensign, don’t be so eager for war. We’ll be in it soon enough. Our task is acquiring resources, which we are going to do,” Faarn chided. Ensign Meilill nodded, returned to cleaning and servicing phasers and phaser rifles, making sure they were charged.

     “What was it like, sir? The first Dominion war?”

     The Tellarite security chief grew still. She stopped working for a beat. 

     “It was hell, Ensign.”

     {Smoke filled the corridor. Faarn ran through it, followed by her team. Sounds of battle rang out ahead. An explosion cut behind her. Faarn opened her eyes, trying to figure out what happened. The area she and her team had just passed through was now a gaping wound in the ship. Forcefields shimmered over the exposed areas.

     As she stood, a figure loomed out of the billowing smoke.

     “You will die, Federation!” A Jem’Hadar soldier pointed a phaser at her. Faarn dropped as the beam sizzled over her head. She raised her own phaser and fired. 

     “Not today, fugly,” Faarn yelled, as the body dropped. She gathered her remaining group and jogged towards the action. Tremors and explosions continued to rock the ship. More Jem’Hadar thundered down the corridor, yelling, phasers blazing. From there, everything was a jumble of disjointed images. Every flashback Faarn had began clear and quickly jumbled as it progressed.}

     Faarn shook the cobwebs of memory from her head.

     “It was hell. One I hope you won’t be called to visit. Now, let’s get this gear together for the team tomorrow. Captain called down, said she wants climbing gear for the group.”

     “Climbing gear? What could they possibly need that for?” Ensign Meilill.

     “No idea. But regions are mountainous. And plenty of caves. Captain’s gear list suggests cave spelunking. Grab some torches for the packs, would you please? Let’s get this done,” Faarn said. 

“Captain, do you really think there’s something here?” Kaalir asked. The group had safely landed on Paxtar, no storm eddies catching them. Now they were carefully making their way up a scree-filled slope, Sarrik doggedly focused on the path ahead. 

     “I know we will, Lieutenant.” Sarrik stopped. “Let’s take a break and run scans.”

     Sighs of relief surrounded Sarrik as her team took the opportunity to hydrate and rest on rocks. She knew she was pushing them hard but felt driven and laser-focused, drawn up the mountain like a salmon coursing home. 

     Something like that. 

     Reva smiled, thinking Gareth would approve. The salmon was important to his spirituality. 

     “Nothing on scans, Captain.” Kaalir came up beside Reva. “It doesn’t seem like ships ever crashed in this location.” 

     Less than an hour later, high up the mountain, Reva stopped at a deep, short crevasse. Darkness yawned back at the group, despite the sunlight beating down on them. Jakka and Melshiffar cracked mag torches and tossed them down. The darkness swallowed the lights. After a moment, they heard a dull metallic clang. 

     “Okay, folks, here we are. Let’s set up the climbing gear and make our way down. Ensign Melshiffar, you are with us. Jakka, you and Breckin guard the top. Hopefully, we won’t be too long. Koban, once down, you’ll take double duty as security.”

     There was a chorus of ‘aye, sir’ before Mel, Tessen, and Koban, the spelunkers of the group, began setting up the climbing gear. Reva joined them, helping the novices get in harness. 

     “You will descend in pairs. Kaalir, you’re with Tessen. Murr, with Koban, Wynright with Melshiffar.”

     “What about you, Captain?” Kaalir asked. 

     “I will solo it, going down with the second group. Wynright and Melshiffar will go first, then Kaalir, Tessen, and I, followed by Murr and Koban.”

                                     *********************************

     Reva slid the rest of the way down the crevasse and unclipped the climbing harness. Kaalir and Tessen were just above her. Melshiffar had secured the area, and now her three arms held different tools for Wynright. 

     “It seems to be an exterior ship wall, Captain, though how the bloody hells it ended up in a mountain is beyond me, begging your pardon for the language,” Wynright said. The engineer stepped back so Reva could see. “And we still can’t pick it up on the scanners, even though it’s right here.”

     “It’s not a wall, Ensign. It’s a door,” Reva said. She ran light hands over the wall, then pressed one flat. There was a rumble of abandoned machinery, and a hatch hissed open. Stale air puffed out into the alcove. The captain stepped back, letting Lt. Melshiffar go first to secure the area. 

     “Captain? How did you know?” Wynright asked. 

     “I… am not quite sure, Ensign. It’s a pull, like a lodestone.”

     A brief clatter of small stones heralded Murr and Koban.  

     “You found something, Captain!” Murr broke off as Reva drew a sharp breath, and her hand flew to her head. He was at her side in a flash, medical tricorder whirring. Reva waved the medic off.

     “It’s nothing, Ensign.”

     “I beg to differ, Captain. Your blood pressure is dangerously high, and your serotonin levels are elevated.” Murr pressed a hypo against her neck, then pressed a canteen in her hands. “Drink, sir.”

     A deep rumble came from within the shadowed doorway, and pale purple light broke apart the darkness, revealing a corridor. 

     “Let’s go,” Reva said. 

                                      **************************** 

     “This place is amazing!” Wynright said. Reva knew the engineers would love to spend time exploring, but she’d resumed her dogged single-minded pursuit.

     “It’s creepy,” Koban growled. “Where are the people? Why isn’t this ship as damaged as the others? And how is it inside the mountain?”

     The Bajoran/Cardassian engineer wasn’t wrong. Reva had seen the other wrecks, most mangled ruins. While there was some damage, the buried ship was in far more pristine condition. She slowed as they approached a set of broad doors. They hissed sluggishly open, revealing what could only be the ship’s engineering bay. A gigantic, dormant crucible dominated the massive room. Deep cracks rent the sides, and weak light flickered from it. 

     Workstations lined the walls, with a few islands scattered in the middle. Reva made a beeline for a console in the middle and pressed her palm against it. A skittering and fluttering noise made Melshiffar and Koban raise phasers, ushering the others back. 

     “Dialln dekka, Urzas?” A voice called out.

     “Stand down,” Reva said, pushing between the pair as a form came flitting from around the monstrous crucible. “I’m not Ursaz. I’m looking for him, though.”

     A white-furred creature the size of a housecat, with feathery wings stopped before the group. It cocked its head at them. 

     “Urzas ko abbit. Depsi Sikkari meru. Descha mere?” 

     “I’m sorry. We don’t understand you. My name is Reva Sarrik. Captain Reva Sarrik.” Reva pointed to herself, then pointed to the winged being. “Who are you?”

     The creature’s language wasn’t in the universal translator banks, so she’d have to keep it talking as it was parsed out. It cocked its head.

     “You, Reva Sarrik. You name Reva Sarrik. Reva Sarrik mere nolas.” It paused, head tilting in the other direction. “Your name is Reva Sarrik.”

     Reva was impressed. Clearly, both sides were using a UT that had made even quicker work of communication. 

     “Aye. My name is Reva. What is your name?” 

     “I am Tallos, al’raj’li of the ASF Planeswalker.” A plaintive look creased the creature’s face. “Where is Urzas’shinraal?”

     “We’ve seen no one else. I… Urzas…shinraal saved my life here some time ago. But I did not see him then; I was blinded, then unconscious. No one was around when my crew rescued me, save a mummified corpse missing a leg.”

     ” What did the body look like?:” Tallos asked. Reva described it. 

     “I need to see the body to verify, but Urzas cannot die.” Tallos’ focus sharpened. “How did you get here? Why are you here, Captain?”

     “I can’t explain how I found this place. It’s well concealed. The ship doesn’t even register on our sensors while we are standing in it. I was drawn here, though. We’re looking for anything we might use in a war effort. An old and implacable enemy has returned. This ship itself would be a great asset.”

     “The depth well is cracked. She will not fly, not unless Mishros and the sik’setov can find us. Techomancers are required to do the repairs. And many would be required to refill the depth wells that drive the ship. Only the smaller ones are still intact.”

     “Depth well?” Wynright asked, then blushed. “Begging your pardon, Captain.”

     “It’s a valid question, Ensign,” Reva said. To Tallos, “What is a depth well? Your engine?”

     Tallos trilled a melodious yet mournful sound. “You fly very different. We have seen the other wrecks. The wells hold energy donated by the Technomancers. Ours were full on our maiden jump. But this went so very wrong. We did two successful jumps. The next brought us here but drained the primary well. Then the plasma storms caught us and left us unwilling residents of this rock.”

     “How long have you been here, Tallos? Where is your crew?” 

     “The Planeswalker has been here for two thousand years. Our maiden crew was minimal. Most lost their lives in the crash. The rest have long since crossed the threshold.”

      “If you’ve been here that long, how are you and Urzas still alive?” Reva asked. 

      “I am al’raj’li of the Planeswalker. I am the voice of the ship when Urzas is gone.” Tallos sank towards the ground before fluttering back to eye level. “It has been so long… I guess I am the al’raj of the ship now If Urzas is gone. And I am… alone.

     “You said you are at war, Captain?”

     “Yes,” Reva replied. 

     “Why should I allow you our technology?” Tallos’ gaze sharpened.

     “If the Dominion win, they will enslave the Alpha Quadrant. Neither you nor Urzas seems like the type to support such behaviour.”

     “What are you hoping to find here?”

     “Anything to help!” Kaalir burst out. She subsided at Reva’s sharp look. 

     “You have something that can disguise a ship completely. Can make it look like another type of ship altogether, that is nearly foolproof. Appearance, sensor readings, and crew numbers. You have shield technology that could be the difference between life and death for many of my compatriots and personal shields that can protect individuals. Technology with which they would be unfamiliar unless you… jumped… from the Gamma Quadrant.”

     ‘Now, how the hells did I know that?’ Reva wondered.

     “My dear Captain, the Planeswalker is not only not from your galaxy but not even from this universe. We are from a parallel plane, from the Andromeda galaxy of that plane.”

     “A different plane,” Wynright breathed, and at the same time, Kaalir exclaimed “Andromeda!” Reva didn’t chastise their outbursts. She was just as floored. 

     “Then no doubt they will not expect such tech,” Reva said with a wry grin. “Will you help us, Tallos?”

     “Yes, yes! This will work! This will work, Captain!” 

     Reva turned from Kaalir to the usually dour Koban, whose face fairly glowed. Seeing joy was a rare thing these days and even rarer for Koban. The engineers had been working with Tallos on compatibility between the Federation and Sikkaran tech, while the others had been gathering equipment located by Reva’s odd connection to the ship.

     “Well done! How easily can it be implemented?” Reva asked.

     “Not the easiest thing to do, but certainly not the hardest, Captain.” Wynright looked to Tallos, “biggest problem is we need vats of something the al’raj calls mage metal. He says he can get our replicators to… encourage growth… but we need seed metal.”

     “Got it.”

     “Pardon?” Wynright’s voice faltered. Reva chuckled, gesturing to a pile of equipment near the doors. They’d collected quite a bit. 

     “Cannisters of narrallym, syrrallym, parallym, and ostrilym. Also, microvials, two portable depth wells, fully charged, a brace of charged rods, two canisters of Technomancer mites, and a wealth of information.” Reva held up a handful of glimmering data rods. 

     “That is correct, Captain. You have an uncommon familiarity with Sikkaran ships for one who had no prior knowledge of us,” Tallos said.

     “I agree.” Reva pinched the bridge of her nose. Her headache had grown as she’d led them unerringly through the ship. Her right eye felt like molten lava, a hot, deep ache that left rainbow light filling her vision. “If you have an explanation, I’ll be glad to hear it. If you have a cure, better yet.”

     “Captain…” Murr warned as his scanner shrieked urgency. Reva h

     A low thrumming tone stopped his words. 

     Lyssha amarro. Kobante antossi. Evacuate. Implosion in 10 minutes. Reva’s mind translated. Ten minutes was not enough time to get back to their ship. 

     “Tallos, how do we stop an implosion?”

     “We need to leave, Captain.” Tallos launched himself above them and dove at the pile of equipment. Coming up with two bundles, he darted around to a drawer and pulled out a heavy-looking bag that clinked as it swung beneath the odd creature. “NOW.”

     Reva let out a slow sigh. Embraced the pain. 

     “Right. Okay, everyone, let’s gather what we can and make our way to MaaZhe 23.”

     “Maa what now, sir?”

     “Flight Bay 23.”

     Five minutes later, the group skidded into a hanger bay. Flickering light revealed two rows of small aircraft. Reva loped to larger ship at the far end and slapped her palm against the side. She darted through the hissing door, tossing the stuff she carried lightly to the side in a small storage room, and headed to the front. Breckin and Kaalir caught up as she settled into the pilot’s seat. 

     “Captain, I should…” Breckin began.

     “You won’t be able to do this first part, Ensign.” Reva looked past him to the others. “Everyone take a seat and buckle up.” A shiny harness locked over Reva, emphasizing the point. 

     I am sorry for this. I do hope we survive. 

     Reva gave a slight hiss as her palms touched the console. Threads of metal spun out of them and locked into ports. The engine hummed to life. Reva stared blankly ahead. 

     “Final warning.” A chorus of clicks followed. “Breckin, be prepared to take over with Tallos’ help. You’ll know when.”

     “Aye, Captain!”

     Reva splayed the fingers of both hands in a two-two-three-one pattern, then pressed her right hand down into the console, suddenly turned holographic. Around them, the monstrous ASF Planeswalker and mountain that encased her rumbled, explosions shaking their small ship. The sharp burning pain engulfing her body took Reva’s breath away as she twisted her right hand hard to the left and pressed down. 

     Shatterheart prepped for jump. All hands prepare. The voice of this ship was different from the Plansewalker itself, and from Tallos, who seemed to be some kind of synthetic construct, though there was no indication at all that he was other than flesh and blood. He says thats as it should be. Only a Technomancer, and ‘Old One’, or and al’sienko can bring out his soul chip. That Urzas had been the last. 

     Think of the Cardiff. See it from the front, as if hanging in space. That’s how to get home.

     She fought to hold the image vivid in her mind. The Cardiff. Her ship. Her people to protect. There was a loud pop. She heard yelps and screams of pain. Breckin and Murr eased her out of the pilot’s chair as alarms began blaring. Before the pain took her away completely, Reva saw the jeweled gleaming of their Cardiff. She faded listening to Kaalir and Jakka hailing the ship.

**************************

     “Stay down, Captain.” Murr gently pushed Reva back when she started awake. “Breckin’s about to bring us in for a bumpy landing.”

     “You’re coming in a little fast there, Ensign Breckin.” Gareth’s voice sounded way too calm. 

     “Doing my best, sir! She’s harder to herd than a clowder of cats!” Breckin called back. There was a sharp thud, and the ship slowed abruptly. They snapped free of the tractor beam and skipped into the shuttle bay. Reva passed out again while wincing at the sound of crunches vibrating through the hull and her blinding headache. 

     The second time Reva woke to find Dr Rrr’varric beside her and Tallos sitting on the foot of the bed. 

     “How is the headache, captain?” Rrr’varric asked.

     Reva blinked, rolling her neck. “It’s gone now, doctor.”

     “That’s good. Your serotonin levels are back to normal, and the pressure in your right eye has returned to normal. YOu were having an acute bout of glaucoma. Had to hurt like hell.” 

     “Oh, it did.” 

     Reva’s vision was sharp and clear, and no trace of pain lingered in her head. She sat up and looked at her hands. “YOu did good on the hands.”

     “Hands, Captain?” Rrr’varric cocked her head “You had no injuries coming in. Only the elevated neurotransmitter levels and ocular pressure.”

     Reva frowned, looking at her hands. There’s no way she’d imagined those cables linking her to the Shatterheart’s console. What the hells was going on here?