Research Log, Project Gabriel. Stardate 67008.8, Researcher Aynara Krill recording. We had another failure this morning. Khazra said that one of the bio-neural arrays overheated when we began a tier III line of questioning; apparently Dadaism was too much for Gabriel to handle. I don’t disagree with him. It’ll take several days to replace the array, and then we’ll be back to square one. The bio-neural circuitry comprises a core part of his… well his body, I suppose. It’s like watching an embolism as he desperately tries to reroute itself around the damaged anatomy, but just like a flesh and blood brain there’s no quick fix for damaged circuits. Each time we replace a component we’ve stolen a chunk of his brain out of the equation and we have to start back at basic comprehension. I’Gal suggested, in true Vulcan fashion, that we go back to building on top of the Starfleet LCARS system and forget the last 5 years worth of progress as a bad job, I still hope he was joking, however unlikely that might be. I don’t want to use LCARS anyway, there’s barely any heuristics in the system, it only learns what it thinks you want to hear. Gabriel is creating his own true thoughts, some more interesting than others. I’ve asked our Starfleet representative Lieutenant Colson to petition Admiral Shelby’s office for access to the Borg research brought back by Voyager. I’m sure it would help us develop a more resilient mainframe; but I’ll probably be met by the usual silence, if it can’t be applied to a starship they’re not interested. I’m not willing to sign over Gabriel’s future just yet. So we’ll replace the gel-packs and try again. Maybe we’ll ignore the Avant-Garde for a bit. 

The deck plates rumbled in protest as Lieutenant Kaya bid the ship to make a sharp turn about, fighting the gargantuan effects of momentum as well as the gravity of the small grey moon below them. Inertial dampeners flexed their muscles as the nimble vessel swung in a tight corner, narrowly missing the pattern of short phaser blasts that raced out into endless space, destined to continue on until natural thermal radiation sapped it of all it’s tightly wound energy. The familiar blue glow of deflector shields rippled across the short nacelles of Daedalus as the last of the pattern glanced off their aft aspect. 

“Keep our dorsal shields toward the base Kaya.” Tanek instructed, his calm voice carrying years of experience. “Oyvo…”

“Routing auxiliary power to dorsal array.” interrupted a voice from across the bridge. Whilst not as glamorous or exciting as Tactical or Conn, the young Xindi woman at Operations was just as integral to the survivability of the small vessel. And she knew it. With a flick of her wrist as it passed over the shielding controls, she rerouted spare energy in the batteries nestled between the ship’s outer and inner hull to the shield array. “It’ll buy us a few extra shots but not much. Shields are down to 53%.”

“These bases shouldn’t have this sort of weapons strength…” Dil’s voice began, before trailing off to Oyvo’s ears as she took a moment to review the litany of information quickly cycling on her wide console. 2 injured on Deck 3 where a power relay had overloaded, no fatalities. Thermal levels on the main phaser array were at 40% of cutoff, acceptable. Auxiliary power levels were at 87%, noted. As the voices on the bridge melted into silence, each officer focused on their task, the rumbling of the deck plates ceased. Oyvo took the moment to gulp a breath as the barrage of phaser fire seemed to end. Switching her screen to a tactical view she realised why, “Captain, the base has begun focusing fire on the Hurin. They are losing shields.”

Personal Log, Aynara Krill . Stardate 73256.31.Our colleagues from Cardassian Central Command arrived this morning, Gul Kromat and that slimy Dr. Gilligos, I swear his hair was oilier than last time. Another unannounced visit, we barely managed to get Gabriel to sleep and hidden away before they beamed aboard. They’ve been coming more and more recently, I think they’ve started to suspect that we haven’t been entirely truthful with our reports to Central Command, or Starfleet for that matter. Since our research package from Starfleet got reduced in favour of ‘more promising avenues’ we’ve had to lean more on the Cardassians for operational support. Their computing tech isn’t as advanced as Starfleet’s but it’s been much easier to get raw materials from a government that isn’t busy fighting Klingon rebels. Their support also seems to be keeping the True Way fanatics at bay and out of the system. I’Gal pointed out that this may not be accidental, he even suggested Central Command might be behind the True Way activities. Whilst he wont admit it that man loves his conspiracy theories. I don’t really care either way, as long as they all stay away and let us raise Gabriel they can go play interstellar games all they want. On a final note, Lieutenant Colson left us this morning, leaving us with a few enlisted crew to maintain the base. Starfleet decided that he was of better use on alternative projects. I’m sad to see the young man go, Gabriel enjoyed talking with him. 

“Direct hit to Hurin‘s impulse engines, she is dead in the water.” Bahir announced from tactical, his focus quickly returning to the weapons control as he unleashed another assault from Daedalus’s small but mighty phaser arrays. Needles of orange fire reached across the empty space, attempting to draw the base’s attack back onto the shielded vessel. 

“They’ve haven’t got long.” Dil whispered across the central console to Tanek, seated in the big chair. The Denobulan captain’s eyes met the concerned look of the young Bajoran. Dismissing his uncle’s voice in the back of his head proclaiming the benefits of dead Cardassian’s he continued to meet Tanek’s eye.

“We’ll take some hits in the rescue.” Tanek whispered in return, his visage placid and calm in the face of a tricky question.

“We need to get them out. Quickly.”

As his pride at the young man’s altruism crossed his face for a moment Tanek stood, taking a commanding position in the centre of the deck. “Kaya, prepare to bring us around for a pass between the base and the Hurin. As we approach, Bahir, I want a spread of proximity torpedoes ahead of us, fill the gap with some noise. Oyvo, standby to drop shields and beam any survivors aboard.” A chorus of confirmations passed around the bridge. 

Within seconds Daedalus swung about, the single large impulse engine beginning to glow red hot as she prepared to make her dash. 

“Engage.”

Like a pebble released from a sling the small ship shot forward, the full power of her single wide engine propelling her at high speed toward the gap between the base and the floating tan shape of Hurin. Moments later two shotting stars were cast out from the bow of the vessel, faster still than Daedalus they screamed through the silent void till, with a single button press from Bahir, a small electromagnet within the torpedo ceased to function and the antimatter was released. Slipping behind this tiny binary star they had brought momentarily into existence, Daedalus flew past the cracking spine of the tiny Cardassian vessel and whisked its crew to safety. As the light from the torpedoes cleared, the ship was already slipping away beneath the station’s main firing arc. 

“Transporter Room 1 reports they have 5 people, including critical injuries.” Oyvo announced, taking her first breath in several long seconds. 

“Dispatch medical.” Tanek instructed, as the deck began rocking once more. “It seems like whoever is on that base knows we have visitors.” He stared at the drifting wreckage of Hurin, the wide crescent of the Hideki class’s forward hull barely we held on by a tether. Orange plumes poured out from the hull as fires continued to vent into cold, unforgiving space. 

“Trauma team to Transporter room 1.” Tapping the badge on his chest a second time, Dil spoke quietly, “Lieutenant Zaya, we have injured crew from the Cardassian vessel any help would be appreciated.” An arched eyebrow from Tanek requested clarity as he returned to his seat. “Zaya has medical experience, and a Cardassian face might help the situation.” 

“I am en-route.” came the calm voice of the older woman across the commbadge. 

Sharing a weary look as the deck rocked under the renewed weapons fire Tanek sighed. “Let’s get out of here. Kaya, evasive withdrawal, take us out of the system.”

Research Log, Project Gabriel. Stardate 77256.92, Researcher Aynara Krill recording.We held a small ceremony for Khazra this morning. Unfortunately he didn’t survive the injuries sustained whilst attempting to repair another bio-neural array. We weren’t sure about Tellarite custom so we lay him to rest in the airlock, everyone said a few words and then we let him go. Even Gabriel managed to attend, the small holographic projectors we acquired from a Ferengi merchant a few months ago are working well and now Gabriel can interact with us in reality, he’s fully integrated into the base’s systems and advancing the research quicker each day. He even put himself in a suit for the occasion. … … … It still confuses me that Khazra didn’t isolate that array before working on it, I thought he knew better than that, maybe he decided he couldn’t risk damaging Gabriel. … … … I’Gal said he wouldn’t want someone turning off his brain either. 

A well-rehearsed ballet met Zaya as the double doors slid back to the compact sickbay at the heart of the ship. A symphony of groaning deck plates and echoing phaser impacts underscored the slick choreography of the medics as they silently weaved between one another, tending to injured crewmen and their new Cardassian patients, their effortless dance between bio beds casting shadows against the walls as the pulsating red lights of the ships alert gave a ghoulish glow to the scene. At the far end of the room, an island of stillness in the rolling waves of blue shouldered medics rolling too and fro, stood the lithe figure of Caitain doctor Prrima. Her long white coat cast aside on a nearby set of drawers she delicately administered to the wounded officer on the table, her long feline fingers working various tools in an attempt to stabilize the critically wounded man. As Zaya approached, she passed a nurse who carried a familiar black chest piece to a nearby table, its central crest cracked with an electrical burn and caked with brown blood, as the mutterings of the doctor began to reach her ears. 

“Open wound to the sternal plate. 3rd Degree burns to the surrounding tissue.” Prrima whispered, “Begin replicating blood.” she instructed to a young woman to her side. “I will begin stabilizing.” Without looking she reached up to her right shoulder, where her long prehensile tail presented a loaded hypospray, with a few clicks she touched it to the Cardassian’s neck. Noticing Zaya with a twitch of her long tufted ears she summoned her closer to the bio-bed. “It’s been a long time since I treated Cardassians, any reminders?” she muttered, barely audible to the rest of the medical staff. 

Crossing to the table opposite, Zaya met the un-flustered feline face. “The sternal plate is tougher in Cardassians than other species, but it can become brittle under concussive force.” She reached back to her training as a field officer under the Central Command. “You need to double check there’s no bone splintering on the internal aspect.”

A quick nod from the tall Caitian as she returned to her tricorder. 

“I once said the next time we’d meet it’d be a funeral.” rasped the thick voice of the man on the table. “Guess this isn’t a good sign.”

Her body frozen in a flood of memories at the rumble of the voice Zaya looked to the table, seeing the face of a man she had consigned to a closed chapter of her life. “I must’ve been wrong Natel.”

Personal Log, Aynara Krill. Stardate 78202.1Gabriel has made his intentions known. He no longer deems us necessary to his continued development and has sealed us in our quarters for the last 7 days, we have been allowed basic rations but are otherwise prisoners in our own home. Now he’s integrated with the base he can keep us here indefinitely, we’ll be under lock and key until he requires us or at least until our food supplies run out. The Cardassians attempted to dock yesterday. I watched from my window as the courier ship approached the docking bay, unaware of the change in the station’s controller. … … … I could see the gasping face of Dr. Gilligos at the airlock as Gabriel opened fire with the phasers we smuggled in last year to defend against the True Way. I’Gal managed to send me a message a few days ago via our terminals, saying that he was going to attempt to break into engineering and shut down the main core by creating a recursive loop in the maintenance program. I haven’t heard from him since and the base seems to still be operational. If he’s successful the entire station will shut down, including life support. I suppose it’s the price we have to pay. … … … To my shame, I am proud. Proud as any mother is to see her son grow beyond her.