Following The Highway to Hell Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3…

It looked like suicide as the USS Mariner charged straight at a Jem’Hadar battle group. It stood no chance, but still it charged. Admiral Reyes didn’t know what Captain Kobahl was thinking, but she couldn’t just leave the Mariner to its fate. She turned the USS Serenity toward the Ciatar Nebula and engaged the enemy, but against a Jem’Hadar battleship, multiple battlecruisers and a wing of fighters, they had little hope of success.

Volley after volley, hit after hit, it should have been their end, but some miracle, they had prevailed. It had not come without a price though.

“Well, that was certainly interesting,” Commander Lewis remarked as he followed Admiral Reyes into her Ready Room once things had calmed down. “Unfortunately, I’m afraid it spells the end for our mission.” Dozens of ship systems were damaged or offline, including weapons and shields, and they’d lost twenty five sailors in the brawl. They were in no shape to continue their mission behind enemy lines compromising the Lost’s Fleets communications infrastructure.

“I know,” Admiral Reyes sighed. “But we couldn’t just let the Mariner burn. And who knows, we might have just helped end this whole situation.”

From the outside, the scene unfolding in the Ciatar Nebula looked insane, and if she’d trusted the reports from Opaka Outpost and Deep Space 9, she would have written Captain Kobahl off as a dead woman. But she couldn’t do that. There were over a hundred and twenty souls on that ship, and she had to have faith in her fellow captain. In the end, her faith was validated. As the Serenity, Valhalla and Andromeda came to her aid, the Mariner had delivered a message to the Lost Fleet that might have just ended the war.

“What do you think? Will Kobahl’s gambit pay off?”

“I am not sure,” Admiral Reyes conceded. “Bringing the Vorta back from the Gamma Quadrant was a brilliant move. The Jem’Hadar will have a hard time refusing the messenger of their gods. It very well could end it if our generation’s Dominion was true to their word. But that’s a big if. The Founders always play the long game. I worry there’s more than meets the eye.”

“I don’t disagree. We cannot assume it’s over, but what are we going to do about the remaining relays?” asked Commander Lewis. They had only hacked two out of the half dozen relays needed to fully subvert the Lost Fleet’s communications. “As much as I want to say we just get back at it, shields are down, weapons are down, and we can’t even make warp nine.” If they were once again spotted, they would no longer be able to run or to fight.

“I’m going to call Beckett. It’s his problem now.”

Lewis nodded. The Director of Intelligence for the Fourth Fleet would have to decide what to do next. The Serenity’s journey was over, for now at least. 

“We’ll head back to Nasera to assist with the ongoing humanitarian work. We can at least be helpful there,” Reyes continued. “Commodore Jori isn’t going to be happy with me though.”

“Why do you say that?” Lewis asked. This mission had been at Reyes’ own discretion. The Task Force CO hadn’t really been consulted since she didn’t want her to tell them no.

“Because I broke another ship,” Reyes chuckled, for humor was all she had left in moments like this. She had marooned the Polaris over Nasera, and now she was bringing the Serenity back in shambles. “Every time they give us a ship, we turn it into a dumpster fire and fill it with body bags.” The last bit of her statement stung. There had been so much loss of life. Sadly, their story was not unique. Based on recent reports, it was the same all across the Deneb Sector as the Fourth Fleet engaged the Dominion from Izar to Divinium to Arriana.

“How are you handling it all Allison?” Lewis asked compassionately. Admiral Reyes always acted the paramount professional, but he knew the toll it was taking on her personally.

“It really is like the Dominion War all over again.” They had so much blood on their hands. For Lewis, it was mostly the blood of the enemy, but for Reyes, she’d lost nearly a thousand officers on her watch. It was the burden of command, making choices that meant sons and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers would never come home to their loved ones. “All I can say is that we did what we did for righteous cause. Doesn’t make it any easier though, all the souls we committed to the deep.”

“Have you gotten updated numbers from Nasera?”

“Nine hundred and thirty five,” Reyes reported grimly, a deep pain in her eyes. “Dr. Henderson thinks that’s the final tally, that everyone else will pull through.”

“How many of those were from the Polaris?”

“Three hundred and eight.” Half had died during the battle in the sky, and the rest on the surface as they cleared Nasera City block by block. As bad as those numbers were, it would have been so much worse if not for the selfless sacrifices of a few brave men and women.

“That’s a sixth of our crew Allison.”

“I’m acutely aware,” Reyes acknowledged. “Everyone on the ship is going to have lost a close friend or colleague. It’s probably a good thing our ships aren’t in fighting condition because there’s no way the crew is. For many, this will be the first time they’ve experienced this sort of tragedy.” Their crew had mostly come of age during the relative peace of the nineties.

“What about you?”

“Jake, you know me,” she assured him. This was not her first rodeo. She knew what battle versus the Dominion looked like. “If they give me another ship, I’ll be right back out there. It is my duty.”

“As will I.”

The pair stood there for a while, lost in their thoughts as they stared at the stars beyond. Allison Reyes and Jake Lewis had been through so much together, but this month had been hell. She was glad to have him by her side and, as much as he didn’t often consider it, so too was he to have her by his.

“I’m not sure I ever said it Commander, but thank you for what you did on Nasera,” Reyes offered after a moment. “Your team came through when we needed them most. If it wasn’t for Shafir and Rel, we would have been fried by the planetary defense system. If it wasn’t for you and Dr. Hall, the ground battle would have been far worse. And if Ryssehl and Nam hadn’t laid down their lives, I was seconds away from ramming the Polaris into that weapons platform before it laid waste to Nasera City.” All weapons offline, the only weapon she’d had at her disposal was the massive spaceframe of the Polaris. She’d given the order. Sacrifice a ship, save a city.

“Ryssehl knew the risks when he signed up with us, Allison,” Lewis reminded her. “And logically, they knew they were dead either way.” Just like Reyes, Ryssehl and Nam had done the math. They blew up the platform while still onboard in order to save the Polaris. Sacrifice two, save sixteen hundred.

“It’s ironic, isn’t it? Ryssehl gave his life to save those who turned their back on him so many years ago,” Reyes observed regretfully. “Court martialed in 2367 for what the JAG described as repeated instances of dangerous behavior unbecoming of an officer, but in that moment, he was more an officer than most.” She thought of all those in San Francisco who sat comfy in their chairs ignoring the scourge that ran rampant across the Deneb Sector.

“It’s a shame that Starfleet doesn’t recognize that sometimes we need people like that,” Lewis replied. He knew he was in that same category. Starfleet didn’t want people like him and Ryssehl, but Nasera was proof they needed them.

“I will be recommending Ryssehl for posthumous acquittal and restoration of rank,” Reyes shared. “As well as nominating him, Nam Jae-sun, Kora Tal and Brock Jordan for the Citation for Conspicuous Gallantry.” Nam and Ryssehl had died on the orbital platform, while Jordan had given his life to prevent the planetary defense system from falling back under Dominion control, and Kora had lost hers assaulting the governor’s mansion where the Vorta commander had taken residence. Such citations were a small consolation, but small consolations were all one could find in times like these.

“I suspect Commander Drake will try to take them away as fast as you can give them out,” Lewis warned. The Polaris’ JAG officer was all over them, and he’d have no issue going after the honors of the dead. “And you know he’s coming for those of us that made it off of Nasera.”

“Will he find anything Jake?”

“Shafir and Rel are clean. Killing a fellow officer is never ideal, but they made the correct decision,” Lewis affirmed. “The only other option was the destruction of the entire squadron. A tribunal will find the same, but it would be best for everyone’s emotional state if he didn’t put them through that.” Ayala Shafir would forever have to carry the guilt of pressing that detonator and killing Lieutenant Commander Jordan. She didn’t need to be forced to relive it over and over in a courtroom. “But their actions aren’t really the ones you’re asking about, are they?”

“No. I’m asking about what you did.”

“Time was of the essence. You know what the situation was. You were down there.”

“Yes, I was,” Reyes nodded solemnly. She had experienced the gruesome ground war firsthand as they flushed the Jem’Hadar from Nasera City. Every minute, good officers were dying. They were sailors, not soldiers, and they were unprepared for the ruthlessly effective and brutal tactics of the Jem’Hadar.

“The idealists in Starfleet’s ivory tower do not look kindly upon enhanced interrogation,” Lewis lamented. “But if we had not compelled the Vorta to give that order when we did – and believe me, he wouldn’t have done it so quickly otherwise – you’d be looking at two to three times the death toll. Thousands, rather than a thousand.” And that was even if they’d managed to win at all, Lewis thought to himself. It was entirely possible that without the Vorta’s order, the Jem’Hadar might have prevailed against Starfleet in the battle.

“I do not disagree,” Admiral Reyes nodded. “But I’m not asking you what you did or why you did it.” She had no doubt that Commander Lewis had done what needed to be done, and she had no sympathy for the Vorta. She knew it was a monster, and it deserved whatever it had suffered. “What I am asking is whether he will find anything?”

“Not that will stick,” Lewis replied. “Unless someone talks, and I don’t see Dr. Hall or Lieutenant Morgan doing that.” They were his team. They knew what needed to be done. Without their testimony, the JAG officer could show toxicology panels and phaser burns all day, but he had no way to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was them. The colonists could have just as easily drugged and executed the Vorta after the Starfleet team left the scene. “It would be easier for everyone if you’d just order him to cease his investigation though.”

“You know the process does not afford me such discretion,” Reyes reminded him. “And he would not take kindly to me meddling.” Commander Drake was not one to back down. “The best I can do is make him move expeditiously because that is within my purview as it relates to good order and discipline of my command. Just do me a favor and don’t assault him again.” Poking the bear was never a good idea.

Commander Lewis nodded and then took his leave from the Ready Room. It was time to sort out the mess that was damage control.

Alone in her Ready Room, Admiral Reyes sat down at her desk and took a deep breath. And another. And another. What a fucking day. What a fucking month. How the hell had their mortal enemy returned? And why the fuck was Starfleet Command still sitting idle? They needed more than just the Fourth Fleet to prevail against the enemy. It was time to check in on her other operation, the PR stunt that she was cooking to drum up support at home.

“Computer, get me Aria Edir in Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, Earth.”

A few moments later, the United Federation of Planets logo vanished. However, the person on the other end was not retired Rear Admiral Aria Edir. Instead, it was an elderly gentleman that Allison Reyes knew to be her husband Mark. He looked shaken and stricken with grief.

“Mark? Where’s Aria?”

“She’s gone,” he replied grimly. Reyes knew at once that he didn’t mean gone as in gone to the store or the lake. By gone, he meant actually gone.

“Wait… what? When?”

“Four days ago. She went to Milan to meet with a news director at the Federation News Network,” Mark explained. “Something about what’s going on in the Deneb Sector. But she never came home.”

“Did you call the authorities?”

“I’ve called everyone I could think of – the authorities, all our old contacts, anyone that might have an idea – but nothing. Not a thing. This is not like her. Something happened, and I really don’t get it. We live a simple, peaceful life out here, hiking the Verdon Gorge and cruising Lake Sainte-Croix.”

Reyes sat there stunned, just staring at the screen, saying nothing. She was almost certain it had something to do with what she’d asked her old friend to do. She should have been more careful. The way Starfleet Command was so aggressively ignoring Deneb, it was more than ignorance or passivity. It was intentional suppression. In her blind rush for results, she had put Aria Edir in undue risk. This was on her.

“Allison, do you know anything about this?”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“You’ll what?” Mark was confused. While the Admiral hadn’t answered his question directly, her response still answered his question. What was his wife up to with her old colleague?

“Not over the link Mark. I will explain when I arrive.”

Admiral Reyes cut the link before anything further could be said. If her suspicions were correct, she would not risk it over a Starfleet frequency. They had a new mission, but first, there was one more message to send.

“Computer, begin recording.”

The computer beeped to acknowledge.

“Admiral Beckett, there has been a new development since my last update,” Admiral Reyes began dictating. “I am attaching an after-action report from a combat engagement where the Serenity redirected from our mission to support the Mariner. Unbeknownst to us, although I would presume at your orders, the Mariner was carrying Vorta representatives from the present day Dominion. I am pleased to report that the Vorta representatives were successfully delivered, although at this time, we do not know the impact it had on the Lost Fleet or its operations.”

Reyes paused for a moment to draw focus to the brave officers that had fought alongside her in the Ciatar Nebula. “Captain Sazra Kobahl performed admirably, as did two other captains who responded to the situation, Captain McKenzie of the USS Valhalla and Captain Murphy of the USS Andromeda.”

“Unfortunately, the battle in the Ciatar Nebula did not come without cost. All ships sustained heavy damage and loss of life, but they were within acceptable limits due to the nature of the mission.” It sucked to quantify losses like that, but it was the reality considering the criticality of the mission and the substantial force differential. “Before we moved to assist the Mariner, we were pursuing an opportunity to hack the Lost Fleet’s subspace communications network. The Serenity is no longer in fighting shape to continue this pursuit. I am attaching details of what remains in hopes that you can redirect another vessel to finish the work.”

“Additionally, I am attaching a series of video testimonials we have collected from the survivors of Nasera. They are heavy, irrefutable stories about suffering, the horrors our people suffered under the yoke of the Jem’Hadar. Starfleet Command may sit idle, but the people, our citizenry, they will not sit idle if they hear the voices of Deneb for themselves. You say ‘Trust only the Fourth Fleet’, but I still believe in our people. If they see the truth for themselves, they will do the right thing and compel the Federation to act. I leave these recordings in your hands to decide how to proceed.”

“Computer, end recording, attach records, and send to Admiral Beckett, Director of Fourth Fleet Intelligence.” 

Admiral Reyes rose from her desk and crossed to the bridge. The ship might not have any fight left in it, but Admiral Reyes certainly did. Maybe Beckett would come through, but maybe he wouldn’t, so it was time to address this issue head on. And to find her old friend.

“Helm, can we make warp?”

“Yes ma’am. Up to warp 8.”

“Admiral, may I remind you that we are in no shape to fight?” Lieutenant Commander Eidran reminded her. He could see it in her eyes. She wasn’t here to order them back to Nasera for repairs. This was something else.

“Where we are going, we won’t need torpedoes or shields,” Reyes countered. “And we can conduct repairs en route. Conn, bring us about and prepare to go to warp.”

“Bring us about for where?”

“Earth.”