Myriad Universes 02_ Echoes and Refractions - Keith R. A. DeCandido [119]
“My name is Odo,” the creature said, “and you are all in very grave danger.”
14
Starbase 375 Sorax System United Federation of Planets
Admiral Eric Hahn observed the watch officer as she ran the operations center of the starbase.
Commander Erika Benteen was an able officer. Before his death at the hands of the Borg, Admiral Leyton had always spoken highly of her. She had been serving as first officer on the Lakota, but after the Cardassian invasion of the Federation, Hahn had requested that she be transferred here.
Hahn himself had been sent to this starbase by Leyton two years earlier, after a lengthy tenure at Starfleet Academy. He hadn’t wanted to change assignments, but he was a good enough officer that he didn’t question his orders. Besides, he had thought at the time, it was a perfect assignment: Starbase 375 was strategically important thanks to its proximity to the Cardassian border, but not a great deal of work to maintain given how quiet the Cardassian Union had been.
After the invasion began, however, Hahn’s job suddenly got a lot more complicated. He didn’t particularly want to be here-he thought of himself primarily as a teacher, not a leader-but this starbase was his responsibility, and it would be on the front lines if the situation with Cardassia devolved into a full-scale war. His wife, Crystal, had said in their last subspace talk that Starfleet wouldn’t have kept him there if they didn’t think he was the right person for the job. As usual, his wife was right.
But that didn’t mean he had to like it.
Now he watched as Benteen stood at the center of ops, giving orders in a calm, collected voice.
“Dax, identify the ships please,” she said to the science officer.
Sitting serenely at Benteen’s right was a Trill woman named Jadzia Dax, who said, “Three Galor-class ships. They’re running weapons hot.”
“Red alert. Raise shields, load torpedo launchers.”
Looking up, Hahn saw ops darken, the usual bright illumination replaced with red, a low alarm sounding just loud enough to be heard, but not so loud that it interfered with duty-a preference Hahn had programmed into the computer shortly after his arrival.
“Ledrah, hail them,” Benteen added to the operations officer, a Tiburonian woman named Nidani Ledrah, whom Benteen had brought with her from the Lakota.
Shaking her head, Ledrah said, “They’re not responding.”
Letting out a small sigh, but standing straight, with her hands behind her back, Benteen said, “All right-hail the Lexington and the da Vinci.”
The faces of Captains Gilaad ben Zoma and David Gold appeared on the forward viewer. Both men were humans, and Starfleet veterans. The Lexington had put in for repairs, and da Vinci-which was assigned to the Starfleet Corps of Engineers-was there to supervise some upgrades to the starbase.
“Gentlemen, I’m afraid we’re going to need some assistance. Captain ben Zoma, are your repairs far enough along?”
“We’ll manage,” the captain said with a small smile.
“Captain Gold, I realize that the Sabre class is a bit outmatched by the Galor class, but-”
Gold, who, with his snow-white hair and cornflower blue eyes, already had a grandfatherly mien, gave a smile that increased that affect a hundredfold. “Don’t you worry about us. My people have a few tricks up their sleeves.”
Ledrah said, “One of the ships is firing!”
As Hahn watched, the battle unfolded. A tactical view replaced the images of ben Zoma and Gold on the forward viewer. The da Vinci and Lexington took up positions that allowed them to intercept two of the Galors, leaving the starbase to defend itself against the third.
One of the engineers-a newly assigned Tellarite ensign whose name Hahn could not recall-said, “Shields are down to eighty-five percent.”
Hahn was pleased with that. The last time, shields lost twenty percent of power when hit with the new Cardassian polaron beams. Losing