Ming was suited up and faced the Knights.   He gazed each in the eyes as he spoke, “We’ve been selected to execute some recon probes toward the front lines.  Something’s goin’ on out there, and we’ve been tapped despite the upcoming leave.   We’ll have a few other recon groups in range if things get too interesting; however, I think we’ll be good to go either which way.”

T’Kown nodded silently in agreement.  Ming could sense her certainty of his words with a touch of apprehension thanks to the close proximity of the Vulcan to him.  Andrews nodded as well and said, “Gotcha L.T.  We got this.”

Abara and McPhearson both had serious looks on their faces but nodded in concurrence.  Each muttered affirmatives.  Abara’s serious basso paired with McPhearson’s higher southern-tinged soprano voice made him grin internally.

Ming’s eyes fell onto Órlaith and his XO.  He gave them a high-wattage smile, waiting a moment for their reactions before they climbed into the four Valkyries and the two Peregrines.

Órlaith narrowed her eyes and shook her head at Ming as she climbed into the cockpit of her fighter, ignoring Ming’s smile. Sh’iv caught a glimpse of the interaction, and the Andorian woman suppressed the urge to laugh. She caught Ming’s eye and shrugged. Our little lost lamb is finding her feet.  I’ll have to remind her that she’s the lamb she is, she told herself.

Marcus shook his head slightly glancing at Sh’iv.  He had meant the glance to have more of a jovial effect than it had but everyone reacted differently to action.  Órlaith was new to the gang and he was still learning the ropes with that one.  It’d happen he knew….he just wondered when.

Shaking it off he scrambled into the cockpit of his fighter.  As he went through the preflight and startup sequence he glanced through the flight bay.  The Peregrines had pilots and gunners.  The Valkyries, by necessity, went with pilots only.  Their balance of agility and weapons made that reaistic.  Given the state of the war they needed to take advantage of all the assetts they could.

“Knight Actual to ops…..Flight ready to launch for patrol.  Requesting clearance,” Marcus radioed.

Once he got the affermative he radioed, “Knights…..Launch!”

Within minutes the six fighter flight was spacebourn.  He keyed into the Knight’s frequency and said, “Knight actual to Knights.  We’re setting course to the Federation side of the Betazoid front lines.  Sounds like we’re getting really serious about this part of the war.  Coordinates and patrol area are being transmitted now on tight beam secure signal..Now.  Confirm when received.”

“Received,” Sh’iv responded

Knight’s three, four and five came in in short order. They also came in with the level of professionalism he’d come to expect with his pilots.  Now there was one more whom he was a bit less certain about.

“Understood sir,” Órlaith’s voice returned over the intercom.  There was a touch of uncertainty in the tone.

The tone of his protege’s voice wasn’t lost on him.  One thing at a time though….It’d take a bit of time to get from here to there so he keyed into the Knights channel again and said, “Engage at warp three at my mark.  Three — two — one —Engage!”

Knight Actual engaged his ship’s warp drive and monitored the telemetry.  The other fighters of his flight entered warp at nearly the same exact moment he did.  Knight six was just a hair slower than the rest though.

It was to be expected as she was still new however he recalled what it felt like himself.  He hooked back into the flight coms and said, “Now comes the fun part.  Hurry up and wait.  In the meantime here is the deal; Command is picking up patrols along the front lines.  There is the unsubstantiated rumors that we’ll be making a more organized push toward Betazed.  It’s been a topic of discussion for the past few weeks without specifics which seems reasonable.   It keeps the Founders and their Vorta pets on their toes and they’re due for another substantive punch in the face.”

“Alternatively, we are to be on the lookout for allied personnel and craft escaping from enemy-held territory with potential information.  We do not have any solid leads that this will be the case but we’ll need all the intel we can get.  Otherwise, it’s a fairly standard patrol back and forth in our set area.  Search formation Theta 3 is preset, with any changes announced in the field as needed.  Questions?” Marcus asked.

“No sir,” Sh’iv replied.

After a moment with no other responses he keyed in, “Alright then.  We drop out of warp in 90 seconds.  Eyes up when we do.  Knights 1 & 5 upper pair, 2 & 6 middle pair with 3 & 4 down low. Holler if you spot anything out of the ordinary.  Keep in mind we may have friendlys pop out of the proverbial woodwork as likely as Dominion forces so that makes this doubly tricky.”

“30 seconds.  15….Switching from warp to impulse in three, two and one……One half impulse now,” Marcus ordered as he followed his own command.  Six fighters appeared in Einsteinian space in neat formation.

Keying in again, Ming said, “Knight Actual to Knights….Initiate patrol pattern.  Keep communications to tight beam unless otherwise ordered or things go completely sideways……Execute.”

Inside Knight Six, Órlaith’s eyes flicked rapidly across the screens, her fingers dancing over the controls with practiced precision. Flying—she had that part down. Everything else, the ground procedures and reconnaissance patrol procedures, seemed to tangle her mind. She let out a frustrated sigh, rubbing the back of her neck. Focus, Órlaith. You’re better than this, she silently scolded herself.

She glanced at the sensors again, checking her position relative to her wingman—Sh’iv, the XO. The woman’s presence felt like an ever-present weight, a quiet reminder that Órlaith was still the newcomer here, fighting to prove herself. She’s been watching me like a hawk since day one, Órlaith thought, Always with that disapproving expression of a nun witnessing a bunch of rowdy teenagers. The thought made something prickly run up her spine. I can’t let her see me stumble. She’s as bad as Mother: never happy.

Her fingers hesitated for a moment; then she double-checked her position and flight path. You may be a rookie but you’ve got this. How many nights did you stay up late reading the manuals? With a deep breath, she input the sequence with renewed determination. The console beeped in acknowledgment, and a small wave of triumph washed over her.  “Got it!”

Ming remained on heightened alert.  Not doing so could result in tragic results he knew.  When he joined Starfleet he never quite realized that he’d be a combat veteran with the experience he had. He’d learned much….which was more than he had wanted.  He was an officer of the fleet however.  He had a job to do.

Marcus couldn’t shake the feeling Nina was out there somewhere. No.  Not a feeling.  It was a certainty. Almost kneejerk in nature he focused his attention and reached out to the one person he could ever connect to with ease….His mind whispered, “Nina.”

As she pulled parts from under the plating, Kannina got a mental spike that entered her brain. Nothing specific, but something had poked her. Stopping what she was doing, she moved a hand closer to her phaser.

Marcus knew there was a course correctiong coming up in approximately three minutes.  He scanned his readouts for a brief moment before partially closing his eyes again.  His breathing was controlled.  With not quite half lidded eyes he returned his focus and pushed as hard as he could….An image of the six figher wing.  Then an image of their sector of space.  Then he whispered in his mind, “Hurry….We’re waiting.  Imzadi….”

What felt like half the time took about 90 seconds.  He returned his focus to the cockpit and his surroundings.  Touching the edge of his hand under his nose it came away slightly bloodied.  He muttered in annoyance.    Knight Actual’s comm chirrped….It was a ship to ship from Knight four.

“Knight 4 to Knight Actual….Was that you a moment ago,” the female Vulcan inquired.

Marcus shook his head trying not to snort.  Of course the one junior member of his wing with telepathic ability would catch that.  He said, “Assuming you refer to what I think you are the answer would be yes.  I have reason to believe that there is at least one member of Starfleet behind those lines.  I’m unsure I can reach that far with my very limited skills she and I had a special connection so I felt it was worth an attempt.”

After a pause the response came, “Ah.  For their sake and yours I hope the attempt was successful.”

“Me too, four.  About time for a course correction.  Switching to the main channel,” Ming said

There was a brief beep signifying a confirm after which the Knight’s CO did the same.  He had no reason to believe that mental signal did much of anything.  The weak connection he felt could’ve been his imaganiation as much as not.  Even moreso as he was not the strongest ESPr out there.  He’d just hoped that strong connection from years ago still had some sway.    He signaled, “Knight Actual to Knights…Come about to port…We retrace our course in 30 seconds.  15 seconds.  5….4….3…2…1…Engage port side turn to  now.”

As the Knight’s CO executed the turn, he kept an eye on the instruments.  As the prescribed turn was finished he comitted to the return course for the sake of this patrol.  The scenery was going to get damned old by the end of this patrol.  For the needs of the service he thought.  A quick glance at his readings told him the rest of the wing was on station with the right courses.  A touch to his nose with another finger indicated the bleed had been both minor and short lived.  If….or perhaps when things got a bit too mundane he figured there would be an appropriate set of music he could call up.

By then, Nina had gotten to the bridge. This time she heard the word. A familiar word, not one she had attributed to its owner.  The ping had no direction. It was similar to a speaker on a radio. Either the sounds came through or they didn’t. Her brow furrowed confusion. “Marcus?”

Ming grinned.  He’d quielty considered escalating their relationship before their careers sent them different ways.  Imzadi never was tossed around hense the tone of her internal voice was appropriate.  He focused again thinking, “We must be fairly close for us to connect like this. Where are you at?”

He came to full alert as he finished the thought.  His sensors alerted him to a Cardassian ship inbound with a mix of Dominion vessles a good distance behind them but readings indicated that they were on the same vector.  Something was very odd about the formation.  The lead ship wasn’t one Ming had seen on the front line often.

As a precaution, he sent a tight beam communication to the command ship for the sector, “Zone 3 Actual, this is Knight Actual.  We have activity in our area of operations.  There seems to be a small squadron of ships heading toward this neighborhood.  One ship is way ahead of the others which…Zone 3, the last time I saw something like that it was a pursuit.  It could very well be a trap, however, in the off chance it’s escaping Federation nationals I aim to query the ship with two of my fighters.  If it’s a trap we’ll smoke ’em…Either way, the pursuing ships are going to be an issue for six fighters…Even with pilots of our caliber.  Request additional assets be shifted to our operational zone.”

“Knight Actual, Zone 3 – two…Proceed with caution, Knight Actual.  The Shoshone and The Deliverance along with the Silverhawks are headed your way to support you and the Knights,” came the reply.

Ming thought….An Akira class and a Sovereign class alongside a flight of Peregrines. He was glad to be taken seriously.  The lieutenant replied, “Sounds good Zone 3.  If things go well you’ll hear from me.  If not you’ll likely hear from Knight two.”

The response was short but sweet, “Hear from you soon then Knight Actual.  Zone 3 out.”

Switching to the Knight’s frequency Ming chimed in, “Okay Knights.  Looks like we have several bogies inbound.  The gross lead of that lead ship could be any of a handful of things.  I have a hunch, however.  Knights Actual, Four, and Five will pull ahead for a pass to query the ship.  Knights Two, Three, and Six will hang back but stay ready to ride in for the rescue if my hunch is wrong”

Knight Five was the first reply followed by four.  Marcus half expected his XO to call him crazy but that was about to be either proven or disproven.

Kaninna wasn’t getting full sentences, more the feel of who it was. She heard the flavor of the question, but there wasn’t a specific way for her to find a direction yet. Concentrating on the Cardassian console image,  she also tried to send an image of the ship they stole. Hoping this time leveling up would be second nature to Marcus, getting the hint.

Marcus saw the images Kaninna sent.  Something to be said about a historical relationship between a mid-level human Esper and a skilled half -Betazoid.

[Continued in other section]

Milo paced the bridge of the stolen Cardassian ship.  When they had escaped from Starbase 75, it had seemed like a life raft, but as they approached the shifting Federation and Dominion boarders, the sense that it would become their coffee weighed on him.  The enemy was chasing them down, and their allies would see them as an enemy crossing into their territory.

He swallowed; his mouth was sandpaper dry. Clearing his throat, he paused in the center of the raised dais that overlooked the ship’s bridge. “Report.”

Kannina tapped her commbadge. “Working on it, Sir. I still don’t read Cardassian. “ Running around Engineering, Kannina checked the displays. “Warp core stable, shields at 50%, disruptors banks are pretty shot.” She offered. The ship needed a complete refit, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. Kannina was glad it was flyable. “I would suggest not flying like the enemy.” Kannina offered.

Milo chuckled despite himself as he walked to the helm and peered at the screen in the alien language.  “Yeah, this is about as useful as a cup of salt in the ocean,” he muttered, unable to make sense of the displayed data. “I don’t even know how to fly this damned thing in the first place, let alone not ‘like the enemy.'”

“I’ll see if I can at least find the yaw control. Maybe if waggle our wings, we’ll get lucky.” Kannina shouted as she worked in one of the nearby ODN junctions.

Milo shrugged, “I’ll take what I can get.”

“I’ll do what I can with the weapons, Mayoko said from her probably ops console. Despite the language differences, she was familiar with some of the readouts just by similarity to other engineering readouts.

Despite the dire circumstances Milo chuckled at the absudity of it all.  “All of us have been to Starfleet Academy.  We studied alien languages. We have universal translators so we can communicate with vast cultures,  and we’re going to get blown out of space by our own side because no one reads the language.”

Kannina felt the humor, Milo wasn’t hiding his emotions, nor was she. She chucked as she aligned the EPS flow. Luckily, where she was, language was mostly irrelevant. Reconnecting the ODN junction, the relays clicked and the conduit hummed into life. One card out of the deck back into place. Kannina moved to the console, rechecking the next item off on the list.

An alarm blared, harsh and demanding, cutting through the tense atmosphere of their stolen ship. Milo’s head snapped toward the console along the starboard wall, nestled among a bank of dark, unmanned stations.

“That doesn’t sound good,” he said dryly.

Hearing the distress in Milo’s voice and mental broadcast, Kannina headed to the bridge. Mayoko was more than competent. Tapping her comm badge, she said. “I’m on my way to the bridge. You’ll need help.”

Crossing the bridge in a few quick strides, Milo leaned over the console. For once, he didn’t need to read Cardassian to understand. The display was clear enough: a black field, crisscrossed by a grid of green lines. Six yellow dots blinked steadily, closing in on an intercept course.

The doors of the bridge swished open. “Honey, I’m home.” Kannina quipped while looking around. Mil0 pointed out quickly which consoles he knew controlled what. Helm and tactical. Knowing who was in command, she walked over to help and see what he was doing and get orders as she received another mental spike.

Verbally she said, “Marcus?”

“Marcus? Who the fu— Who is Marcus?” Milo demanded.

“He- He’s a fighter pilot I served with before. ” Kannina stammered. “He’s close for sure. I just can’t tell a direction. I-I can’t explain it, Sir. I just know.”

Milo stared at the tactical display, where six glowing yellow dots moved steadily closer, tightening into formation. A low rumble escaped his throat as his eyes narrowed. “That’s a standard Starfleet formation for a flight,” he said, his voice tense. Then he frowned, his brow furrowing deeply. “But Starfleet flights are always five ships—not six.”

“Sir, then at least let me take the helm. If I am right, I can get them to follow me.” Kannina said, waiting for a response. If I am wrong, it’s been a pleasure serving with you since we are vastly outnumbered.

He nodded, “Take it.”

The flight of fighters known as the Knights were closing in on the Cardassian ship. It had already breached the Federation lines, and Sh’iv stared down at her primary tactical display.  Phasers armed, target locked.  Micro-torpedoes loaded, armed, and locked.  Her antennae twitched with anticipation, and she could feel sweat running down her back in her flight suit.

Ming had suspicions but opted to play it safe.  He activated a hail to the Cardassian vessel and said, “This is Lieutenant Marcus Ming of the 335th  fighter squadron, Commander of Knight flight, from the Federation Starship Denver.  Identify yourself and your mission or risk being fired upon.”

The comm channel remained silent.

Sh’iv glanced at the display, her antennae tilting forward. “Sir, isn’t it strange? No shields, no weapons charged. A lone Cardassian ship entering Federation space without any indication of aggression or willingness to defend themselves. Something isn’t right.” Her fingers ran over the tactical display bringing up the more precise short-range sensors.  “I’m reading five life signs, they are still too far out to get anything more specific with these sensors.”

“Very.  Hang back with Knights Three and Six in case they try to jackrabbit.  Myself, Four and Five will get closer for a better scan.  Should be able to do so in 60 seconds….Hold on,” Ming replied.

The three Valkyrie fighters managed to close on the Cardassian ship and within the minute predicted Ming reran the scans.  Human lifesigns …. a half Betazoid / Deobulan.

Ming’s heart sped up a bit.  He concentrated and sent a mental picture of the ship with a playful tone, “Couldn’t swing a Galor class I guess?  I would’ve thought you’d have to level up a bit, Kannina.”

Without asking, Kannina headed to the helm. The message was clearer now but not crystal. She knew it was a shot at her, and Nina sent a single-digit image of defiance back to Marcus. Not realizing she had physically mimicked the gesturith her hand, “Inside joke.”, she offered sheepishly. “Thrusters, thrusters….ah ha!”

It took her a second to acclimate to the helm. “Sir, can you find the outside lighting controls?  Thinking an SOS code might be helpful right now.”

Nina started to waggle the ship slowly a bit a gesture of friendliness.

Ming mimicked the waggle to acknowledge before he keyed into the flight’s comms and said, “Knight actual to all Knights:  Federation nationals confirmed to be on lead ship.  Fall in for escort back to Denver.  Backup inbound and will intercept the inbound bogies.  Any questions?”

Marcus also sent a feeling of warmth to Nina along with a mental image of his flight escorting her and her crew back to the Denver.  He grinned physically and mentally with a four word thought, “We’ve got you love.”

While Nina didn’t understand Cardassian, she had rebuilt or serviced enough over the years to know they were in less danger as the order of icons spread out in protective pattern, now surrounding them like a blanket.

“Friendlies Sir. Would you like to alert the crew” Nina said genuinely if a bit playfully. She hadn’t broken the connection, if anything she wanted to share the loosening tension around them.

Milo’s gaze stayed fixed on Kannina, his expression unreadable. “You’re certain?” he asked, his tone low but firm.

Kannina was more relaxed in posture and nodded in confirmation. “I know one of the pilots, Sir. He’s a low-level Esp, but I can tell who it is. Similar to hearing a voice would be the analogy.”

Milo exhaled slowly, the sound heavy with contemplation. Without another word, he turned away from the terminal and ascended the short steps to the center chair of their stolen Cardassian vessel. Standing there, he stared at the viewscreen, the weight of the decision pressing on him as his thoughts churned.

After a long moment, he lowered himself into the chair, crossing his legs deliberately. His voice, when it came, was steady and decisive. “If you can communicate, welcome him aboard. Let’s see what he has to offer.”

The playful taunt about the ship being lower class, gave Nina and idea. A pilfered cardassian multi-tool and a few items she’d picked up allowed her access to the comms panel. “This isn’t a Galor class, as was pointed out to me.”

The panel came off and she tested a few connections, before moving around isolinear rods. Confirming the connection was solid, she fired up the console.

Warbling and flashing the unit came to life. Sir, the comms are up. She put it on shipwide speakers. “Stabbing the comms, she quipped with a faux angry voice. “I swear to all that is holy, if you shoot me M, I will never speak to you again.”

Marcus snorted audibly as he warmly sent one word to Kannina — “Brat.”

Audibly, the CO of the Knights said, “My flight doesn’t make mistakes like that.  We’ll escort you to the Denver which is where we’re based out of.  Once there I suspect there might be medical checks and debriefings but that’ll be primarily up to Captain Talon with input from the XO and CMO.  I can put in a good word with the CO and XO.  Pretty sure the CMO will ignore me however.”

Ming made sure that the last part had a light tone.  He added more softly, “It’s good to hear your voice again, Nina.”

Milo grinned behind his walrus mustache. Becca would be surprised and probably still mad at him, which caused him to frown and let out a sigh. “Thank you, Lieutenant Ming.  It will be nice to know we won’t get blown out of the sky.”

“VIP service.  We’ve got a solid squadron of ships of the line inbound to take care of your stragglers and they’ll on site momentarily.  In the meantime I’m sending the vectors to get us back to Denver.  Verification of reciept appreciated.  Also, think that bucket of bolts can squeeze out warp two,” Ming said keeping his voice as formal as necessary while maintaining a lighter tone.  He found it was a rare but useful skill to have.

The reinforcements intercepted the Dominion chasers before they crossed the lines leaving the Knights and the scavengers to set course to rendezvous with little more in the way of issues.  The next adventure called.